To think it’s actually hard to live off this for the rest of the month?!

[munnyya]

I have 350 to last me and dd (2) until 29th of august. This is for food and household essentials like washing tablets, dishwater tablets, shampoo etc only. I think this is incredibly difficult to do? Am I going wrong somewhere? I can’t understand how this is meant to last us until then.

Oh FFS. She could batch cook a load of mash and freeze it. Use it for shepherd's pie, fish pie, bubble & squeak. Then, maybe, they could have chips or baked spuds ANOTHER DAY in the month! Or roast potatoes with herbs and roast vegetables.

do you have an Aldi or Lidil near by?

I think it's enough to last but I would worry too in case something unexpected comes up that you need to pay for. My best tip is to meal plan and don't browse in shops because you'll be tempted to buy food not on your list.

Food is essential.

Washing tablets/ dishwasher pods are expensive; try to buy liquid instead. We were spending a FORTUNE on the pods until my DH exposed us to the washing liquid. It lasts ages and costs less.

Haven’t read all the thread but you had me at only £3 a meal for a toddler. It’s your attitude to money that’s the issue here.
probably great ideas for what to prep and cook are already on the thread. Oh and duck breasts. They’re a treat for me and I’m not on a budget generally just in my head.
Also ready meals are ultra processed food- not a good idea long term. Find some of the old programmes on tv about saving money on your food budget. I used to think they were made up but realise some people just don’t cook and rely on pre made meals.
Good luck - you can do this.

You’ll save yourself a fortune OP if you can learn a few basics which save you from buying pre-prepared meals and sauces. £3 per meal for your little one doesn’t sound like a lot but even if that’s just for dinners it’s £21 a week which could easily pay for 4 or more meals for both of you to eat.

There are a lot of free recipes online which will teach you how to make pasta sauces, roast chicken with veg, potato dishes, curries, etc. If you can start building up a repertoire of dishes you can cook more or less from scratch you’ll save a huge amount of money and it will give you breathing room in your budget each month.

I use supermarket own brand cream cheese for a lot of sauces for a really quick and easy option. Sometimes I can't be bothered to make a roux for a cheese sauce so I put a tub of cream cheese, grated cheddar, a small amount of veg stock and some seasonings into a pot over a low heat and you get a cheesy sauce in just a couple of minutes.

Another version I do is wilted spinach (a whole bag) which I then blend into a smooth paste (I tried it without blending but my autistic DC didn't like the texture) and put that into the cream cheese in the pot. Again a stock cube and some seasonings (I use stuff like garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and dried herbs but it depends what you like or have in the house) and it's an easy sauce. The last time I made it I had a bag of reduced kale that I added to the spinach, it's a great way to get veggies into kids, especially if you have fussy ones like me.

Mashed butternut squash, cream cheese and a bit of cheddar makes a good sauce too.

I used to make my own tomato sauce for pasta just with passata, some herbs, a stock cube and tomato puree and let it cook until it thickens up a little. DC won't eat tomatoes at all now though so I haven't made it for a while but it's really just bung it in a pan and stir it now and again.

I use all these as sauces for pasta or gnocchi but you can also use them as a sauce on chicken with potatoes or rice and none of them cost too much overall.

Ok, OP, your problem is you don't know to cook. But don't worry, we've all been there.

I taught myself to cook with youtube and cooksbooks, so I know it can be done.
But baby steps.

Ii would be good if you taught yourself how to cook eggs, this Gordon Ramsay's recipe is the best and you'll be a pro in a day, pefrect for breakfast or easy lunch and dinner.
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Next oatmeal, cheap and versatile. I have tried dozens of recipes before stumbling on this one. My favorite is porridge with honey and banana.

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Those are first two lessons for you. Start with these and let me know how it goes, Have luck.

And the pot after porridge and eggs, put it under water as soon as you finish so it is easier to clean, Buy yourself Spontex Tough Scourers or something similar, you'll need to wash your pans easily.

Is toddler in nappies? Are you buying something like "growing up milk"? Are you spending loads on little fruit for your little one (strawberries, blueberries?)

Nappies- don't get pampers or huggies. Asda (little angels), aldis etc just as good. Potty train ASAP. Same for wipes. Bulk buy deals.
Batch cook.
Fruit- apples, satsumas, bananas
Growing up milk- over age 1, just need normal milk
Buying baby rice cakes or baby crisps or yoyos? Just ditch these, they dont fill kids up anyway. Buy things like raisins in big packs, not little boxes. Snacks =toast, cereal

three meals for dd usually little dish but they are only 3 pounds each.

I despair for society sometimes. How can you complain about how much you spend on food and household items and then spend £3 a meal for a 2 year old!

At some point people need to take responsibility for themselves. You have a child to care for, you can’t just say I don’t know how to cook, I don’t know how to do it, I don’t know how to use a freezer.

Wash up by hand. A squirt of washing up liquid much cheaper than dishwasher tablet. Less electricity too.
Batch cook foog. Buy some mince on yellow stcker day,nbulk out with beans and chape veg, add chilli or make into bolognaise. Divide into portions and freeze,
You canvdo this with homemade soup, etc. Get some end of say veg at market, orca 'stew-pack' from the supermarket, make soup. Freeze it

What confuses me is how people get to adulthood and being a parent and thinking that not cooking at all and feeding a toddler on expensive ready meals is the default.

OP what did you eat as a child?
How come you didn't learn to cook as a teen both at home and school?
How long have you been away from home and have you always eaten ready meals and expensive cuts of meat?
How come you've only just realised that you've been shopping like a wealthy person on (presumably) a normal person's budget?
How do your friends, family, work colleagues etc shop and feed themselves? What do you see day to day?

So many questions. OP is there anyone you're close to that you can buddy up with and they can cook for you and you watch and then they come to yours and you cook for them while they give you pointers?

Hi OP, this guide to healthy eating during pregnancy includes some fantastic, easy, and cheap recipes that are relevant to everyone. Page 48 onwards.

static1.squarespace.com/static/59f75004f09ca48694070f3b/t/62e127ee38473938e3f4b5ee/1658923006676/EW_Healthy+Pregnancy+-FOR+WEB+24+July+2022.pdf

Well you’re struggling because you’re spending too much on pre-prepared meals. Ready meals for a toddler arent great. We all needed to learn to cook at some point, start with a couple of recipes and build up.

Its not loads but it's adequate. Can't see that you need to do a great deal of planning to manage on that.

It's generally more economical to use a dishwasher, but if it is a full sized dishwasher and there are only one/two of you it isn't.

Dishwasher tablets are cheaper from the likes of Lidl and Aldi.

I agree it’s tight OP but doable. You do need to shift your thinking away from ready meals for the toddler though!

Download baby led weaning cookbook app. This has great food ideas for the whole family but suitable for babies and toddlers with step by step instructions and approx costs. I used this loads when the kids were little!

Make porridge as it’s cheap and filling- different toppings depending on what fruit needs eating. Honey or jam stirred in if not.

As others have said washing liquid or powder is much cheaper and better I think! Aldi/Lidl for food and B&M or home bargains for cleaning stuff etc.

I don’t agree with others who say it’s ‘loads’. It only takes DC to come home with a shoe broken or coat ripped which needs replacing to make a hole in your budget.

Am I missing something? OP has £100 per week to spend doesn’t she? Surely that’s more than sufficient.

I support people in my job who live on that amount for the entire month for EVERYTHING. Granted that's the UC amount for a single person and you get more if you have a child, but it can be done.

Meal plan and do an online shop. When we were struggling I'd book a £1 delivery slot and plan out all meals for the week, the only thing we'd buy in between was bread and milk which made it easier to budget.

Duck breast and kids ready meals at £3 a pop is pricey! Not usually a huge fan of instagram, but there are plenty of feeding the family and toddler meal ideas which are quick to prepare and some accounts even do shopping lists to make it even more accessible.

Is all/most of your fruit and veg fresh? As fresh fruit and veg has really gone up in price in the last couple of years.

Also vegan alternatives so oat milk, soya milk, soya yoghurt, coconut yoghurt and cheeses cost more that the dairy based ones. Cows milk is sold as a loss leader.

You actually have to do a surprisingly little amount of washing up in the dishwasher for it to be more economical than doing it by hand, it wouldn't have to be anywhere near full.

A dishwasher load uses about the same amount of water as a single washing up bowl/half a sink full, so just think about how that would go if washing up by hand - it wouldn't do much before it was greasy and grotty and needed changing.

Plus if you actually cook, the amount of washing up produced by 1-2 people isn't massively less than it is for a family of 4 because you still have a cooking pot or two however many people you cook for.

But either way, the cost is a tiny insignificant fraction of a grocery bill and using the dishwasher would be a big help for the OP if she does cook, because then she wouldn't have to do the washing up by hand too.

duplicate post in error.

She can't cook.

She hasn't been taught basic cooking skills as a child/teen.

You spend £70 on 3 days of food for you and a 2yo???

What on earth are you eating?