to think it is entirely possible to feed 2 adults for a month on £50

[smilingthroughgrittedteeth]

Long story short we are skint, I have some weird chronic fatigue illness (still waiting for diagnosis) so have had to drop a day at work and dp had an accident at work in January and has been off sick since then.

Because of this we are £1200 a month worse off.

I can cover all the bills and rent and dp can cover his child maintanance payment to ex and petrol for me to get to work but there is no money left after that, we have lowered all bills as much as we can.

I did some extra work on Sat and earned £50 which I plan on using for food shopping, I will be going to Morrisons as dp works for them so we get a discount, I don't usually shop there but I can't afford the petrol to get to aldi or asda so the options are Morrison's or Tesco.

Money was tight before so I've been shopping on a budget of £100 per month.

Just spoken to a friend who asked to borrow a book, I said I'd drop it in to her on weds as would be passing her house on the way to Morrison's and she asked why I wasn't going to asda as normal so I told her, she was horrified and kept offering to lend me money.

Now it's very kind of her but aibu to think that it's entirely possible for me to feed dp and myself for the month on £50? I have basics such as flour, herbs, pasta and don't need any cleaning products so will be spending the whole amount on just food, I cook from scratch and we are used to making a chicken last several meals and I split packets of mince and freeze so it does 2 meals.

We might not have any fancy dinners but we will eat or am I being to optimistic and we will in fact struggle to buy enough?

Ah ok. Just looking on another thread, and someone on there suggested babysitting as a very easy/quick way to get some cash - is that something you can do?

I used to do it when I was a student, if you do it twice a week you're looking at about £60, if you get an 'easy' family its a breeze!

Can I just ask, has the maintenance payment been reduced to take into account your dp's change of circumstances? If not it really should be.

My tip is to buy bulk when you can to tide you over, so next month when things are slightly better off buy a 3kg bag of pasta (£3.50), A 5kg bag of rice for £5, dried beans and pulses and value tinned toms etc... If you want fresh food try a market or the supermarket near the end of the day for reduced items.

I earned the £50 from babysitting I'm a nanny so I charge £10 per hour. The problem is with my illness any extra work makes me ill so I just can't do it more than once a month, I would end up having to take time off work then we would be sunk.

Before I got ill I was babysitting most Friday and Saturday night's.

We did a bootfair last month so have nothing left to sell

Yes dp reduced the maintenance payment because he just couldn't cover the full amount, thats why we don't have dsc next month his ex kicked off, she only allowed half term and august because she doesn't want them during the holidays!

I always buy the big bags of pasta and rice fortunately, that's why we have some in the cupboard.

I've got a sack of potatoes so we can have jackets.

Be really careful eating like this if you have CFS or ME or anything similar.

It makes it a lot worse. Unfortunately, I know from experience :(

Depends what you have in your freezer and store cupboard tbh.
If they are empty or not full then no I don't think you can. Sorry :(
Are you sure you are getting all the help you are entitled to?
Boffinmum posted a fantastic emergency meal plan but that was £30 per week iirc...but that was for a family of 4 I think?
Check out her austerity housekeeping website.
I am sorry.
I hope things pick up for you soon.

Have you got an aldi or lidl near you?

Seriously, with your illness, you need lots of fresh green leafy veg.

I agree with you Jux, but how is OP supposed to achieve that?

Have you looked at the skint foodie? V interesting. Might be useful.

I agree I need a healthy diet and I usually do but I can't afford all the food I usually buy, stress is far more likely to make me relapse so my focus is on feeding us for the month regardless of whether it involves green leafy veg.

If you meal plan some budget meals for a week then multiply by 4.5 to work out amounts you could go on MySupermarket and do a mock shop to see price wise how it would work out.

Think student style.

The sausage caserole above
8 sausages 50/60p
3 tins tomatoes £1
Bag frozen onions £1
Garlic & herbs in cupboard
1kg ? Rice in cupboard

10 servings

What is wrong with Morrisons? I had a thread on here about it recently and everyone was raving (in a good way).

Do you have an Aldi or Lidl?

Living on a budget is one of the most re-hashed topics on Mumsnet so if you use the advanced search facility, you will probably find 1000s of helpful tips.

Oh God this is going to sound awful but for green leafy vegetables you can't do much better than nettles. They are full of vitamins and iron and Hugh FW has a lovely recipe for nettle soup online.

It is a lovely soup but what has happened to our country when we have to go around foraging.

Can your dh get to CAB while he's off and findout if you can get any benefits while you're struggling like this?

I do think if you use a lot of dried pulses for protein then you could probably afford more fresh veg.

This next won't help you now but when you have a few spare ££ you could grow veg. Worth it in case your situation continues - heaven forfend.

Dp has applied for some benefits we are waiting to hear whether he is entitled to anything.

We do grow veg but none of it is ready to eat yet.

Have just got back from shopping I spent £53.49 and have enough meals for 4 weeks including the things we already had.

I got a chicken, big pack of mince (which I've split into 3and frozen and pork steaks (also split and frozen) in their 3 for £10 offer. Tinned tomatoes, veg, tuna, chicken breasts, bacon (split and frozen for pasta dishes and hunters chicken) and various other bits.

Go to the supermarket at the end of the night when they mark things down! I did this twice last week. On one occasion I spent £15 & got 15 turkey meatballs, a pack of casserole pork, 3 loaves of Kingsmill, gluten-free rolls, 2 packs of crumpets, cheese scones, 4 packs of ready-prepared fruit & veg & about 6 ready meals (curries, cottage pie), as well as full price bits totalling about £7. The other time I spent about £5 & got approx 10 ready meals/pies of various sorts, ham, cooked chicken, sausage rolls plus some nectarines, bananas & broccoli.

Although ready meals wouldn't normally be my food of choice, we too are facing a bit of a lean month & with plenty of fruit & veg to accompany them and a couple of hm meals each week too, they are fine. Certainly for the £20 I spent plus what you have in your storecupboards already, it would be adequate for 2 adults.

Best way to eat on a budget is to go veggie.

of course you can feed 2 reasonably for £50/month. It wiont be sparklingly exciting but it's possible.

Good luck and try he MSE frugal forums. There are people on there who are real experts- you can list what you have in stock and they compete to make the best meal out of it!

Second mintyy, about morrisons. I would put it over asda any day, for food anyway. Having said that we get a weekly sainsburys delivery (inc del charge)for approx £70 inc dog/cat food.3 adults 1 child. It depends on what you need to eat to keep healthy. Agree make veg a staple of your diet and plan around that.

I made the 'A Girl Called Jack' bean burgers last night but with organic ingredients. Without organic ingredients they would be stupidly cheap. A tin of kidney beans, a grated carrot, onion, cumin and handful of coriander. It tasted amazing inside a homemade burger bun from our bread maker and very filling. The recipe made four patties. I wizzed in some breadcrumbs to the mixture to help bind it all together. Being vegetarian for a while would definitely keep costs down but you've done you shop now.

You could cook up a big pot of lentil soup for about a pound which which would make four servings too.

Thank you for all your replies.

I would happily go veggie but no way would dp.

I don't have anything against Morrison's the only reason I don't usually shop there is because our local one is fairly small and doesn't have much choice whereas our local Tesco and asda are huge so have a wider range

I hope you manage OK over the next few months. Your dp may profit from thinking of the old adage about cutting one's coat according to one's cloth, though. ATM, your cloth just about supports meat eating, but your health would do better with more fresh veg, so he may have to rethink his priorities on a temporary basis.

Good luck with it all, though.

Do you know anyone with an allotment? At the moment there isnt a lot to pick except rhubarb but lots of people I know have this coming out of their ears.

If you can put the word out then we will be soon heading into the season of glut.

Also if you havent got them planted ask if anyone has a surplus of runner/french bean plants.