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.

£20 Iceland voucher may well be the saviour here. Any club card points built up or similar?

You mention ex dp - how often do the kids spend there? Presumably he will feed him when he's there.

Any sleepovers at friends that could be arranged for the teens? You can always reciprocate when you're back on your feet.

Copper jar to change in?

Old clothes for cash? Even if not suitable for selling there's places that will by them by weight.

@TheInvestigator you're amazing btw. Those are brilliant tips/recipes. I work in the poverty sector and if you don't mind I will copy and paste those recipes into my document I give to people for advice on surviving universal credit.

The lentil burgers (in my post above) would be best if you can manage some salad on the side; sweet corn, cucumber, whatever. Or serve them with rice.

@TheInvestigator that's amazing. I was literally coming back on to ask you all what you actually do with lentils!

If the older two are getting a hot school meal then I would give them something like sandwiches, soup, beans on toast or baked potatoes for dinner. Buy cheap biscuits to fill them up and the cheapest fruit you can find. I don't think you'll manage on £20 for 3 weeks though, I would plan to Ebay at least £60 of stuff if you can. Any old bikes or kids tablets or xBox type things that you could manage without?

With the leftover, you can leave out the carrots but still make another 16 portions of lentil soup (you'll have to be strict about portion size). Or if you use less carrots in the recipes, you'll have a few leftover for more soup.

And the 13 eggs could make a frittata with whatever frozen veg you have for another dinner. Or they could do scrambled egg for breakfast or something.

If I fed them sandwiches they would want more snacks. It's probably a false economy. Plus I always take a portion of the cooked meal, saving lunch money at work.

have a quick declutter with a view to gathering up things to flog at a car boot sale - if you do a car boot sale this weekend, I bet you could get enough ££ to buy groceries for a week. If that works well, do another car boot sale the following weekend. Quicker than emaby and less of a PITA.

I haven't got that type of clutter but have been putting bits on fb to gather fivers.

Probably been mentioned but any gold jewellery to sell?

No snacks, meat or fish. A strict 3 meals a day is achievable for 3 weeks.

What age are the teens? If old enough get them offering their services as babysitters/dog walkers/grass cutters/fence painters etc on FB.

If you have time offer your services as a cleaner/errand runner for elderly/disabled/ take in ironing.

(I am a cleaner and I started out by posting an ad in gumtree and had my first client 45 minutes later)

My time is strictly filled with temp shifts, toddler and child activities. They are only just teens so can't send them out just yet.

Sorry catlady I know you said yourself you didn't feel comfortable about the food bank thing (I may well be projecting as I would love a holiday and am just jealous )

Would council tax let you spread this month's payment? I know ours have been understanding in the past. Or insurance companies like pet insurance or mobile phone bills?

I don't think anyone has suggested yet to see if you have Nectar points or clubcard points to spend?

I know you've already sold bits but Summer clothes like dresses sell well on eBay at the moment, and if you sell via Buy It Now Paypal can go straight into your bank account. When you have more money you can buy more from eBay for yourself

If your DC are teens it's more tricky but if you know anyone with small children who want a babysitter that would be cash in hand?

The trouble is if you borrow for the shortfall you're just kicking the can down the road.

Have you entered all the MN surveys etc? I know it's not immediate but I once won £250 when very skint and it was such a lifesaver, I was thrilled.

People may be better at budgeting than me (but I have teens and a low income so am used to ekeing out supplies) but I don't think your "spare" money is realistic enough to feed you all. Stressful I know.

Oh! How old are your teens? If they've literally just finished GCSEs for example, students in the year below may buy their textbooks for next year? My budding Apprentice contestants are negotiating flogging theirs at the moment

Oh yes any cat feeding tips will be lovely.

Cats protection might help, it depends on your local branch, I once fostered 2 cats while their owner was in a refuge and returned them when she had a home.

Yorkshire pudding is cheap to make and you can use the same batter for pancakes.

Add sausages for toad in the hole orif you have any chops or similar in the freezer.

Cream cheese makes fab creamy sauce for pasta. Cook the pasta in one pan, in another, as the pasta is finishing just put a dollop of cream cheese, add a couple of spoons of the pasta cooking water - that's the basic sauce. Obviously if you have mushrooms, onions, garlic, bacon whatever you can cook that first and add the cheese. This way a single rasher of bacon and 2 mushrooms can make a dinner. Tesco do a tub for 49p.

Offal is cheap and nutritious, if you can actually eat it, personally I'm OK with liver, I make chicken liver pate but I can't stand tripe.

Do you have a Tesco Clubcard? If you do, register it online and you can turn points into vouchers which you can use within 24 hours. I know it's not the most cost effective use of them, but needs must

Good luck, I know exactly what it feels like to be worried about feeding DC

@catlady39 where abouts are you?

@sashh good tips thank you. Just what I needed.

@shree13 midlands

@TeslaGirls always done asda and Aldi so no points hidden away

@WeBuiltCisCityOnSexistRoles no need to apologise. I feel like people would think I was ridiculous. And it's not fair. There are people much worse off than me. I'm lucky, it's just short term.

I work for an organisation that can make food bank referrals and honestly I'd be happy to give you one in this situation. Sometimes food banks also have pet food and toiletries.

Should have said above I'm not in your area but if you wanted to go down the food bank route I'm sure they wouldn't refuse you.

OP, I’m not sure if you answered earlier but do you have any family and friends that could help?

You could look up your local food bank and see what their policy is. Explain to the office providing the vouchers what your situation is and what your misgivings are. If you are still given a voucher then get the food - an external agency have decided you qualify.

When you are over the crisis donate to the food bank.