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.

@floribunda18 I didn't know I could do that. How will I do a standing order?

@floribunda18 I didn't know I could do that. How will I do a standing order?

Do you have internet banking? Just cancel the DD and then use the details on your bill to setup a standing order.

Actually try to put everything on SO rather than DD, it means you decide the exact amount and (using internet banking) you can change the dates easily eg if you are going to be paid a day later and you have a payment due out then you can move standing orders by a day / week / year.

How are you getting on, OP?

Have been wondering the same too @Macca84 . Are you managing, OP?

Ah you lovely people. Yes we are doing ok. The Iceland vouchers were definitely the saviour. I have plenty of petrol left and £25 in my purse for fresh food.

I think you all helped me to survive. Two weeks to go before things are a bit better...

It sure if anyone’s said this already but rude maybe try to palm the older kids off onto friends houses here and there for dinner.
Glad you are doing ok so far.

I'm surprised nobody has suggested Jack Monroe. Google The Bootstrap Cook. Lots of realistic cheap recipes.

OP, I am glad you seem more upbeat, although you must still be on an incredibly tight budget. I hope you manage to get through the next couple of weeks OK. Perhaps you could share your tips with the rest of us on how you are doing it, what you are eating and how you are feeding the cats. I am sure it would help others in a tight situation.

Those Iceland vouchers were the key...amazing what you can get for £20. I didn't have to worry about trying to be too healthy though as it is reasonably short term. Alternated frozen meals with soup/bread/rice based meals.

Missing my fresh fruit (and my pop ) though!

Someone on here suggested short dated cooked ham etc. That's done well for eeking out the cat food. Do think I'll have to buy another tray of tins before my time is up though.

So cat food and a bit more petrol with my last £20 and hopefully I'll make it.

Cat do you or the teens have stuff from Body Shop? If so, they are recycling their bottles/pots and giving £5 for. 5 Body Shop containers. I’m not certain if it’s cash or a voucher but worth looking into if there is a branch near you.

Glad you are feeling more positive 💐

Adli do a box of complete cat crunches for 79p. Even if they normally have tinned meat if they are hungry they will eat it eventually. If you buy potatoes you can do jacket spuds a couple of times each week. Tinned spagetti is cheap and you could do with toast a couple of times each week. Frozen chips are cheap as are cocktail sausage rolls. Blend up veg with stock cubes to make homemade veg soup and serve with bread. You can also get a tin of meatballs at Aldi for 36p which you could do with mashed potatoes and frozen veg. You can get cheap chicken burgers in Morrisons for 84p for 10 and serve up in bread rolls. Porridge is cheap and filling. It is only a couple of weeks so you can do it. I am assuming you do not have a credit card you could buy food on or parents who would help you out for a couple of weeks. Could you do a car boot sale? Could teenagers help out by babysitting and loaning you the money until you get back on your feet?

Buy 2 tins of cheap tomatoes and blend up with herbs and serve with pasta. Yorkshire pudding mixture to make a toad in the hole with cheap sausages. You can do this OP.

Yes, Jack Monroe is brilliant: cookingonabootstrap.com/category/recipes-food/

Is the cat ok OP? Am a real animal lover, so happy to post a few weeks’ worth of cat food to you.

Apologies if it's already been discussed, but check if you have any foreign currency left over from holidays knocking about. When I tidied the hall cupboard I found a few hundred quid's worth of dollars and euros, in bits and pieces.

PM'd you Catlady39. My cat developed an allergy to his food overnight-despite having it for years and no recipe change. I've lots of Felix going spare!!

Hello all...I was wondering if anyone has or currently is working as a TV extra? I am interested in finding out how much it pays, what it entails and how could I find work? Thank you in advance ❤️

Op I'm so sorry!! I didn't realise I hijacked / posted my question on your thread!!! So sorry!!

Thanks everyone. Things are pretty miserable but we're all ok. You're all so kind.

Hopefully the end is finally in sight

OP if you are temping, are you not being paid every week? Or is that money just covering your bills?

Yes that was how much was left, worked out with each wage minus all the bills. I know what I'm working enough in advance to work it out.

The end is in sight.

Might not be helpful now, but approved foods have a good website with short dated food l super cheap!

Hang in there @catlady39*

When I moved my middle aged girl onto different food last year I had a few companies send out samples to try before committing. I remember Thrive and Applaws both send out a few meals worth of samples. It only takes 2 minutes to contact them.