Anxious and scared, government recommendsations

[1984mumoffivexxx]

Is anyone else scared and anxious about these recommendations to stock pile, I just have enough money to feed my kids for the month everyday let alone buying extra, this scares me .. do you think it will happen?

Not in the least bit
and I’m a single mum

No, because what will be, will be. Worrying is pointless, so I try to ease my mind, with things that I can control. It works for me. I can only do, what I can, at any given time.

Maybe get a torch and a few extra tins. All tinned food is cooked and can be eaten cold. I haven't got from for 50 litres of water

Try not to worry. I know it’s tough, particularly if you have no money to buy extra supplies. Even one extra item in the weekly shop would be a start.

It is worrying, but I do think some people have gone a bit OTT and get some weird excitement out of prepping and worrying others.

I’ve contradicted myself there but try not to worry.

Given the weather crap I think it’s sensible anyway. Make a list of what you need and just add slowly x

Do you have any neighbours \ friends \ rellies you can speak to so that you can pop round to them if there's an emergency and you are on your own. Maybe say just for a chat. Not to stay.
Thing is if power goes you're not able to speak to people if iphone doesn't work. We had a power failure last year and one set of neighbours (about half a mile away ) were without power and heating but no one realised. They assumed everyone was in the same boat until, as they are over 70, the electric co men called on them. They'd been freezing and she had poor health. Their power came via different poles.

OP, perhaps just buy a bit different for a bit. So buy UHT milk and keep it in the cupboard. A few tins.

Look round your house for candles, any torches and just put them somewhere safe. Take the batteries out of things not used and replace any torch batteries. Have you got a BBQ at all. If so, you could cook on that. Have you got a medical box? Just have a little check on what’s inside. You can use a car radio, no need to buy one if you have a car.

TBH I think our government is a) scaring us so that anything they say they are changing e.g. you are paying more tax, we are cosying up to Europe or defence is getting 2bn more and your vat on ciggies is going up, will be met with silence and conformity.

Or b) yes certain wronguns are targeting our supply chains and infrastructure and/ or El Niño is going to cause havoc in Jan. Unfortunately a lot of Brits haven’t a clue about a lot of things and will panic. In the event of an emergency the government needs to say “Keep calm and carry on” and stay put, enjoy your beans by candlelight whilst we sort this out (3 days) and help your neighbours. We will focus on the vulnerable but go sort yourselves out for 3 days.

Fair enough eh?

Op also, have you got any big water bottles? We have had no end of water outages this summer so always have about 5 litres from the tap in our water bottles. You could just always be kept topped up from the tap.

I could cope with most disasters.

If I knew I had to drink UHT milk throughout the disaster, that would be the straw that broke the camels back.
So I’m not worrying about it.

People are buying nasty things like tinned spam and squirrelling it away….. but they’ll never eat it, as it’s horrible.
So don’t waste the money you do have, OP and don’t worry about it.
If you’re out of electric for a few days, you’ll live.
If there’s a zombie attack, you’ll likely be dead quite quickly, so you won’t know about it.

@1984mumoffivexxx

Im curious as to what you think 'it' is.

'It' happened this weekend for the 160, 000 households left without power.
Last winter my friends who live in a small town in Cornwall had no power or water for 3 days.
Try not to panic. Ive had a quick look around my house this morning. Ive got torches and candles, but no matches or spare batteries.
Ive got pasta, rice and tins of tuna, cup a soups.
When I next do a shop the only extras I will get are matches, a bit of extra cat food, tea bags, cereal bars.
I would like a power bank but that can wait.

I think it's very understandable to be worried about this because the messaging is nerve wracking, but it's much more about improving the overall resilience and preparedness of the country than it is about there being an imminent threat we need to be ready for.

If you can, over the next few months add in an occasional extra tin to keep in the back of a cupboard. You don't need a huge stockpile - if once a week for the rest of the year you could add a tin of baked beans, a tin of soup, a bag of pasta, a tin of tomatoes etc to your shop, you would by the new year have a little safety net in case you needed a couple of days of food stocked up. It doesn't need to be more dramatic than that.

Sometimes I spend too much time thinking of doomsday scenarios and then I remember - Covid happened. And it was awful, and a the illness killed a lot of people. But society didn't break down. Nobody starved to death. People's houses were broken into for food, there wasn't widespread looting (there were incidents of unrest, but they were small scale and contained). For the most part, order was maintained. We can face further challenges and come through them again.

OP I sympathise.

But the likelihood of anything happening in the immediate future is very slim so you have a lot of time to prep if you would like to. But try not to catastrophize.

The threads on here about prepping are mostly filled with well off people who have time on their hands, and they find prepping fun. Don’t read them!

Normal people, such as the people I know in real life, are not prepping beyond perhaps buying a few extra tins of baked beans and a carton of oat milk.

The advice is three days, which isn’t very long in reality and you don’t need a lot.

As PP posters have said one extra tin a week is plenty.

You could for warm clothes / blankets on sale, can be the ugliest clothes in the shop but if you are without heating in the winter a few extra warm clothes will be very welcome.

In the upcoming Black Friday sales you might be able to find a good deal on something like a portable charger, useful to keep your phone charged if there’s a power cut.

Just give it your best effort to get a couple of extra tins (eg of beans, soup or custard for example) or some biscuits or breakfast cereal, to start off. Maybe add an extra item a week - even if just a pack of sweets or some instant noodles - so that if there’s a break in supply, you’re able to have a snack or two.
Please don’t worry x

Rinse out your milk containers with hot soapy water, rinse well and fill with tap water. (Change it for fresh every now and then.) After a few weeks you’ll have a little store of water if needed.

Not one bit bothered.
The only crisis i have right now is what new trainers i want to buy.

Actually, OP, I find threads like this very reassuring. I live alone in the deepest countryside and I have been finding some of the 'PREPARE FOR DOOM, NOW!!!' posts scary. But then I come on to read threads like this and everyone is so wonderfully reassuring and 'it's all going to be fine' that I calm straight down again.

Three days of food really isn't that much. Bread, beans - as long as you have enough to drink you will get through. The powers that be aren't going to leave people sitting starving in their houses and help should be available for the worst off, whatever happens.

I'm sure if money is very tight then it is a little worrying. As others have said, see if you can buy one or two things a week. Asda just essentials baked beans are 28p a can, they do a pouch of savory rice for 28p and a can of tuna for 59p. All the other super markets will have similarly cheap products. If you budgeted a £1 a week you could probably have a day or 2 of food by the end of the month and enough for 3 days by Christmas. It won't be luxury but you won't starve. If you've only got electric even just a jar of peanut butter and some crackers will keep you fed.

Don't panic, start to plan instead. Have a look through the stock piling threads on here and write down anything you think will be relevant in your situation. Then make a list of things to buy and set about getting it. Buy a couple of things each week and put them aside, tick off what you bought so you're organised and your stockpile will grow steadily without the need to panic buy. Only buy things that you are certain you will eat, drink and use, make a note of use by dates so you can rotate your stock. You can do it, once you make a plan you will feel better about it I promise yo u every little thing will help

Seriously a few tins/ready cooked rice/ceral is all you need.
And definitely some sort of drink, water preferably, if you have kids you probably always have milk in fridge, you can include anything you always have in the house in your 3 days, I really wouldn't worry you dont need a separate box with 3 days food.

Just ignore, OP. This Government has no idea about anything! Nobody sensible is "stockpiling".

Lots of great advice on this thread to slowly get stuff together.
We had 3 days without power last winter and have regular power cuts (rural area) - there is lots that you can do to prepare. Just calm, sensible things.

HOWEVER. Also be reassured that in a crisis people come together more than fall apart. ( This is the central thesis of a book called Humankind by R. Bregman). He calls it “survival of the friendliest” that our ancestors’ ability to work together in tough times gave humans an evolutionary advantage. We literally have this hardwired into us.

So many examples from the blitz in world war 2 to Covid of people supporting and helping each other.

Yes prepare. But without anxiety. Trust in people’s capacity to help one another.

OP, some of the most useful things cost nothing at all. If any of your children are under 5, you can join the Priority Services Register with your electricity supplier and your water company for free, and they'll prioritise you for extra help and updates during a power or water cut. Save 105 in your phone too: it's the free number to report or check on a power cut, and they can tell you when it's expected back. Knowing who to call takes a lot of the fear out of it.

I’m a lone mum. The only thing that bothers me is that I travel a LOT for work and can be 2-3 hours away and so if all communication and travel was suspended then I’d worry about getting home to my small chicken. I don’t have a village or family within 4 hours.

I have decided however to have a chat with the youngests before/after school childminder as to an emergency plan should I get stranded which would involve her collecting them from school and them staying with her until I can re establish contact and try and get home

If when you do your regular shop you have enough for half the week, you will be fine. The stockpile advice is for people who literally have a bare cupboard and pick something up daily. This is rarely mothers/parents.