Prepping on a Low Budget

[AlohaMolly]

The prepping boards have been extremely useful to me over the last year, but I feel a bit lost as to what to do next.

I’m in the tourism industry on furlough and also in one of the devolved nations. I’m on a low wage anyway, but feel I’ll be on furlough till the very end and then either made redundant or struggle for business until at least easter 2021. I want to continue my prepping but have to balance the cost of replenishing stocks/building supplies with continuing to save for what will probably be a hard winter.

Does anyone want to join me for a low budget, long term prepping thread?

Thanks @DontBeShelfish, I will have a look - I've never used BrandAlley before, is there some good stuff on there?

Trying to do a major declutter at the moment before the DC's birthdays and Christmas - we have a small office/ toyroom which isn't really usable as it's crammed full of stuff my thinking is that if I can get that cleared out, the DC can use it for a play area and hopefully it will save a few £££ on going out when it's freezing outside and otherwise the dreaded soft play would be mentioned...

How is everyone in your house @AlohaMolly?

I’ve just watched the chancellor’s speech and I’m relieved that they’re extending some sort of support measures. I can’t lie, it means I’m safe really and as selfish as it is, I’m so happy.

We are all ok thank you! Slowly getting back into surveys so I can try and put a bit aside for Christmas now. I’m going to try and set up a monthly meal plan/grocery plan for October now, as my budget really needs to stick to £40, but that includes a £25 veg delivery every fortnight, so I want to factor in a change of my way to shop. I want to be able to go to my local butchers shop for example, as I can buy in bulk at reasonable prices if I do it in one go, but not as part of a £50 shop if that makes sense? I got a bag of 40 decent sausages last time for a tenner, so bunged them straight in the freezer!!

@AlohaMolly I totally understand that feeling. It's not selfish, you can still empathise for others at the same time. Glad to hear it's taken some of the stress off for you!

@RubySlippers77 I've never bought from them, but they seem to sell a lot of very good brands at discounted prices. I think they've mentioned it on the Christmas thread, so it sounds legit!

Ditto with the room situation - we cleared out a downstairs spare room and we put a miniature climbing frame and slide in it! Wasn't ideal but it did the job.

It's hard work isn't it @AlohaMolly - you want to buy in bulk to keep costs down, but if you can't afford the bulk costs in the first place then what can you do?! I quite often go to places late in the day and see if they'll bundle a bit more in for the price (butchers are good for this) and then try to freeze/ cook and freeze the excess.

(Incidentally why is Wales hit so badly by Covid? My DM's area also has more stringent measures at the moment which they think is due to a few superspreaders - does Wales have the same issues? I haven't seen that aspect covered at all on the news. Good news about the extended measures though!)

@DontBeShelfish I love the Christmas threads!! Trying to finish my shopping nice and early so I don't have to venture anywhere near the shops in December!

@RubySlippers77 Exactly the same, especially as I was walking through town the other day and every shop had a queue outside it (small town, rural area). I don't want to be doing that in the rain during winter!

I'm already dreading standing in the pharmacy queue @DontBeShelfish - we can't go inside any more, have to collect from the window. Which is ok at the moment but will be bleak come December!

I know there'll always be a certain amount of in person/ last minute shopping I need to do in town, but I'm trying to minimise it as much as possible, especially as plenty of people still seem to be ignoring the mask requirement...

Hope everyone is well @DontBeShelfish @AlohaMolly etc

I've been doing a budgeting course this week which has been helpful - it's the DC's birthday in October which blew the budget for now, but I should be back on it soon!

I've done about 75% of my Christmas shopping (a lot of which is thanks to the Christmas bargains threads on here!) so no big bills anticipated at the moment...

(It's me Ruby by the way after a name change!)

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl Wow, 75% is amazing! I'm probably roughly halfway through, rapidly running out of time and funds. The prospect of a second lockdown/circuit breaker is looking increasingly likely, so I'm trying to continue to prep foodwise AND try and sort Christmas. I feel knackered trying to juggle everything! Hope you're all well.