What Preps are you doing this week? Part 10

[diamond lil]

I ned to sort out water. We had some but it was quite old and the plastic bottles seemed very frail.

[Peter]

We use food grade plastic jerrycans for our potable water storage, 10 litre ones are not too heavy for a
lady to handle (lifting on to table etc), for 20 litre JC’s we use a submersible pump from a camping shop.

[diamond lil]

That would be better than a load of wobbly bottles - thanks Peter!

[Yorkshire Andy]

That would be better than a load of wobbly bottles - thanks Peter!

Depending on what you are comfortable lifting / pouring
5l for example these stack well

https://www.ampulla.co.uk/shop/industry ... QPEALw_wcB


Been reasonably young I've got 4x 25l jobbies but these are obviously heavy when full and a tap to make decanting easier


If your worried about having to go collect more water look at getting a second hand or new aquaroll type caravan barrel eg


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334864866780 ... 61EALw_wcB

[Frnc]

Just been tinkering with my spreadsheets. I've separated my monthly spending into 4 categories
1. Groceries - includes food, bog roll, cleaning products, washing up liquid, laundry liquid.
2. Whisky
3. Household (includes batteries, washing up gloves. Also includes fibre supplements, vitamin tablets).
4. Prep stuff

1. is the one I want to keep an eye on because of the 19% inflation. I reckon last year I spent about £115 a month on 1. It's an estimate because I didn't separate whisky, plus some Household or not may have been a bit different.

This year so far 1. is £132, which is 15% up. I've been shopping about, switching brands, not buying luxuries as much etc. It does include a few big one offs like 10 bottles of loo cleaner and 48 bog rolls. The latter, I will get 2/3 back off lodgers eventually, so my spend is really a bit lower.

2. I am trying to cut
3. is fairly random and I don't really keep track of
4. I'm trying to keep to a minimum, especially stuff I might never use. Food stocks I rotate just go under groceries. Other items I might or will use anyway probably go under household.

[jansman]

It’s interesting how we all account for our spending. Of course,what suits one ,doesn’t suit others. We all have a personal way of dealing with it don’t we?

My wife bless her,keeps an old fashioned ledger. Literally pen and paper. And it works. Way back in the day I was weekly paid and in cash up until 5 years ago. However,what wife does is break our entire expenditure down to weekly expenses and monthly too. Making each month 4 week out of now monthly income.

When I say she is accurate,I mean it! Every single outgoing such as direct debit ( not too many ) ,groceries,insurance s,including animals,our personal weekly cash each, petrol - all accounted for. All expenses such as fuel is given a good average,and added to each week/ month so as,electricity is paid from its ‘pot’. Car maintenance is another one. If anything goes wrong,or services needed,the money is there. Ever single regular outgoing is accounted for. And regular saving is there too , even now!

From a prepping angle this has been a godsend. When you are literally more than a grand a month down,because illness has kicked in ,it’s an issue. However,because Mrs J overestimates on outgoings,she has an ‘emergency’ account to turn to. It worked for the first three months I can tell you. As my benefits have kicked in, it’s gotten easier,and the account adjusted accordingly. She has a good system.

[diamond lil]

Have saved that link Andy ta. JM I have a system too. I take the housekeeping out of the bank and spend it. When I run out, I stop spending and we eat off the bottom of the fridge

[Frnc]

I ned to sort out water. We had some but it was quite old and the plastic bottles seemed very frail.

2 x 10 litres here for £15.95 incl postage.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404053062167
10l is 10kg, most people should be able to lift one easy enough. They don't have a tap, but I don't think that's really necessary. I think there is a technique for pouring liquids of of large containers without it sloshing, or they may have an anti-glug feature, it doesn't say.

[Frnc]

What I do is check my bank app against my spreadsheet every few days. Was a bit annoyed to see a £17 Aldi shop I'd not added to the spreadsheet.

I guess it's easier to not overspend if you get a set amount of cash out. But some of mine is ordered online, so it has to be digital. Eg coffee, washing up liquid, bag of inulin, bag of psyllium husks was all Amazon. All on Subscribe And Save. Washing up liquid is 5 litres Ecover, I decant to an old bottle.

Just ordered a wide mouth funnel, as getting pasta from a big bag to my flask is difficult, and I wasted a few pieces last night as they went on the worktop and floor.

Made sauce myself, mainly to avoid salt:
1 can tomatoes 35p
1 tube puree 65p
garlic fried in oil
mixed herbs
= about 4 portions. I put the rest in the fridge in 2 containers, might freeze one.

[jansman]

You can of course buy 5 litre containers ( full of water) and easy to handle for next to nowt. Our local Waitrose sells them for £ 1.40 ! I’ll guess the others do it the same or less.