The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

The expected SHTF situation is now a reality. Got our 'At Risk' notifications today (which is pretty pointless, as it's blatantly obvious they've already made their minds up and won't be changing them).

Started the evening notifying Himself (and fully expecting another fit of the vapours soon enough, as I apparently don't need to tell him I can't sort this one by myself :cool:).

Oh well, guess I'll be stockpiling beans and stuff in preparation for the inevitable screwups that will come our way [strike]especially once he has yet another meltdown at the prospect of not being able to continue relying upon me to sort everything out all the time[/strike].

Meh.

Why didn't I stockpile some gin when it was 20% off? Idiot.

I need one [strike]several[/strike] tonight.

GreyQueen

Is that 'at risk' of redundancy or is it something equally grim?:(

Karmacat

Jojo, seconding GQ's question and care, hope you're okay. GQ, you too, I know you're in convalescence. All of us, really! Thriftwizard springs to mind.

I've been buying a kitchen (ye gods, the prospect of stockpiling while emptying a kitchen completely is giving me nightmares already) and I was **really** tired - I've ended up responding to a scammer luckily I realised literally 3 minutes after I'd done it (the cc people were great, and so were the bank people, though that probably wasn't absolutely necessary as the account details I gave them were for a closed account). So I don't think there's any harm done, but I've made a new rule for myself: don't do this stuff when you're tired.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Yep. But considering they're cutting down to a skeleton staff and getting rid at all levels, it's pretty clear that the decision has been made [strike]several months ago[/strike].

Cappella

That's rotten news Jojo Any idea when you're likely to know for certain?

Karmacat Too easily done when you're tired, and some scammers really are very believable. I'm so lad you realusedin time to sort it out quickly.

I've been wondering about thrift-wizard too. Hope she's okay.

I've been bulk cooking this week and now have a freezer full of home made
soups and casseroles. I've also audited my tinned goods pantry and set up a spreadsheet so that I can just move to a 'used one need to buy one to replace it' scenario. I've built my store cupboard back up gradually by buying a couple of extra things weekly and can't add anything else to it now as there's no more storage space no matter how good the deal.
Still I do feel happier to have a stockpile again. It's proved it's value in the past and probably will again - tnough id like to believe it won't ever be necessary. I haven't bought anything just jor the sake of I t, all of my goods are things we eat/use regularly aspart of our normal diet,

DigForVictory

Capella's pipped me to it with the sensible questions. Would Himself's family realise that now is the time to get you both into that Cornish abode (although moving & change of medics and hunt for work etc really is not ideal either, but if she doesn't want to cope with meltdowns & fits of the vapours herself it makes logical sense to me, but the I do realise that logic is a scarce resource.)

Initially I laughed as Canadians sent pizzas, and crooned over children selling drawings to feed their parents, but the 5 weeks unpaid Shutdown may well have been enough to dump a lot of Americans into the financial mire.

Had me wondering, how would we do with no government money for five weeks, with most government services provided on a voluntary & hoping this will blow over soon basis?

[Deleted User]

Badly, I suspect most of the population here as possibly in the USA don't have anything stored away against an uncertain future but live in the here and now and use most of their income for living, paying bills and feeding themselves. It's not likely that there is much left after all that is dealt with if you're a pensioner or on benefits. I can understand that if there is any slack then it would be used for 'comforts' like alcohol or cigarettes or food treats but I suspect 5 weeks without any other payments coming into a household that had no other income and no reserves would see quite a lot of people almost at starvation point and certainly needing to be using food banks and soup kitchens. I don't know how long non payment of rent has to go on before eviction notices are given and I don't know how much non payment of mortgages or utilities bills is allowed to accrue before action is taken but in the long run it could lead to many people becoming homeless as well. The least of the circumstances would be that it affected peoples credit ratings and that in the aftermath they'd find it impossible to put their lives straight and start again. I don't think their fellow man/woman would after the initial few weeks have the resources to help them either and life would become very ugly indeed as people struggled to keep themselves alive. Probably overstating the case BUT???

[Deleted User]

Weather has turned to you-know-what again.

Rain and wind.

GreyQueen

Lyn, in the private rented sector a landlord can apply to the courts for a Section 8 - all they have to prove is that Tenant X was liable for the rent and is in 8 or more weeks of arrears. The possession notice has to be granted in that case, there can be no mitigation. If the tenant does not leave on the specified date, the landlord has to go back to court for an eviction notice. Depending on how busy the courts are, it might be several weeks from the end of the notice period to getting into the court to set an eviction date, which could easily be several more weeks further on. Of course, some landlords don't comply with the law, send Da Boyz around and chuck the tenant out and throw all their belongings out after them and then change the locks. Ain't legal but it does happen.



The timescale for losing a social rented tenancy is longer, with councils etc typically going for an SPO (suspended possession order) which will not go to full possession if the tenant keeps to the court-ordered arrears repayment schedule.


Of course, in the event of a government shut down, there might also be a court shutdown. And possibly a lack of pay to Police etc. If people aren't being paid, they might hang on for a few weeks, hoping to ride it out, but ultimately would have to seek other employment to keep a roof over their heads.


Let's hope we never see anything so terrible in this country!

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

Of course, in the event of a government shut down, there might also be a court shutdown. And possibly a lack of pay to Police etc.

If it got that bad, I doubt many man hours would be assigned to chasing overdue rent.