Prepping: the new world...

maryb

Some people like to live life on the edge!

Nargleblast

Thanks for starting this thread, Floss, a lot has happened in all our lives since the original prepping thread started years ago.

Some ideas to think about......prepping for increased costs of food and energy, interest rate rises, job changes, retirement, redundancy, making our homes easier to manage in years to come, changes in health status on a background of reduced healthcare services, consideration of climate change, living more sustainably, downsizing, decluttering, getting ourselves into a position where we can cope with almost anything national and international governments throw at us.

MingVase

I think Covid helped us all see things in a different light.... just how different life could become in a very short time. I moved into a village just as the first lockdown ended and I found out how much easier things are if you have neighbours and shops   I was able to eat the stash as it's easier here to refill cupboards. I use town gas now instead of Calor, which is a huge improvement. I don't get powercuts (I know, gawd is listening and we'll get one tonight now)  and the water doesn't go off. The downside is that we have a tiny garden now and not enough room for veggies - but with excellent local shops and food businesses it doesn't really matter. So I learned a lot really.

DigForVictory

Middleson is setting about getting a place of his own. How did you start prepping & what might convince a young male engineer that it’s the smart thing to do?!

thriftwizard

Thanks, @Floss, for our much-needed new thread!

I'm happy to report that post-lockdowns, most of my friends & family have stopped Making Remarks about my store-cupboard, etc., and have started keeping their own! They're still not convinced we'll ever get power cuts (except the ones who now live in rural Wales) but they certainly believe it's not so easy to see a doctor or dentist now, and that there may not always be fuel in the pumps. 

That said, my stocks have been dwindling down a bit; we're down to 3 in the house full time, 2 more part-time and 1 who returns in the academic holidays. So not every cupboard has a tray of tins underneath it now! The idea of downshifting house-wise, but upshifting garden-wise has quite a bit of appeal now, but isn't yet possible. 

Some interesting observations came out of the lockdowns; why was everyone chasing every last shred of loo-roll for dear life? Did it not occur to anyone else that you could use rags & a bleach-bucket? When the shelves in W8rose (our local supermarket) were devoid of tagliatelle & fusilli & irate customers were yelling at the poor staff, why was no-one buying the macaroni? (That shelf was full!) I did worry that some people have kind of lost the ability to think outside the box, especially when under pressure, if they can't mentally swap macaroni for fusilli, though I know they do work a little differently in some recipes. 

I've just done an event aimed at getting people to curb their buying habits, particularly with reference to clothing & fast fashion. From my point of view, it was very successful, but once again, slightly dismaying to hear people proudly proclaim their inability to sew on a button or mend a small hole in a jumper. I know some of them will have been covering their embarrassment, but others still have a "I'm too important to bother, I'll just buy a new one" attitude. Is this the defiant cry of a dying breed? Or the "mainstream" fighting back?

DigForVictory

thriftwizard said:

. I know some of them will have been covering their embarrassment, but others still have a "I'm too important to bother, I'll just buy a new one" attitude. Is this the defiant cry of a dying breed? Or the "mainstream" fighting back?

I do hope just attitude & one that can be overcome with education. Says she the proud owner of her grandfather's Burberry waterproof, which is still going strong because he looked after it & mum taught me how to likewise. 
I have very fond recollections of a son carefully repairing a gap in a side seam on a loved tee shirt using an Anglo Saxon stitch. It worked, the shirt was loved & worn til he outgrew it (as did his little brother) & then was snaffled by his father as ultrasoft cleaning fabric.

Floss

DigForVictory said:

Middleson is setting about getting a place of his own. How did you start prepping & what might convince a young male engineer that it’s the smart thing to do?!

I started as a newlywed age 20 by having a store cupboard like my mum & my grandma. My first in-laws (pre-2000) had armageddon stores tucked into the spare room built-in wardrobes, which was a bit disconcerting when you opened a door to hang something and several tins of potatoes fell on your feet! Apparently when the house was cleared this time last year, there were still tins in there 😳 

How much of your household arrangements has he absorbed by osmosis? My mum gave me a Good Housekeeping cookbook, a Pyrex 1-pint jug and a set of kitchen scales when I moved in with my then fiancé, with the assumption that as I could read, they were the best tools (this was 1983).

Floss

thriftwizard said:

 
.....but once again, slightly dismaying to hear people proudly proclaim their inability to sew on a button or mend a small hole in a jumper. I know some of them will have been covering their embarrassment, but others still have a "I'm too important to bother, I'll just buy a new one" attitude. Is this the defiant cry of a dying breed? Or the "mainstream" fighting back?

There is a growing movement of reuse, repair so hopefully they were dying or embarrassed. I taught both my sons to sew on a button or fix a hem, use the washer & iron, to wash up (very hot water, glasses first, pans last), to cook 5 different meals and to bake a cake. They're both late 30s now and lots of their friends have the reuse, repair mindset despite having good disposable incomes.

RAS

DigForVictory said:

Middleson is setting about getting a place of his own. How did you start prepping & what might convince a young male engineer that it’s the smart thing to do?!

He probably doesn't need a mains tester? Or fuses and lamps with different caps, but it might be worth it. 

Is there anything practical of his dad's that he'd like to use, assuming that you don't still need the sink plunger? 

And washing soda.

MrsCD

Thanks for the new thread @Floss
We found our preps came into their own during Covid, when family members were too poorly to go for shopping. So my advice for your son, DforV, would be to have at least a couple of week's worth of spare food in to start off, plus otc meds, then look at household goods like toilet rolls, cleaning supplies etc.
I assume he understands about basic budgeting so be won't have too many days at the end of the month without money!
 Check he can do basic housekeeping, such as cleaning the toilet, windows etc., and that he understands that generally it's cheaper to cook from scratch. Sorry I don't know if this sounds too 'basic' for your son. He may well know all of this!