Gransnet forums

Chat

How long could you last ?

(91 Posts)
nanna8 Thu 17-Nov-22 09:22:10

Just thinking, reading some other threads, how long could you last on the food that you already have in the house without having to go shopping? I reckon we (2 of us) could last about a month just now. Then we would have to start eating grass and Italian parsley which seems to be about our only regular ‘crop’ in the garden. Our freezer is small and about half full.

tanith Thu 17-Nov-22 09:23:38

Probably a week or two but I’d run out of milk, bread and fresh fruit and veg in days.

Septimia Thu 17-Nov-22 09:26:17

Probably a few weeks, but we'd be eating an awful lot of stewed apple. The cats wouldn't be too thrilled with their diet!

luluaugust Thu 17-Nov-22 09:27:03

If we lived off of tin food probably a month but I always seem to be running out of milk and fresh veg so not very long.

Grannybags Thu 17-Nov-22 09:32:44

Probably 3 or 4 weeks (two of us) but I'd really miss fresh fruit and veg. I always keep some milk in the freezer

Georgesgran Thu 17-Nov-22 09:33:06

Probably months - other than needing milk and the odd loaf.
DH died last year and I’m still working my way through the freezer! The tin cupboard is going down nicely though.

Kate1949 Thu 17-Nov-22 09:38:24

Probably a few months apart from fresh stuff, bread etc. We have a lot of tins and pasta.

Lathyrus Thu 17-Nov-22 09:39:05

I could probably last three or four months on the fat I’ve already stored (sigh)

henetha Thu 17-Nov-22 09:41:50

At least a month I think. I've got some tinned food, and a full freezer. And I always keep a few cartons of long life milk.
Bread and fresh veg would be the main problem.

Mamardoit Thu 17-Nov-22 09:45:35

I think we could manage about a month.

We would run out of milk and bread within a week. The long life milk, part baked rolls and cream crackers would see us through week two.

After that it would be the stewed apples, runner beans and tomato sauce from the freezer. We do have lots of tea bags and toilet rolls.

Yammy Thu 17-Nov-22 09:45:35

So sorry for your loss.
My mum was in the same position and she never did get to the bottom of the freezer an 8-year-old Turkey right at the bottom.
In our house for about a fortnight. I have two small freezers and one has just packed in so I have been using up all the food odd combos of meat, fish We have a bread maker so if I'm well stocked with the right flour and yeast we would be alright for bread.

Callistemon21 Thu 17-Nov-22 09:51:08

Last years and this years soft fruits would keep us going for some time!
Otherwise about three weeks but without milk, fresh fruit or vegetables. I'd have to be inventive with recipes.

Aveline Thu 17-Nov-22 09:53:31

Only a couple of days.sad Luckily, the cats would be OK for quite a while.

Lathyrus Thu 17-Nov-22 09:55:13

😱😬

(I think that’s what you meant🙂?)

aggie Thu 17-Nov-22 09:56:08

Probably a year ! If I made do with black tea !

Hetty58 Thu 17-Nov-22 09:58:47

I don't store much but I've got loads of flour for making bread (bannock, scones, biscuits) and a sack of rice. Porridge oats could make oat milk and the tins of green lentils and chickpeas would do lots of curries - oh, and some veg in the garden. Cooking could be a major problem with no power supply, though! I'd have a problem with pet food (vegan goes hunting/trapping?) and could I manage at all without all the tea and coffee?

Purplepixie Thu 17-Nov-22 10:00:07

We could manage for about 2 weeks but we would need milk, unless we froze some of that as well.

merlotgran Thu 17-Nov-22 10:00:45

I’d be OK for two weeks but would need milk and bread after that. Not sure how long my stock of gf flour would last but frozen veg should see me through for a month.

Hellogirl1 Thu 17-Nov-22 10:06:14

About 2/3 weeks, if we eat sparingly.

Witzend Thu 17-Nov-22 10:14:50

Not very long - we’ve only got the freezer bit of a fridge freezer, and no cubic miles of cupboard space. I do usually keep some bread and long life milk - or frozen excess milk - but neither would last more than about a week.

During the first lockdown, though, I did quite enjoy being inventive with what was lurking at the back of cupboards, inc. some very out of date e.g. split peas and GF flour.

karmalady Thu 17-Nov-22 10:15:49

At least the whole of winter as I have plenty of dried foods. Having lived in the middle of no -where and even at age 25, I did well on the food we had when winters were bad

2010 suddenly we were snowed in, living in a valley, for six whole weeks. Did not want for anything, except chocolate and things to do in the house. Remedied that for here. I will not be going out anyway, when conditions underfoot are dangerous

I have had plenty of winters of experience and am always ready for the worst case. I can make my own plant milk, soya, almond or tiger nut

nanna8 Thu 17-Nov-22 10:36:58

The danger for us is power cuts defrosting the fridge and freezer compartment. If that happened it would cut the time back a lot. I don’t have many tins but I have a fair bit of rice. Must get more coffee , I need that in the morning, not that I am addicted to it of course 😃

Theexwife Thu 17-Nov-22 11:17:27

10 days, I know this as if I cannot sleep I try to think of how many meals I could make only using ingredients that I have. 10 is the most that I get to.

MawtheMerrier Thu 17-Nov-22 11:32:33

It would be an interesting challenge and apart from milk I am tempted to give it a go. It would cover the expense of Christmas!
When we were young parents I had a more or less fixed budget for my weekly Sainsburys shop but used to try to buy a little extra each week for 4 weeks and then miss out on the fifth.
That “freed up” the weekly budget for one-off purchases.
A simple “jam jar” form of saving but effective!
Can’t remember why I stopped though. After what Jeremy Hunt has in store for us today I think every little will have to help.

nanna8 Thu 17-Nov-22 11:40:37

In the old days when we were first married( mid to late 60s) we never ate out, got takeaway (did they even have that back then apart from fish and chips?) and we had a lot of potatoes and pasta . We didn’t actually have a fridge or washing machine either so we wouldn’t have lasted long at all. The potatoes then were pretty vile, often greenish and rotten inside. We never, ever, get nasty potatoes now, they must do something to prevent it.