To ask for your tips on a very lean month?!

[Wombatbum]

😩 v. cheap meals needed, any other tips to get through the month? I’ve got paid today but due to changing jobs and one thing and another I’ve got a shortfall of about £500 this month. Bonus points if you can make it fun 😂😩

Also get the 'Too Good to Go' app. Local shops have a timeslot where they sell off things they need rid off for a much cheaper price eg £3 for a bag of groceries instead of £10

Soups are easy and crazy cheap

Fry an onion
Add another vegetable and/or lentils
Spice if required
Top up with boiling water and a stock cube (no need to crumble just chuck it in)
Summer until veggies are soft then blend.

Roast vegetables with garlic and herbs (try butternut squash, beetroot onion)

If you have mayonnaise in, buy a cabbage and make coleslaw to pad out meals.

You can cris up potato peel with a little oil in a hot oven.

Make macaroni cheese. Spoon out portions into a bun tray and cook till crispy.

Jam tarts are easy and cheap.

Definitely agree with making chapatis. Bread making of all kinds is great fun and delicious and not very expensive ingredients wise

Oh don't be so dramatic. The OP is having a cash flow issue and needs to eat cheaply for a few weeks. It will hardly damage her children's health to live on beans veg and lentils for a week or so. In fact it will probably be very healthy.
Having to withdraw a much anticipated trip to Disney from children isn't going to be great for their emotional wellbeing though, is it?
Denying yourself and your family every pleasure in life just to feel your priorities are 'right' is a pretty miserable way to live. Anyway, I'm sure the OP is perfectly able to set her own priorities. All she asked for was tips for low cost eating not a patronising life lecture.

If you have any Asian supermarkets or shops in your area most essentials such as chickpeas, rice lentils and spices are much cheaper Alternatively the world food section of most supermarkets will sell lentils and chickpeas at a cheaper price then other places within the shop. Also try wholesale vegetarian places such as lembas ( if it is still open Sheffield. It similar on other parts of the country )

We too are having a cheap month OP and I figure it will be worth it when we have a nice break at half term.

Lots of cheap fruit and veg. Less berries more cheap and cheerful apples, oranges, Bananas. Likewise vegetables are less exciting. Carrots feature a lot.

Cheap bread is fine toasted. We have dinner of brekkie stuff - toast, peanut butter and banana slices is a popular tea.

My youngest isn't great with curries/chillis etc so I have tried Iceland food. Really good veggie burger half price in brioche burger buns with wedges and carrot/cucumber were a hit.

Other child and I had a big bean chilli with rice last week and I froze half to have this week in tortilla wraps (rolled up with grated cheese, few mins under grill)

Red pesto and value spaghetti with value garlic baguette (these were from Asda). I find cheap green pesto ropey . The red is delicious. Save enough of the pesto to have in cheese toasties next day. I add black olives. (Cheapest olives I have found is a small tin of sliced black). Sort of pizza toasties. Often use soft sub rolls/panini's or any reduced bread.

Mine won't touch frozen veg except peas so often have raw vegetable sticks whilst I'm making dinner.

Overnight oats in value juice with chopped fruit and yoghurt is lovely.

Really cheap porridge oats and big pot of Greek yogurt is a staple here when economising.

When I'm buying less fancy shopping and ingredients are a bit repetitive I throw in a couple of things I don't usually get so the kids don't feel like we have no money! Multipack crisps, chocolate or sweet. £1-2

@Barleysugar86 I'm the same with tinned cherry tomatoes on toast or fried bread -sprinkled with a bit of grated cheese

@Wombatbum You might be suprised- they've got rice pouches at 65p , eggs and bread really reasonable.

My tip is to look in coats and handbags that you don't use often. Maybe from days out over the summer. Any chance you might have a few quid somewhere that you have forgotten about?

Iceland is doing £5 off £45 and free delivery at the minute.

Veggie chilli or pasta sauce made with whatever wonky veg is available at the supermarket or greengrocer. Also past and pesto cheap and quick, no simmering for hours.

Following closely as I need to have a cheap month next week. Just me and DD. Only problem is she is 6 and VERY fussy.

We have a local pay as you feel place which is trying to prevent food waste, and another place which calls itself a "top up shop" which might be ideal for circumstances like this - you pay £2 and can get a full bag of groceries.

Worth thinking as well about how far you drive - with petrol as expensive as it is, if you have a bike mouldering in the shed that you could get out, dust down and pump up the tyres that might save some cash.

Obvious things as well like not planning anything other than free days out. Worth thinking about free things you might not otherwise go to so you don't get bored and give up - stuff like a local museum maybe, or Geocaching or going to the local woods with hundreds of snowdrops. Going to the library instead of buying new books.

And maybe thinking about the holiday you have booked - is there anything you can take with you so the money you spend there buys you the maximum enjoyment. E.g. making sure you take snacks/drinks/a cool bag or whatever so you can make the most of the spends on the things that will add most value.

Are things like your internet out of contract or anything? Money saving expert sometimes has cashback offers when you switch provider. Any subscriptions you could cancel? E.g. audible can be at least temporarily replaced by using borrowbox or Libby, generally provided by the library for free. Phones out of contract where you could switch to a cheaper provider?

Worth having a clear out and selling any clothes on Vinted?

I reckon this lot plus the many recommendations for cheap recipes up thread will get you most of the way there. I feel like MSE recommends something like a money MOT where you check all this stuff out once a year.

Worth thinking of things like onions from Asian stores or the market depending where you are. I saw a massive sack of onions the other day for really not much, especially compared to how expensive they are at the supermarket. The market is much better value round here.

Look at Mob kitchen recipes - they feed 4 for £10.

If you want some fun, ClassPass is doing 50 free credits.

My favourite cheap eats at the moment are red cabbage and cannoli bean soup (cabbage, onion, beans half mashed up, stock and white wine vinegar… ok sounds gross but it’s a delicious insta friendly recipe lol), chickpea and red lentil dhal, and to be honest you can’t beat a jacket potato!

Not food related but trawl the house for anything you no longer use that can sell to help make up the shortfall.

For women's clothes, jewellery and accessories use Vinted as they don't charge the seller.

For Kids stuff use FB marketplace

Unless you've got something that's a sought after collectible - avoid Ebay

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