Stocktake Time - Brexit Countdown

[AldiIsla]

Can't believe we might actually have a No Deal crash.

Anyone else finding it overwhelming doing usual Christmas stuff, the winter weather preparations and then Brexit and being ready for more coronavirus stuff?

I need to do a stock take of food and toiletries.

We've been life prepping so boiler has been serviced early, electrics have had an upgrade this year. Car getting serviced next month.

I can't be arsed.
I feel sick.

Clara: we are linked via the children. I need him to have them and give me a break. He needs to be able to feed them. With Covid, keeping us all out of the supermarket was good for us all. I use his house as an extra storage area because I would have to send food for the children if not. Not sure whether he is grateful. He is bemused but agreed. I literally had to take the stuff to his house and leave it there in March, when he was still working at work. Just pushed the shopping bags under furniture. He didn't notice. I think he was pleased when he did the last shop for us and shelves were bare. He soon reverted to not keeping food in. It has been harder to restock as he keeps saying he has stuff but then runs out before the next shop is due. He is incapable of planning ahead.

He just casually asked if I had a spare kettle in the summer. Who keeps a spare kettle normally? (The Welsh now) But out comes the Brexit kettle from under the stairs.

I have had children off school for 12 days and 29.5 days so you are right, having things in is necessary and very sensible.

I think I ought to buy a spare loo seat...one of those things you only normally buy when needed.... And a toaster

Been avoiding this board for a couple of weeks as it just got over whelming mentally! Trying to get back into it this week as I feel no deal is looking more likely :(

We are on day 7 of DS isolating due to a case in his bubble, which makes prepping hard. He’s anxious about Covid, and blended learning is not going well! We have no access to his 1-2-1 just regular class teacher, which makes it even harder as she seems unaware of his capabilities/limits!

So, instead I’ve decided to focus on restocking after Christmas - I have slots booked for 28th and 31st - went for 28th to restock the fruit and veg, hoping supermarkets would have had deliveries of fresh in on 27th. Trying to decide what I feel safe leaving until 31st, or whether to see that shop as a bonus, and just get as much as I can extra!

Has anybody seen the Sainsbury’s nectar offer? They are doing 10x nectar points on ambient goods to encourage people to stock up - supposedly so people do smaller shops Christmas week, but I’m wondering if they are also thinking of Brexit.

@BlackeyedSusan I’m welsh and don’t have a spare kettle 😂 but actually I do wonder if I should buy one. We live on top of a mountain, so in the winter it’s not unusual for us to be snowed in for days at a time.

And it has got me thinking more about power.....thought about this previously as we are totally dependent on electricity for heating (combi boiler that needs to be plugged in and electric fire) and cooking - used to have a gas hob so wasn’t an issue but had to have it removed for safety reasons with DC :(

I had looked at portable gas hob, but was worried about gas canisters, then looked at Kelly/ghillie kettles, but was confused by the fuel issue, and ended up not getting everything. Feel like I must be panicking now, as I’m seriously considering just buying both!

Kettle/ Welsh was Mark Drakeford(?sp) said they weren't essential.

Do you have a barbecue? If so try to get extra charcoal. Much easier than faffing with a Kelly kettle. Fuel for that is anything smallish and burnable. We struggled to get a fire to stay alight. We need more practice.

Camping stoves need to be used outside. .

So probably also need to stock up on warm clothes and boots.

Its pretty grim. I dread what this means for us all. I'm shielding my vulnerable Mum and ensuring she stays safe and warm and has everything she needs. I have ticked a few jobs off the list. The boiler and car have been serviced / mot and has a full fuel tank. We had already switched over to a water filter jug system over a year ago and stocked up on filter cartridges. I have rechargeable batteries and a charging station for them. I need to stock up on cat litter/ food and look urgently at filling our freezer / store cupboard. I've made sure medication is ordered on time. I honestly don't know what else to do. Anyone else feeling sick and scared at what is about to happen?

No barbecue, could buy one but I’m thinking in cold weather a camping stove might be quicker than trying to light a bbq - especially as we are very exposed to wind as so high up.

Our house is higher than our garden, so there’s 4 concrete steps up to the door, I’m thinking I could set a camping stove on those - at least then it would be protected from rain by the fire escape ledge than runs along that side of the house.

Not sure if I have already mentioned this on here, but if you have a lot of tinned stuff it is a good idea to have a spare tin opener. I broke mine a couple of months ago and it wasn’t crucial then, but bought 2 and stashed one for emergencies.

@TeaLibrary I think we’re all nervous. It amazes me though that no one in real life appears at all concerned. All we can do now is plan for the worst and hope for the best!

Bizarre that more people are not worrying out loud.

@Evenstar good thinking my can opener is really elderly!

I was reading again today about possible water supply problems because of importing the chemicals in. I have no idea if this is being blown out of proportion in the media? Surely the govt couldn’t/wouldn’t mess up household supply?? (She says hopefully!)

People in real life think you're weird if you worry out loud. I know, I've tried!
Good call re tin openers. I do have a spare, as I tend to break things. See also: kettle.
Re water - I would hope that if there are problems, they would be prioritised very quickly. I have a few litres of drinking water plus a water purifying straw and some purifying tablets.

Been trying to get my elderly father to stock up but he's very adverse and laughs saying I'm over reacting. I'm not fully mobile, I have an autistic child, then living elsewhere are my father and terminally ill mother. Plus then also add in my adult daughter, husband and two toddler grandchildren- there is a lot that needs prepping for. Between us we having two gluten intolerants plus two coeliac's so gluten free foods are essential. Thankfully my daughter is all for prepping too

@BlackeyedSusan that's a great tip about the barbecue. Much easier than gas camping stoves etc! I very rarely grill anything at the moment as I couldn't trust the DC not to poke their fingers in there, however now they're a bit older I might try it again. I'd love a fire pit but not sure they can be trusted around one yet!! My DP has said several times that we should stock up a bit (after the panic in March and the first lockdown) but then says we seem to have loads of tins around the house - well yes, that's sort of the point... I told him I'd been food shopping twice and that's us done till Christmas, hence the fridge is loaded with food. He keeps saying "oh but I could have a bit more bacon" and things like that; well no, just eat what you usually would instead of pigging out! He ate two entire packs of bacon today, and then will wonder why I have to do an Iceland order mid-month instead of sticking to the plan

Rant over! @Evenstar, good call about the tin opener and @EveLe, I've always wondered what it would be like to live somewhere so isolated! Beautiful scenery, I imagine? I don't think I have the organisational skills to be cut off for days at a time, I'd have run out of milk or something by day 2...

That must be especially tricky with the dietary restrictions @FatherChristmad. Have you looked at Holland & Barrett? They do a range of Free From food and I think some of them you can do subscribe & save on (disclaimer - I haven't eaten any of them so can't vouch for their tastiness!). My DM has very limited mobility and was similar, didn't think there were any issues with getting food until she actually had issues I live a good three hours away though and couldn't help much - in the end she ordered the basic Morrisons boxes until she could get back to a supermarket.

Picked up a couple of tins from M&S today, chilli, curry and Bolognese. Only 1 of each as I’m hoping it will be better than the Sainsbury’s tinned chicken curry 🤢

Been lurking around this forum recently, as have been building up my stash over he last couple of months, as much as I can afford to.

I can’t get a second freezer as concerned about electricity cost, plus am in a flat and squeezed for space. So am concentrating on tinned and dry goods; have filled up my cupboards and will have to start on storage boxes next!

Anyone got any tips for space saving? I’ve bought a few months’ worth of pasta, rice, sauces, tinned fruit/veg, cereals etc. but everything seems to take up so much room...

Just a note to those who are prepping for outdoor cooking - I was reading about it recently, you’d be advised to get cast iron cookware as normal pans etc won’t stand up to the heat of an open fire for long.

Hi no more crumbs, do you have pace on top of your fridge. I just use a strong cardboard box for tinned stuff on top of one fridge and all beverage items go on top of the other. (We use two fridges).

@EzzieLove

Hi no more crumbs, do you have pace on top of your fridge. I just use a strong cardboard box for tinned stuff on top of one fridge and all beverage items go on top of the other. (We use two fridges).

I never thought of that space, thank you...there’s room for a layer of tins there (low ceiling!). I also have a bit of space under the bed, maybe I can get one of those low flat storage trays. Wish I could use my shed more for prepping, but it’s extremely damp in there and I know it’s not advised to store tins especially in them!

@nomorecrumbs would you have space to buy/ put up some shelves? Just thinking they could be handy for tin storage. Depending on how much space you have - IKEA have great storage units and there's always plenty for sale second hand. Failing that my stash is in the larger flat cardboard boxes (banana boxes, I think) which were more practical for our available space. They don't look pretty though

@AdoraBell I've donated that chicken curry to the food bank before as it was the sort of thing they were asking for, oh dear!

Space:
cupa soup packs can be opened and tow boxes put into one by turning four packets the other way up.
cereal: have more than one type of cereal inner bag in the boxes in the cupboard. move about as relative amounts are left. when you are getting to the botom of a pack you can put the old bag on top of the inner bag of the new box. (smallish kitchen owner)

spaghetti is denser and takes up less space than fusilli.
couscous is dense.

look for unused spaces around home. previous posters have recommended:
under beds, wardrobes, furniture, kitchen units behind kickboards, sofa dining room table or a box under the dining chairs if they are ones against a wall.
on top of wardrobes, kitchen cupboards, cupboards,
in loft for things like loo roll.
in garage for cleaning stuff and things in plastic bottles. (pop, squash)
behind sofa, the books on the bookshelf, may not work on an outside wall.

between pieces of furniture (spagetti is good for this) next to furniture if you have space
in fancy boxes on the shelves,
is there space next to the loo for a narrow storage box, specially made for this place?

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl It is beautiful here, I'm surrounded by mountains. We do have neighbours, as its a fairly normal street - its just on the side of a mountain. Its called a village officially, but in reality its just a couple of streets and a few lone houses set on the mountain side. We're not actually at the very top, about 3/4 of the way up, its a 30 - 40 minute walk to the very top, which is a lovely dog walk :) But its over a mile to the nearest bus stop, and there's only a couple of buses a day, so DC have to be driven everywhere, which is a pain. I love it though and can't imagine living anywhere else now. Even 2010 when we were snowed in for 5 weeks didn't put me off! Although I was very glad to see the Tesco van on Christmas Eve after having my food shop cancelled every day for a week! That was the year I started light prepping lol.

I''m getting worried about the Wales numbers now :( Several friends have tested positive over the last few days, and my DS's class is currently isolating after a positive case.

I have a shop coming tomorrow, and once I've organised it I'm going to do a stocktake, and get another order done ASAP as I think we are heading towards another lockdown. I want to be fully prepped by the end of next week.

One thing we did to create more space was to vacuum pack all out of season clothes, spare bedding, towels etc. Do you have suitcases? Fill those if they not already full. Put boxes in the bottom of wardrobes - I’ve put all my shoes into a 30L tub, and then I have enough room to add another 30L tub on top which is full of toiletries and OTC meds.

Just remember that any space is better than none, and you’ll need it fairly soon, so any disruption won’t last long.

Great idea to vacuum pack.

Ex's stash is nearly finished. He has far less than us but I had a good root round in his Brexit stash to see the state of play.

Today's job is....stashing, stashing stashing. Lots of shopping to put away.

Bit worried Blackeyed because isolating at the moment due to case at school, and did not really want to do online shop as they say everything (pasta, sauce, rice, toilet roll) is oos but can't go out until the 16th.