Empty fridge

[Jas5mum]

It's so depressing opening the fridge and seeing 1 tub of stork and some milk and nothing else. Why does everything have to be such a struggle?
I have £20 until friday for food for 7people. Then £50 for food for the month as my husband got paid 3 times in the last assessment period meaning £1k deductions so it only just covers bills. His wages have already gone on his bills so we're screwed for the month. I hate getting paid monthly. Weekly was much better for budgeting. I feel like I'm always gonna be skint and struggling. If I get a job we won't be better off as that leads to more costs and then deductions.

Can you get a referral to a food bank? It sounds like your family is who they are set up to help. Failing that, see if you can get help with basic provisions from the local church ( you don’t have to be a parishioner) as it is their vocation to feed the hungry

Didn't want to read and run. I'm sorry to hear this. Is there anything anyone can do to bring in a bit of extra cash like cleaning? Food bank is a good idea

Lots of vegetable soup with bread and butter! Delicious, nutritious and cheap. You can use any old manky veg for soup.

I'm pretty sure you can request universal credit to be paid fortnightly rather than monthly. I am 98% sure I read this last year some time in an article about cost of living struggles.

And if you have any apps like getir, gorillas, go puff etc then they sometimes do bags of food for £3-£6ish for lots of food. I do them when available. I got two a few days ago for £5 each which had chicken breast, chicken thighs, chicken wings, sausage rolls, salmon, yoghurt, Gu pots, lots of bread and lots of fruit and veg. They do veg with no meat bags too.
Too good to go is also useful sometimes, although I know this isn't as good everywhere.

Other than that, food bank. Or I know local authorities have been given money to help people with cost of living recently. Different areas offer different help, but ranges from cash to supermarket vouchers.

Then £50 for food for the month as my husband got paid 3 times in the last assessment period meaning £1k deductions so it only just covers bills.

Is this universal credit. Can something be done here. There was someone who knew what they were talking about, on a recent thread (not me I'm afraid), and were able to advise what to do if paid more than once in the assessment period.

Try the money section here, or chat, for help with that part.

Chiming in with saying to try a food bank. Also free food apps. I can't recall the name.

Earning more money shouldn't mean you are worse off due to UC being deducted by tapering off. Also it's the amount you earn not the frequency you get paid that affects UC entitlement.

So it sounds like there's something else going on. Do you have debts? You shouldn't be scrimping on food to pay unsecured debts so if that's the case, you should see this as a trigger to get help and only pay debts with what you have available after you have bought necessary food for the household

Who are the 7 people in your house? Are any of them except your DH working or could they? Or could they mind younger siblings to allow you to work?

You haven't given enough information to know what you need to do to improve your situation but a thorough review of your finances may help you get onto the road to solving the issue.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

I feel like I'm always gonna be skint and struggling. If I get a job we won't be better off as that leads to more costs and then deductions.
So you could/ can work but dont want to because you'll lose benefits? Isn't that the point though, its not meant to fund a lavish lifestyle, its there to encourage you into work.
If you are a family of 7, does that include 5 children?, if so you must have thought about the cost of providing for them?

What do you mean by deductions? Do you mean tax bill?

Are 5 of these people children?

One person supporting 7 people is always going to be tough. Perhaps it is time to get a job yourself and hopefully you will soon be able to earn enough to support your own family.

Not the point of your post but I don't understand how many high earning couples have max 3 kids and you have 5 on one wage and need to depend on benefits 🤔. Unless I have made the wrong assumption

Time to get yourself a job , stop relying on benefits . Benefits are because you can't work not because you don't want to because of stoppages .

Wow! A lot of people in low income jobs get support from benefits, nowhere does it say OP isn't working at all

I think OP is saying that they have a top up of UC, but due to assessment dates they have earned too much so UC is less

With uc, if you get paid 4 weekly, once a year it looks like you've been paid twice in an assessment period. UC don't do anything to support you if this happens. Also if you've had a bonus, done overtime etc. it's all accounted for.

OP call citizens advice tomorrow, they will put you in touch with your newest food bank!

"If I get a job..." very much suggests OP isn't working!

@lalalalalalaleeee

Op says " if I get a job " this leads me to believe op doesn't work 🤷‍♀️

Check out this website.

https://fyf20quid.co.uk/feed-your-family-week-meal-plans/

They also have a FB group that is very busy, if you post in there I'm sure people will come up with lots of good suggestions.

I appreciate that my response is only really helpful in the short term. Agree with PPs that your current financial situation seems unsustainable.

If you can find work around your husbands hours then you won't have the cost of childcare if this is a concern? You will also not pay tax under the threshold so better than if he did extra hours, it will just be the UC taper.

There's no getting around the fact you need to get a job. Are your children school age or younger? If daytime hours don't suit then an evening job in a pub or supermarket?

Buy lentils, frozen veg, chopped tomatoes and rice for a nutritionally complete and cheap meal

I agree, get a job.

UC is designed to do this. It's shite and flawed- especially if people are in work. The only way to avoid it happening again is to decrease your dependency.

It won't help this month, but go through the calendar and figure out when this will happen again. Dh used to get paid 2 weekly so we had issues where he got paid 3 times in the assessment period so I saved and budgeted accordingly.

Also look at all your bills, what can you cut out for future. TV subscriptions, Spotify, gym, charity donations etc. We don't have a TV license, just use amazon and disney plus. Ring up and get a cheaper deal on Internet. Switch to sim only deals for mobile phones.

But this month make a list of everything you have in the freezer, cupboards. Then use those to really stretch the money you have. Eg oats and/or lentils can be used to bulk out bolognase, chilli, shepherd's pie etc.

Download olio, near me there's so much free food. If you have a lidl nearby see if you can get their waste not £1.50 boxes, from memory you have to get there very early but I always got great stuff.

Do you have a community kitchen near you? We have one where you pay £4 a week and you pretty much get a basic shop (roughly 2 shopping bags worth)

Can you visit supermarkets in the evening when they reduce stuff. Meat can be frozen and vegetarian/bakery bits can be used for a few days. Eg there's always stir fry veg so with some cheap noodles and a sauce or soy sauce it's a nice cheap/quick meal.

Frozen and tinned vegetables often work out cheaper. Avoid prepacked items. Rice is very cheap and filling, we eat alot of lentil dahls, chilli's, curry's. On a really skint week we've has baked beans on rice with a sprinkle of cheese/chilli sauce. Before dd was vegetarian I used to make a pie which was baked beans, fried off sausage meat and onion. Then a hand made pastry or mashed potato lid.

To get you through you might want a few treats, especially if you have kids. Some cheap things we make from store cupboard ingredients. Homemade jam/marmalade tarts if you can make the pastry too. Flapjack - cheap butter, golden syrup and oats. Cornflake cakes with cheap/leftover chocolate. Rocky road - any leftover dried fruits/nuts, biscuits/cereals and marshmallows with a cheap bar of melted chocolate. Or you can buy cheap packs of digestives and stick a bit of icing on top. Ice lollies using squash/cheap lemonade/coke.

I feel like I'm always gonna be skint and struggling

Well yes. Supporting a family of 7 on what sounds like one low wage with benefits too-up is not sustainable.

You’re going to have to do what millions of people do and get a job and contribute to your family.

https://olioapp.com/en/

https://thefelixproject.org/

Local food banks and religious organisations like churches, temples and mosques often have food banks and community kitchens/fridges.

https://foodcycle.org.uk/community-meals/

https://www.hubbub.org.uk/the-community-fridge

Also, if you get a job then you might not need UC depending on your earnings which means no deductions. My new job means we don't qualify for UC anymore and it's a relief not having to juggle the deductions monthly.

What's the household composition? Are there kids at school who will get lunches there? How many meals are needed at home/away?