To ask you how to make £30 last

Food bank.

Make a casserole: couple of chicken breasts, Carrot, Parsnip, Potatoes and gravy granules. Cheap and nutritious and should last a couple of days. Add some broccoli stems to the mix on the second day.

Cereal milk own brand beans frozen peas

A cheap easy meal you could make of tomato spaghetti, the spaghetti is about 28p from Aldi and will last you a few meals, cherry tomatoes or I've even used the little plum tomatoes just whatever's cheapest little ones, and a garlic bulb, boil the spaghetti with some salt, in the air fryer or oven put all the tomatoes in an oven dish and however many garlic bulbs you want, salt and pepper and a splash of oil and put it in the oven until they are all soft and mush it all together with a fork and add it to your spaghetti, you could have it a few times and maybe add the cheapest garlic bread if you can afford it. Another option is aldis own weetabix that's nice and filling with a banana? Lentils are really cheap too and last ages, if there's an Indian grocers near you probably will find it at the best price and a bag of rice. You could make lentils and rice which would last days. Koka noodles are tasty I eat them when I'm on a budget, often in home bargains and Indian shops for cheap. ALDIs own eggs and bread? You could have an egg on toast. Cheese on toast / beans on toast. You might be able to have some better meals if you list what's in your cupboard and freezer if you have anything knocking about in there. Maybe reach out to a food bank x

This is a good idea

Also check this to see if there are any grants you can pick up in relation to current or previous jobs.
https://grants-search.turn2us.org.uk

And anyone, working or not, can contact their local Citizens Advice to request a free benefits check. Have a Google to find your local branch. Or use this postcode search that doesn’t save your details for area specific information: https://www.worryingaboutmoney.co.uk

Lots of advice here if you prefer to DIY: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Also have a look on your local council’s website for cost of living help. Some have a Household Support fund that you can apply for. And make sure you’re getting any council tax discounts due if you’re a single parent.

Finally, it’s a myth that working people cannot access food banks. Our local one will help as a one off, no questions asked. Beyond that, a referral is needed, but Citizens Advice can normally arrange this if you need it.

Who do you think they're for then?

@KateDelRick they're absolutely for people experiencing hardship between paydays. In my opinion, they are especially for working people who can’t make everything stack in the crazy world we live in.

I agree with this. It's shameful that renting is so expensive, and affordable housing in short supply.

So you've got basically 4 days of all meals to sort?

I would do:

A big vegetable chilli that will do a dinner and leftovers for a couple of lunches. Serve with your rice.
Jacket potato and beans for two meals
Omelette with your eggs - chuck the leftover veg from making the chilli in
Sausage and mash with frozen veg

Egg/beans on toast for a couple of lunches if you can afford gf bread

Porridge for breakfast

Cheese? A little cheese goes a long way. Tomatoes too. Do you have bread? Beans on cheese on toast is nice. Cheese and tomato omelettes. Porridge at breakfast time, it's good with fruit, even tinned fruit if you have some in the cupboard, or buy a couple of bananas in addition to the cheese and tomatoes. Jacket potatoes with cheese and beans. All of that is filling and wholesome.

Good luck!

I don't think foodbanks are for people just a bit hard up until payday? Correct me if I'm wrong.

OP has explained why DD is going out and it is part of essential childcare due to an inset day.

where I live there’s a local food pantry, you can just take what you need. I’ve never gone, but have donated before.

Loads of great advice OP which I can’t top, but wanted to say that you are doing all the right things, clearly have your head screwed on right and I’m proud of you. Sorry you are facing this - it shouldn’t be this tough.

Also, if things get more difficult, please reconsider the foodbank - you are exactly the person I hope my donation helps, even once or twice. My good friend runs the local bank and welcomes everyone - those turning up in posh cars (credit presumably), those walking there, households with two working adults and those with none.

Does your council offer any subsidised veg box type services?

Not everyone has access to credit...

If Op is working 12 hours and her daughter is only 13 I can understand Op wanting her to have company so it’s more a childcare expense.

Is getting any financial support from your DD's father an option? You can't afford not to claim everything you/she are entitled to.

This is not an essential expense. With £30 to do you until Wednesday, I'd be telling your DD you simply can't afford for her to go out.

£30 will go a lot further on food when a third of it isn't being spent on a leisure activity.

Feed your family for £20 a week is good on FB. Lots of reasonably nutritious meal suggestions.

I don't have any advice for budgeting, just wanted to say that it is absolutely shameful that a professional has to spend so much money on rent (I'm assuming it's rental of a private property) that they are left scratching for cash to eat every month. Our country is utterly screwed without more affordable housing.

Potatoes, put all in whole in the oven with an x scored in. covered in salt and what ever oil you have.

Very cheap tins of tomato soup, cheap pasta and the 1kg of chicken wings they sell at supermarkets for £1.75.

Boil the chicken wings and extract as much meat as you can get. Put the bones and any limp veg you have back into the pan and boil further.

Also own brand beans, cheese and porridge. Plus any wonky veg aisle fruit you can see.

See if you have a community fridge near you.

Check entitledto.com to see if you can get some housing benefit

Those big packs of chicken thighs in Aldi for under £3 are my go to when I'm skint.

I'd do cheap curry sauce with rice and chicken one night.

Chicken mash and veg one night (( Aldi super 6 but tbh this time of year there's always loads of veg reduced ))

Chicken casserole with one of those sachets one night.

Then something like pasta and a cheap sauce. Spend the rest on a bag of porridge or whatever.

You'll be fine.

Can you get any yellow sticker items?

Eggs for breakfast will be filling, I did a frittata for my DD when she moved home. I wasn’t used to making breakfast as she was away for 4 years. I sautéed veg and added 4 eggs, put it in the fridge and reheated in the mornings.

Yes just checked Iceland mix and match 10 items for a tenner.