Starting out on budget

[girlfromspace]

I find it hard to make ends meet most months so really can't afford anything extravagant but I want to start building up a stockpile

So what is the cheapest long lasting thing I should start with? I was thinking;

bottled water
peanut butter
dry mix to make bread
pasta

Is this a good start? I'm just going to start by added a few extra bit to my shopping each week and hope to build it up slowly

Thanks for any advice for a complete beginner! :)

Hi

Start with the cheapest thing- learning new skills. Like baking bread. Purifying water.

Have a think about what you would do if you were snowed in for three days (with and without power.) Forget Brexit for now.
Food is obviously a big one and three day buffer is a good starting point. Don't go mad with the budget but you sound sensible in that regard.
Have a look at what you have in your home for keeping warm - I know the August heat makes that tricky to envisage. Hot water bottles are fab.
Have a think about cooking even just with a kettle don't use camping stuff indoors.
Jack Munroe has a book out called Tin Can Cook. I've been trying out her ideas there and corned beef chilli has been a particular winner. Her website has some good ideas too.
Online resources- Prepper Princess, Prepper Pot Pourri - sensible women albeit in the US so some things don't sit in UK.
Think about what are pompously called morale boosters - board games, card games, colouring books, sweets and chocolate.
Don't let your world be taken over with worry. Just see it as upping your domestic resilience.
Ask loads.

17p water, aldi (sparkling and still)
tinned tomatoes (value, 28pish in morrisons) several tins
value herbs
kidney beans (30p per tin if value)
couscous (large pack from lidl) add sultanas, cumin, to flavour.
cumin (from asian aisle is cheapest)
tinned garden peas, carrots, sweetcorn (value are ok from sainsburies, morrisons and asda)
Brown rice, wholewheat pasta (Aldi) will add to the protein of kidney beans)
Red lentils as they cook quickest, use instead of mince in bolognaise, and chilli
chilli powder
sultanas (30g per portion so go a long way)
value porridge oats (75p per kilo)
jam
spread for the fridge
some sort of milk. (dried value is ok. when made up)
value rice pudding is great.
value peaches
aldi pineapple is the cheapest I have found
value wheetbiscs are fine too.

don't forget things like loo roll etc. check out the hell thread on Brexit for a list.

I'm on a very limited budget too & I shop for bargains all the time. I've built up a pretty big stock & it hasn't broken the bank because it's been gradual.

I get 500g packs of spaghetti from either Tesco or Aldi when I'm in either for 20p. 5 packs is only £1 & there's a lot of satisfaction at the start seeing a pile of something that hasn't caused sleepless nights buying. Rice from either of those shops is good too at 45p for 1kg. 2 bags of rice & all that spaghetti & it starts to look like a respectable amount. There can be slightly cheaper prices if you're buying in much bigger quantity packs but to be honest I rarely would have the £7 or whatever available for just 1 item no matter how large it was.Little & often suits my purse.

I got 3 large tins of Corned Beef in Aldi today for £1.39 each, normally £2 there & £2.50 now in most other places. If they still have any at that price when I'm back there again I'll get some more.
In Tesco's I got 3 x 300g of their own brand coffee granules for £1.46p each. They're reduced to clear & again if they still have any when I'm back tomorrow I'll get some more. I got 6 tins of a savoury mince there a few months ago reduced to 25p each. Keeping your eyes open for big reductions pays dividends.

I pick up one or two tins a week of their spaghetti hoops for 13p & maybe other cheap tinned vegetables like chick peas, chopped tomatoes at around 30p - 35p each, their cheap curry/sweet and sour jars of sauce are only 30p. They've packets of noodles for 14p that I've bought loads of over the weeks.

I don't store water but I've got quite a few collapsible water containers from the Pound shops, I think they hold about 10 - 15 ltrs each if memory serves & if water looks like it's going to be a problem I'll just fill them up straight away from the tap. I've water purification tablets as well.

Candles, again from the Pound shops. Batteries. Matches. I've 2 wind-up lanterns & 3 oil lanterns as well that I bought from ebay about a year ago. The Pound shops tins of meat are good to have, ham, chopped pork, I even got a few tins of pulled pork on a great offer there of 2 for 50p. An extra bottle of shampoo, soap, toilet rolls etc from there every so often wont break the bank. They have paracetamol 3 packs of 16 for £1, good to have on hand. They do 2 x 1ltr cartons of UHT semi-skimmed milk & again I might pick up 2 every couple of weeks or so.

Tesco's cornflakes 750g boxes for 75p are delicious. I prefer them to many of the Aldi cereals.

Going veggie is cheap, though pasta more expensive. Depends on fuel costs, whether you have a freezer etc.