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Preppers

Ok, so we come out of lockdown. After you have breathed a sigh of relief (or whatever) what top ups do you need for No Deal Brexit/Second wave of this shit/Normal stuff you prep for

172 replies

bellinisurge · 07/05/2020 08:54

I'm sure we'd all like to pretend this is all going away. I'm sure we have lists of places we want to go and people we want to hug.
Assuming we're going to do some of that, we also have an opportunity to take a look at our preps.
A second wave of this horribleness is not impossible. Neither is a lurch out of Brexit transition.
What are you going to top up on?

(This thread is for preppers in the Preppers topic so don't waste your time whining at us if you happen upon it. It's our thing, just move on)

OP posts:
aliasname · 10/05/2020 17:36

We used more dishwasher/ washing up stuff than I expected. We should have been more up to date with our dental appointments ~ I've had a gum problem for the last couple of weeks, and wish I'd been to the hygienist more often.

Wish I'd stocked up on my favourite treats from m&s . Also got more books; I do have an online library account but sometimes prefer real books.

But our greenhouse is nearly built, which is exciting!

Sprayitall · 10/05/2020 19:17

@livingthegoodlife wow that website is great. Thank you I was looking for paper for dd. Usually I buy the hobbycraft A3 messy pad and paper roll but now they are out of stock. What paper do you recommend for them from the website? There are loads of choices there that I am confused. Mostly my dd wants to draw and colour them with paints crayons and super tips. Any tips will help thank you

livingthegoodlife · 10/05/2020 19:34

@Sprayitall I have bought 2 lots of the 250 piece A3 sugar paper. It's thick enough for all craft purposes. It's mixed colour. About £5 a packet. Delivery was next day too.

Ok, so we come out of lockdown. After you have breathed a sigh of relief (or whatever) what top ups do you need for No Deal Brexit/Second wave of this shit/Normal stuff you prep for
Sprayitall · 10/05/2020 20:13

@living Thank you very much. Ordering them right away. After today’s speech I’m feeling a lot more stressed. I think it takes prepping for the second wave to a whole new level now and makes me feel not well prepared enough.

bellinisurge · 10/05/2020 21:54

I certainly think the PM's speech was vague and unhelpful. Let's see what the info given to Parliament is like tomorrow.
As for being stressed about it, obviously the most useless thing I can say is "don't be stressed@.
Give yourself the night off, if you can.
Tomorrow we can revisit current strategy- where "strategy " also includes bumbling along, hoping for the best and doing what preps you can, when you can .

OP posts:
wheresmymojo · 10/05/2020 21:58

I stopped going to the Prepper topic once things kicked off properly with this shitstorm but am back now.

Suspect this has turned me into a prepper for life as I was super happy about not needing to worry about loo roll and such like.

My bulk order of hand gel only arrived last week though Blush

PestymcPestFace · 10/05/2020 22:13

Need more gluten free flour, olive oil and vihno verde.

What I hadn't bargined for, was working 60 days straight. How do you stockpile time?

Redcrayons · 10/05/2020 22:25

I happened across a pandemic prepping thread a week before the crazy started so I stocked up on a few things. I always a a spare of most stuff in anyway but I’ll definitely be taking note for second wave/ brexshit.

I don’t bake much and so gave away my self raising thinking I could easily pick up another bag.

bellinisurge · 11/05/2020 06:21

@PestymcPestFace , that's a long stint. I do agree that working from home doesn't mean "lots of time on your hands" . Particularly if you have kids.

OP posts:
InfiniteSheldon · 11/05/2020 06:47

I have a list of things I didn't prep properly for. Dishwasher tablets, even more of my favourite shampoo and conditioner. Approximately 4 times the porridge, flour and yeast and sunblock we were holding. I underestimated some things that were deal breakers for being comfortable.

ScarfLadysBag · 11/05/2020 06:58

Yeast! It's the one thing we have been unable to get (and still unable). My DH threw some mildly out of date yeast out just before lockdown without me realising and I still haven't forgiven him! Haven't been able to get any in our online shops since.

We now have a milkman (who also does eggs, juice, yoghurt, etc.) plus a local butcher who delivers, so we are sticking with that and reducing the amount of stuff we get at the supermarket. We still have our Brexit box (now the Corona case!) which is well stocked with cupboard essentials, which we've been rotating and replacing when needed, so I feel quite comfortable should things get bad again. Very glad for our massive freezer trolley: we've been bulk-buying meat and freezing and we've lasted six weeks from one order (and we eat a lot of meat as DH is a vegetable sceptic). Takes the pressure off knowing there's always something in freezer!

IndecentFeminist · 11/05/2020 07:35

Yes, I need to improve my freezer system.

Jam was another I underestimated. I normally make a load later in the year, but have been getting through loads.

Dyrne · 11/05/2020 08:11

I need more healthy things - I’ve gained half a stone so far and I was overweight to start with Blush

Have eaten soooo much chocolate - Last week I kickstarted my healthy streak so need to buy stuff to support that. All chocolate is now eaten so am definitely not buying any more!

Agree with others that I’m going to register my granny for ALL supermarket deliveries, milkman etc as soon as I’m able to - I’ve been able to bag a delivery slot every other week for her to keep her going but it would be nice to be able to get her more fresh fruit/veg.

We’ve been buying various board games etc which I’m happy with; Agree we need a few more ‘indoor’ activities in case of winter lockdown as being able to get out for a walk/cycle has saved my sanity this time around and that won’t always be an option in winter!

Also going to see what the plans are for extended lockdown at work and if we’re going to work from home much longer I’m going to nag occ health for a laptop riser, keyboard and mouse.

wheresmymojo · 11/05/2020 10:40

We are living on the breadline at the moment so can't do a great deal of prepping for the second wave.

Things I need to re-stock:

  • Check loo roll stocks
  • Pasta
  • Tinned tuna
  • Tinned fruit
  • Dishwasher tablets and washing up liquid
  • Cleaning products (I'd prepped stuff like Dettol wipes but totally didn't think about floor cleaner for example or sponges!)
  • Winter seeds (and actually plant them because I didn't do anything with the summer ones!)
HasaDigaEebowai · 11/05/2020 11:09

seeds
compost
wine ( I prepped but didn't factor in increased consumption)
diy stuff
cheese - we had a lot but not enough
tinned dog food since the frozen raw stuff takes up too much freezer space in a lockdown situation.

Other than that we were fully stocked and we haven't needed to leave the house.

wheresmymojo · 11/05/2020 11:47

Also box hair dye - managed to get one off Amazon just before all stocks ran out but will get 2-3 in this time.

wheresmymojo · 11/05/2020 12:07

This is not directly relevant to prepping but a really useful article to do risk assessments of various situations as lockdown is relaxed...

www.erinbromage.com/post/the-risks-know-them-avoid-them

Socksontheradiatoragain · 11/05/2020 13:13

Hello, I locked myself out and had to rejoin. I was so relieved that I'd taken note of the original brexit preppers threads. For some reason I also went a bit mad and planned for 'just in case we ever can't leave our homes' so I also had plenty of books, crafts etc, and we were all up to date with medical/dental appointments which was a relief.
It's been interesting to see that after the initial pandemonium, crisis support charities really stepped up, and I've been pleased to see communities helping each other out.
With that in mind, and with potential Brexit trade deals (not) happening, as well as not knowing how covid-19 will affect things in the long term, I've also begun storing some extra of things that were very short this time around, so I can actively support the crisis initiatives. I'm only doing this with things that are not currently in short supply, obviously, but I can, for example, buy large bags of flour and wheat, which have a long shelf life.
I really hope that more people will attempt to have a few days worth of groceries in as a buffer, if they possibly can. I know it's not possible for many, for various reasons, but if those that can, do so, it would really take the pressure off if things got bad again.
It's been a real eye opener for those on last years threads who thought that shortages just could not ever happen. We were right - it takes no time at all for the shit to hit the fan and it would be worse still if the supply chain was properly hit.

BiddyPop · 11/05/2020 13:25

I think the fact that lockdown went on so much longer than we initially thought meant that, even though we had prepped relatively well ahead of time, there were things that we needed to deal with or improve or restock as it all went on.

So initially all of us could work/school from home. But I had to work at the kitchen table initially, and DD was using an old, very slow, laptop. I managed to get a tablet for work so donated my laptop to DD, and I also initially managed to bring home my office chair (I have back issues and was moving it from 1 building to another anyway). DH and DD managed to find and rebuild her old Ikea desk for me to use in the spare bedroom (it's tiny, but sufficient). DH had to get a new broadband router as the extender was under too much pressure with 3 of us using it and trying to get to DD in the attic. And just last week, I was back in to the office to get a proper sized screen, keyboard and a printer to make my setup work properly as it now looks like I won't be back until December potentially!

I ALWAYS have spare bottles of carex handwash at home. We stock it up when on special offer. And I have latex gloves for first aid with Cub Scouts. So I wasn't worried about those and only stocked up hand sanitiser. Except the gloves are all size small (DD is fine, I can squash into them but poor DH can't at all). And we were on the last bottle of carex that DH hadn't told me we were running low....so we've been using the stock of shower gel he had got as gifts from DBIL as liquid soap (I managed to get a few bars just in case as well), and I am hopeful of replacement liquid soap this week in the shop.

I never managed to properly empty out the freezer after Christmas to do a proper sort and restock - just threw other things into the spaces I found. So we had sufficient when it was manic, but I have things like Christmas snacks we hadn't used and lots of breadcrumbs and odd frozen veg and leftovers items, but not a lot of meat (well, not enough for us all to have the same thing for dinner) or family sized batch-cooked/leftover meals. So that needs a proper emptying out and restocking soon. (Usually, because we have many days when only 1 or 2 are home for meals, we will use up 1person portions of meals so I had a LOAD of different ones and they have been very hard to use up recently).

And the same with cupboards - I had planned to do a big clearout in the spring, so had reduced lots of things we usually eat and have a lot of odd condiments and packets to use up instead. But as we are still FT WFH, and DD is FT school but doing a lot of family cooking (and causing chaos to the planning on what she randomly pulls out to use up), I haven't been able to use up most of those older items. And DD has changed her eating habits too in the past year, so doesn't eat red meat, or stews, or much potato, or sweet stuff, but wants lots of veg, turkey, rice, berries, fruit for smoothies and nuts/seeds. So that has also thrown things off.

I need to do some focussed thinking about our "new normal" diet, and clear out older items and restock better.

Coffee was a real crunch point, as was tonic (plenty of gin!), beer, wine, orange squash. But there were other holes too that I need to fill.

JunoJigglewick · 11/05/2020 13:35

Flour
Tinned tomato and tomato puree
Paper
Stamps and envelopes

JamieLeeCurtains · 11/05/2020 14:08

I don't eat red meat either @BiddyPop, so have stocked up on tuna, red lentils, green lentils, and chickpeas. I've tried turkey sausages and burgers, they're ok and good to go in the freezer.

I've bought a lot of tins with a shelf life till 2022-23: various beans, green vegetables, tomatoes, sweetcorn, mushrooms, potatoes, as well as jars of olives, pesto, antipasti, pickles.

I think the supply chains of vegetables and salad vegetables might be severely affected by covid + brexit.

BiddyPop · 11/05/2020 14:36

Thanks JamieLee we've discovered turkey mince and turkey steaks as a family (and I had luckily grabbed a multipack bag of individually wrapped turkey steaks in M&S on lockdown day! which were great in freezer for a few weeks). If only I could encourage the lentils....

Yes, I think veg and salads will be significantly disrupted between Covid and Brexit, so I have increased the garden growing hugely this summer - and am slightly kicking myself for not still having my allotment (but then again, they are still locked so I couldn't get anything growing anyway!). I had given it up about 9 years ago when I literally was getting too stressed about recession meaning work went bananas and I no longer got time to work the plot. But tomatoes in hanging baskets, salads/spring onions/dwarf beans in window boxes, and courgettes/rhubarb/broad beans/peas in my one small vegetable bed....I'm squashing in loads! Square foot gardening style.

JamieLeeCurtains · 11/05/2020 14:48

I have a small garden, but I'm growing herbs, tomatoes, courgettes and cucumbers this year. I've got a few long-standing asparagus plants too that I grew from seed, one rhubarb, a bay tree and a few other things packed in!

Plus some meadow flowers for the bees, and a bird bath & bird table.

And a small pond (artificial) which has become a local frog sanctuary. We have tadpoles this year.

But it really is a very small garden. I just try and use the space well.

CeibaTree · 11/05/2020 16:01

We've planted a lot more intensely at the allotment than we have in the past, so hopefully we will get a good harvest in the autumn. We did pretty ok on the lockdown prepping, and now we are back on regular grocery deliveries. The only thing we might do differently is to get a small chest freezer as we seem to always run out of freezer space, and then fill it up with meat/fish/bread/frozen veggies in the late summer/early autumn ready for the coming winter.

JamieLeeCurtains · 11/05/2020 16:06

I experimented with pickling last year and making chutneys, chili jam, and making tomato sauces. All pretty successful. The chili jam was very popular.

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