New to prepping

[KnittingAuntie]

Hiya - looking for some help from more experienced preppers. I'm in my 60's, live in a small 2U2D so haven't got a lot of storage space. I really feel that I need to stock my cupboards for the winter, in case for any reason (snow/illness) I can't go to the shops. Also I'm worried about the rapidly increasing costs.
I have a reasonable supply of rice, pasta, stock cubes, lentils, porridge oats & tea bags and a nice selection of tins of fruit, beans, fish & meat. I also have loo rolls and my normal toiletries & cleaning products.
So, a few questions:-
1 - Where do you keep your extra supplies?
2 - How much do you keep? i.e. is it enough to last you a month? 3 months? More than that?
3 - Do you just stock items that you normally use or are there any items that you've bought for particular contingencies?
Any help or advice you can give me will be very much appreciated. . . thankyou

2u2d? What on earth is that?

You've never heard of 2 up 2 down?

I didn’t realise that’s what you meant.

two up two down - two rooms upstairs, two rooms downstairs

@KnittingAuntie

I keep at least a months stock of 'basics' - similar to you rice, pasta, tomato puree etc. It has to be stuff we eat regularly and I rotate it as I use it.

I have increased the amount of passata/tomato puree I keep as this is becoming more expensive rapidly.

I keep most of my things in my kitchen cupboards with a few bits in the garage.

I don't go in for 'long life' camping style food - I just don't think my fussy family would eat it and it's so expensive.

have a reasonable supply of rice, pasta, stock cubes, lentils, porridge oats & tea bags and a nice selection of tins of fruit, beans, fish & meat. I also have loo rolls and my normal toiletries & cleaning products

How long will this keep you going for?
We have 2-3 months worth of food in the attic.

Many thanks for your replies - I think I've probably got enough for 6 weeks but would probably end up having a few strange meals! The passata is a very good idea as it's so versatile. . . I'll have to get a few cartons

2 up 2 down. Have you any space under the stairs?

Options:

Boxes in the loft space.

Boxes in the shed - cans would be ok out there.

Boxes under beds.

Shelving in main living space repurposed - put books or ornaments into loft space.

We generally have more of things the family including the children would normally eat. I try to stock up on non perishable items and some things that would be easy to heat from a can or packet rather than cook from scratch. Staples such as pasta, rice, dried beans and pulses etc. Milk powder or long life milk cartons. Tins of soup, chilli, curry, sauces, tomatoes, pulses and tinned meats.

3 months or more is ideal, but anything is better than nothing.

Other things that might be useful:

Some cash in case ATM machines and card payment services not able to operate.

A water filter in case water supplies affected by power outages, you can get personal straw type water filters like LifeStraw and WaterDrop via camping supplies.

Rechargeable camping lanterns

Camping stove with butane canisters for cooking

Hot water bottles to fill to keep warm

Kettle that can be used to boil water on camping stove.

Many thanks - you've really made me think about my storage space . . . I haven't got a shed and don't want to use the loft as the access is via the landing at the top of the stairs so a bit hazardous at my age! I think the suggestions about the cupboard under the stairs and under bed storage are the most doable for me. . . will do some rearranging this weekend.
Hadn't thought about milk powder. . . that's definitely something I need. And a few tins of soup would be handy.
Have just realized I've got a couple of tins of rice pudding which is always nice in the winter so will get a couple more.
Did you do a big shop to get 3 months of supplies or did you gradually build it up by adding extras to your weekly shop?

With little space, I think 2 weeks is a more realistic supply.

Obviously some things like tea you might have several months of if bought a decent amount on offer. But generally 2-3 weeks will give you a decent buffer to allow for illness, restrictions etc.

You can also have fresh supplies by keeping potatoes, butternut squash, onions as a general stock.

What's your growing space like? Obviously none of us can be self sufficient but think about growing herbs which don't take up much space and can grow happily in containers. They also add flavour to staples.
I have space to grow a small amount of potatoes in tubs and also runner beans, kale and garlic. Stuff I actually eat.

I have a couple of 1kg bags of soya chunks from H&B. The plan would be to add these to any tomato sauce or veg stew that I might cobble together from tins or stuff I've preserved.

My plan, such as it is, is to have a buffer to get me through any initial nonsense and then see what is available to supplement what I have. Or see what I have that can supplement what I get. This strategy worked well during the early stages of lockdown. I only have a small house too. My cupboard under my stairs is serving me well.

As for more scary stuff like an EMP, I made a faraday cage out of an old saucepan and put a radio, a solar charger, a torch and some batteries in it. I lined it with cardboard and sealed it up with aluminium tape. I have no idea whether it would work but it doesn't take up much space.

I have a rain butt out in the back and a wood stove. I've read up on things like making a composting toilet which I hope I never need to use. I have the means to purify water, things like that.

I never let my car get less than 3/4 full of petrol.

Again, realistically I can't survive entirely independently forever. But I have enough to keep me out of the way of any initial stuff and the wherewithal to keep my head down and be unremarkable if/when resources become available again. If they weren't to become available, I'd have a shot at making do with what I have for longer than many.

I also have tradeable skills - not brilliant but it's something that would allow me to make some stuff that some people will need.

If you have a bath, the wall around your bath should be removable and you can store stuff there. Under your settee/sofa. If you have bookshelves with books on, pull the books to the front edge of the shelf and store behind in that space.

Nothing too obtrusive a) because it does your head in looking at it b) don't want others to see it.

Many thanks for your replies. . . they are so interesting to read and are really making me think. I had a nasty fall a little while back and wasn't able to go out for quite a while and struggled to carry shopping when I was finally able to leave the house. With the weather getting colder I know I'm more vulnerable if we have some icy weather so want to be prepared.
All the suggestions about storage are brilliant. . . I have a lot of books and had never thought of hiding my cans behind them . . . very innovative?!!!
I think I'm going to be doing a lot this weekend to create some space as I only have one wall cupboard in the kitchen for food
Thanks again for your replies. . . Mumsnet is brilliant for this sort of advice

Don't know how that question mark crept in after "very innovative" . . . sorry my finger must have slipped!!!

I find it easier to add to my shop, that way you can rotate items so that they don't go out of date.

Also think about any medication you take that you might need to have and common medicines like paracetamol and ibuprofen. Useful to have a bit extra just in case.

Puddings to cheer you up is a good thing to stock too, like tinned fruit, custard, rice pudding and jam for example.

Chocolate. Amazing where you can slide a bar of chocolate to hide it from your kids for your Brexit stash.

I recommend only buying the type of food you normally get so you don't waste anything.

People who prepare have their preferred foods and supplies, and those that don't make compromises.

Also in a small house but it amazing where you can store items. A good place we found was to store things in the kitchen is in the back or corners of cupboards. The cupboard we keep crockery in has a collection of tinned tomatoes and chickpeas around the edges.

We live in a small 3u2d and I started prepping before Brexit. My family originally thought I'd lost the plot, but then we had a really bad bout of flu and didn't have to leave the house for weeks so they changed their minds, and eventually started buying things themselves.
I went round the house and looked at every square inch, trying to work out where the gaps were, and also started looking online at storage solutions to get ideas.

I struggle to carry shopping so use a shopping trolley. (ATM its also used to store an extra big pack of loo roll, when I go out shopping I take that out and leave it on the floor.)
We have a stack of tins which are mainly soup, passata, tomatoes, chick peas, kidney beans, peas, and various types of meat like chicken in white sauce and curry.
We've got some long life milk, dried milk, and some puddingy things like cartons of custard and tinned fruit.
We practice cooking with them and can make a passable meal, especially with herbs and spices, and even dried milk. We try everything before we stock up on it, and so far the only thing we've donated to the food bank has been some sugar free baked beans.

We have some alternative methods of lighting (torches, batteries, candles and a hurricane lamp that runs on paraffin). Several camping cook stoves, including a charcoal barbeque, 2 butane gas stoves, a chafing dish and gel.
Most of it lives in the cupboard under the stairs, I bought freestanding garage shelves and keep them full. The rest is in boxes and it can be awkward to get to the stuff at the back.
I know people who store stuff behind the sofa but I have trouble getting anything out from there. I said I'd never do this but I'm currently giving away many of my books and replacing them with ebooks, and thats freed up a lot of space. I hope I dont regret it.

I bought a big second hand sideboard cheaply and also use the cupboard under the stairs. Loft, shed and porch can be a bad idea with temperature fluctuating. I define don't have 3 months worth of food, it would just end up going off. I buy things we would use anyway, potentially longer life versions, or things with multiple uses. Also, grow veg and fruit and know how to do a number of preserve techniques.

Very many thanks 🙏 to all of you who have posted on this thread. . . I've found every post helpful and have learnt so much from you all.
I have managed to free up a small kitchen cupboard so have some extra space as well as utilizing the other suggestions you've made about under the bed, cupboard under the stairs, bookshelves etc
I've made a list of all the meals that I enjoy cooking this time of year and a shopping list of missing ingredients. I've added some treats 🍫too!!!! 😂
Thanks to all your suggestions I've made a lot of progress over the weekend so am very grateful for the time you took to help me

That's the prepper spirit! We all prep for the conditions we have so there isn't really a right or a wrong way to do it.

One thing I missed out is that I write the use by date on the container with permanent marker pen. I use big letters so I can read it without my glasses, and add a short code in case the label is lost so we don't end up opening tomatoes and custard.

Ditto date and code. Though dd is my tin reader!

Small packets of cous cous and noodles and custard fit between furniture.

Back of the sofa is for long date stuff.

I started small, and slowly built up my supplies - initially I wanted to be able to avoid dashing to the shop when I got in late from work with a screaming baby so I had at least 2 emergency meals in the cupboard, then was not stuck when we had bad snow for over a week, so by the time Covid hit - I was able to do isolation at home if necessary and also deal with holes in supply chains (like no milk).

I buy things we would normally use in this house, and rotate new items into storage and bring out older ones to use. I have some items that are more convenience than normal (e.g. we use plain couscous a reasonable amount, but I have a couple of packets of "serves 2" already seasoned couscous to just add hot water, or some microwave rice sachets that can be "cooked" with just some hot water rather than needing 15 minutes boiling/simmering). After experimenting to have some shelf-stable milk in a cupboard, we now use oat milk in our coffee but still drink cows milk in tea and cereal, and I have powdered milk that works well in mashed potato if necessary (and is particularly good for any type of mash that will be frozen eg topping for a shepherd's pie).

And while we like to cook from scratch, between the chaos that is our life and knowing occasionally there may be a need to cook with minimal effort, I have a few jars of sauces and other shortcuts as well as my tins of tomatoes. I always have a roll of foil and have gathered a few tin foil containers over time that I can use in the oven or on the BBQ to cook wet things (we use the BBQ a lot anyway, so when it's on we tend to chuck veg and sometimes dessert onto it as well as the meat to use as much space as possible and be efficient with the gas).

I found spaces on top of kitchen cupboards, in the back of a wardrobe, and under the stairs for various items. I keep a reasonable pile of toilet rolls stacked on the floor in the hot press/airing cupboard.

Most of my other prepping has other uses - we like candles anyway (and have proper holders for them). I camp so have lanterns, and a 1 ring gas stove and small cooking pots that work well on that. We had an open fireplace but hated losing the heat so installed a wood stove a few years ago - which is an alternative source of heat (and some light) if the power is out or there's a problem with the gas or boiler (we've had no boiler in the past during a building project we lived through and also the week before Christmas one bitter winter!).

would the cans be ok with the fluctuation in temp if shed is not insulated

No not really, canned goods and many other items have a lower and upper temperature limit for safe storage. They need to be protected against damp, or the cans can rust, and you also have to protect them against rats.