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

Shop in Aldi/lidl.
Meal plan
Batch cook
Try to cook from scratch rather than convenience foods.

I spend around £110 a week for 4 adults, 3 meals a day and household stuff.

what kind of meals are you currently eating?

For 1 adult and 1 toddler? You really are spending way more than necessary. Do you meal plan?

That's easily doable it's £100 a week. That's the equivalent of 2 adults and 2 teens spending £400 a week near enough!

I spend less than that for two adults but have to be more disciplined than I would like food wise. You have to make sure you use everything you buy and don't end up throwing food away. Baked potato night once a week helps. Do you have a freezer? Freeze any left overs for extra meals when needed. Wash up, don't use the dishwasher. Bottle of washing up liquid is 68p.

I spend around £120 pw for 5, all over 18! I shop in Aldi mainly and buy very little branded or convenience foods. Branded items are so expensive & not much difference from supermarket own brands!

That's plenty. More than I live off.

Have you got a community pantry nearby? They're a godsend. Also the Too Good To Go and Olio apps.

Can you get to an Aldi or Lidl? Your money will go much further there compared with Morrisons, Sainsburys or Tesco.

But £350 really should be sufficient for one adult and a toddler for 3 weeks or so.

Have you reviewed your whole budget? If there's a few cuts you can make, you might be able to free up a bit of spare money so you can put together an emergency fund so you don't need to stress if the washing machine breaks or when DD needs a new winter coat etc (but look on eBay/Vinted for this).

Have a look at:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

I do family of 4 for £400 a month and I have change. I plan, I shop at Aldi or Lidl and I cut back on non essentials.
Shampoo costs £1, dishwasher tablets if you can't live without cost a couple of quid: you need to seriously look at what you are spending and where. Try using cash instead of card. It makes you massively more mindful of what you are spending x

I think some of these replies make it seem easier than it is! This would be difficult for me too, because I'm not a fantastic cook and I'm not used to planning meals hugely in advance. But it seems like others are confident it can be done - so I'd do meticulous planning now and then I'm sure you will be able to execute.

The way I'd actually plan would be to google cheap meals and come up with an actual meal plan for the week. That would be a couple of veggie recipes that could do a couple of nights each if I did a big batch. And then plan for sandwiches/pasta salads for lunch and maybe cereal or porridge for breakfast. Get the household items in the first shop in the cheapest possible way you can. I wouldn't actually order online because the delivery fee is likely a waste if you can get to the shops easily, but I would add all to basket online so I was really clear on costs ahead of going to the shop and could adjust accordingly rather than being thrown off track in shops,

You have 24 days so I'd probably plan just one week and then be confident I could repeat that x 3 if I needed to.

Sorry you're finding it a bit tight and stressful at the moment. Hope you've got some good ideas here and the month goes ok, money worries are horrid.

I think that’s fine, we do £500 for food and household essentials for a month for a family of four and that includes two very hungry toddlers! Different if you had to pay travel, bills etc out of that but £350 on food / house stuff is fine.

That's plenty. Cereal & milk breakfasts. Water / squash to drink. Cheap lunches like cheese / eggs and toast. Pasta, jacket spuds and other cheap dinners. Some fruit & veg. Some protein. Not sure what you spending £70 on

look into community larders near you, join olio, plan meals before you go shopping.
sometimes it's cheaper to visit multiple stores than get everything in one, prices do vary between them. If you can go when they rotate the days stock because that will be when there's good stuff with yellow sticker/reduced on; normally use by items (so chilled stuff) gets reduced in the evening/afternoon if it expires that day and best before stuff that expired the day before can be found in the morning.

pasta, cous cous, rice can all be bought really cheaply then made healthy by adding tinned tomatoes, beans, packets of chopped frozen veg are really quick to cook and cheap to buy. beans on toast is a filling meal, 70p for a cheap wholemeal loaf and a plain tin of beans 47p (ish).
even cheap garlic bread is 70p or so for two, then you can do alongside soup or whatever as a lunch or dinner

I always buy the giant bags of rice and pasta and keep plenty of spices in house along with onions/tomatoes etc.. stock up on mince/chicken breasts when on offer…the big bags go a long way and work out much cheaper than smaller ones..

That's loads More than I spend in a whole month on that stuff including feeding a full sized 20 year old lad

I spend that a month on food shopping for me and my 18yo. I cannot imagine what you are eating that comes to £70 for 3 days unless you are factoring in a deliveroo habit.

Meal planning is the way to go. I do online shopping and plan meals for the week, using the supermarket’s recipes. They generally have ‘feed the family for less than a fiver’ recipes, which you can adapt to feed two people. Lot less waste, and no having to think what to cook each day. Works really well for me.

Meal plan and have 3 meat free days a week.
Buy a big tub of plain yoghurt instead of invidual plain yoghurts
Have some meals of jacket potatoes, pasta pesto, beans on toast
Eggs or porridge are cheap, filling and healthy breakfasts.
Apples and bananas are much cheaper than strawberries and blueberries.
Bulk meat dishes out with lentils (eg bolognese, chilli or chicken curry) and freeze half for another night.

I think it sounds enough, more than enough but then does OP have a freezer and good storage? What cooking equipment do you have?

I wouldnt waste money on washing tablets and dishwasher tablets, that is an expensive way to do laundry and wash up, use powder and less of it and washing up liquid

@munnyya
What are you buying for £70?

I over spend on food shopping but at tesco

Shampoo 79p
dishwasher tablets £3.29 for 40
washing powder £4.75 for 40 washes

£70 every 3-4 days for food for one adult and a 2 year old us extremely high, what on earth are you buying?
£350 should be absolutely fine for household items and food for such a small number. Not loads if it includes other day to day expenses through the month but it shouldn’t actually be a struggle to keep to that.
If I havent planned a good weekly shop I find I can spend £70 every couple of days but I that’s a family of 4, nappies, a couple
of tins of formula, wine and snack foods etc. I definitely spend more than the bare minimum to hit that, it’s easy to see how it could be reduced if I needed to.

2 adults and a 7 year old is a bit different to 1 adult and a 2 year old.

I hope these comments aren't making you feel crap, OP. I have a similar food/essentials budget (for 2 adults and a 7 year old) and we really struggle. We meal plan and cook from scratch but our food bills are extortionate! And we shop at Aldi. I don't get how people do it.

That would be plenty for me, DH and teen. I do one online Tesco shop every week, meal plan and cook from scratch 90%.

Do you need 3 meals a day? Packed lunches? Do you have a freezer?

Porridge for breakfast. Or cereal or toast if you prefer.
Sandwich, pack of own brand crisps and fruit for lunch. Or egg on toast or soup.
Pasta, sausages, pie, salad, Mac n cheese, vege bolognese, quiche, all sorts of options for dinner. Yoghurt if you need a dessert.
Tea, coffee, milk, squash.
Own brand cleaning products.
You'll find loads of deals on toiletries.

The key is to meal plan. Don't go into shop without a list.

Also it's much better to do a big weekly to ten day shop and get it delivered, having planned out each meal, than to do lots of little shops.

You just need to meals plan