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.

I have £8 left until this Thursday.

I could have an absolute ball with £350.

Some absolutely amazing advice on here op. I agree with @Dishwashersaurous suggestion that you've £14 a day. This is what I do and it works great. Some days you won't spend that at all so put the remainder aside in case anything unexpected is needed

I wish all the people giving solutions would check the post where the OP says she doesn't know how to cook. And I wish that the ones who have seen that post wouldn't say "Well, just learn", like it's 20 minutes with YouTube learning how to wire a plug.

Quite a few women, and of course huge numbers of men, have no clue how to cook, or to do all of the associated chores around cooking (menu planning, juggling leftovers both cooked and raw, etc). This is not something to be ashamed of.

Now, if OP wants to make substantial inroads into her food spending, she will probably need to make a start on cooking. But that's not easy as an adult, especially with a small child, and especially if you and DC are used to (let's face it) delicious things like duck breast in sauce or Little Dish. You're going to mess up, put in too much salt, find you're missing what turns out to be a vital ingredient, etc.

Probably most of us have forgotten the first time we tried to cook for ourselves and how bad it was. OP, I wish you every success. It's worth it, but don't be afraid to mess up a bit.

You need to learn to make things from scratch. Potatoes are cheap, prepped potatoes are not. Meat isn't cheap, but made into a ready meal it is even more expensive.

There are a lot of cookbooks aimed at students heading off to uni and cooking for themselves for the first time. Lots of budget conscious meals that are simple to make, with clear instructions. Pick one up and start with some basic recipes.

And no more super expensive cuts of meat like duck breasts until you have a handle on your budget.

Your budget is not massive, but neither is it so tiny that you can't have really nice meals on it.

@samarrange To be fair, most of the suggestions are things like pasta/potatoes/eggs etc which are both fairly simple to cook nice meals from, but also inherently cheap. So even if she did mess it up she wouldn't waste too much money. She could probably mess up pasta and cheese three times and it would still be a much cheaper meal than the pre-bought meals. Plus, they are usually fairly toddler friendly.

OP- I do agree that you shouldn't go and buy all the ingredients people suggest or start trying to cook everything. Maybe pick a few of the recipes people suggest that look appealing and that don't require massive additional expenditure and start from there.

@DaisyFloop it is 😂
I really enjoy yellow sticker shopping, you need to be ballsy & brutal to succeed!
I once fell into the bottom shelf of the reduced isle in Asda trying to get reduced blueberries as people were like hounds and I got rammed into it with a trolley. You just laugh it off really!

Hahaha! That's hilarious 😂

I would start by buying some silver foil trays with lids (much cheaper on line than from a supermarket). Then you can batch cook. You can also use old takeaway containers if you collect those.

I make large quantities of the following, them freeze them in containers (or freezer bags) with enough for the 2 of us:

Tomato sauce (tinned toms, onions, garlic, any herbs you have, salt, sugar, spot of vinegar). Cooked veg first then add the rest and cook for 30 mins. You can use this as pasta sauce, with meatballs or even liquidise it as soup if you need to.

Spanish chicken. Chicken breasts or thighs, chorizo, onions, garlic, herbs, tin of beans (any sort, not baked beans), tin of tomatoes, olives if you have them. Fry onions, garlic and sliced chorizo. Add chicken chopped into sensible sized pieces. Brown it all. Chuck the tins of tomatoes and beans in a casserole dish with 500ml of stock (hot water and stock cube). Add the fried stuff. Cook in the oven for an hour or so.

Make a bolognese with minced lamb. Use it actually as bolognese with spaghetti or freeze some in your little silver trays to top with mashed potato in the future to make a shepherds pie. Or add chilli and chilli beans to make chilli with rice or jacket potatoes.

Jacket potatoes with cheese and beans or tuna, mayo and sweetcorn.

Make a pizza base (Sainsburys do a good recipe which I will try and find - I've used it for years). Put on anything you can find then grated cheese.

Chorizo is great because you can fry the tiniest bit and it adds a lot of flavour to an omelette or soup.

Buy ready made pastry bases then make quiche. Throw in anything you like then add 2 beaten eggs with a spot of milk then bake.

I think you’ve had a lot of mean replies OP. The good news is you can definitely make this money last for the month. The bad news is you’re going to have to do somethings differently than usual and learn some new skills - but this is actually a positive because it will help you change your spending and eating habits long term.

If you don’t cook at all, I’d recommend starting by buying a good sharp knife, then:

Learn how to slice an onion:

https://youtube.com/shorts/QcxPvzCgG84?si=yFl9iWM7xOYtzzv1

How to cook a great baked potato:

https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/nov/04/how-cook-perfect-jacket-potato

How to cook rice perfectly:

How to cook scrambled eggs:

Slowly build up new skills and recipes, but start with the basics. After the first couple of times cooking something, it will become a lot more easy. Don’t stress about mistakes as no one if judging you, this is just you working on a life skill and you will be so proud of yourself when you are able to make a repertoire of different meals.

My mum's leason on cooking was 'shove it in the oven at 180⁰ for 20 minutes' regardless of what it was. I was in a hostel at 16 and got a student cookbook from a charity shop which was great, it literally started with how to boil an egg.

so if it does work out at £115 a week ?

you can afford to shop at M&S for that !

Search one pot pasta on Tik tok. Hundreds of videos showing you step by step exactly what to do, with a list of ingredients and method in caption. It will say how many it serves as well.

You don't need to buy the specific (and often expensive) pasta shapes they're using in the specific video, just bog standard fusilli/whatever you can get cheapest will be fine.

I add a good handful of frozen peas to almost everything I cook- bulks it out, more veg and I love peas!

I could share plenty of recipes with you but if you don't know how to cook and are a complete beginner, I think the one pot pasta videos would be a good place to start, as you can see it being done too. I am super busy with work so I always make 2 meals worth at a time.

Try shopping is Lidl or Aldi - you'll save a fortune.

You can also economise by buying vegetables cheaply from your local street markets and bulk cooking something like something, ratatouille, dividing it and freezing it in portions.

Homemade coleslaw is also incredibly cheap to make - you don't need a Michelin star, just a grater.

There are so many ways to live on a budget in lean times.

OP I sympathise. I agree with a pp who said some posters are making it seem easy when in reality being able to manage a tight budget requires knowledge & experience.

I.am a very competent cook & I struggle to keep to a low budget as the meals I'm used to making & my family are used to eating are on the complex side & usually involve several sides or accompaniments.

If you are not a proficient cook but would like up get better I recommend looking up Jamie Olivers how to cook book. It's excellent at explaining the core basics to make tasty & economical meals & also gives great ideas how to stretch things & use up leftovers.

We shop a lot in Aldi with some luxury bits from m&s.

Good luck OP - you can do it!

I don't want to patronise you but just in case you can't cook at all:

Rice - I do 100g per adult so maybe you will need 150g for you 2. Weigh it and put it in a big microwaveable bowl. Add twice as much boiling water as rice (so 300ml). Cover with cling film. Cook in the microwave for 12 minutes.

Cous cous - I don't weigh it! Put what you think looks sensible in a bowl. Add boiling water so it covers it, just. (You can add a bit more later if it looks a bit dry). Cover the bowl with a tea towel for 5 minutes then stir. If you are feeling fancy, you can use stock (boiling water and stock cube) instead of water. You can throw in herbs or raisins or whatever you like.

Crumble - half fat to flour. You can also use some and freeze some so you might want to make a bit more. Maybe 250g of flour and 125g butter or marg. Put the flour in a bowl. Cut the butter into little cubes. Put it in the flour then use your finger tips to rub the cubes of butter into the flour until you get "breadcrumbs". You can then pour the crumble mixture over any tinned fruit (in an oven proof bowl) and bake for about 25 minutes.

Pastry - make the crumble mix as above. Put a little bit of water in (less than you would think). Now you can make jam tarts etc.

https://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/bread/quick-pizza-dough

basically, mix all the ingredients then knead it for one minute.

You can use any topping.

Potato wedges - wash some potatoes. Don't bother to peel them. Cut them into vaguely wedges or chip shapes.
Get a freezer bag. Put some oil in (like 2 tablespoons) with a bit of salt and any herbs you think smell nice. Put the potatoes in the bag and shake them.
Then put some greaseproof paper on a baking tray (if your trays are as knackered as mine!) Tip the wedges out across the tray. Put in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Good by themselves or with pizza. Or with baked beans and a fried egg.

Make a lot of mashed potato. You can use this with sausages, meat etc and as a topping for a shepherds pie.
Or you can mix the mashed potato with a tin of tuna or salmon then make little mounds of your mixture on a baking tray. Oven for about 20 minutes then you have little fish cakes. You can put cheese on before cooking if you like or even push a cube of cheese into the middle where it will melt, if you are feeling fancy.

How?

We are vegetarian. I can spend that on fruit and vegetables alone.

I spent £8 on vegan cheese and soya milk alone add in bread, pasta, rice, beans, coffee etc + basic toiletries, cleaning and washing up liquid and all the other stuff to get us through the week.

Cook some sausages (fry or in the oven). You can use these in 3 meals.

1. Hot dogs.

2. Chop up and use with pasta and sauce.

3. Toad in the hole. Recipe below but just get an oven proof dish and put some oil in the bottom. You have already cooked the sausages so leave that part of the recipe out. Put the dish including sausages in the oven for a few minutes then add the batter mixture. Have with frozen peas (microwave with a tablespoon of water for 3 minutes) and gravy.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sams-toad-hole

That sounds like plenty to me too.
how come you’ve run out of detergents and shampoo etc all at the same time?
They are the things to stock up on when on offer. If I was stuck I’d hand wash the necessary clothes and handwash dishes. Hair and body wash no more than one pound in boots or Lidl and that would last a month easily.
food batch cook a few cheap meals. Have baked potatoes. Spaghetti.
buy reduced food at the end of the day.
im not sure exactly what I spend on groceries each week but I could definitely manage with 350 for a month if not needing to pay bills with it.

Breakfasts -

Boxed cereals

Porridge - measure it in a mug. I have half a mug of porridge for me. Tip that in a saucepan. Whatever measurement of porridge you use, tip in the same amount of water then the same amount of milk. Put the pan on low and stir occasionally.

Toast! You can get cheap jam for 30p and honey for less than a pound.

Keep some cheap white sliced bread in the freezer. Take 2 slices and thaw in the microwave if necessary. Beat 2 eggs in a large dish. Dip the toast in the egg until it has absorbed it all. Heat a frying pan (not full heat) with a blob of butter. Put the eggy bread in the frying pan and cook it on both sides. You can put fruit that you like in the pan next to the bread. I usually put in blueberries (straight from the freezer) or sliced banana or apple.

Soft boiled eggs - boil for 5 minutes.
Hard boiled eggs - boil for 9 minutes.

https://www.tamingtwins.com/15-minute-meals-1/

You need to learn to cook. Stop buying ready made. Prepped potatoes? Total waste of money . Saying you never learned to cook is a cop out.

BBC Good Food usually has decent recipes.
I can empathise as I am a self-taught cook too.
My mum cooked by throwing everything in a stew pot and boiling it.
My dad cooked chips + one of the following- eggs, spam, liver, chicken nuggets.

School dinners were our primary meal.

I manage to feed me & 2 hungry teenagers for around £120 per week. That includes all toiletries, household goods and incidentals. I shop in Sainsbury's & mainly their own brand and a few names ones like Heinz baked beans & Walkers crisps.