I have been prepping on and off for about 16 years properly although always been a belt and braces gal
Always like a stock of food in mainly but then the bug hit and started looking at alternative ways to cook, heat and light my home. I work on how can I live in my home during any emergency as look as its standing. I figure if things go rather bad people would either head into the city or into the countryside thinking it would be safer so I want to stay put. On the whole though I just prep for emergencies that can happen - love it when there is a power cut, there is my house all lit and everyone else's dark or just beam from torches moving round.Friends and family think I am mad until they are hit by a power cut then they turn up at my door wanting to borrow camping stove, lanterns etc.
I admit I got a bit lax past few years - have health problems and I let them rule me instead of other way round, but at last kicked myself hard and started stocking up again. Ok lack of money didn't help so we ate our way through what was in, but that was a big help to making money last.
This past month I have been stocking up a lot again so much so that I have at the moment about 6 carrier bags filled with tins and no where to put them in the kitchen - ok they are not bulging, cheap bags so about 10 tins in each. The study ( second biggest bedroom) had become a junk room, so this morning at long last I managed to get in there and start clearing it, can actually see some floor. Plan is to remove books off bookcases, they can live in piles on the floor and put the tins on there. The heat is never on in there, and even though the combi boiler lives in there the room never gets that warm, and if hubby complains when he is on the pc in there he can put a fleece on, can't put radiator on in there anyway, I assured this by putting a shelving unit in front of window under which is the radiator and those shelves are used for stores of toileries. So now after resting for a bit I will go in and clear the book cases, still have to move a few bits but will then have two bookcases to fill up. One side of room will be piled up to almost ceiling but cannot be helped - all stuff of my dads who past in July, he never through anything away and recorded everyone he spoke to so have thousands of tapes and family letters going back to the 1930's as well as rubbish that will be recycled. I didn't have time to sort it at his as brother wanted to clear flat to sell it so brought as much as I could, 2 trips up to Scotland and back with a van so rather a lot. I hope next year to buy a box for garden that I could store it all in, well not the tapes but the papers until i sort it out, i don't have a proper shed just plastic walk in greenhouses. So that does crap my style for stocks but still can store a lot.
I have hit it lucky with flour as sons firm sells flour and all baking items to cafes', stores, shops anywhere in fact that makes their own cakes, pasties, pies etc., and the other week they told him as he had worked there for a year he can now buy anything they sell - his partner not bothered but I was so got the price of white bread flour - 16kg £5; wholemeal flour - 16kg £6 and self raising flour 16kg - £6.30 ( this I will be sharing with my closest friend who like me preps as best she can on a pension) as I would be unlikely to go through it before it goes weavily ( spl) The rest of the flour will be used though for my bread. I wish I could stock up more but it would be weavily before I used it most likely. I am waiting for son to bring me a price list so I can see what else I can buy - they do 1kg bags of yeast but told him it has to be used within 2 months and doubt I would use it, and wonder does anyone know how I could keep it for longer, can it be frozen. They do fresh yeast but again you have to buy the pack of 1kg and use in a few days so its no use. They don't do granulated sugar but do caster and icing in 25kg sacks so also waiting for him to get me a price as will happily use caster instead of granulated if works out cheaper ( cheapest I can buy it is 79p kg).
I a not a member of Costo go or anything as don't qualify, daughter used to be through her work and I used to go with her it was great, but she changed jobs about 10 years ago and lost the membership.
I have for past 5 years been growing vegetables in pots as my back garden is small and very steep but I have got the growing bug so for next year my side garden is going to be dug over to become vegetable beds ( about 18ins wide and not sure how long) snag at moment is it only has a 3ft fence round it and on a busy main road into city so easy for anyone to nip over fence and help themselves. Have just had hedges put in ( well sticks at moment
with roots) but will be a few years before they really screen and protect the garden so just have to see how it goes.Well I think I better stop before I write a book, this is only a short story, I can go on and on about prepping
yep I am a bore on the subject
