To spend £30 a month on ALL food and drink?

No idea. On balance, I feel it's better not to be rude and dismissive on the off chance they are genuine. You never know how vulnerable these posters are.

I’m going to hazard a guess and say that the OP here has issues with being made redundant, possibly fed up with weight already and made a snap decision that £30 a month could fix everything going forward. (As in controlling something). I say this gently as money issues and existing weight are combined. I may be way off base OP?
On that note I will say there are loads of others who are in the same boat or thought the same.
£30 a week is feasible but not a month. £30 a week would allow you to stock up on herbs, spices, store cupboard, freezer space and eventually then you could easy do £30 a month.
Lots of tips on prior posts .

Do you think it's a genuine poster then? (Not being facetious, I genuinely can't work it out)

Shopping list about £30 to set up your kitchen and feed you for a couple of days. Then maybe you can spend about £20 a week to keep eating.
Marigold microfibre cloths £3.50
Blue for the loo
Pink for the sinks
Green for fresh veggies (wash it frequently)
Vegetable oil £1.99
Sainsbury's Butterlicious Spread 500g £1.25
Sainsbury's black peppercorn grinder 50g £2.70
Sainsbury's garlic granules 58g £1.10
Stamford street ground cumin 43g 69p
Stamford street curry powder 45p
Sainsbury's soy sauce 150ml 59p
Gherkins £1.20
Blue dragon creamed coconut block £1.70
Sainsbury's greek style yogurt 500g £1.10
Black beans 400g 49p
Cannelloni beans 400g 49p
Stamford street onions 85p
2 carrots 28p
Sainsbury's frozen whole leaf spinach £1.90
Sainsbury's Omega fish fingers 10 £1.12
Loaf of bread 74p
Sainsbury's long grain rice £1.25
Red pepper 45p
Cucumber 89p
Penne pasta 500g 69p
2 x tinned tomatoes 89p
Sainsbury's green pesto 99p
Peanut butter smooth £1.09
One salad leaf choice

When you get back from the shops make a fish finger sandwich. Make a sauce for it using a heaped tablespoon of yogurt and a pile of grated cucumber (use green cloth to squeeze out most of the juice), season with salt and a tiny pinch of garlic granules, add some chopped gherkin and salad leaves. That one junk food sandwich will give you more protein than you have been eating in a day and more vegetables than you have eaten in 19 days.

Decide if you want Indian, Chinese or Italian for dinner.
Start writing you next shopping list.

Why didn’t you buy a massive bag of pasta, stuff to make a pasta sauce, eggs, things to have on toast, bread, potatoes for jacket potatoes?

OP I reckon you have the patience of a saint to not respond in kind to the many posters who have been patronising and rude.

It's making me feel like the healthiest cook on the planet and I'm really not

ETA the OPs posts that is, not the helpful menu suggestions.

By the way for reference I have been hungry. Waiting to get paid so I could buy food. Living on cornflakes and running out of milk. Then getting paid and buying a chocolate cake and gorging on it and feeling ill.
A lot older now! Trying to suggest to the OP that carrots are her friend!

Quite enjoying this thread

How is this comment helpful, really?

The posters menu is fine and actually realistic for those who need quick meals on a budget.

I’m not seeing a huge amount of “very highly processed food” and who actually wants to eat oily fish!?

@MemoryFaker
Right I typed all that out and forgot the jar of pesto - so shoot me I am trying to help.
To answer your questions-

I am encouraging the OP to make chicken stock from the carcass of the chicken. The "veg" is not all accounted for it is half a baking potato carrots peas onions stock cube and you could put some penne or rice in it too if hungry or serve with a slice of bread. Then you flake in cooked leftover chicken at the end. I would thicken slightly with cornflour- should I have costed that. Yes if unlimited budget I would put barley in it, parsnips etc- but I am trying to get meals from a small amount of ingredients.

"Rice and Peas"- is not frozen peas it is kidney beans- I am sorry I thought most people knew that? As well you were here to point it out!

Bolognese- no I put onions garlic, grated carrot ( I actually put celery in mine -sofrito but did not think the OP would eat it based on her ) stock cube, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree- yes I add read wine to mine but we are cooking on a budget here

Tomato pasta I would use tomatoes, onion, garlic and chilli like arrabiatta- very different to bolognese and maybe put a little bit of cheese on- I guesss she has salt and pepper

Spicy chicken make paste out of tomato puree garlic and chilli and rub on the scored chicken legs and roast ( I would have taken these off the whole bird when raw)

Oily fish is really expensive so I excluded it but recommended to OP ate it in my original post.
This recommendation does not contain a lot of UPF except for the Pizza- which it looks like she will eat anyway and the baked beans.
There is more veg and fruit than she was eating.

So I think you have been somewhat critical of a genuine suggestion to improve from biscuits and pringles and put together meals balanced in protein, carbs, fats.
So if you think you are so clever do the same and put together 28 main meals and breakfast that will offer the OP nutrition on a tight budget

Also, you do realise that "fresh produce" isn't somehow morally superior to frozen fruit and veg don't you?

A menu containing tomatoes, frozen berries, carrots, onions and peas is a damn sight better than what the OP's come up with though isn't it? I'm also not sure where you got "too much cheese" from - there's one block of cheddar...

This is what you've eaten since 12th November? Seriously? That's hardly anything and barely any nutrition. Really worrying Op I don't think a tight budget should be your main focus.

How did you make the pesto pasta from this? Aside from the frozen berries there is no fruit. How did you make “chicken broth with veg” when the only vegetables were 1kg of carrots and 1kg of onions and a bag of frozen peas that have already been accounted for in other meals (3 roast chicken dinners, “spicy chicken rice and peas”, carrot soup). I’m guessing “bolognese and penne” is just penne, tinned tomatoes and beef mince, and a bit of garlic as there is nothing else on the list that would flavour it. So “tomato pasta” is the same without the mince? How do you make “spicy chicken” when you didn’t buy any spices except chili powder (which is not the same)?

It’s not really helpful and it’s woefully inadequate in terms of nutrition, flavour, and variety. No oily fish. Nowhere near enough fresh produce. Very highly processed foods. Too much cheese and tomato.

Why do you eat like an 8 year old would if they could?

It’s basically all UPF, little nutritional value just fat, carbs and sugar.
i can’t imagine how lousy you’re going to feel if this is what you consider to be a suitable diet for anyone.

Shopping list for post above 1 month
2 x 4pts semi- skimmed milk
2x large pot essentials yoghurt
frozen berries
1kg porridge oats
cereal (basic cornflakes)
2 x large wholemeal sliced
block cheddar
2 x4 packs baking potatoes
1kg onions
1kg carrots
1 pack beef mince
1 pack butter spread
1kg long grain rice
1 pack penne
1 jar chilli spice
4 x tinned tomatoes
4x baked beans
2 x kidney beans
garlic
300g pizza
chicken stock cubes
beef stock cubes
tomato puree
frozen peas
1 medium chicken (biggest cost makes a lot of meals though)

Some good advice here

I think perhaps OP could survive on £30 per month eg

porridge and water for breakfast

for lunch and dinner, huge bag of Aldi potatoes. Add value beans, or cheapest possible cheese

Alternate with value pasta and butter, or Dahl

No tea / coffee

But, it wouldn't be healthy

😮No fruit or veg for a month ? You will get scurvy.https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/scurvy/

I saw the list you gave - where's the fruit and veggies?

This is bonkers, and you’ve basically just spent 30quid on snacks, as everyone has said you will make yourself ill.

I’ve had to live on very little before, and you can’t just have a junkathon. Cheap rice, oats and pasta for carbs (and not tuna pot combos that’s too expensive), a decent spread of freezer veg if you have a freezer, if not yellow sticker veg is great way to get a bargain and for meat and tbh all sorts, you can freeze all sorts of things, I’ve picked up hummus pots for ridiculously cheap on yellow sticker before and flung them in the freezer, for sandwiches etc
if you have a Lidl the Lidl boxes are also a good source of fresh veg/fruit cheap. Lentils/beans you can get some very cheap cans
boil eggs instead of pre boiled ones
and if you’re struggling look into local food pantries mine locally is open to anyone and often has veg in

No, it's not reasonable. When I was a student - 30+ years ago - I spent about £20 a week on my supermarket shop. Didn't really go out to eat much - once a week at the most - lunch on a Sat in town or very occasionally for someone's birthday.

Your list looks like what a young teen might buy if they were let loose on the supermarket with 40 quid. 😂 Don’t you feel ill from all that junk?

If you’re serious about budgeting (not to mention your health), forget about the convenience foods. Buy real ingredients, as PPs have suggested. It will work out cheaper in the long run (though I doubt you could live on £30 a month realistically) and you’ll feel better too.