Please tell me I can survive on £80

[catlady39]

I currently have £80 left in my purse, and to pay all my bills, I cannot take any money out until 5th July.

There's me, 2 teenagers, a toddler and 4 cats. I spend about £20 a week on petrol. I have two weeks cat food in the house. We have frozen fruit and veg in the freezer, some pasta and rice in the cupboard - then mostly just stock herbs/sauces etc. So the cupboards aren't empty, but nothing substantial.

I've had a clearout and been selling things to make some odds bits of cash but nothing major.

I recently lost my job, had court/divorce fees, and am just temping. I'm setting up a business, which is taking time but will be a good wage by October. Just need to get through these few months. Please help.

Do you have any unused gift cards floating around? If you have then popping them up on eBay for 10-20% less than the gift card value usually results in a quick sale. £40 cash is much more useful to you right now than £50 in New Look vouchers for example.

Oh my goodness yes! @LadyFlumpalot I've just checked some the kids never found anywhere to spend them and I've now got £20 to spend in Iceland!!

Rehome the cats, or at least 3 of them. Cat food is too expensive if you are on a low income.

That's a bit drastic! They're all over ten years old and are part of the family. I'm struggling for a few months!

Oh my goodness yes! @LadyFlumpalot I've just checked some the kids never found anywhere to spend them and I've now got £20 to spend in Iceland!!

Brilliant! Also check all of your coat pockets and old handbags, down the side of the sofa, in the car dookets etc

www.savethestudent.org/student-deals/competitions/free-m-and-s-vouchers.html

I haven't checked the authenticity of this link but there will be similar things online if this isn't legit.

Happy to help

Sorry but with teenagers I don't think this is realistic at all. I also agree someone who has just been on holiday using a foodbank is a bit of a piss take, and as someone on a small income who donates I would be a bit about that.

If you have bills to pay, rather than just not paying at all is there is any chance to ring them and spread this month's payment over the next months? For example if you have a direct debit for a set amount electricity bill, if you call and explain they may be able to cancel this months payment and spread the difference over the remaining months?

Smart price/Tesco value/Aldi etc are all fine, often not quite as tasty but do the job! So bread, snacks, loo roll,drinks etc can be pennies.

I would buy the very cheapest ingredients possible for curry, bolognese, stews etc and do a few big batches to freeze them you will have a few meals ready to go that need pasta or rice. They can also be bulked out with beans and veg to make them go further.

Big plastic trays of 15 eggs are in Asda for about £1.15.

Also look through dvds cds electronics that you might not need or use. Places like CEX buy for
Cash on the day.

With the Iceland voucher, it's a bit more possible. Without that, and having to keep about £5 for cheap cat food, you actually on had 9p to spend per portion to cover all the breakfasts, lunches and dinners needed (I subtracted the school lunches). And that 9p per portion didn't actually include the toddler; you'd have needed to skim from yours and your teenagers portion to put together a toddler size. It just wasn't possible.

If your kids are at school do they qualify for free school meals (pupil premium)? I know you said your ex pays for their lunches but maybe they could buy sandwiches from the canteen and bring them home for tea?

@WeBuiltCisCityOnSexistRoles I agree, although I'm not a piss take as the holiday was booked and paid for before I knew I would be unemployed.

My gas/electricity company are being ridiculous, as I build up debt over the winter, they have more than doubled my payments and won't waver.

If you have any clothing which is in good condition (especially branded - think Nike, M&S, ect), or any unused bath sets/candles/perfume bottles, now is a good time for a clear out :) - you can make quite a bit of money on ebay (perhaps £20 a week) just by getting rid of the things that you never use :)

I'd buy some cheap tinned tomatoes, cheap tinned plain beans (brilliant source of cheap protein) and a big pack of minced beef and make a batch of Bolognaise and a batch of chilli (it sounds like you might have spices in the cupboard). That will give you a few meals using different accompaniments of pasta, rice or potatoes as an accompaniment.

Separate into batches and give everyone a good portion but no seconds if it will steal tomorrow's dinner.

A big bag of porridge oats for breakfasts (far cheaper than boxes of cereals).

If you can manage a supermarket trip 30 minutes before closing there are usually good deals (M&S surprisingly are really good for drastic reductions near closing - I picked up a load of avocados for 12p each recently!)

Things like milk with a use by of today will actually last another few days.

Loaf of cheap bread for toast if teenagers need snacks (things like chocolate, crisps, juice and fizzy drinks really add up)

I'm loving all the tips. This is what I needed, as I know my budget, income, benefits etc are all spot on and can't be improved. It's how best to use the cash.

They aren't really being ridiculous. You built up debt (but still managed to pay for a holiday and save up spending money for that holiday) so they want the money they are owed.

Lots of people are in your situation, but they accept the responsibility for it. They don't complain that companies actually expect you to pay your bills and act as though those companies are being unreasonable.

@TheInvestigator I owe about £300, which is a normal winter debt. They've increased my monthly payments to £160, when my useage now its summer will be around £40.

@TheInvestigator - yes, but have you never noticed that they'd never contact you if you're in credit to reduce payments. I don't trust or like energy companies (they're the same as phone companies - yuk!).

I'd concentrate on giving the children toast or bananas for snacks OP.
(bananas are the cheapest fruit, and at least they're slightly healthy and filling).

Food wise, I'm not sure I'd say this is good advice, but my family was very poor growing up, and my mum fed us all on variations of 'lentil slop' - so that was a base of red lentils, cooked with an onion and a couple of carrots, and the variations were 1. add cheese 2. add potatoes 3. add a bread topping.

Ah and here comes the people kicking op while she's down and worried about feeding her children.

The holiday was paid for before she lost her job.

She built up normal winter debt that is paid back over the summer. Totally normal.

She's just gone through a divorce.

Is that clear enough for the hard of thinking?

Do you own the 'nice car on the driveway'? If so I would consider selling it for something cheaper but reliable.

I'm at that stage where I still owe a fair bit, but it's old enough to not cover that and the cost of a cheaper car if I was to sell it. Then there's the upkeep of a cheaper car. Probably wouldn't make much difference.

Thank you @mynewkindle ... and five years in the family court...

From Tesco
1kg red split lentils = £1.80
1kg carrots (get one with 10 carrots in the bag) = £0.59
10 veg stock cubes = £0.50
500g passata = £0.35
15 eggs = £1.19
1kg onions = £0.85
1kg sweet potatoes = £1
HW Nevill's wholemeal bread 800g = £0.36
2 x 6 pack of rolls = £1.30
Total = £7.94
Will give you 24 portions (6 dinners for the 4 of you).

8 portions of lentil soup:
200g lentils
2 stock cubes
4 carrots
1 onion
16 slices of bread (2 each per serving).

Sweat onions in a little butter/oil. Add 2 litres of water, the stock cubes, the lentils and the carrots. Cook for about 30 mins and make sure to stir regularly to prevent lentils sticking. Blend when finished.

8 portions of lentil stew:
200g lentils
1 stock cube
1 onion
500g passata
4 carrots
500g of sweet potato

Cook lentils in water with the stock for about 20 minutes. Drain when ready and set aside.
Blend the carrots into the passata.
Sweat onion in butter/oil. Add passata carrot mix, then mix in the cooked lentils. Simmer for 10/15 minutes. Roast the sweet potato and serve. You can make the stew ahead and roast 250g of sweet potato for each night you serve the stew.

8 portions of lentil and sweet potato burgers:
1 onion
2 carrots
200g lentils
1 stock cube
2 eggs
500g sweet potato
8 rolls.
Heat oil in pot. Add diced onion and carrot and fry for 5 minutes. Add diced sweet potato and lentils and 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 25 minutes (water absorbed and sweet potatoes soft). Drain excesa water. Blend up if you want smooth burgers or mash together if you want textured burgers. Set aside to cool. Add eggs and form into 8 patties (May need to blend up a slice of bread and add breadcrumbs if mixture it too wet). Put 4 patties in the fridge for later. Fry each of the other patties for 5 minutes and serve on a roll.

The stew and burgers are better if you can add spices like paprika, cumin etc. Whatever you have.

You'll have 400g of lentils leftover, some onions, 4 rolls, some stock cubes and 13 eggs.