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.

How are getting through a bottle of shampoo every month 🤔 that's alot of hair washing. One 400ml bottle lasts me at least two months and I wash my hair every day!

Also you can use half a dishwasher tablet per cycle and they work just as well.

Yes or you could do that depending on if you have a Lidl or Aldi near you and if you think their tablets work as I find the cheaper tablets are not as good.

As PP said though you only really need to run the dishwasher when it’s completely full so would be better in the long run to get some cheap plates etc so you can do this.

Yes you can.plan your meals. Buy potatoes, rice, bags of pulses, baked beans, chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, frozen sausages, eggs and pasta. That way you've got omelette, potato and sausages, vegetarian curry, tomato pasta, jacket potato with beans, veggie chilli con carnie and chips. If you have any money left over, buy sweetcorn, peas, brocolli, cucumber and cabbage to go with the meals. Breakfast can be porridge and toast.

Hi OP

from all the messages I’m sure you have now realised that being unable to cook is why it’s so expensive. You can change this but I’d advise you to do it gradually. There’s no point spending a fortune on a stocked pantry and fresh food if you can’t turn it into meals.

start with a list of meals you currently like to eat. If you don’t like shepherds pie normally then don’t bother trying to learn something like that. Then try to make one of those at home. Slowly build up your repertoire and start having the pre prepped stuff as your treat or emergency meals.

even pasta, a jarred sauce like pesto and some fresh veggies and chicken added is pretty simple.

jack monroe has a lot of easy recipes using basic ingredients. They also talk about how to build up a store cupboard gradually https://oursouthend.wordpress.com

some things freeze better than others but a good rule of thumb is, anything in a sauce freezes better that dry food. So pasta sauce freezes fine but pasta not so good. It’s not foolproof as rice also freezes ok but it’s a starting point for you to be able to make some decisions about what to freeze. Nothing worse than defrosting a meal and then finding its not nice as it shouldn’t be frozen. It’s also quick to boil pasta whereas making a sauce can take time.

But if you're paying for Amazon Prime you're already paying 7.99 a month.

I doubt you're saving as much as you think.

That is my normal budget after bills every month for me and my teen.

Its more then enough for just you and a 2 year old.

I was never taught basic cooking either, so you have my complete sympathy.

My advice would be to find 2 or 3 simple recipes and make these over and over.
The recipes are usually for a family of 4 and so each one will last you for two meals.

You can then have some frozen food to break it up or do things like jacket potato with beans and cheese.

You want a weekly or 2 weekly meal plan, where you eat the same foods on the same days - it just makes shopping and life so much easier.

Also try supermarkets own brand stuff which is often the same but a lot cheaper.

Learn a couple of basic meals- as an adult first thing I learned was pasta sauce use tinned tomatoes, passata, basil, onion, tomato puree and whatever else you like mushrooms, peppers. Add this to pasta or to some mince and you have a bolognese.

When my son was a toddler and I was working I'd make simple things - sausage & mash, pasta dishes, soup and toasties.
Baked potatoes are a good quick and easy option too lots of cheap toppings eg beans, cheese.

Use the time you are going shopping 2/3 times a week to meal plan. Use click and collect or get a delivery less likely to impulse buy things you don't need it def saves me money shopping this way.

Or the gel.

It's sad that cookery is no longer on the school curriculum.

When I was at school (and I am very old) my O level cookery exam (domestic science) was to plan and cook a 3 course, nutritious meal within 2 hours , and within a budget.

Jesus Christ. I have less than that in my account and I have 4 kids! You're probably living above your means. Sit down, write out your expenditures and figure out what is essential and what you can manage without.

No wonder you have no money; buying prepped potatoes says it all!

You need to shop in much cheaper shops, Aldi and the like. Even Asda is expensive compared to it.
then you need to stop buying brand name household items. Just buy the supermarket basics for your washing detergent, Almat from Aldi is less than £4 for 2kg box of powder. The same size Ariel box is £9 and the Aldi one was voted better by Which.

as others have said, you’re splurging on food you can’t afford.
if you want simple recipes then these 3 ingredients ideas are good and if you don’t feel confident to make a bolognaise that can be made to feed at least 4 that you can then freeze portions of them just buy the pork and beef mince (cheaper than beef mince alone and in a large amount) or even turkey mince which is healthier and cheaper. And buy one of Bolognaise powder mix for £0.36p and you’ll be fine.

I've got £243.40 til next payday.
£9.70 a day. This is just for food/spends, everything else is deducted.
Compared to what I've had per day in the past that feels like loads.
£14 per day is well managable and more. Comfortable even.

Yeah, you have to stop buying ready meals and prepared vegetables. Eat more vegetarian meals, or bulk meat out with lentils or beans. Look at canned and frozen alternatives. Plan properly and keep an eye on portion size. Snacks = bread and jam rather than sweets. You can do this!

A freezer bag…

We have soup one night a week for our meal. Have done for years. I hardly every buy meat but when I do I get a large tray of mince and freeze into smaller portions. Pasta and rice are good to have in the cupboard. Lentils are super cheap. I use as a veggie substitute in shepherds pie with chopped tomatoes and diced veg. Go to Lidl or Aldi. You don’t need dishwasher tablets. For just two of you it’s cheaper to wash up by hand than run the dishwasher. Go to home bargains for toiletries.

I really sympathise with not having been taught how to cook and food budget, OP. It's a not a standard skill set nowadays (including for me - I've had to drag myself up to an understanding of how to do it and I'm still not perfect!)

However it's really great when you start to get the hang of it and can make cheap, tasty meals exactly as you like them, with loads left for freezing.

Slightly weird suggestion, but could I suggest using the free ChatGPT or similar to help you? I have been known to give it a list of the items I have in my fridge/cupboard that need using up and asking it to plan me reasonably healthy, cheap and easy meals for [insert number of children and adults] for the week using those ingredients and including a shopping list of any extra things I'd need to buy to make its suggetions and their likely cost, and a simple step-by-step of the recipes.

If it comes up with anything you don't like, just send it another prompt asking it to substitute that one for something else. If something had too much cooking, tell it that, etc.etc. until you have a plan you like / within your budget, dietary and other requirements. You can tweak your instructions and requirements as many times as you like without feeling like you're being a burden on an actual person or having to do the brain work ir creative thinking yourself!

It's a really useful game changer if you've not been taught to plan in that way.

I would try to get a food bank voucher.

They usually have essential products (cleaning products, shampoo) as well as food.

Are you claiming every benefit you are entitled to?

OP does NOT need a food bank voucher.

Yes, that's exactly what food banks are for. People who have a healthy grocery budget but have spent all their money on the expensive version of everything so might not make it to the end of the month.

Yes, they've run out of money because they buy duck breasts in sauce, ready prepared potatoes and 'must have' chocolate.
Quick- off the food bank.

It's plenty for food for an adult and a child, but is it like that every month? That must be difficult with all the other demands from life. Clothes, birthdays, unexpected bills etc. it sounds a bit stifling.

I get that you can’t cook and in a time of financial stress “learn to cook from scratch” probably isn’t helpful, but you could probably manage basic things like:

Penne pasta with jar sauce - should be no more than £1.50 for a 500g of pasta and an own brand jar of sauce, that should make about 4 portions.

Rice, kidney beans and a jar of chilli sauce- again should be doable for under £3 to make 4 portions, you can get a kilo of white rice for £1.85 which you will only need half of, chilli sauce for £1 and kidney beans for 50p.

Own brand baked beans are cheap and all you need to do to make a baked potato is buy a big potato, put some holes in it with a fork and microwave it

Similarly you can make curry using own brand sauce, chick peas and more of the rice.

You can also buy own brand tinned soup and own brand bread and margarine.

You can get 4 bean burgers for £2.10 and 750g own brand wedges for £1.50 and a kilo of frozen peas for £1.55, again that’s a few meals.

Peanut butter you can get for £1 a tub that you can use with the bread for sandwiches, buy apples and carrots and cut into sticks.

It might not be the most exciting stuff but you should be able to manage basic meals made from jars, packets and tins, plus tea, coffee, some biscuits and a bit of fresh fruit.

OP you really need to learn to cook but I get that feels like such a daunting task. People on here explaining how to cook to you I expect is too much of a leap.

honestly if I were you, I would order a gousto box. It’s £40 for 4 recipes for 2 people. It sounds like you are the only adult so that’s 8 meals for you basically for a full week. You can also get introductory offers of 65% off when you join so even cheaper.

following the instructions in gousto will give you some basic cooking skills.

your child could eat the same as you or just give her the little ones meals if she doesn’t like your meal.

you need baby steps when learning to cook and people telling you to buy a slow cooker and how to make a chicken last a week are not being practical to your circumstances.

for the household stuff, just go to Aldi and bulk buy the basic range of dishwasher tablets, shampoo etc.

good luck x