Newbie prepper advice please?

[97876757user]

I have an anxiety disorder.
I have a health condition.
I live rurally with only one expensive corner shop within walking distance.
Nearest town is miles away.
I want to be ready to self - isolate ASAP.
What do I need to be buying, checking my supplies of? Can someone advise? Just general advice would be fab like you need x of this, or you need to get y or whatever. We have plenty of cupboard space but we only have one freezer. I just need some basic advice about how you decide what to get? I don't want to panic buy or cause any issues I just looking for advice. Please be kind. I only have four toilet rolls, not four packets. My anxiety is through the roof about how my family of five will cope.
TIA

Ok. Take it slowly. If you have anxiety problems, please take some time to check out local sources of practical help with shopping. Local church? Local Facebook group? In the last wave it was brilliant how people helped each other.

Obviously it's a good idea to do stuff for yourself but don't push yourself so hard that a horrible situation is emotionally unbearable.

If you want to have at least some preps in: What does your family eat for breakfast, mid day meal and evening meal. Nothing fancy. Cheap and cheerful stuff you could tolerate. Favourite meals? Tea and/or coffee? Treats?
Also, have things like toothpaste in. Just an extra tube so you don't run out.

Also my local area police has produced this. See if there is something similar in yours.

I recommend you only buy the foods you would normally eat. There's no sense in buying things you don't like. Pasta, jarred sauce, beans, canned veg and fruit, rice, canned meats are all good ideas. Dry/long life milk, flour, sugar, yeast, and other staples are always good to have on hand.

I am still very new to prepping-about a year, but definitely go slow, only buy what you would eat normally. If something new, buy one to try it first. Learn new skills as you go- bread is surprisingly easy to make. Freeze leftovers-easy way to prep some ready meals. Good luck be warned its addictive!

I did post earlier this morning but for some reason it didn't upload? I said thanks for all the advice and that I think I will take stock of what we've got, then try and plan what we would need for four weeks of no/ very little shopping. Also, I think I need two stashes: one for everyday and one for Christmas, given the time of year. I vaguely remember seeing a video of someone who had a three week 'rotating pantry' which meant that if she usually used 6 can of beans a week, for example she would have 6 x 3 (18) cans of beans in at all times to ensure she would have enough. Do others do this? What about fruit and veg that's fresh? I guess there's no way getting around stuff that won't freeze and to make sure you have tinned fruit and frozen? You can freeze bread, milk, food you've cooked but how do people cope with fruit and veg? What about toiletries and medicines? Anyone ever had problems with not being able to get these in bulk? What should I be making sure I have in my medicine cabinet? What about washing powder etc? I know I sound really nosey and I guess it is nosey to ask but I think being more organised and having supplies in should anything happen, I may feel less anxious. It's like I can't control coronavirus or getting ill or government measures but I CAN make sure our family don't go without or are miserable when it does happen. Do people meal plan in advance to ensure stock isn't wasted? I always say eat fresh first then head to the cupboard etc but fresh stuff does spoil if left uneaten so advice about fresh stuff is really needed. We have fruit pots, cans of fruit and dried apricots, raisins etc. Only one freezer which is standard size so cannot go crazy freezing lots of stuff coz there's just no room. In cupboard we have flour, sugar, baking powder, hot chocolate, cocoa powder etc. Is there anything people usually forget they may need then can't source? We have bottles of water. We have a lighter and a few candles, a torch. Am I forgetting anything? All advice welcomed eagerly!!

Just think about realistic scenarios- short notice self isolation is one. Christmas is another.
Rather than going full blown prepper from zero , just think about having the kind of things in the house for eating, drinking and keeping clean.it would be maddening to run low if you had to hunker down at short notice. Please look at what local services are available to support families chucked into self isolation at short notice,
For Christmas- getting pressies in now (as you can afford) would be a good idea. Remember, having a laugh and exchanging even daft gifts or IOUs in unusual circumstances is better than sharing stress and worry. We talk about "unfinished business " in our house so the things we've had to cancel this year are "unfinished business ".

break it down into small chunks so it is not overwhelming. Start with making sure you have a spare of everything in your weekly shop. Eg washing powder, washing up liquid, shampoo, soap etc. as well as food and drink.eg in your beans example buy an extra one or two tins per week rather than an extra 12.

What helps you keep calm? A jigsaw? Chocolate and a cup of coffee? Get some of those things.

OTC meds,eg paracetamol, ibuprofen for adults and children. buy two painkillers packs per shop.

Think also those things that will stop life being a pain in the arse, ie: haemorrhoid cream, diarrhoea and constipation meds.

Think about antihistamines, child and adult and cream. Decongestants, plasters, dressings, micropore tape, tubigrips. Get a first aid kit for car and home.

Get food that makes life nice. For me it is coffee and dried milk, chocolate biscuits and shed loads of Pringles. Treats are really important. For you it might be a bottle of wine as you have one every weekend with your spouse. Or your favourite beer, or bathsalts.

Food wise: tinned veg is ok in things like curries but very different from fresh in texture. Try them out before buying loads.

For emergency dinners, we have tinned curries, tinned veg, packets of microwavable rice.

Just add hot water: couscous (kg packs and sachets) cupasoups, mugshots.

For Christmas I have bought cranberry sauce and stuffing. Once I have retrieved the freezer from ds's room I will be blanching parsnips and carrots and freezing them.

For you it may be pigs in blankets, or bread sauce.

Think about the food you like that stores well. Eg if you like pasta get a couple of extra packs.

We eat a lot of veggie and vegan food so have lots of lentils and beans. We use red lentils instead of beef. You might want to make mince last longer by reducing the amount of mince and bulking up with lentils. Good for the planet too. Or try a few vegan recipes now and buy stuff for that.

Think flavours, sugar,salt pepper vinegar oils herbs and spices.

Once you have made a good start you can search for lists on this board or the Brexit board to look for stuff you may have forgotten. If you search too soon it is too overwhelming.

I have always been a keep plenty in sort of person but building up enough for Brexit a year or so ago seemed impossible to do at first. ( Even though I had already started getting extra of some things on the 24th June) Even Bellini's three days of everything seemed a big ask, yet within a month I was already moving into building up a two week stash. I am still finding things I need. Recently it was fuses. Got spares now. Remember Mr Tesco.... Every little helps. Anything you do towards preparing will leave you in a better position than doing nothing.

I think apart from all the foods think of things you don't buy everyday such as foil, freezer bags, polish, dustbin bags, flour, tea, coffee. Always good to have a couple of long life milk, an a couple of bread in the freezer in case you can't get out. Don't forget treats, very important!!

That's really helpful. I can see from the above suggestions that this is going to be a long - term project rather than something I can sort out ASAP. My children have their favourites too - favourite cereals, favourite chocolate bars etc. I think we are going to have another lockdown and I'm keen to make sure that we have supplies in but like I said I live rurally with expensive corner shop the only walking distance shop so I need to research and plan how to get supplies economically. Just checked tesco and asda for deliveries and without outing too much there's no slots available for my area until after second week of October... after which it does not load further.

I do not meal plan so I think my first step is to look at what I've got and use what I have then forward plan buying a couple of favourites first. I often don't even properly look in my cupboards so I need to take stock.

Good idea about treats and medicines etc. Local shop is disgusting expensive for any toiletries so will want to go somewhere cheap for those. Also thinking about a first aid type kit, batteries, torch, candles etc for any power cuts. The weather in my area is already affecting the Internet and is set to be miserable for the rest of the week at least so I don't want to be out in it.

We are not in lockdown yet but I'm anticipating it so will purchase toys, books and magazines ready when I go to local town but my anxiety is quite bad so I'm putting it off.

Thanks for all replies and suggestions and please keep them coming!

Bear in mind you can order quite a lot online OP, if going out makes you anxious. Amazon subscribe and save /Pantry are great for long life Oatley milk, things like teabags and long life stuff, have a browse on there.

I started by thinking, okay, if I needed to feed everyone in the house for 48 hours including breakfasts, lunch, dinner, snacks and washing up/laundry liquids, what would I buy in?
Once you've done that, then try getting a different lot of meals for another 48 hours, and so on.

Good luck

Hi OP,

I find it helpful to plan by portions. We are three adults and find that, for example, we use 200g rice when we cook for three, so a 1kg bag of rice does us for 5 meals, or 15 portions. So if I have, say, five 1kg bags of rice, I know that's enough for 25 meals for us all. Then I have a variety of other things that will go with the rice, so no matter what happens, I know I can provide 25 rice meals of some kind.

So my advice is get to know your portions. A box of cereal might say that it contains 15 portions, but my hungry teens reduce that to about 6, so I know that 2 boxes of cereal will really only yield 12 portions, not 30.

You haven't mentioned pets, but if you have any then plan for them too.

Good luck!

If you have a health condition, first things first.
Are there any products which are non prescription that make your life easier?
Start with prepping some of those.

If there are prescription items, make sure you have all your prescriptions filled promptly. Don't put it off for a bit meaning to do it next week because you haven't quite run out yet.
If you need your preps, you don't need to be worrying about those things as well as anything else.
You take care of yourself so you can take care of your family.

Book a slot now if you want a home delivery, even if you think it is a while ahead.
If for some reason you change your mind & don't want it, you can just go in & either cancel it or change it to a delivery slot on a different day.
Two weeks will pass before you know it & then you may only be able to get a slot two weeks after that.
In Tesco, special offers change on Wednesdays.

You can't buy everything at once so break it down into manageable pieces.
Ignore every random gadget you might see mentioned by preppers.
You start with things you need to maintain your health (including food) & your hygiene.

If toiletries are super expensive in your local shop, aim to get those in your order - or plan a trip to town & get them there.

Same with household misc like washing powder, dishwasher stuff, bin bags etc...
Make a list of what you actually use, not what you think you should have in the cupboard, then aim to buy a spare.

Food wise, start by aiming to have 3 days extra food.
Look in your cupboards & see if you have that already - if you couldn't get to any shops could you all eat for 3 days?
If the answer is yes, even if you'd all be living on instant gravy, rice & tinned peas for every meal for those 3 days then frankly you are ahead of a lot of people in this country.

Once you have 3 days sorted, then you can look at extending it out to a week.
At some point you have to decide how long you want preps for.
Are you looking at enough to get you by for an overnight power cut? a week? 14 days isolation? a year?
Pick a time & stick with it.
There is no point buying a ten year supply of rice if you are only trying to prep for 14 days.

Don't bulk buy anything you haven't all tried & liked.
Best way to make your whole family miserable is to sit there offering them Fray Bentos Pies that nobody likes which you bought on special offer on the grounds that if you had nothing else you'd be glad of it.
You won't be glad of it, you'll bitterly regret not buying something you liked when you actually could.

Write down a list of the meals you usually eat in your house.
Are there any that you tend to eat each week?
Meal plan around what you actually like as a family, not what has the longest shelf life.
Then work out your shopping list.

A list is your friend.
That way you can see from your list you have 4 bottles of shampoo & don't need any more right now.
Or that you only have the tube of toothpaste that is in use in the bathroom right now so you definitely need more of that.
It's really easy to accidentally end up with a years supply of something if you don't know for sure what you already have.

Once you get to the point where you have a weeks worth of everything that will not be eaten in the next week, then you start extending what you have just a day or twos worth at a time until you reach your target.

The advice above has really opened my eyes to how little we as a family are prepared for a lockdown and or emergency. We have a dog, plenty of food in for him as we buy in bulk and it never goes off before the hungry guy has munched it all!

I will resist the urge to follow any one else's supplies list to the t as it is just my luck to buy twelve fray bentos pies and no one will eat them. I'll make a list of the dinners we commonly have, the lunches and breakfasts and see how we are doing. I am resisting the urge to buy or stock up on anything until I have a clear idea about what I have currently and how long that may last us. Also thinking about doing a meal plan and dragging out my dusty old slow cooker from the attic. For now I'm thinking can we survive 14 days of isolation work enough food, drink, medicines, vitamins, children's medicines etc then I'll go from there I think. For some things I already know we would be fine but other stuff we would run out for sure. Keep the advice coming - my anxiety has defintely improved now I feel like I can take control abit more with forward-planning. I can't change the outside world but I can make sure my family doesn't go without too much sorting the crisis. So that's a positive to be grateful for.

I would book that slot and start by adding your kids favourite cereals. They won't go off for several months. Also add your shampoo, toothpaste deodorant laundry liquid, bog roll and two packs of painkillers. These don't go off either. You have made a start and that helps reduce anxiety.
If you eat pasta add a spare pack of that and any tinned beans you normally eat. These you know you will need and use.

After that start meal planning and adjust your order accordingly.

I found making a start with the easy wins helped the worry.

Just as a mild comedy aside : I dutifully bought a few Fray Bentos pies last year as a kind of "well it's something if we need it" Turns out everyone in this house LOVES them. Apart from me!!

@bellinisurge

Just as a mild comedy aside : I dutifully bought a few Fray Bentos pies last year as a kind of "well it's something if we need it" Turns out everyone in this house LOVES them. Apart from me!!

@bellinisurge Isn't that always the way? ;-)

OP as far as prepping for Christmas goes you just do the same with the things you get for Christmas.
Aim to get one present (not necessarily a big present, just so you know if everything went wrong everyone would have something) for each person & your family's favourite treats for Christmas.
You need one nice Christmas dinner & a dessert.
Now you have the absolute basics covered you can think again & build on what you have.

Forgot to say before but it's always true for everyday preps or Christmas ones...
DON'T GO INTO DEBT TO PREP.

Hiya! I think the current situation can make anyone anxious.
I second the idea of a book- “prepping” is kind of a project/hobby/lifestyle so writing down what you’ve got in is helpful, what I found in the last lockdown was being able to see the book calmed my anxiety. I bought a cheap but pretty notebook.
Use the categories on the online shopping website as your headings- toiletries, household, food cupboard etc.
Buy extra of your usual. If the kids love Frosties buy an extra box or two. Don’t buy ten.
Some veg works well frozen- peas, sweetcorn. Fruits for smoothies/ crumbles. Dried fruits store well.

I am making a few lists of what we have, meal ideas and what we need. If supplies are on the last of something, I'll put it on my list to buy when out so I don't run out of it and have to buy a more expensive alternative in the local (ripoff) shop. Also thinking of switching to soap rather than shower gel and other things to save money. Made chicken curry in the slow cooker today for dinner which is making the whole house smell nice so far. Must think of or look up more slow cooker recipes to make the most of it. I also started thinking about buying some treats earlier - the kind that you pop to the shop for and end up spending £20 instead The planning ahead has really helped how anxious I've been feeling about COVID19 and another lockdown. If the worst happens I don't want to feel like a prisoner in my own home again, even if that's what I become.

@97876757user sounds like you’re well on your way.
Although sometimes even a trip to the expensive local shop for sweets is an exciting day out.

So I've come to the conclusion that what we can safely stock up on are :

Toiletries, medicines, vitamins, pasta/rice, soups, just add water type foods, squashes, ll milk, favourite chocolate or sweets, crisps, cereals, toilet/kitchen roll, stock cubes and spices, tea and coffee and hot chocolate. What am I missing here... Any other suggestions?

@97876757user it really depends on your circumstances. I’m in the city near shops in an urban area so I don’t bother with candles etc.but people in remote areas might.
I have stores of jam and peanut butter but I eat those anyway. They last well and are versatile for cooking with.

Start with the essentials then go looking for lists. Anything helps.

Think breakfast lunch, tea,drinks, snacks, treats, pet supplies, washing and keeping clean. You can move on from there once you are started.