To ask you how to make £30 last

https://www.iceland.co.uk/offers/frozen-offers/easy-teas

mybe nt first choice-but needs/must
leaves nuf for milk/bread

It is like anything else, these skills need to be learned. With so many people relying on ready made meals, it is hardly surprising that not everybody knows how to cook competently. You would know this if you have been on here, for any amount of time.

Iceland are doing 10 items for £10 at the moment. Mix and match. Not the healthiest but will tide you over
Bag of oats with milk for breakfast
Check if you have any supermarket loyalty points too
January is a tough month for many

I popped into waitrose on way home yesterday and they had a bag of potatoes reduced down to 25p, carrots 19p, 2 sweet corn 24p. There was trolleys filled with veg, and bread! Was about 7pm. If you have one nearby it'd be worth popping in around that time.

£5 co op deal- pizzas, mixed veg, chicken (either southern fried or dippers)
£1- peas
£2- Potatos
£2- beans x4
£1 bread
£1- bolognese sauce
£3- mince
£2- soup
78p- bananas (Tesco pack of 5)
£1- apples
= £3.22 left for too good to go bag or snacks

Sat-
B- porridge / fruit
Lunch- dippy eggs and toast
Dinner- spaghetti bolognese with grated cheese

Sun-
B- porridge / fruit
L- soup
D- pizza, homemade chips, peas

Mon-
B- porridge / fruit
L- left-over bolognese
D-jacket potato beans and cheese

Tues-
B- toast / fruit
L- cheesy homemade wedges
D- chicken mash veg

Get to the shop before school run Wednesday to buy lunchbox stuff if nothing left.

Not the healthiest but do-able!

£22 for two days food from the supermarket is fine. get bread, milk, cheese, and whatever meals you want

What sort of meals do you usually cook?

minced beef, tin of tomatoes, onion and you can make a pasta bolognese

some chicken and wraps with peppers and onion and you can make fajitas

Go through your cupboards & freezer. You might have stuff put away that you had forgotten about.
Potatoes & porridge are very cheap.
If DD is not keen on porridge then sugar, jam or honey will make it tasty (I know it's sugar but it will get you through until wed). Carrots & parsnips roasted in honey are sweet & tasty even for kids who don't like veg. (Assume you're okay for gas/electric)

Any reward card points, amazon voucher Xmas gifts etc? Free drink vouchers eg Costa/Nero - big hot chocolate with cream could be a lunch.

Ask around friends & family - alot of people chuck away cheese & chocolate as starting new year diets.

Snap 😂

Do you need to pay for electric/gas from the £30 (i.e. are you on a prepayment meter)?

If so, some of the suggestions may be dearer than you'd think by the time you factor in cooking costs (e.g. Baked Potatoes with beans are cheap, filling, and tick some nutritional boxes, but require the oven on for an hour and a half). Whereas the co-op £4 for 3 frozen items that someone posted may be less nutritious than some of the other ideas, but it's cheap and will take less cooking.

On another note, if it's practical to do so, go round shops 1-2 hours before closing to get the reductions. I used to do a regular journey that led to me popping in to Aldi on the way home at about 9pm, there were always loads of reduced items, often dated the following day rather than the day I was in.

For a few days it doesn't matter if you don't get your five a day.

A big bag of wonky carrots is a cheap way to get some veg as are frozen peas.

A bag of cheap potatoes and some cheap brown rice, use them alternate days to give you the bulk and energy then you need just need to make them interesting. How you do that depends what you have in your store cupboard/freezer and what you like. Chicken thighs are cheap for protein, cheap cuts of meat are nice in a stew or casserole.

Eggs are filling for lunch and porridge for breakfast.

Too good to go is great but you don't know what you will get so no good for fussy eaters.

Veggie chilli is an inexpensive meal. You can use carrots and onions in it and add some frozen peas with tinned tomatoes and some tinned beans such as kidney beans and butter beans. A batch will last for a few meals. You are likely to find a receipt that includes the spices you have in / ones you can substitute. You can have it with the rice you have and maybe pick up a few jacket potatoes to have with it on other days.

Sounds weird, but sometimes I make a pizza flavoured frittata by adding a couple of tomatoes, oregano, and grated cheese on top to go under the grill. You could add a couple of potatoes for the teenage appetite to bulk it up a bit. Or use them to make garlic wedges on the side. Any green bargain veg with it.

For Sunday I’d make a big pot of veggie chilli using kidney and another type of tinned bean (whatever is a good price, but something like cannellini). Have it with rice on Sunday, then leftovers on Monday with jacket potatoes. Put a small tin (or frozen) sweetcorn in with leftovers if you need to top it up a bit.

Tuesday night, sausage and mash with peas (or beans if you like them).

Make some jelly for afters, so you feel like you’re having a little treat.

I love Too Good To Go, but it will be difficult for people with a restricted diet, especially no wheat. My local one often has an Aldi bag, which is amazingly good value and could easily feed two people for several days, if you didn't mind eating some odd combinations of things. But you would have to take your chances that not too much of it would be things you can't eat. The last one I got had 7 blocks of cheese in it, and a lot of veg and bread.

@tearsandtiaras have you fished down the sides of sofas, checked all pockets in the wardrobe, all yours and dd's bags for spare change, etc?

I don't eat wheat either: bean stew with onions, tinned Tom's, courgettes, spices. Could a basics chicken do 4 dinners and 2/3 lunches. Make stock with the carcass, a carrot and an onion, add a chicken stock cube and bag of Carrots and you've a warming soup - bit of sweet potato and some spice would jazz it up.

For veg stick to greens, Carrots, onions which are cheap.

A punnet of plums is about £1.19 for about 8. Halve them, tbs of water, spoon of sugar and simmer for 6/7 mins. Nice with porridge or as desert with a carton of custard.

Packet of jelly made up with half a banana and some of the custard.

Most areas have loads of olio members unless you are in a tiny village you should find some things on there.

Tuna i quite expensive, I would always choose sardines or mackerel.

I’d buy,
Bag of potatoes,
(baked potato one night chips another night)
bread (breakfast toast, sandwiches and French toast)
tin tuna
tin beans
chicken
cheese
milk
pasta / pesto
lentils and a veg soup mix
mixed salad
bananas
apples

Have a look around your house & see if there's anything you can sell to supplement your income. Old toys, books, household items etc. My neighbour sold her broken washing machine for £50, the guy bought it for parts.

I'd also join olio & see if there's a free community kitchen to stretch my fridge budget. See if you can pick up a remote admin job or a pub /restaurant/supermarket shift as a way to supplement your income in tue long term.

https://olioapp.com/en/

Bread and Butter scheme?

I am not sure how you count so different number of breakfast/dinner and lunch?

Ok if you cannot eat wheet, but you can surelly eat rice?

Breakfast
Child: some porridge or cereals and milk
You: porridge

Lunch
Child: bread, tomatoes or cucumber and cheese or tuna
You: as above but with rice

Dinner
Potatoes with baked beans
Rice and lentil somsthing
___
Or buy a chicken, cook it for soup.
And then roast with vege and potatoes

You can solid eat:
Soup with rice
Chicken tortilla
Chicken and potatoes and mayo
Normal roast dinner
Chicken and vege stirfrys for lunch

İf you can get a bag of polenta, it's very filling with whatever you want to add into it.

Iceland where doing 10 items for £10. Not the healthiest but would be fine as a one off

https://www.iceland.co.uk/offers/frozen-offers/easy-teas

Then rest of budget for some veg and fruit bread and milk

Shopping list:
milk, potatoes, beans, bread, pasta sauce, frozen veg, cheese, tins of soup,

breakfast: porridge

Lunch: jacket potatoes, beans on toast

dinner: pasta bakes, soup and bread

use your eggs and rice to make egg fried rice and chuck in some of the frozen veg