Can i feed me and a toddler for three weeks with £55?

[Fishwearwigs]

Im a regular poster and this is not a begging thread.

I have just done my sums for when i get paid on monday. After my bills are paid i have £55 to spend on food for me and a 14 month old for 3 weeks (18.33 a week)

Can this be done? Has anyone got meal ideas for me please? My toddler drinks 8 pints of milk a week and i drink 4 (in tea but i could give that up and just drink water) so there is a £4 of my £18 gone already. Im a good cook but just struggling for ideas. Ideally id like my toddler to carry on having fruit everyday as well. I have basic items in (pasta, frozen veg and frozen peas) but not much else.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Foodbank referral - depends slightly on area - but health visitor, doctor, social worker, vicar/preist/holy people of other faiths - if there is a gurdwara (sikh) near you they will feed you - simply turn up

Local charities in some areas., citizens advice - google foodbank and your area...
Would recommend talking to citizens advice anyway or checking on entitledto that you are getting all benefits your entitled to as you're working....if your dc are 3 are you getting 30hours/childcare / tax credits

I know it sounds counter intuitive but I would also get some sweet things too you can usually get jelly for about 20p and that way you can have a treat on a Sunday and it’s a bit more manageable

I'll share my cheapest meals here

Lentil chilli with rice or value tortilla crisps (tesco do these for 45p)
Lentils, kidney beans, onion, chilli powder. We do a big batch and have one with rice and one with tortilla.

Big bags of lentils are great.
Lentils, 35p bag if carrots from Aldi and a cheapy ham stock cube makes a decent enough soup.

Pizza with tortilla (60p fir 8 at my liddl) 35p carton of passata, but of cheese plus whatever else you've got. Like a big hot open sandwich. Plus the left over wraps can be frozen for next week.

Quesadilla (cheese fried in tortilla wraps) with a 35p tin of sweetcorn and rice. We only have half a Quesadilla each as the rice is filling.

Cheesy pasta. We make a roux sauce with butter, flour and then milk. Add cheese, peas and frozen broccoli. Tend to make enough for two meals and gave with value garlic bread baguette.

Cheap yogurts and basic fruit like banana and apples. Raisens are great as they dont go off as quick as fresh fruit and you can sling some in tupperware for snacks out and about.

Aldi or lidl is good.
Agree what do you have in your cupboards? This is really tight if you have to buy from scratch but perhaps you have some pasta / rice / tins beans already there? Tell us and we can help
Are there family you can visit for a meal or three? Or to buy you some nappies?

If you're the churchgoing type (or not averse) there are some that do meals after a service at least once a month, and ones I've been to would never turn away a mum and toddler who turned up without a plate to share - more likely you'd be going home piled up with everyone's left over cake. I believe Sikh temples also do free meals but never had the courage or knowledge to try
If all is getting too tight, your type of situation is exactly what food banks were designed for, and they can also help with nappies and sometimes pads for you and toiletries too

Op do you have any Clubcard or nectar points saved that could be used as vouchers?

Indian shops often do huge trays of eggs very cheap too, perfect for protein and an eggs are lovely.

You can do this Op - it's hard but doable - Aldi potatoes and pasta as bases for meals then add as you go...cheese (for both potatoes and pasta), tinned tomatos, beans,lentils.tinned peas etc and you can eat o.k. Would also recommend a look at Jack Monroes Bootstrapcook website. She is really good at cooking a tasty meal on the cheap and she costs everything out too so you have a basic idea of how much to spend.

buy full fat milk and water it down for you,it ends up tasting like semi skimmed

www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/emergency-food/

What supermarkets do you have locally?

Basing this on your OP and will amend when you share a list of what you have in stock at home.
Breakfasts
1.pancakes with tinned fruit. Put leftover mix in mug in fridge for next day.

1. Porridge (use 2/3 water to 1/3 milk) with a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar

3) Toast and jam/marmite/whatever you have in. Lunches 1) soup: French onion, home made tomato, home made carrot and potato. Shout if you need recipes. 2) Sandwich 3) salad fruit Dinners: make the carb the main component: be it pasta, rice, potato, then add 2 or 3 portions of veg and one of protein. Bulk any meat by using a tiny amount and adding oats/lentils etc to stretch it. Eggs and cheese are cheapest proteins (if you include fuel into the cost) otherwise pulses and lentils. snacks: your toddler will be used to snacking so have some inexpensive biscuits/toast strips etc with easily eaten fruit/salady bits. Will add more detail when we know what you have in stock and what you can store.

Its 21 days for 2 people, and its reasonable to budget £1 a day for a main meal; so ask your GP or HV for a referral to a food bank. they may have nappies as well.
You'll be eating own brand eggs, cheese, beans, rice, bread and peas but its doable.

have you got a tesco near,they have a stand of free fruit for kids,im sure you could take a couple ot items for your little one

Is it just for 3 weeks or is that what you will have to do long term? If just for 3 weeks I think you will just about manage with some careful planning. Will you need to buy nappies or wipes?

There is some good suggestions on here, basically lots of rice, pasta lentils and no meat. If your keen to get fruit could you get frozen fruit? I'm sure this is cheaper.

I agree with the first poster that it will be difficult to eat well on that budget (considering there are always unexpected things that eat money too). One week on £18 would be fine, but three is not, if that makes sense.

Rather than waiting and seeing, I would look into food banks now, because there may be a delay getting an appointment at the CAB. Call your local food bank and ask about their referral routes, some may be quicker than others. Also some food banks might bend a rule in your case and operate without a referral as a one-off.

Cheap yoghurts from lidl - good for pudding
Bag of cheap raisins, bananas and little oranges
Cheap bread - freeze what you don't need. Can you make flat breads? (flour, water, bicarb and plain yoghurt).
Baked beans. canned tomatoes. Sack of carrots. Onions (value string bag)
big sack of spuds - will last ages if kept cool and dark, esp ones with the dirt still on. Porridge oats (value ones) for breakfast, although that means more milk.
lentils. Those dirt cheap packs of noodles. Eggs. Rice
Those provide the basics, then tart it up with cheese/spices/frozen veg. Meat will be an occasional treat.
I reckon you can survive - but i also reckon you (not toddler!) will be skipping lunch...
I would also try to speak to CAB or similar re foodbank...

I think 8 pints of milk a day for a 14 month old is quite a lot. Could you try to cut that down a bit? Pop into Tesco at reduction time and buy whatever you can which is reduced to clear and pop what you can it in the freezer. You can usually get some very cheap meat and veg by doing this. If you go into Tesco too they often allow you to take a free piece of fruit for children at a lot of their stores whilst you go around. Buy some big bags of pasta, potatoes and porridge, along with some cheap bread, to go with it and base most of your meals around that.

Do you have any Nectar or Boots advantage card points you can spend? An extra few quid in points to spend could really help you here.

Are there any old toys like rattles your 14 month has grown out of that you could sell on a Facebook selling site for a couple of extra pounds?

You can, probably not much fun though. Assuming from the OP you have curry powder, rice, pasta and frozen peas already.

Shopping list: bread x2 (0.90), jam (0.33), white potatoes (£1.35), baked beans (0.25), bag of cooking peppers (1.15), carrots (0.47), onions (0.75), tinned tomatoes x3 (0.93), kidney beans (0.30), value grated cheese (2.50), 15 eggs (1.25), red lentils (£1.15), sweetcorn (0.35), chickpeas (0.55), frozen vegetarian mince (£1.75), 8 pints milk (2.18) = £16.16.

All prices from Tesco. If you go in person they have fruit for children to eat as they go round.

Monday: toast & jam / jacket potato & beans / pasta with tomato sauce*

Tuesday: toast & jam / cheese omelette / rice with kidney beans and diced pepper

Wednesday: toast & jam / jacket potato & cheese / red lentil and carrot curry & rice

Thursday: toast & jam / fried potato and egg / red lentil and carrot curry & rice

Friday: toast & jam / mashed potato, cheese & onion rissoles / nearly ratouille* and pasta

Saturday: toast & jam / pasta with 1/2 tin of sweetcorn and 1/2 tin mashed drained chickpeas (makes a tuna like consistency, can add mayo if you have any) / veggie mince bolognaise using half the mince

Sunday: toast & egg / pasta with sweetcorn & chickpeas / "keema peas"* and rice

• Fry a diced onion, garlic, carrot, pepper, whiz up with a tin of tomatoes

** Sliced onion, peppers and tin of tomatoes

* Onion, curry powder, veggie mince, add a bit of water to stop it sticking, add frozen peas at end

id go for lots of eggs, bag of flour - and make gallets - savoury pancakes...with cheese - and ham etc...omelletts, scrambled eggs...

agree with reduced stuff...

three weeks of plain eating wont be great but wont kill you.

www.news.com.au/finance/money/budgeting/money-blogger-feeds-family-for-42-a-week/news-story/576f6c63eb11943fd2ed1758eede9b0c

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4358484/Mum-two-feeds-entire-family-just-42-week.html

Get to the reduced section of your local supermarket, in the evening around 7/8pm you'll find all sorts there reduced to like 50p or whatever. Buy a bag of pasta - thats at least 5/6 meals depending on your portion sizes, get tubs of cream to make your own sauces.
Just buy basic essentials - eggs, bread, milk, veg, fruit you can make quite a few different things with just eggs alone. Get some weetabix (or shops own brand) as that's a filling meal any time of day. Iceland is good for all sorts quite cheap - pack of 2 birdeye crispy chicken were £1 last week when i went. Also have ready meals for £1 too. Though I do think you'll struggle - my shop at iceland last week was over £40 and that wasn't even a full weekly shop, just stocking up on essentials myself with maybe 2/3 meals in there. I'd definitely look into food banks.

Actually meant this one but any tips help i guess

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5649609/Thrifty-meal-prep-mum-27-cook-50-meals-snacks-1-serve.html

All prices from Tesco. If you go in person they have fruit for children to eat as they go round

Mine doesn't!!