Novice prepper on a budget!

[Coffeeismylifeforce]

Hey all! So as I’m guessing most people are, I’m getting pretty anxious about the coming winter and want to have some things stored away as a just incase. I’m a single mum on benefits (though very much hoping to find work in September!) so don’t have much spare, if anything, as it is. With food costs likely to rise considerably more along with everything else it makes sense to have some essentials in. So my question is, what things would you prioritise? What do you think will be most essential/likely to become much less affordable? Thanks!

I prioritise:
-things that I know the children will eat. I always have pasta, pasta sauces, chopped tomatoes, rice, tuna, couscous, mixed herbs, stock cubes, tomato purée.
-things that we get though a lot of. Cleaning stuff, washing powder, loo rolls.
-toiletries. Shampoo, soap, toothpaste.
-cat food

Much as people criticise her, look at Jack Monroe's website- cookingonabootstrap.com. If you can afford it, her paperback Tin Can Cook is really good. Her Corned Beef Chilli is awesome although tins of corned beef have gone up in price.

Start trying out some tin can recipes if you can. Or just introduce tinned veg to your diet. Add an extra tin of something you like to each shop to build a little stash. If tins don't work for you, add an extra household thing like toothpaste or whatever to each shop just to create slowly a buffer of essentials

It's tough in this weather but look at how well you can keep warm this winter with the heat turned down or, should the worst happen, with no heat at all. And remember that walking around wrapped in fleeces and woolly hats can be pretty depressing for everyone in the house. Think about ways to keep your household busy or keep spirits up.

If you celebrate, think about getting Christmas presents in early. Again, bought slowly as your budget allows.

In terms of lighting- again if the worst happens and the power goes out - look at cheap head torches wrapped around an old four pint milk container that is filled with water. Turn the torch in and it diffuses the harsh torch light and can be easy to carry.

Not sure if you have any growing space - you will not become self sufficient (no one can tbh) but growing a little of your own can be good for your spirits as well as your diet.

Hit the shops for reduced camping stuff from around now. (Supermarket) and possibly a bit later for sports/camping shops.

I picked up some cheap headlamps from the supermarket a couple of years ago. Don't forget the batteries.

Oil for cooking going up.

Coffee. Anything that grows really as harvests around the world are not great and cost of shipping increasing. You can't stockpile fresh stuff but things that are in jars and tins can last a long time.
I tend to stockpile whatever the supermarket gives me as an offer, if it has a long date. For the past few weeks this has been instant coffee, as I am getting around 30% off, plus it lasts a couple of years unopened.

Before you rush out buying, have a look at home to see both what you already have that should be used up, and what space you have for storage.

Especially the freezer - can you organise it to have space for extras?

Because when you are shopping generally and know you have space, you can check the yellow stickers pile and not only grab things you can use today, but anything that would freeze to use another time (that is in good condition). Or if there are good special offers going on for bbq or back to school seasons in either fresh or frozen (often things like fish fingers and oveb chips are on special for back to school - fish fingers would be useful to stock up on, potatoes made into HM wedges would be cheaper so i don't tend to stick up on oven chips in freezer, just 1 pack for convenience).

But also look at space for cupboard things and put aside any extra money for taking advantage of offers you see - on things that you and your family eat anyway - not 3 for 2 on lentils as it's cheap but if you have a recipe you love then go for it. If you want to buy then as a cheap food, buy 1 tin first and try out before buying lots in an offer, inc are you hate them.

Generally, it's about slowly building up extra supplies of things you use anyway to reduce long term costs or be self-sufficient (or less dependent on outside help) in an emergency. So if you normally buy 1 pack of cereal, try and get 2 to save 1. Look at the things you use a lot of, particularly things that your family find hard to change (a particular type of food, or certain brands) and consider what is likely to be more expensive and/or harder to get.

You might already do this but if you can, get hold of large freezer bags and, after you have filled them with a homemade soup or stew, close it and lie it as flat as you can before freezing it. Stack these like books in your freezer.

Shop around. Know where the cheapest stuff is. When you go to Aldi buy tinned peas, when you go to Asda buy say paracetamol or soap and no tinned peas.

Thank you so much for your replies all! Some of them I’m already doing - I’ve got some veg growing in the garden, I got some blankets to keep warm in the sales earlier in the year and have started on things like detergent and cat food as both have to be quite specific due to our/pets needs. Needless to say I’ve also started on things like coffee given my username 😅 think I’m going to have to get my son used to soup as he’s fussy and not a fan but I love a good soup! I also don’t eat meat which obviously limits some of the things I would go for but have got “cooking on a bootstrap” by jack monroe so maybe will have to pick a couple of recipes to try out! Love the milk bottle lamp idea, will need to give it a go!

Stock up on more of whatever you use for your periods. I was a 'period poor' teen and really struggled with that as I wasn't given any help, so once I had some spare money, I'd always make sure I had spares.

Bellini is the expert on home made reusable period pads.

Thankfully no periods for me on the pill but thank you for the input 😊

You need to think what your priorities are.

What yours are and what mine are are different.

Whilst I agree that we’re all going to have different priorities, I think it’s good to get a basis to start on. There have also been some interesting ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of that I might try and even if I don’t, someone else who has a look at the thread might 😊

You say you are a vegetarian. We are actually moving to more vegan and veggie meals because of the increased cost of meat. You probably already have good knowledge about making the most of fresh veg with shelf stable staples like rice.

I try my best but always interesting with a picky young one, I’m pescatarian rather than vegetarian so tuna is a good shout in this house! Given how much I see meat is nowadays I’m sure I already make significant savings over those who eat it regularly but even so I’m preparing for a winter with no heating 😬

If you are pescatarian, think about other fish in tins that might be useful for salads or risottos or pasta dishes. Tuna and salmon and sardines tend to be relatively readily available in supermarkets. I see Herrings a lot too.

But you might get prawns or shrimp in Asian supermarkets, and things like mussels, clams, octopus or squid occasionally as well. In Oriental supermarkets or certain general supermarkets (I think Sainsbury's do some), or in the various weekly specials in Lidl/Aldi (particularly Spanish, Portugal or Greek food weeks).

(We generally have a fair amount of tuna, DH likes an occasional tin of salmon or sardines, but I find a few of the others useful at the back of the cupboard - and I keep a large bag of frozen prawns in the freezer to chuck a handful into a stir fry).

Sardines will be cheapest I think.

I have started to slowly build up the tuna but it probably is a good idea to diversify my stock lest I get bored 😅

Basics like pasta. Beans. It's worth getting on olio as sometimes you can get bits that are tins

I try to keep a 3 month supply (takes time to build up) of our preferred toothpaste, shower gel etc, i have found this ties into to frequency of offers.
Our family love colemans tuna pasta back, so when the are on offer i buy 4 packets, but also make sure i have a tin of sweetcorn, tuna and a small UHT milk for each packet (although UHT is not as cheap as it used to be.
If you have a couple of pounds spare by something shelf stable that your kids eat. If you can make spare back up meals all the better.

Seeing a lot of people talking about a poor tomato harvest this year - drought on top of everything. Stick a tin of cheapo chopped tomatoes with your weekly shop if, like me, your cooking relies on it. The price even of cheap Aldi ones is going up. Think about getting some in bit by bit.

People prep for different things. Some are disaster preppers and will have water purification tablets, iodine tablets, generators etc. This is all fine but it can involve a heavy outlay for things you might never use. A lot of people who struggle with anxiety fall into the trap of focussing on this type of prepping.

Others are more “old school living” preppers and I think this is becoming more and more common and will be the sort of thing that will help you most. This means having a good pantry/larder stocked with things you actually use (even if in reality that’s some cardboard boxes in the loft or under the bed rather than an instagram worthy walk in pantry), growing some of your own fruit and veg (even if just mixed in with everything else in the existing beds rather than requiring dedicated space and equipment), make do and mending rather than automatically thinking things have to be thrown away and replaced, cutting back on things you don’t really need to do or buy and instead spending time using things you already have, eg board game night at home rather than an expensive cinema trip.

It ultimately becomes a lifestyle change but one that will give you more security and resilience. Nobody is suggesting you try to become self sufficient since that’s an awful lot of work but many of us will need to divert money towards fuel and food and away from other things and “domestic prepping” is very helpful for this.