The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

boultdj

I would say the expensive things first and look for shelving for the back bedroom to turn it into store room. After all if the prices go up next year at least you don't have to find the difference and end up waiting longer whilst you save the money up.

dreaming

MingVase said:

It just spoils things when people start bickering, there's no point in it.

I'm very undecided on what to do next re preps and could do with some advice MSE-ers. We need to do up the back bedroom. It's biggish with a high ceiling and north facing. Do I redo it, make it into a store-room/pantry? Or do I keep it as a boring empty spare room and instead invest in things that we might need soon, like a washing machine and a mattress. Things that cost a fair bit and will probly go up in price soon. Any ideas?

Are you likely to use the room as a spare bedroom - do you often have overnight visitors? Would it be possible to change it into a store-room but with the ability to have a folding bed for occasional use? You could put some shelving round the walls of the room (cheap wooden ones from most diy places would do) but leave a gap for the bed (or even just a blow-up mattress). Curtains could be made to hide the shelves if needed. At the end of the day you have to do what suits you and your lifestyle. I have a 2nd bedroom and my eldest and partner did squeeze in there when they were briefly homeless but they have they own place now. There is no room for a bed in there anymore - nstead it is now my study/craft room.The only person who stays overnight now is my youngest who lives about 40 minutes drive away and may stay at Christmas to avoid driving back late at night  but she doesn't mind sleeping on the sofa for 1 night (it's quite a big sofa), or a friend who comes very occasionally (once every year or so) and then I sleep on the sofa and let her have my bed. Speaking of which (my bed), I need a new mattress really - I kept putting off buying one before the lockdown and really regret it now. It's not too uncomfortable but is probably about 14years old and the edges are giving way a bit now. Goodness knows when I will be able to go and test them in store though.

GreyQueen

MingVase said:

It just spoils things when people start bickering, there's no point in it.

I'm very undecided on what to do next re preps and could do with some advice MSE-ers. We need to do up the back bedroom. It's biggish with a high ceiling and north facing. Do I redo it, make it into a store-room/pantry? Or do I keep it as a boring empty spare room and instead invest in things that we might need soon, like a washing machine and a mattress. Things that cost a fair bit and will probly go up in price soon. Any ideas?

  My thoughts about buying a WM that isn't going into immediate use is that it will be running though its warranty while in storage and might not be working when you go to use it. Also, with a mattress, they're beggars to store, it isn't really good for them to stand up on end, if you lean them against a wall, there's a real risk of mildew forming on both the mattress and the wall.

If the buying-ahead were to be of things like books to read, knitting wool, fabric, craft supplies, clothing and household textiles, I think I'd go for it, those big things I'm dubious about, but it's your decision, of course.

If I had a spare bedroom, I'd love to make it a store cupboard for all sorts of things, not just pantry supplies. HTH.

MingVase

No visitors dreaming - family all live nearby. But there is a big comfy recliner in there for the cat to sit on ..

GQ I think the same re the washing machine. The mattree we have is not old and cost a lot, it bugs me to have to change it already and we might end up still being sore  Maybe the aches & pains are old age and no amount of new mattresses will fix it!

I want the Ikea Kallax unit, the big one. It holds such a lot of bits and pieces and doesnt take up much floor room.

Onebrokelady

dreaming said:

Onebrokelady said:

Tink_04 said:

OBL try reading some of the earlier threads too as some of the basic information is so easy to implement.

maybe we need a preprint back to basics thread?

Thanks, I will go back and have a look, there's only two of us and in a year or two it will just be me,this pandemic has made me think that if I was here on my own it would be sensible to have back up stocks in case I can't go shopping for any reason, or like toilet roll gate things sell out, I was lucky when the crazy toilet roll hoarding happened because I had just bought a pack of 24 🙀I did stock up in some tinned food in case I got ill and couldn't get out but thankfully I haven't had to use any of it yet 

I am thinking ahead to winter though as I have a nasty suspicion that the poop is going to hit the fan this winter so I want to be ready in case that happens, I am lucky that working in a hospital I am always going to be working so don't have to worry about a lack of income, it's more the possibility of shortages I'm worried about 😊

I have always had a stock of tins and dried goods in (as well as cleaning stuff) ever since I  married in the 1970s. It was handy back then when my husband lost his job and mortgage rates went through the roof when we had small children, and it's something I have done since to varying degrees. I now live alone and always build my stocks up for winter so I don't have to go out if it is icy for fear of falling. Over the last couple of years I also took Brexit into account so didn't run the cupboard in the spring/summer as I usually do. In fact I actually increased them partly to cover one of my children and partner who both have mental issues which means they are not always well-organised with regards to groceries. They also have physical problems too so can't always get out and about either but fortunately during the lockdown they have managed to get regular supermarket deliveries so I have incorporated "their" tins into my stocks. Storage is always a problem but I have various ottomans etc. and crates under the bed. Some things are dwindling a bit now and others haven't been touched but in dire need it is good to know they are there.

I'm going to start buying a couple of extras every time I go shopping,I have space to store it so that's not a problem.I am on a tight budget though so can't buy too much at once. Just a couple more bits each week is doable though. I can see lots of lists in my not too distant future 😀

dreaming

MingVase said:

No visitors dreaming - family all live nearby. But there is a big comfy recliner in there for the cat to sit on ..

GQ I think the same re the washing machine. The mattree we have is not old and cost a lot, it bugs me to have to change it already and we might end up still being sore  Maybe the aches & pains are old age and no amount of new mattresses will fix it!

I want the Ikea Kallax unit, the big one. It holds such a lot of bits and pieces and doesnt take up much floor room.

I would definitely turn it into a store room then but leaving space for the recliner/cat bed. Also agree with GQ about the mattress and w/machine, although I still wish I had got my a**e in gear and bought one before lockdown.  In my craft room I a have wooden cupboard (which was advertised as a linen cupboard) which holds a lot of craft stuff (although it seems to be spreading everywhere), a cheap white table for crafting on, some cheap, white "cubes" which holds most of my wool and craft books, an old ottoman for fabric etc, my lovely old pine desk for my laptop and printer which has drawers to hold my paperwork etc.,2 chairs, and a few of those "click" shelves for other odds and sods. Considering it's not a big room (about 7' x 8') it holds a lot and gets used everyday. I don't see the point in having a room that never gets used for anything. Looking back at what I've written I can see the word "cheap" gets used a bit - the story of my life really. I would pay quite a bit for a good mattress (although as you have found, you don't always know until you have slept on it) but living only on my company pension (state pension next year - woohoo!) pretty much everything I buy has to be cheap and/or good value.

daz378

Im mainly  eating out of my freezers  but continue   to  buy  tins    moved one of my sideboard s  into the hall   to house   extra purchases....this year was supposed to be end of  our care contract with council   ...but thankfully renewed another  year.....cant bank on another renewal  next year   or  if it does  might be for lower pay.....stay safe 

elaine241

Well finally caught up!
I have been concentrating on the veg garden in the mornings as by mid afternoon it is a furnace! Being walled it literally is incredibly hot but the veg seem to be loving it. I went to brother in laws farm a mile up the road to collect netting for my fruit bushes today, socially distancing at all times.(Even though the farm shop is open.) He has gone mad on the veg growing!! Enough to feed a small army and very impressive! It seems the underlying feeling of there maybe shortages or price rises in the future has permeated to a lot of people locally, many of whom have never grown veg before.
BIL is adamant he had coronavirus over the Xmas period, a work colleagues daughter was very friendly with two Chinese children that came back from China with a nasty bug, daughter caught it, then mother, who passed onto BIL and OH. They were very unwell, high fever, shakes, cough aching and literally unable to stand. "Luckily" they were away in a cottage for the two weeks and didn't pass it on to anyone. Even after two weeks they were worried about driving the couple of hours home as they felt so weak. He said it took a couple of months to feel any where near normal again and only feels back on form in the last few weeks. 
I am continuing to go to town once a week for groceries, shopping for a shielding friend, running errands and basically trying to get everything done in one day. OH is self employed ground worker who has continued to work, but short time, through out the whole pandemic. This week he is at the local convent sorting out the drainage problems on their farm, literally outstanding in his field!! Avoiding the nuns as they are all elderly, usually they bring him a cold beer in the afternoon but he has told them not to. I am venturing out for a second time this week as I am renting out a flat to a new tenant, there is no way to sign a rental agreement other than meeting! We will observe social distancing as she is a carer for elderly patients .
As for the future I think I will continue to try and avoid busy shops and venues if at all possible, wear PPE, use anti viral spray and generally just be vigilant. Hopefully my local riding club will start up again as social distancing when on a horse is pretty easy. It is falling off which could be difficult! Older son plays rugby and is missing it dreadfully. He was due to go to Canada on tour in July and has been saving and looking forward to it for over a year. I feel gutted for him but hopefully it can be re arranged for next year. He is pretty resigned to not playing for months but says he is in a good place and is not as bad as the poor people who have lost their lives, he is 15!

Greenglockenspiel

It depends on your circumstances; I think I’d prioritise buying furniture and appliances if that’s what you need and they are available - since the start of all this I’ve bought a laptop, desk and bicycle but had to compromise on all of them due to lack of availability as well as longer delivery times so lesson learnt personally about not waiting until the need becomes acute. Nb the delivery times issue includes Ikea so worth bearing in mind as our desk is taking 3 weeks to be delivered and could be the same for your kallax. If you are replacing your wm/mattress rather than buying a spare then you also want to consider the disposal of your existing ones (is the tip open, will they take the old wm away when they deliver the new one). That said, if there seems to be easy opportunities to get those but food is scarcer then it might be better to stock up on that. 

MingVase

Ikea site keeps saying no delivery possible on Kallax up here. I can wait until things ease though.  I think my son will take any unwanted stuff away to the tip for us, I heard it's open.

Dreaming your craft room sounds lovely. I found that in the old days when everything here had to be done on the cheap, that I appreciated things more and treasured them. Now I seem to be getting more expensive stuff but finding it disappointing.