THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

mardatha

jk0 I believe anything of this lot that are supposedly running the country. They must think the peasants don't need all that electricity anyway so let's just shut that power station down and save some money.

ivyleaf

wcs So sorry your year has been so difficult. Ours too! Let's hope 2018 will be better for us all.

thriftlady oh goodness, what a bad time for your Mum to be without a carer! All will work out somehow in the end and of course Christmas will happen anyway.

dND You have been busy! I hope you're able to move back to UK soon.

Karmacat

Good grief, thriftwizard, 24 December??? You're doing well to get *anything* covered around that date. Thinking of you.

I'm wondering about my own security in my house a little bit this morning. Because of the repointing I've just had done, I've been looking at that wall, and it's windows, a lot recently. The outside tap I just lagged is on that wall too. And at the end of yesterday afternoon, I saw what can only be described as the marks of an attempted forced entry by the handle of the kitchen window It's a new upvc window, ie about 4 years old, and because the scaffold has only come down about two weeks ago, I've been looking at it closely in the recent past. I'm sure those marks weren't there before. It's made me even more determined to work on my curtains and my blinds,to ensure my privacy, in the next few weeks. Nothing I can do if someone's running about the back gardens trying to open a few likely-looking windows

thriftwizard

Good grief, thriftwizard, 24 December??? You're doing well to get *anything* covered around that date. Thinking of you.

All sorted, thank you, KC & everyone! Hope your would-be intruders have gone for good...

Bit worrying today. I had to wait for a long time in the bank today, to change two old £20s the cash machine gave me yesterday that just - disintegrated, tore right in half - in my wallet. The guy in front of me was going frantic at the cashier, because his pay hadn't come in; what was he to do, just before Christmas? Could she sort out a loan? An extension to his overdraft? etc. etc. But she just wearily replied that he wasn't alone, that a number of people had already come in to get their cash out only to find that there wasn't any, and there wasn't anyone there senior enough to sort out loans or overdrafts.

Not sure whether it was a banking blip, or a local firm in some kind of trouble, or what? The cash machines all ran out in town last weekend, on Saturday, too. Kind of strange...

Jazee

Morning all. Just in case of any disasters like 2015 floods which put cash machines, shops out etc, I'm going to withdraw some cash today to stash while I'm at the PO.

mardatha

I'd never rely on cash machines or cards - it's happened so many times, I wonder why people don't learn.

moneyistooshorttomention

Hence showing the wisdom of always being pretty well stocked-up (including having a bit of cash to hand in case).

We all have our own different scenarios in which a bit of cash might be needed - if my own is a bit different to some (ie in case I get stuck at the back end of "middle of nowhere" and no buses until the following day or even day after that). If that happened - I'd phone the taxi firm I use to come and get me - and know I'd got enough cash to nip in the house quick and pay them when they dropped me off here.

Also handy to keep a bit of what I call "cashflow money" in the bank account just-in-case as well. Right now - I'm in process of swopping my monthly "payday" date of my job pension and thinking through the mechanics of dealing with having to wait for a few days of my money. But I don't have to worry unduly - because there is a bit of money hanging around in my bank account that can be used to "smooth things over".

Karmacat

thriftwizard wrote: »

All sorted, thank you, KC & everyone! Hope your would-be intruders have gone for good...

Thanks thriftwizard ... everything seems to be okay at the mo.

Bit worrying today. I had to wait for a long time in the bank today, to change two old £20s the cash machine gave me yesterday that just - disintegrated, tore right in half - in my wallet. The guy in front of me was going frantic at the cashier, because his pay hadn't come in; what was he to do, just before Christmas? Could she sort out a loan? An extension to his overdraft? etc. etc. But she just wearily replied that he wasn't alone, that a number of people had already come in to get their cash out only to find that there wasn't any, and there wasn't anyone there senior enough to sort out loans or overdrafts.

Not sure whether it was a banking blip, or a local firm in some kind of trouble, or what? The cash machines all ran out in town last weekend, on Saturday, too. Kind of strange...

As preppers, obviously, we all try to have as much cash on hand as we can/feel safe with, but concrete local examples like this are really important, and I'm glad you've brought it to the thread. That's what we *should* be doing. Hopefully it's just local, but if it wasn't, if it was the start of something that the authorities were trying to keep quiet, we'd see a pattern and be that much more prepared.

westcoastscot

Thanks for the welcome back guys - looking forward to contributing again in 2018.
For info, our cash machines are all down this morning - the two banks and the wee tesco machine. Thought I'd top up my cash, but apprently not!! Have plenty though. It's a long drive for us to other machines, so it pays to keep a supply of cash handy.
Merry Christmas :-)

[Deleted User]

Once my fuel computer drops below 200 miles to empty, I refill ASAP.

That way, I always have at least 150 miles of fuel in the car, which should get me to anywhere I'm likely to need to go in a hurry.