Prepping when ill or infirm

[ForgeCorvus]

Nice to hear from you Jansman.... KBO mate.

I think one of the key principals of Prepping is being able to adapt to changing circumstances.
No power? Have alternative heating/cooking/lighting
No food in the shops? Have a stockpile
No money coming in? Have a sockful of cash
Can't do the things you could at 30? Work smarter

This is what prepping is, not having 57 torches, lights and lamps (but you can have them if it makes you happy....... After all, contentment is rewarding in itself )

[diamond lil]

Loving this discussion, so much commonsense and it is an issue that does, or will, affect all of us at some stage.

[Peter]

Practical as ever!

I loved our woodburner when we installed it but I think we will have to have a rethink in the next year or two. Tightening rules haven't officially affected us yet but we are nervous about lighting the stove before it gets dark in case any neighbour complains. And stacking the logs is getting physically demanding now we are getting onnabit (i refuse to admit I am elderly but I will soon be overdrawn on the old three score and ten). And expensive! We will use up our logs and then probably sell the stove and get a flame effect gas fire for looks and put in bigger radiators so that the central heating is enough warmth. The gas fire should still give us an alternative means of heat in a power cut plus we have a couple of freestanding calor gas stoves

We are in a similar position but we are now both eighty, we burn smokeless coal and it’s bloody heavy to carry about, when we have burnt our coal stocks I think we have to loose the stove. Apart from the coal being heavy it’s a chore moving the ash and cleaning the stove and the hearth every day, easy jobs when we were younger, but nevertheless the stove has been a good friend over the last twenty years.

[jansman]

Practical as ever!

I loved our woodburner when we installed it but I think we will have to have a rethink in the next year or two. Tightening rules haven't officially affected us yet but we are nervous about lighting the stove before it gets dark in case any neighbour complains. And stacking the logs is getting physically demanding now we are getting onnabit (i refuse to admit I am elderly but I will soon be overdrawn on the old three score and ten). And expensive! We will use up our logs and then probably sell the stove and get a flame effect gas fire for looks and put in bigger radiators so that the central heating is enough warmth. The gas fire should still give us an alternative means of heat in a power cut plus we have a couple of freestanding calor gas stoves

We are in a similar position but we are now both eighty, we burn smokeless coal and it’s bloody heavy to carry about, when we have burnt our coal stocks I think we have to loose the stove. Apart from the coal being heavy it’s a chore moving the ash and cleaning the stove and the hearth every day, easy jobs when we were younger, but nevertheless the stove has been a good friend over the last twenty years.

What you say there Peter has justified what I have done. When we first moved in here we had a very elderly neighbour,Muriel. She was easily the same age as yourself back then.She decided that she had had enough of the coal fire as she had been there since 1938. Instead she had a gas fire and was like a lottery winner. A lovely lady.
I am twenty years behind you,but it’s illness in my case. Yesterday afternoon my neighbour Ian came to see me. We are the same age and he has ,sadly, *ancer in his spine.We have always shared logs,cutting and splitting gear ,fixed wheelbarrows etc. Now Ian has told me he will probably get his stoves taken out too.

I am not being grim discussing these matters , it’s just honest reality. Thinking and preparing for real change. The chance of having to live in the woods because society is breaking down ( it appears that way now) is Nil. Hopefully age will come to most people,but so does illness and infirmity too.

[jansman]

Loving this discussion, so much commonsense and it is an issue that does, or will, affect all of us at some stage.

Thank you. I never thought for a moment this would be an issue.

[GeeGee]

Loving this discussion, so much commonsense and it is an issue that does, or will, affect all of us at some stage.

Thank you. I never thought for a moment this would be an issue.

Me too im with you all I love the wood/coal burner but now I'm chopping stacking ..dangerous with the chainsaw to horror film standard ..heaving coal around cleaning it all out daily im sick of it ..worn out ..all because of #ancer ...( wont say the word or the lurking jansman will have me )
Im having house valued in a couple months and see if we can move to something simple
Never thought it would come to it either but we aint getting younger...

[diamond lil]

We did that 3 years ago now GG, for the same reasons. Worn out with carrying coal in and clearing ashes out, and coping with 47k Propane cylinders for cooking and the severe winters up in the hills. I have to say it felt amazing being here, like being on holiday. Gentler weather, tiny cosy warm house, easy to keep clean. I now miss my open fire, but that's all I miss.

[pseudonym]

I went the other route, bought in pre split and kiln dried wood, delivered to within 3ft of my wood store. I tarp it over until a good weather/health day and stack it a bit at a time.

My health problems don't require heating the whole house so the front room benefits.

Mine just involved getting rid of 2/3rds of my preps to food banks and starting again without carbs.

[Arzosah]

There's a surprising number of us living with limitations.

Downsizing is a useful response to illness and age. I downsized in 2010 - I had a huge garden I never got to grips with, and weird storage inside the house that some people had the builders in to remedy, but wasn't practical for me working from home on my own. This house is much more compact, only one flight of stairs (used to be four, including the garden front and back).

My go-to heating is the central heating. I also have a tiny little gas stove that runs on those tiny gas cartridges meant for camping stoves - it's good enough for me, especially since I have an appreciable store of the cartridges

The way several people are saying about getting rid of open fires makes me think of how things used to be: multi-generational homes. An old auntie sitting by the fire knitting, throwing the odd piece of wood on the fire, wood that's been brought in by the youngsters of the family. It might come again when the younger preppers on here are our age, but it isn't here, not right now, so we adapt the best we can.

Odd the way my life has changed over the years I've been retired. I retired from ill health, but less than 6 months after that, my mum needed nursing and died very soon after her diagnosis (she was 90, not unexpected). So we needed to get her house into shape to sell, and I was the one who sorted out her money, as she'd always talked to me about it. Then sharing out her stuff - the pictures have taken the longest! Then there were a few glorious years when retirement was what it was supposed to be in the adverts - going on holidays, staying in London to catsit, I was away for 3 months a year. Then came covid, and when I finally came down with it last year, I was very ill, for a long time. Scary when you're on your own. But my sister and I got used to going for walks together and not much else, then that changed, mostly because she now has a little granddaughter who she looks after once a week. It made me realise that I'd got too dependent on her and she had other obligations, so it had become very asymmetric. And I didn't want to go back to public transport to get about, I'm clinically pretty vulnerable. So I've been learning to drive again. It's stressful in it's own right, and I don't know how long I'll be able to do it, but I'm looking at buying the smallest car I can and getting out there again.

It's a weird thing to talk about starting to drive again as a response to being ill and/or infirm, but it really is - I want to keep my horizons as broad as possible for as long as possible.

[jansman]

Arzosah,some very good points there! “There’s a surprising number of us living with limitations “ is the main one of yours I reckon. We ,none of us ,stay 100% perfect.

So what’s the next part of Age - Related prepping ? It’s got to be money hasn’t it?

I won’t comment upon how people live. Non of my dam*ed business! After all ,many may think we live like peasants . But money is important. Way back we had a plan ( ish) to deal with the situation now.

Grenfell has commented more than once that money is probably one of the most important preps. He is most correct.

Some of us are rich,some poor,many inbetween I suspect.’ Well- off ‘ has a different meaning for everyone. So does ‘Hard -up’. So I will tell you how I am. How we are.

So,my wife is still working. I am glad. She has a ‘social structure’ as a result too.She works part time ,about thirty hours. Therefore her income is moderate. Me? My last holiday payment from my employer is in the next ten days. After that I am totally reliant upon my Dept Work and Pension benefits ( DWP). Mind you,they will increase when my employment comes to an end,albeit not as much! After 40+ years of work and tax payments this is mine. I won’t get a State Pension,I won’t live that long. But payment now is my absolute qualification.I cannot stress my hard work and tax payments,like so many of us here.

We have savings which fall within rules of my current benefits. We own the house outright. That I am glad about,although maintenance is from our personal funding of course. Thankfully I am still fairly mobile and skilled to do most DIY. It helps me to battle my illness.In the last year this has been my priority. Now I am building a list of tradesmen for my wife to call upon,although my sister has several rental homes and she has contacts in that department. It all takes money though. Over the last ten years we have seen health issues amongst friends and family,and neighbours. Therefore we have arrangements with our children to cover our house as it will be theirs eventually. We adhere to the rules.

Sitting in the background- legally - are pension funds and insurance(s).Upon my death,these will go to my wife . This will give her *very* good savings and an addition to her income also. Therefore I am quietly satisfied and calm about what has essentially been Prepping! The promise of additional income for my wife for at least the next thirty years is a better one than a rucksack full of bushcraft kit.
My pension( s) are not massive,but they will certainly help my wife very well. The main life insurance is on another scale too. I could claim all this now,and tax free because I am terminal,but I would lose the disability benefits that I qualify,and more than anything,I have paid tax for it since the late 70’s! Frankly,I am currently as well off as if working,and I intend to stay alive to continue!

Lifestyle is the biggie I think. Our life has been about ‘solidifying’ our assets. We both came from rather poor backgrounds,and we used that as an example to work upon,albeit subconsciously.Our income was never massive either. Our eldest daughter earns far,far more than us put together for instance ( well done!) and many others have and do now,but we were always *careful*. Maybe we should have considered more holidays, new cars and the like,but that was not’us’.

The main thing though is zero debt. My neighbour like myself ,has heavy duty *ancer. Same age as me too. He openly tells me he is up to his neck in debt,and now he cannot work it is causing him worry,bless him.
Lack of money related stress is huge to me. In fact as little stress as possible is fantastic within my passage of illness.

So I’ll shut up now. All I could suggest though ,at the very least,is to save a little money in whatever way works for you,and try to avoid debt as you get older. As soon as you hit 50 you start to feel aches and pains,and it doesn’t improve! All my friends agree.

Take care everyone x