What is your trigger to start rationing?

[SouthCentralUS]

That is a question put to me today. I have no answer. So what would be your trigger to start rationing? Crops gone or more people to feed?

 

[Neb]

That is a question put to me today. I have no answer. So what would be your trigger to start rationing? Crops gone or more people to feed?

My trigger has always been when...

My stockpile is being depleted faster than I can replenish.

The size of the stockpile doesn't affect the trigger but does control the rationing.

The Princess informed me recently that one my indulgences may have to be rationed. She treats me to steaks on a regular basis. She is seeing the price of steak getting silly and affecting her ability to keep her cache of steaks filled. She said we may be having steaks half as often.

Ben

 

[dademoss]

When I can't resupply.

 

[UrbanHunter]

That is a question put to me today. I have no answer. So what would be your trigger to start rationing? Crops gone or more people to feed?

This is a very good question on a multitude of levels:

On a national level, I think you would start rationing when the marked demand for food prices the poor completely out of the food chain, you ration to limit the volume the wealthy can hoard..... and keep the poor in line.

On an individual level, I think you would ration when you no longer could obtain or afford the rate that you are consuming goods (As @Neb so clearly stated).

On a personal level, I have rationed to extend the supplies that I have or to improve moral at a later date: One year when we were in an extremely sad state I collected half of the kid's Halloween candy and then later we rationed it back to them as special treats. When thinking of this I can't help but think of the Pharaoh's dream of the 7 fat cows and them later being eaten by the skinny cows. I believe that we are nearing an end of a Fat Cow period..

 

[Cascadian]

I have not run into that yet. I have looked at what we have coming in and availability vs what we are using and come close to rationing.

 

[Neb]

I want to put a positive spin on rationing...

We can't ration what we don't have. Then we do without.

But if we have a stockpile, we CAN ration.

Ben

 

[Amish Heart]

I'd ration too if I couldn't resupply. Otherwise I probably wouldn't.

 

[Sourdough]

I have been rationing Tequila for decades.

 

[joel]

I rotate all stored goods, rationing starts when I can not get new food/supplies to rotate the old.
Whether it is because the store shelves are empty or the crops fail again this season.
Hopefully we can make it though the winter on dry goods, can goods & stored vegetables until crops come in June & July.

 

[Supervisor42]

I rotate all stored goods, rationing starts when I can not get new food/supplies to rotate the old.
Whether it is because the store shelves are empty or the crops fail again this season.
Hopefully we can make it though the winter on dry goods, can goods & stored vegetables until crops come in June & July.

We have been fortunate and have not had to think about it even when the roads were closed for over a week.
If our supplies did get low (we keep over 3 months on hand) we would:
1. Substitute other things that had not been 'eaten down' as much.
2. If supplies hit 50%, we would eat 1/2 ration.
3. I grew up hunting and half of what we ate as kids was stuff we had shot or fished. Guns are useful for more than just 'defending the fort'. And I am still a pretty good shot.
Gumbo anyone?

 

[joel]

In sixty years I was trapped once for seven days, now I live in the far south, about 125 miles from the ocean. So no real snow & a lot of luck, Hugo did give me a start. On the seven days without power, we ate hoe cake( one inch thick X 10 inch flapjack) & squirrel with gravy. I have not eat tree rats as an adult, but we ate them & rabbits from rabbit boxes, river fish, doves, quail & venison as kids.

 

[UrbanHunter]

We have not had the trapped experience much (every year we get a couple of days) since 96, when it was 2 full weeks. by the end of the second week without heat, hot water, or lights we were tired of eating cold Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, especially after the bread ran out, then the Ritz, then the salt-teens, and finally the pilot crackers.... The MREs are good, but with no heat or heating pouches they were a little on the ... just can't think of a word for it... wasn't a good word...
The day before the power came back on, some friends with a 4X4 brought us a bucket of hot soup... it was the best thing going... After the power came back on, we tried to eat the leftovers and no one could stand it. It's funny how the creature comforts effect our tastes....

That event has shaped much of our multi-level planning, we demand at least 3 ways to cook and heat, have a variety of food that can be eaten as is, have enough food to endure a major event. We now store our food as parts of meals and we plan around a balanced stockpile of resources. We have set targets every year, first a month's supply of food and water plus cooking equipment, then expanded to 3 months supply+fuel.... after 25 years of ever increasing targets I would not be willing to say where we are, but if we chose to ration I'm fairly sure we can cover a couple of election cycles....

Note: In 96 we were storing food in bankers boxes on shelves in the basement, the boxes were very simply labeled, Beans, Rice, Treats... 3 days into the event I went down to the food storage area and pulled the box of treats - it was full of empty wrappers: it seems our kids could read.... so sometimes if you have young preppers you may need to disguise your fun prepper supplies. We still stock treats, be it cake mixes, fruit, granola bars, or jerky because when things are unpleasant it is always nice to have a treat....

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I have started rationing in a round about way. Every thing gets eaten down to the toenails; ie leftovers in various forms until the last scrap is gone. Treats once per week and will change to two weeks in January, than once per month.

It's not that I don't have plenty, it's that attitudes need to be changed gradually to reduce the whine factor if the day comes for real rationing to start. Otherwise, real rationing starts when you all have stated.

 

[Cascadian]

I
am still a pretty good shot.
Gumbo anyone?

I have been thinking about trying gumbo. What caliber do you recommend for huntin shimp?

 

[joel]

Dynamite short fuse.
Or a throw net.

I have been thinking about trying gumbo. What caliber do you recommend for huntin shimp?

 

[Supervisor42]

I have been thinking about trying gumbo. What caliber do you recommend for huntin shimp?

I'm glad you mentioned that. (Shrimp)
Why we are not worried too much about rationing down here:

Just offshore we have an unlimited supply of shrimp, fish, and crab... before we even start dressing out the first gator . (I won't even mention crawfish) We got meat!
30 miles up the road: Crowley has the nickname of "Rice Capital of America", because at one time it was a major center for rice harvesting and milling. We got rice!
We are frequently up to our a$$ in water, so clean water is unlimited. We got water!
Electric power? Just offshore from us is one of the country's largest natural gas reserves, that our power plants run off of. Over a century worth. We got power!
Did I mention oil wells and refineries? We got gas!
The whole state is pretty much self-sufficient.
(You don't think we put up with hurricanes for nothin' doya?)
So, what exactly are we dependent on, that comes from the rest of the country/world? Hulu?
Sorry I got off topic, now back to giving grandma only a half of a sandwich.

 

[LadyLocust]

As far as rationing, I don't know if you mean just food or all living supplies. I have done what I refer to as extreme savings trying to go without anything that cost money. It helped/helps on the financial front, but also makes one aware of what you are using be it power, paper products, or food items. I like to do it periodically to keep myself in check. If my needs are less, my store will last longer regardless of outside circumstances. So knowing your beginning point of reference is a good place to start. If you are gluttonous, (not saying you are, just an example) I would say you should start rationing now and add the savings to your surplus. If you already live pretty frugally, then you might examine your store and figure out just how long things will last so you can make a sensible judgement.

 

[joel]

OOOPS

 

[joel]

 

[Supervisor42]

Dynamite short fuse.
Or a throw net.

You'll want the net.
Start at 4:31 in this video to see how it is done. And ask yourself, if a person is pretty dang full after eating 12 shrimp, how many people do you think he can feed with just ONE (1) haul? :


Ration THAT!!!
(on topic: Grandma can have both crackers instead just one. )

 

[Morgan101]

Great question, and one I never gave much thought. I imagine I would be like many others here. I would start rationing when I couldn't resupply. To me it raises another question. If you are going to rely on natural resources i.e. hunting of fishing, how long do you think that will last?

 

[UrbanHunter]

I saw last year that as people were frozen out of work they moved out hunting and fishing. I think in a SHTF event hunting resources in the lower 48 states would be overdrawn and quickly depleted. Regulations have controlled the volume of harvest, but if things went south and regulations were not enforced I think that unless you have property that you can tightly control, hunting and fishing would be a poor resource.

 

[Alaskajohn]

The wife made the quarterly run to Costco on Monday and informed me that we are rationing things like steaks and seafood. She didn’t use the work rationing but used the words “cutting back on them as they are now too expensive.” Same thing.

Good thing that she knows 1,000 delicious ways to cook chicken, the freezer is still full of salmon, and our favorite adult beverage prices haven’t changed (yet).

 

[dunewalker]

When costs rise is when to start rationing. Also when it becomes known that a shortage is imminent, like learning about the container bottleneck. Being on a fixed income, I'm rationing food & fuel to keep monthly costs more constant. No recreational target shooting from here on, as ammo is already too expensive to replenish. Increasing my stock of needed meds anticipating a sudden cutoff.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

When we get down to one year’s supply in back stocks

 

[SouthCentralUS]

Thanks everyone. Lots of good suggestions.

 

[Aerindel]

Define rationing and I will give you my answer.

I've found in these discussions in the past, it really depends on the definition.

 

[SouthCentralUS]

Aerindel, that was my question to him. He did not give me a reasonable answer. Eating less? Well, no. So I mentioned stretching meals with rice and pasta and other fillers. That may be more in line of what he was thinking, but he never said.

 

[joel]

I would say less than what you would eat if you had plenty.
But you could name your rationing, as well as your trigger, it is different for everyone.
When I have a large crop I give some of it away to friends, if I am rationing because of a bad crop, they get nothing.

Define rationing and I will give you my answer.

I've found in these discussions in the past, it really depends on the definition.

 

[Aerindel]

I would say less than what you would eat if you had plenty.

Eat less than what? Than I want to? I've been doing that my whole life.

Really. I need a good definition here. Because my answer could vary between 'never' and 'always' depending on what the OP is actually asking.