To think it’s actually hard to live off this for the rest of the month?!

I've seen posters on MN complaining about having to spend £50 a week on strawberries and raspberries and avocados etc and how their child eats a £4 punnet of blueberries as a snack. I can believe it.

I had a toddler and his mum visit me at home in June. He spotted that I had a large ripe mango on the countertop in the kitchen and kept demanding it. I gave in thinking he'd just have a slice but he kept wanting more and ate it all while his mum looked on proudly and told me he regularly eats a whole mango. And when I opened the fridge door for milk he saw a punnet of strawberries and wanted those too. I thought his mum would just give him two or three, but she rinsed them all and then gave him the punnet and he ate the lot. He was in my home for three hours and ate £4-worth of fruit. Apparently this was his normal daily diet.

Bloody hell, are you eating steak every day??

My husband gets £900 a month state pension, I get the lower rate of PIP, which is about £400 a month. We pay all our bills, run a car, spend £90 a week on food and household stuff (soap powder etc).

And in answer to your op I generally have less than that in disposable income to cover petrol, food and basics for me, a 3 year old and a 9 month old (not counting dp money as his fluctuates). I know it isn't a race to the bottom and we are living in a serious cost of living crisis but sometimes you do have to see it as a little bit of a challenge and make the best of it. There's times I've gone into a supermarket with say 2.54 in small change and a fiver on my bank card and thought ok how can I get the most out of this.
I do tend to stockpile food though when money is good ready for hard times.

Absolutely plenty. Get yourself to Aldi for the lot, it goes a long way!

Tesco and Sainsburys cost a fortune!
Shop around and compare prices. Aldi, Lidl, discount stores etc. Bulk buy anything ambient (toilet roll, tinned goods) either on an online delivery or if you can get out in the car. Minimise fridge stuff that's where they hit you on the mark ups, if you cook keep it to ingredients, but then if you find yourself throwing any fresh food away reassess how you eat.
There's loads of websites on frugal living, the money saving expert website has loads of tips on their forum too.
It is really difficult when you have children though isn't it.

No washing tablets; buy a bottle of fairy.

Why are you buying ready meals for toddler at 3 quid apiece?! You could make a healthy meal for 1/5 of that per serving, or less.

Seems like a lot of indulgence and waste in your budget.

Absolutely possible for you and one DC.

This week I've kept to below 100 for myself, older teen and young primary aged child.

Planned meals include:
Lasange and Garlic Bread
Pasta and Meatballs
Gammon, Sweet Potatoes and Vegetables
Pork Steaks, New Potatoes and Corn on Cob
Burgers, Salad and Fries
Chicken Stir Fry and Noodles

I usually do an extra portion and keep refrigerated for younger ones lunch the following day.

Due to being off school also
Soup and Rolls
Paninis
Jacket Potatoes with Toppings
Hot Dogs

My two love to snack so apples, banannas, raisins, pears, strawberries, yoghurts, biscuits, crackers etc

I shop asda and aldi as well as Home Bargains for toilet rolls, cleaning and toiletries

OP you really need to learn to cook but I get that feels like such a daunting task. People on here explaining how to cook to you I expect is too much of a leap.

honestly if I were you, I would order a gousto box. It’s £40 for 4 recipes for 2 people. It sounds like you are the only adult so that’s 8 meals for you basically for a full week. You can also get introductory offers of 65% off when you join so even cheaper.

following the instructions in gousto will give you some basic cooking skills.

your child could eat the same as you or just give her the little ones meals if she doesn’t like your meal.

you need baby steps when learning to cook and people telling you to buy a slow cooker and how to make a chicken last a week are not being practical to your circumstances.

for the household stuff, just go to Aldi and bulk buy the basic range of dishwasher tablets, shampoo etc.

good luck x

I get that you can’t cook and in a time of financial stress “learn to cook from scratch” probably isn’t helpful, but you could probably manage basic things like:

Penne pasta with jar sauce - should be no more than £1.50 for a 500g of pasta and an own brand jar of sauce, that should make about 4 portions.

Rice, kidney beans and a jar of chilli sauce- again should be doable for under £3 to make 4 portions, you can get a kilo of white rice for £1.85 which you will only need half of, chilli sauce for £1 and kidney beans for 50p.

Own brand baked beans are cheap and all you need to do to make a baked potato is buy a big potato, put some holes in it with a fork and microwave it

Similarly you can make curry using own brand sauce, chick peas and more of the rice.

You can also buy own brand tinned soup and own brand bread and margarine.

You can get 4 bean burgers for £2.10 and 750g own brand wedges for £1.50 and a kilo of frozen peas for £1.55, again that’s a few meals.

Peanut butter you can get for £1 a tub that you can use with the bread for sandwiches, buy apples and carrots and cut into sticks.

It might not be the most exciting stuff but you should be able to manage basic meals made from jars, packets and tins, plus tea, coffee, some biscuits and a bit of fresh fruit.

It's plenty for food for an adult and a child, but is it like that every month? That must be difficult with all the other demands from life. Clothes, birthdays, unexpected bills etc. it sounds a bit stifling.

Yes, they've run out of money because they buy duck breasts in sauce, ready prepared potatoes and 'must have' chocolate.
Quick- off the food bank.

Yes, that's exactly what food banks are for. People who have a healthy grocery budget but have spent all their money on the expensive version of everything so might not make it to the end of the month.

OP does NOT need a food bank voucher.

I would try to get a food bank voucher.

They usually have essential products (cleaning products, shampoo) as well as food.

Are you claiming every benefit you are entitled to?

I really sympathise with not having been taught how to cook and food budget, OP. It's a not a standard skill set nowadays (including for me - I've had to drag myself up to an understanding of how to do it and I'm still not perfect!)

However it's really great when you start to get the hang of it and can make cheap, tasty meals exactly as you like them, with loads left for freezing.

Slightly weird suggestion, but could I suggest using the free ChatGPT or similar to help you? I have been known to give it a list of the items I have in my fridge/cupboard that need using up and asking it to plan me reasonably healthy, cheap and easy meals for [insert number of children and adults] for the week using those ingredients and including a shopping list of any extra things I'd need to buy to make its suggetions and their likely cost, and a simple step-by-step of the recipes.

If it comes up with anything you don't like, just send it another prompt asking it to substitute that one for something else. If something had too much cooking, tell it that, etc.etc. until you have a plan you like / within your budget, dietary and other requirements. You can tweak your instructions and requirements as many times as you like without feeling like you're being a burden on an actual person or having to do the brain work ir creative thinking yourself!

It's a really useful game changer if you've not been taught to plan in that way.

We have soup one night a week for our meal. Have done for years. I hardly every buy meat but when I do I get a large tray of mince and freeze into smaller portions. Pasta and rice are good to have in the cupboard. Lentils are super cheap. I use as a veggie substitute in shepherds pie with chopped tomatoes and diced veg. Go to Lidl or Aldi. You don’t need dishwasher tablets. For just two of you it’s cheaper to wash up by hand than run the dishwasher. Go to home bargains for toiletries.

A freezer bag…

Yeah, you have to stop buying ready meals and prepared vegetables. Eat more vegetarian meals, or bulk meat out with lentils or beans. Look at canned and frozen alternatives. Plan properly and keep an eye on portion size. Snacks = bread and jam rather than sweets. You can do this!

I've got £243.40 til next payday.
£9.70 a day. This is just for food/spends, everything else is deducted.
Compared to what I've had per day in the past that feels like loads.
£14 per day is well managable and more. Comfortable even.

You need to shop in much cheaper shops, Aldi and the like. Even Asda is expensive compared to it.
then you need to stop buying brand name household items. Just buy the supermarket basics for your washing detergent, Almat from Aldi is less than £4 for 2kg box of powder. The same size Ariel box is £9 and the Aldi one was voted better by Which.

as others have said, you’re splurging on food you can’t afford.
if you want simple recipes then these 3 ingredients ideas are good and if you don’t feel confident to make a bolognaise that can be made to feed at least 4 that you can then freeze portions of them just buy the pork and beef mince (cheaper than beef mince alone and in a large amount) or even turkey mince which is healthier and cheaper. And buy one of Bolognaise powder mix for £0.36p and you’ll be fine.

No wonder you have no money; buying prepped potatoes says it all!

Jesus Christ. I have less than that in my account and I have 4 kids! You're probably living above your means. Sit down, write out your expenditures and figure out what is essential and what you can manage without.

It's sad that cookery is no longer on the school curriculum.

When I was at school (and I am very old) my O level cookery exam (domestic science) was to plan and cook a 3 course, nutritious meal within 2 hours , and within a budget.

Or the gel.

Learn a couple of basic meals- as an adult first thing I learned was pasta sauce use tinned tomatoes, passata, basil, onion, tomato puree and whatever else you like mushrooms, peppers. Add this to pasta or to some mince and you have a bolognese.

When my son was a toddler and I was working I'd make simple things - sausage & mash, pasta dishes, soup and toasties.
Baked potatoes are a good quick and easy option too lots of cheap toppings eg beans, cheese.

Use the time you are going shopping 2/3 times a week to meal plan. Use click and collect or get a delivery less likely to impulse buy things you don't need it def saves me money shopping this way.