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

Freeze things in leftover takeaway cartons washed out, or in plastic bowls with a sandwich bag over and sealed if its all you have.

Or order some foil containers with cardboard lids - cheap in bulk off amazon etc

Or tbh you don't even need to freeze meals. Buy the list of stuff i posted, will keep a week in fridge, make meals with shortest date ingredients/green veg earlier in week.

You can buy freezer bags, they're cheap and available wherever you do your grocery shop. Just write on them what it is and the date, I try to use them within a month personally but I know you can freeze a lot of things for 3+ months and it's more a case of its not going to taste as good after so long rather than it being dangerous if you forget about something in the back of the freezer

OK, so you need to learn to cook. Do you have a friend/relative who can help? If not, look on YouTube etc. Buying ready meals is much more expensive than cooking from scratch.

I've been there, I'm not the world's best cook but when DC were babies/toddlers the ability to make a cheese sauce was a godsend.

I don't know how to make every thing either. I looked up how to make white sauce. Get on your pc/iPad and youtube it.

Also think about what type of learner you are. There are loads of videos and instagrammers etc. Or recipe sites. The information will be out there if you research and use the right key words. Lots of recipes are categorised by time, number of ingredients, cheap etc.

You're best placed to do the research because you know what type of food you like and what will be similar to how you currently eat. But maybe just find one or two recipes that look good and try. You might have to google every stage like how to chop an onion but you'll only have to do it once.

Note to self: teach my kids to cook.

Buy some basic plastic Tupperware type boxes from the supermarket
stuff will freeze for ages - months - things like shepherd’s pie.
our normal bowls are freezer proof so I use those and cover with clingfilm.
or put in fridge for up to 3-4 days.

maybe start off with one recipe/suggestion. Does anything suggested above appeal to you?

When I went through a period of having no money, I bought a cheap jar of curry sauce and cooked some rice. I'd get a spicy jar as I could just pour it over the rice with no meat etc in it. It was surprisingly nice and very filling.The sauce is £1 from Tesco and it lasted me a couple of days, so I'd feed myself for two nights for about £1.20. It's surprising what you can do if you have to!

Other stuff you can make with shopping list above:

Add cooking oil

Yorkshire puddings - flour,egg, milk
Pancakes- flour egg milk, berries etc
Veg soup with any leftovers
Cottage pie instead of bolognese using mince, mushrooms, carrot,onion, potato, milk butter, bit of stock. Cheesy mash if you like it.
Veggie curry instead of chicken- chick peas, lentils, peas, potato, carrot, onions

Oh and when you're a bit better off buy a slow cooker (£15 ish) you can throw in chicken, veg, stock and it will cook itself

You can stick to basics like pasta with grated cheese, boiled or scrambled eggs, cheese sandwiches, beans or cheese on toast, salads, chopped fruit, yoghurts, rice (microwave ones if you have a microwave). No need to try to learn stressful cooking with a toddler underfoot!

Look up simple step by step recipe videos online and follow them

I really sympathise with you on this - people can be so judgemental if you're an adult who doesn't cook but I've just managed to have a relatively balanced diet without it by buying these kind of semi prepped ingredients. And I can imagine if times got tough I would struggle to completely readjust.

Could you try making just one or two recipes this week? I'm probably not the best placed to advise on what or how (hopefully others will chip in on this). A traybake recipe might be most similar to how you currently eat and an easy adjustment https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/traybake-dinner-recipes

Don't be ridiculous. I merely mentioned dishwasher tablets. If she can't make her budget work, these are non-essential. Don't try your "straw man" arguments with me, love.

Sometimes the sauces/toppings are more basic than you think.
perhaps air fry or roast a couple of chicken breasts - top with a squeeze of lemon and black pepper. Or olive oil and Chinese 5 spice in a jar.
pouch of rice to serve
we did a lot of chopped pepper, cucumber etc instead of cooked veggies

Do you need new shampoo, laundry detergent etc. every month? But yeah that should be quite easily doable if it's just for food and those essentials. If you also needed to run a car and pay for any bills or fun stuff, then it would be a challenge.

How are you run off your feet? I'd love to just microwave something everyday so please don't think I'm judging but you have to learn to cook because you can't afford to keep buying what you're buying. Do you plan for toddler to have ready meals her whole life?

Find a recipe (tesco spaghetti bolognaise - easy and tasty) and literally do what it says. If you have no clue how to chop an onion youtube it. Double the quantity and you'll have 8 adult portions you can freeze. If you follow a recipe properly you can't go wrong. Please try and let us know how you get on!

You can make sauce for chicken with cream or creme fresh, and some fried garlic and herbs. Or just cook tinned tomatoes on a pan with added garlic powder, olive oil and dried herbs. use frozen spinach in the sauces too, it doesn't really need much cooking.
Ready meals are so pricey, and you don't need to peel potatoes.

International pony.

Also shop in Aldi/Lidl, it's a lot cheaper.

I have to be honest. The advice here would not do me any good. I’m not saying it’s not good advice, but if you’re not coming from a place of meal planning and cooking regularly it’s hard to know where to start.

Here’s a list of some good looking recipes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/1_dinners

But more importantly there is a link to pantry items that looks pretty versatile.

Start small… pick one or two things to add to the weekly menu and buy less of the prepared stuff to offset the cost. Frozen veggies are your friend because you can scale what you prepare.

duck breasts or chicken in a sauce, some veg, prepped potatoes of some sort

Yeah so these are expensive prepared foods, as are the toddler ready meals. You can't afford those? You'll need to cook properly.

Buy:
1kg Pasta
4 tins Chopped tomatoes
A bag of red lentils
A bag of oats
6 pints whole milk
Eggs
Peanut butter
Frozen berries
Frozen mince
Chipolata sausages
Chicken thighs or drumsticks
Rice (long grain)
A sachet of curry seasoning
Bread
Basic yoghurts
Apples
Bananas
Broccoli
Bag Spinach
Carrots
Onions
Potatoes
Frozen peas
Bacon
Pudding rice
Baked beans
Plain flour
Bicarbonate
500 sugar
Block butter.
Veg stock
Block of cheese
Mushrooms
2 Tins of chickpeas
2 tins tuna
Box of teabags

Make:
Porridge for breakfast with frozen berrues or grated apple/chopped banana

Meals - make 4 portions each time & freeze two for a 2 week menu

Chicken & Bacon risotto (use pudding rice. Cheaper). With one piece of chicken, hakf pack bacon,half pack mushrooms, peas, onion. Bulk out with a few lentils to maje it go further, cook in the stock.

Spag bol - mince,chopped tomatoes, grated carrot, pasta. Bulk out with a few lentils, add a bit of the veg stock & a dash of milk into the sauce.

Chicken curry - chicken, carrot, onion, chickpeas, tin of chopped tomatoes, sachet of seasoning, spinach. Long grain rice. Chuck in a teaspoon of the peanut butter and a bit if the milk for a nice sauce

Cheese/Bacon/mushroom omelette with broccoli on the side. Slice in some potatoes like a spamish omelette.

Lentil & bacon soup

Sausage & mash with remaining broccoli, few peas and carrots.

Tomato veg/pasta (add any spare bacon/sausage/chicken).

Use cheese/eggs/spare bacon/peanut butter/tuna for sandwiches with bread. At fruit/yoghurt for lunches.

Flour/sugar/butter/any eggs left = simple cakes, biscuits
Milk & pudding rice & sugar - rice pudding
Flour/sugar/butter & spare apples/berries (go pick blackberries they are free!) = crumble

Oats/sugar/butter/apples/peanut butter - look for flapjack recipes online

I couldn't agree more.

£3 for a toddler meal! That’s where you’re going wrong! Your toddler should only cost £10 or so to feed for a week not for 3 dinners! You don’t have to be an amazing cook to make nutritious meals for a lot less than you’re spending! And if time is an issue simple meals don’t take long. Just a wee bit of planning so you have the right ingredients in. Loads of ideas on this thread & good links too! Good luck op ! It’s shit being skint but you can definitely save money and then you’ll have cash for a treat now and then or to save for a rainy day / bigger treat !