How are you prepping for Brexit?

[DoYouRememberJustinBobby]

I know we don't know what will happen in the run up to Brexit or afterwards but in my book things are looking scary.
I have legitimate concerns about some of my contracts (one very large one has already pulled out and left me around £1700 pcm down) and I am scared witless about DP's job.

We are currently trying to cut loose any extra expenditure in our household and decided this morning to sell a couple of tech bits we no longer need for my business, in order to free up some cash. Ideally we would love to be saving a bit more but we have some urgent repair work needed on our home which we can't skip until the financial situation looks a bit more calm.
We are overpaying our mortgage by a small amount each month but are now trying to decide if it might be better to stop that and keep the money to one side incase everything goes tits up.

We have a vintage Airstream which is worth a decent amount of money and we use 2x a month min throughout the year (plus almost the entire summer). The value of it continued to rise during the credit crunch and keeps going up. We are trying to decide if it is worth hanging onto in the long term as an investment (and our only source of holidays) or to sell up.

We always have a decent stockpile of freezer, tinned and home preserved food but now I'm wondering if buying in some large bags of rice and pasta for long term could be useful. We have a tiny kitchen so storage is an issue, although not impossible. Does anyone know of any reliable, waterproof, food grade storage containers for keeping non jarred and tinned food in cellar type environments? Our cellar is a little on the damp side, so we tend to be very careful about what we keep down there, although airtight containers fair well.

I know some people will say this is an over reaction but our family is already feeling the direct impact of the leave vote and we are genuinely worried about the continued impact.

Are you worried? What are you doing to prep?

I wonder if stocking up on seeds would be sensible?

Has anyone transferred money into a different currency in case of a sterling collapse?

I think people might find some usefulness, certainly, in growing things if they have the facilities. It's not at all easy to do.

We stored food when we lived in Chile. Then it was in prep for earthquakes.

As well as canned fruits/veg we had lentils and beans, rice, pasta, dried milk, instant mash, salt, sugar, spices and long life fruit juice. Also bottled water because at times the supply wasn't reliable.

I find it's been a hard habit to break, so I already have a small stock pile of some items.

It's a reasonable habit as long as you're recycling the stuff and have enough storage.

Maybe I'm just optimistic but haven't considered anything dire to happen apart from prices going up a bit. If it comes to it we are well prepared for power cuts and we get fresh eggs from our hens, also have fruit when in season. Could also go back to having a veg patch if necessary.

I really think seeds will be useful but establishing a garden now is even better. Getting some skills is key. There's a lot of free advice out there on YouTube, forums and blogs.

Yes - acquiring the skills is real important. There's no reason why a whole range of things shouldn't be made part of everybody's life, regardless of where they live.

Can I please just ask - why do people think there may be power cuts etc because of Brexit?

I can only speak for myself. I have no idea what might happen to people politically but I am conscious of the increasing reliance of the population on power provided centrally and the hazards its absence would present. For me, it's a question of risk and timing.

If you live near anywhere with Indian shops the rice, pulses and spices come in gig bags and cost way less than a supermarket. Also farm shops ( the sort for farmers to buy electric fencing and red mite powder, not the sort that sell organic meat and artisan jam) are very good for big, cheap sacks of pet food.

Also Lidl have citrus trees very cheaply from time to time. I grew a lemon outside for several years and got fruit but heavy snow killed it one year! Parents friends have one in a conservatory that fruits well. Chillies also grow well in those conditions and you can dry them.

I am not a prepper but just one point if you chose to stockpile rice or other grain (oats etc) ensure you research rice/grain weevils first and ways to prevent having just dealt with an accidental infestation from oats these critters are a nightmare!!

I just buy the big bags of rice because they are a bargain, I store it in a plastic bin with a tight lid. I thought it might be a handy hint for people wanting to stockpile as a lot seem to be buying in supermarkets. I had weevils in flour once, horrible things and end up in everything!

That's a fair point, Fee. No sense in buying and storing if the resultant food is to be inedible.

We stored our supplies in plastic boxes.

The problem with weevil is they may already be in the product you bought. I think freezing stops them from growing? But not sure. Then it has to be heavy duty plastic or glass as they can chew their way out of some plastics

Interesting.

I have a fair number of old 'household management' books - you'll know the sort. 'A young housewife's guide to their new house' dated 1925 - with a special section on how to manage your housemaid and a new section on 'How to deal with this new invention : The Gas Cooker.'

Anyway. About every 4th or 5th page of the 'household tips', there would be a long section on getting rid of some insect or other.

I thought they were obsessed with it. I used to laugh, indeed, never having had to live on the uncontaminated remains of a cupboard full of ill-stored provender.

Oh, there's loads of stored product insects to worry about. Weevils, grain beetles, flour beetles, Indian meal moth, tobacco beetles..... they turn up in factories and mills quite regularly!

I am now obsessed with it cozietoesis!!! Had never experienced it before in my life! They got everywhere, they were in every kitchen cupboard laid eggs in the mugs, cutlery drawer everywhere. We had to throw out all our food and spices!! Then weeks of full kitchen clean every day! Now finally I think they're gone!!!! I think it's changed me for life!

I'll have to go back to the books.

If I recall, though, some of the 'cures' were ........questionable.

(Well they doubtless worked but the number of domestic poisonings in that era don't surprise me. )

Haha I can imagine! I don't believe the weevils themselves are any health danger just gross!!

Well it wasn't quite '.......and then sprinkle the arsenic liberally over the carpet......' but you get my drift!

Ha ha that's hilarious! I can understand the "kill it with fire and poison" mentality after my encounter! Even though it's highly irrational

Food storage is not necessarily as straightforward as people think, nowadays. Any storage in fact.

Even if you have the room for things, there are a whole load of eg critters just waiting to get stuck in. (And that's assuming that you've canned/preserved/shelved properly and the victuals were safe for storage when laid down.)