omg I have £25 to last til payday - help!

[fraggletits]

due to various large bills last month and this - plus subsequent bank charges from being overdrawn - we are now left with £25 to last til 27th August

so before I commit financial suicide and go for a payday loan I was just wondering if anyone had any serious money crunching inspiration they would be willing to share?

I have lots of pasta in the cupboard, some mince, some pork chops and salmon in the freezer - that should last all next week. I also have some frozen veg. But that's about it - and obviously we're not making any plans for the weekends!

thanks very much

[Carrotsandcelery]

You would be amazed by how far you can make the food stretch when you have to.

Don't go for a pay day loan, you will just end up in the same situation every month from now on if you do.

Do you have any other bills to pay?

Do you have travel costs to pay?

If not it is totally doable IMO. Not pleasant but doable. Would you be able to treat it as a challenge in your mind?

I would also advise bulking out all meals with lentils etc to make the meat go a bit further, or having quite a few meat free days. It is better for you anyway.

Good luck - we will support you on this thread with idea as you go along if you want.

[colditz]

Do you have any oldconsoles you'd be willing to sell on Facebook (nocharge for advert)?

You could get about £20 for a PS2, more if you have games.

Or a Ds, you can get £40 for an old one, and more if it's a lite or a DSi

Even a hairdryer will fetch a fiver if it's in good nick - and nobody NEEDS a hairdryer.

How many people do you have to feed? If it's just you, it's doable.

[zookeeper]

boot sale? Back of sofa?

[F1lthym1ndedvixen]

can you do a car boot this Sunday? Should be able to make £50+. More if you have some nice kids toys etc.

[cjbartlett]

Ask friends/family to have you round for meals
Get the kids to offer to wash the neighbours cars for £5 or a sandwich

[RickGhastley]

Second the idea of selling stuff ASAP - ebay, local car boot or have a yard sale?

Do you have a close family member or friend you could ask for a small loan rather than getting a payday loan with a zillion percent interest?

Go to the supermarket 10 mins before closing time and get bargain food that is about to go past it's sell by date. Our co-op had packs of sausages for 20p the other night. You can always freeze stuff or make it into a meal and freeze that. And I'm sure you won't die if you eat something just 1 day past it's sell by!

Buy value range everything.

Cycle or walk, do not use the car as it will use petrol

[anitimatter]

Look through your cupboards and the freezer for anything what can be used to cook with.

List your ingredient's here and we can suggest how to make them into delicious meals :)

[learningtofly]

I scour the shops for discounted meat - this weeks pickings included six sausages for 80p. I never buy full price anymore although it can be hit and miss.

Bread flour and yeast can be cheap if you buy supermarket own brands, good for pizza dough as well as small loaves.

Is there anyone near you with chickens who might sell you some eggs cheaper than a supermarket? Good for omelettes.

[learningtofly]

Frozen Veg is also a staple here, fresh stuff goes off so fast and comparatively frozen comes out cheaper.

[anitimatter]

anything Economy in Sainsburys is good quality
flur's very cheap

ask friends/family if they ca nsplit some shopping with you (maybe you'll need just half a bag o flour or sugar)

some corner shops are cheaper for items such as sugar

local market's veg cheaper than any supermarket

[F1lthym1ndedvixen]

how many to feed? Ages?
Baked potatoes
Giant Yorkie puds or pancakes
Soup
I know it sounds daft but do you have any allotments near to you? I am always looking for people to offload potatoes, runner beans, tomatoes, courgettes and beetroots onto this time of year....if you go and ask nicely?
Blackberries are also ready in many places - pick some and whizz with 'basics' natural youghurt and some icing sugar for a yummy pud.
Or make pie if you have ingredients for pastry.

[fraggletits]

oooh thank you all, lots of ideas. There's 4 of us - me, dh a 3yo and 6 yo - had to happen in the holidays when the kids are wanting treats left right and centre!

DH does have an old computer we are going to try and get on ebay asap. Don't have any jewels or anything of value really.

Would never really consider a payday loan but I can totally see how people fall in that trap.

I am seeing this as a challenge - and really appreciate all your advice.

Thanks again :)

[fraggletits]

ha no F1, no allotments round here - great thinking though! :)

[virgiltracey]

What about toys. do you have any that the DCs have grown out of that you could ebay.

sign up to mystery shopping. They generally pay about £10 a go plus often you also get a free meal!

You can definitely feed yourselves on £25 though. It just won't be very exciting! What else do you have in the cupboards? give me a complete list of EVERYTHING and I'll meal plan for you.

[cjbartlett]

Go and stay with your mum or mil for a week

[TheGrumpalo]

I sold a couple of old gold necklaces recently and a couple of rings and got £350.00 from the tesco gold exchange. Do you have anything you could send them in, I had the money in my bank within days!

[fraggletits]

antimatter these are the ingredients I currently have:

I have 4 pork chops, 600g mince, 2 salmon steaks, 5 rashers bacon all in the freezer

I have lots of dried pasta, 1 tin chopped toms, 1 tin beans, 3 old potatoes, 2 eggs, frozen peas, frozen runners, frozen spinach, about 3 fishfingers......and that's it!

oh and some cherry toms looking a bit shrivelly though - a couple of ice lollys - 2litres semi skimmed milk - loads of flour self raising and plain - butter, sugar and caster, demerara suger and vanilla essence

No potatoes or onions at the mo.

[fraggletits]

was thinking that cj! have seen a hell of a lot her recently though!

Grump - I've been skint for ages so unfortunately do not own any jewellery except cheap asda stuff :)

[whippet]

Do you have a local Freecycle? Post a wanted ad on there for any excess fruit from trees (e.g. apples) in exchange for helping to pick it.

Can you get to some countryside to pick some blackberries? Cheap to make apple & blackberry crumbles then!

[Cupawoman]

Make ice drinks and ice lollies for the kids' treats and fairy cakes with basics flour.

Real pity about no allotments near you - someone gave me a carrier bag full of courgettes last week - sick of eating them now!

[colditz]

you don't have enough food to last over 2 weeks with 4 people to feed. You HAVE to get some money from somewhere. Ask a friend/family member for a small loan.

First though, I would suggest buying a sack of basic potatoes and a sack of horse carrots, and beg on freecycle for some apples, or goout looki8ng for them next to railways or in randomplaces like roadsides or parks. Even if theyare sour you can cook them and make them into pies if you make pastry. Blackvberries are in season - pick them daily, They are loadedwith vit c and are free. That's your carb and veg and fruit sorted out for at least a week. Don't be frightened of making chips. You're going to be fairly low on fat and calories otherwise.

Secondly, buy the cheapest eggs you can get and buy enough to use 4 a day for each day you are going to serve eggs. They are the perfect protein. Skip meat - it's too dear.

Buy some semiskimmed milk but buy it as cheap as you can and freeze it (you can't freezeff milk, only semi)

[fraggletits]

sorry, meant no onions at the mo - i do have a whopping 3 medium sized old potatoes to feast on though

[colditz]

you don't even need to be in countryside for blackberries, just somewhere where there are some derelict buildings. Brambles love bricks.

[colditz]

As you have two adults, one adult is safe to go alone next to a road or railtrack to pick apples but I wouldn't take the children.