The age old question

[jansman]

I am a lucky chap, in that my Lady is a country girl, ( we have always lived in the same village) and she came from a household that kept food and suchlike in stock. Mind you, I never went overboard when we really started ramping up the preps over a decade ago. I never did the nuclear war / zombie/asteroid thing. Just lack of money/ illness/ unemployment etc. and that all came true at some point of other!

Recently my Wife was put on redundancy notice. So we started to fill any gaps we had. For when it happened. Because we are so well prepared we did not have too much to stock, which meant we were able to deal with income loss without breaking our stride, as it were. Fortunately she kept her job. But this does not mean we will drop our guard.

We do not live in a state of permanent anxiety, not by any stretch of imagination. We are proper party animals to be honest! But it is nice to have resources to deal with the problems that life throws at us.

In our quarter century here we have seen major power cuts , 5 days without water, unemployment and some serious injuries and illness. Our preps have helped enormously. I would say that is the best approach toward bringing a partner ' on board.

[ForgeCorvus]

Hows this for an approach?
"Anyone can become unemployed at any time (even self-employed people) and its very easy to get into dire straights with money (or rather the lack of it) working or not.

Every day people in the UK go hungry for reasons ranging from redundancy to receiving an unexpected bill on a low income. Trussell Trust foodbanks provide a minimum of three days emergency food and support to people experiencing crisis in the UK.

In 2013-14 foodbanks fed 913,138 people nationwide. Of those helped, 330,205 were children.

Rising food and fuel prices, static incomes, underemployment and changes to benefits are some of the reasons why increasing numbers are being referred to foodbanks for emergency food.

Isn't it better to not have to rely on charity or the 'Bank of Mum & Dad'? "

[jansman]

Precisely!

[Decaff]

So I'm not the only one squirrelling away then Decaff. My OH hasn't got a clue that at least one floorboard in each room has some for of cache under it. Only small stuff but each is ok without the others but as a whole make a reasonable kit.

nope, he would be truly shocked

It's interesting to hear that some of you went for the all or nothing approach but I agree with the other side that slowly slowly will work better in the long run. As for he books on rationing my OH would just tell me to stop reading rubbish - as she picks up her latest Mr grey book.
I thought this post might spark some interest and it's given me a few ideas to go on with.
Cheers all

Don't forget to point out that today there is a problem with water in Lancashire where it needs to be boiled before you can drink it or cook with it, make a huge thing of the fact the shops sold out of bottled water very quickly and ooh , a store of bottled water would erase that problem.. Slowly slowly

[DustyDog]

Mrs DustyDog kinda understands why i prep and i have joked about the Zombie apocalypse and surviving it, but she just lets me get on with it, i have gone at her about simple things like having a torch in her car and not letting the tank get so low etc, but think she is starting to see the sense in keeping extra stuff around, but her being Vegan it limits what i can store (have said to her that she'll eat meat if she gets hungry enough). Just keep on doing what you are doing, the first time your preps are needed, your OH will see the sense.

[Deeps]

Mrs DustyDog kinda understands why i prep and i have joked about the Zombie apocalypse and surviving it, but she just lets me get on with it, i have gone at her about simple things like having a torch in her car and not letting the tank get so low etc, but think she is starting to see the sense in keeping extra stuff around, but her being Vegan it limits what i can store (have said to her that she'll eat meat if she gets hungry enough). Just keep on doing what you are doing, the first time your preps are needed, your OH will see the sense.

Ooft, I feedl for you DD, Mrs Deeps is a veggie and that can be a hindrance at times. At least she eats fish now, which helps. She accepts (probably because she can't foresee it) that if we're down to the 'zombie stores' then she'll eat meat. I'm guessing you've got a pretty healthy stock of dried beans etc, she's taken to keeping more of these in ('pretty') Kilner jars of course, next stage is to convince her to buy in bulk. I've been eating more 3 bean chilli's and the like too, I always say that I could be a vegetarian any day of the week, just not every day of the week.

[featherstick]

So I'm not the only one squirrelling away then Decaff. My OH hasn't got a clue that at least one floorboard in each room has some for of cache under it. Only small stuff but each is ok without the others but as a whole make a reasonable kit.

nope, he would be truly shocked

It's interesting to hear that some of you went for the all or nothing approach but I agree with the other side that slowly slowly will work better in the long run. As for he books on rationing my OH would just tell me to stop reading rubbish - as she picks up her latest Mr grey book.
I thought this post might spark some interest and it's given me a few ideas to go on with.
Cheers all

Don't forget to point out that today there is a problem with water in Lancashire where it needs to be boiled before you can drink it or cook with it, make a huge thing of the fact the shops sold out of bottled water very quickly and ooh , a store of bottled water would erase that problem.. Slowly slowly

This was the breakthrough for us. I had to stop catastrophising about Last Light Zombie Hordes, and point towards real events as prompts to some sort of preparedness. Buncefield evacuation, massive winter power cuts, water contamination etc. SWMBO is from the former Soviet Union and she lived through a collapse and she absolutely didn't want to think of another one happening, but when I started relating it to things that had happened recently it started to be more acceptable for her. We were out for a walk when the Buncefield fire happened and we could actually see the smoke from north Kent, so I think suddenly it was real.

She still not so keen about some of the more pointy-sharp aspects of prepping, but gets the general principle and sees where her interests in fibre crafts (saves us a fortune by patching my clothes) and gardening (has accepted that we may eat the dahlias and there will always be potatoes in the garden) fit in to the overall scheme.

[SpaceRanger]

Like so many of the comments on here, I too have found myself telling the OH that a Hoard of Zombies will come one day and we need to be ready. Most of the time, she just laughs it off.
However, since the birth of our Little Man, being prepared in All ways has been SO much more beneficial to her now. From the little things to the big things.

Having another life to be responsible for in her eyes, was the time to start to listen. Ok, as some have said, the knives and tools I have she isnt overly keen on, but that being said, there is a time and a place for everything as well.

I found that she started to get more interested as well when she could use some of the more gadety type things - having a good torch in the car with various modes is great if the power goes out - and also keeps little man entertain on a long car journey (entertained but also maybe slightly blind now..lol)

Still, the point im getting at for me was that, explanation of things didnt always work but demonstrating things did.

Thankfully, we have never had to deal with a major power cut, or water contamination - but if we did, I think this would change her thought process completely.

This is also why I explain to her that being prepared can also lead to a happier life as well - for example - her clothing - if she has too much choice she gets annoyed that she now CANT choose an outfit as shes not sure which one is best. I do understand that having too much choice can make decisions harder. So she has slowly.......really slowly...started to get a bit more organised in her own way - this maybe just clothing and shoes and her make-up - but its made her quicker at getting ready now, she is more decisive and less stressed when getting ready.

This is a good stepping stone for me to help her understand more about what I do and how it can impact on our lives in a very positive way.

[Mad Scientist]

I find it shocking that so many women aren't preppers. Men are "wired" to defend realtime, physical threats, e.g raiding parties, sabre toothed tiger and spearing an antelope at fifty paces. Women are wired to prevent abstract problems, illness, starvation, injury and disharmony in the tribe. All of these rely on a prepping mindset : anticipating oncoming problems from the future. Guess some people get soft after a couple of decades of antibiotics, easy food, water, clothes and blame culture. I don't care whose bloom in' job it is to sort the country out, there's going to be a cock up sooner or later. Enjoy the good times but always, always plan for the worst. "Love a lot trust a few but always paddle your own canoe."

[NorthernWoody]

Mr Northern Woody used to really take the p**s out of me for prepping, but give him credit - he just let me get on with it. Sure enough over the years we have hit some major bumps in the road and preps have assisted a great deal.

Water outage - I have it stored
Economic emergencies - we were fed
Health scares - fuel tank full, cash available as was bob (which just needed adapting to hospital!

He is a convert now.