Will life not go back to pre-covid 19? Is o/s the new way forward?

helensbiggestfan

ejmo said:

Life for most people I know is managing on what you DO have. I'm awaiting a SEISS payment but it will actually only be 40% of what I have been earning recently (2018-19 compared to 2019-20) when I went from part time work to full time when my OH, due to health issues, went from a managerial wage to ESA support group.

But I am kicked out of my complacency and thinking harder. Which is good for me.

Sorry to hear you are struggling right now.  

Like Suki says many of us on here have known hard times, me included, so I do understand.  I do hope I don't come over as smug because although I'm happy with my life now and am managing to make the most of lockdown, keeping busy, remaining positive and finding joy in life's simple pleasures my life did take a dreadful turn in 2006.

My now late husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness and I became his carer. By 2012 he was a quadriplegic and he had to go into care. I had no income, £30k of debt, was too sick to work and too young to claim my pension.  The house was wrecked by his wheelchair and his disability equipment damage and I had to set to, repairing and fixing it up and redecorating on next to nothing so I could sell up in order to clear our debts and avoid bankruptcy.  

That's when I found this website.....I think I would probably have gone under if I hadn't.  

Selling my much loved family home was a wrench but I knew it had to be done so I just bit the bullet.  Now as a widow I have spent lockdown in what is essentially solitary confinement 🤣. Yes, it's tough at times but I'm ok.  I think about Terry Waite who spent 1763 days in captivity, in dreadful conditions and I count my blessings.  He spent four years in solitary confinement so I'm sure I can manage a few more weeks, especially as I have my home comforts, books, tv etc.  

This will end and yes I'm sure life will be very different but being a glass half full kind of gal I do look to the future with hope and optimism. As long as my children and grandson remain healthy and safe then I know I can cope with anything.  

[Deleted User]

Suki, you've just summed up the core of prepping and the reason most of us are preppers, life has always been hard so it's our way of life, we're used to having to make 10p do the work of 20p and it has now become our normal which is hard for people who have had more affluent lives up to now when covid has changed ALL our lives to understand.  It's not from smugness that we post, not from 'oh look I've just made jam and we've got an allotment so we'll be OK for food', not from 'we live in the country so we can go walking and you can't so bad luck' but from the base of knowing that prepping and frugality has given us all better lives because we've worked at it and still do work at it every day. It's finding that drive inside to not let life get the better of us, finding ways to make life more comfortable without going into debt, thinking ahead and being ready for likely problems.  It's taken a very long time to build a pantry because it has to be done gradually and from making the choice to buy baked beans to store not a magazine or a treat that will be gone in a week and nothing to show for it, once you've got that pantry of food though it's there for times like these and I replace if I use from it as I know most of us do. It's not wasting anything that has cost hard earned cash to buy, being content with less material goods in life, it's appreciating things that are for free and things that your own sweat has created not living the 'good life' but for all that it is a good life so if our posts can give someone else that good life and get them prepared for life's curve balls then they're worth making.

suki1964

helensbiggestfan said:

Interesting about what foodstuffs are likely to be in short supply.....I'm guessing fresh fruit and veg might be an issue next winter, so I shall keep a supply of frozen and a few tins just in case.  

Living on my own I'm a bit of a minor league prepper too. I always have a full freezer, and plenty of cupboard staples and a few comfort meds in at the best of times just in case I ever get sick and can't go shopping. I didn't use all my coal and wood last winter, I have enough left over for next winter.  My big one is coffee.....I always have at least a couple of months worth in. I would seize up without my caffeine fix. 

I have enough clothes to open a boutique so, other than I might need some undies, I am aiming on having a no buying clothes year, unless of course  I stumble on some amazing charity shop bargains.  😉.  

One plus for lockdown that I have noticed is that I am not spending very much at all,  my food bill is down, and of course no lunches or coffees out, no cinema trips, and no charity shop bargains.  

Oh yes, I forgot the charity shop savings lol

I had a good year out of them last year and got quite a haul, especially funnily enough, boots and shoes, all brand new. Mind since Covid Im only wearing work clothes and night clothes, wellies and slippers lol. I come in from work, straight to the shower, clothes in the machine and seeing as we won't be seeing anyone the nightie and slippers go on. Once a week I get dressed up into joggers and teeshirt to join the supermarket queue and that's it. I can't remember the last time I opened my wardrobe doors lol

The supermarkets are still getting their supplies as obviously they are such big buyers. I think things are harder to get here as we are a tiny country and the flights aren't coming in directly to us now. Two million people and most of them shop in the supermarkets. The smaller independent wholesalers just don't have the market to be getting the produce now and what we do get is costing a fortune. Saturday we were having to charge £3 for a cauliflower and they were only 2 or 300 grammes once the leaves were cut off !!!

suki1964

helensbiggestfan said:

ejmo said:

Life for most people I know is managing on what you DO have. I'm awaiting a SEISS payment but it will actually only be 40% of what I have been earning recently (2018-19 compared to 2019-20) when I went from part time work to full time when my OH, due to health issues, went from a managerial wage to ESA support group.

But I am kicked out of my complacency and thinking harder. Which is good for me.

Sorry to hear you are struggling right now.  

Like Suki says many of us on here have known hard times, me included, so I do understand.  I do hope I don't come over as smug because although I'm happy with my life now and am managing to make the most of lockdown, keeping busy, remaining positive and finding joy in life's simple pleasures my life did take a dreadful turn in 2006.

My now late husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness and I became his carer. By 2012 he was a quadriplegic and he had to go into care. I had no income, £30k of debt, was too sick to work and too young to claim my pension.  The house was wrecked by his wheelchair and his disability equipment damage and I had to set to, repairing and fixing it up and redecorating on next to nothing so I could sell up in order to clear our debts and avoid bankruptcy.  

That's when I found this website.....I think I would probably have gone under if I hadn't.  

Selling my much loved family home was a wrench but I knew it had to be done so I just bit the bullet.  Now as a widow I have spent lockdown in what is essentially solitary confinement 🤣. Yes, it's tough at times but I'm ok.  I think about Terry Waite who spent 1763 days in captivity, in dreadful conditions and I count my blessings.  He spent four years in solitary confinement so I'm sure I can manage a few more weeks, especially as I have my home comforts, books, tv etc.  

This will end and yes I'm sure life will be very different but being a glass half full kind of gal I do look to the future with hope and optimism. As long as my children and grandson remain healthy and safe then I know I can cope with anything.  

I just realised who you are

You have been a total inspiration to me on this board, you Mrs Lurchwalker, the great JackieO, Monnagran, so many of you.

No matter how bad things get here for me, you and so many others help me keep my perspective. 

Looking forward with hope and optimism, that is a natural human trait. If we didn't have that, why would we even bother getting up in the morning? Yes sometimes its hard to feel it, and I know Ive been in some very dark places where I have thought about not waking up the following day, but those days have gotten less as Im ageing and realise no matter how bad I feel things are today, tomorrow will be better

Lockdown and self isolation is hard for everyone. Mum is being shielded , she lives with us so has company and someone to talk to, but she is still finding it difficult. She is really missing her weekly trip out to the shops and her stint in the charity shop, her hair appointments etc which really were the extent of her social life. Still lockdown has meant youngest daughter in Australia is now FaceTiming her weekly and her grandchildren are checking in with her more often as they too have more time, so something good has come out of it for her as well. And Mr S is home all day every day now so she can fuss over him making him cups of tea which makes her feel like she's doing something

suki1964

MrsLurcherwalker said:

Suki, you've just summed up the core of prepping and the reason most of us are preppers, life has always been hard so it's our way of life, we're used to having to make 10p do the work of 20p and it has now become our normal which is hard for people who have had more affluent lives up to now when covid has changed ALL our lives to understand.  It's not from smugness that we post, not from 'oh look I've just made jam and we've got an allotment so we'll be OK for food', not from 'we live in the country so we can go walking and you can't so bad luck' but from the base of knowing that prepping and frugality has given us all better lives because we've worked at it and still do work at it every day. It's finding that drive inside to not let life get the better of us, finding ways to make life more comfortable without going into debt, thinking ahead and being ready for likely problems.  It's taken a very long time to build a pantry because it has to be done gradually and from making the choice to buy baked beans to store not a magazine or a treat that will be gone in a week and nothing to show for it, once you've got that pantry of food though it's there for times like these and I replace if I use from it as I know most of us do. It's not wasting anything that has cost hard earned cash to buy, being content with less material goods in life, it's appreciating things that are for free and things that your own sweat has created not living the 'good life' but for all that it is a good life so if our posts can give someone else that good life and get them prepared for life's curve balls then they're worth making.

Precisely, I think you have said that so much better then myself ever could

I have a perfectly comfortable life. I have a car, a smartphone, a laptop, a tv, broadband and even a tv subscription package ( not sky ), hell I even have electricity and hot water

What I don't have is debt

If we want or need something we pay for it cash and if that means second hand then so be it. 

My bills - car insurance , phone, broadband, tv subscription , and savings all go out the first week of the month. The only other bills we have are the electric, oil and rates which are shared 3ways and paid as they come in ( hence the savings ) Then the priority is food and then diesel. Then only then do I have spending money and thats certainly not being spent on magazines and coffees, no way, not when it takes me 30 mins of hard slog to earn the cost of a magazine or coffee

Before Covid, we had a bit of a social life, Half price Tuesday cinema and a £10 2 course lunch with a glass of wine included would be a great treat ( oh how I was so looking forward to the James Bond film, had the day marked in the diary as well ). Saturday and Sunday tea times in the local meeting friends for a drink. Being members of the NI Capri club and going out on charity runs, going to car fairs. And big charity days out, tractor runs, Truck fests, sponsored walks. The NW200, the airshow - all free or just the entry cost. And finding I could see west end shows for just £8 at the cinema. So right now we cant do those things, but they will come back again eventually. So now its finding things we can do, we do beer garden, or games room ( which is actually the garage where we play darts or corn throw ) We throw horseshoes in the garden and archery ( no real target, it an old sack stuffed with straw on a post that Mr S painted ) I get to watch the free musicals and theatre being streamed online. My prime subscription gets me some free books and a ball of wool is very little money and keeps me occupied for hours
The veggie garden is coming along again after we sold our hens ( too many fox strikes took the heart out of keeping them ) and the garden as a whole is looking really well as we have the time to potter. funnily enough though, the house is still a tip, seems I have too much to do to be doing housework still

dandy-candy

suki1964 said:

What I am worrying about is the supply of fresh fruit and veg going forward, You know I work in veg prep, and here in NI we are having a struggle getting carrots for example. Ours have come to an end and those we can get are watery. We need to bring in from Holland, Spain and Israel now, but the prices are sky high already

This sort of info always make my ears !!!!!! up. It might be only affecting N Ireland at the moment, but this sort of thing could just be the start. Please do keep us updated on other shortages Suki.

helensbiggestfan

Yes Suki I'm LL. had to change my name when they changed the site layout.  

It's about looking for the silver lining isn't it.  Right now your mum is loving your partner being at home, making him cups of tea and feeling useful.  That's lovely.  

Still cold and grey here....,.more painting.   When this is over I'm going to treat myself to a massage.  I have jolly well earned it.....painting my kitchen cupboards is blooming hard work, having to contort myself to get in all the nooks and crannies,  I feel like Quasimodo.🤣  I need a good pummelling to iron out all the kinks. Still the kitchen is starting to  look fab, so well worth the effort.  

Mrs_Salad_Dodger

suki1964 said:

The veggie garden is coming along again after we sold our hens ( too many fox strikes took the heart out of keeping them ) and the garden as a whole is looking really well as we have the time to potter. funnily enough though, the house is still a tip, seems I have too much to do to be doing housework still

I had to laugh 🤭  suki1964

annieb64

We are growing as many veg as possible this year. We have gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes and on my daily walk I'm  looking out for blackberry bushes for later in the year.The other day I spotted a crab apple tree that's  a bit off the beaten track so will return there in the autumn. There are bilberry bushes up the hill. 
I'm  not letting my stocks run down this year. Usually I stock up for the winter and then use the stock up in the early summer. Now if I use a tin I replace it on my next shopping trip.
At least this pandemic has convinced DH of the value of prepping. Of course we can't prepare for everything. I'd  prepped for a bad winter and Brexit. Now I find myself running out of odd things like elastic  for face masks.

elsien

If anyone's got any hints on spending less on food at the moment,  because I seem to be spending more on just my usual shop.
No mysupermarket to compare prices, no trawling a couple of different shops to get the best deal, not much in the way of YS bargains anymore because I've had to start going earlier to make sure I'm getting everything parent wants. 
I thought I'd be saving money,  but I'm not.