Need inspiration to get through the month

[blinkingagain]

Hi,

We both work in schools and so get the 6 weeks hols. This year has been an expensive one and as a result we have had a financial hangover into September. I ran up some additional debt on our CC which I have paid, however this means that our money for the remainder of this month is sooooo low.

We have about 5 days worth of meals in the fridge/freezer, however we will need to do a big shop at the weekend.

Just checked our account and when I take away all of the bills and direct debits that are due to leave the account, we are left with the princely sum of £389. This needs to cover our food shopping and any other expense that crops up.

I get paid on 25th and dh on 28th so we have got 21 days to feed ourselves and deal with any other expenses.

We aren't massively spendy people but we are about £400 worse off that we would normally be at this stage of the month.

Does anyone have any money saving suggestions?

Two full time teachers and no dependents?

you have had one hell of a fun summer!!

£389 for food for two people is more than enough for 3 weeks. As long as there are no emergency spends you should be fine unless you shop in high end supermarkets and buy bottles of wine every week:

Not sure I'm missing something but I can't see where the OP says its just the two of them?

Anyway, try as best as you can and if you run out of money just use the credit card. Then you can pay it off after you get paid without any interest charges.

Going forward, review all your expenses to see if you can cut any and free up money to save for holidays etc, plus look for cheap and free things to do to make your money go further.

I think it would be rather relevant if there were dependents

You can look at things in your area like Community fridges. They run at certain times and help with food waste and economy; free to use for anyone.

There's also Olio, for picking up excess food, and the Too Good To Go App.

Maybe some batch cooking if you have the time; try to economise on trips if you drive a car and keep an eye on FB for people offering produce from their allotments, as it's a productive time of year.

This should be ok!
Utilise Aldi chicken legs- X4 for £2.09, make simple lemon chicken, morrocan chicken, use for curry
Packet of cheapest mince- loads of chilli, Bolognese- one pack should get three meals for two ppl easy
Fish fingers (much cheaper than fish), homemade chips and tin of sweetcorn
Make all lunches, simple peanut butter sarnie, bag of crisps and apple- cheap job done.
Porridge for breakfast.
Soup and a bacon sarnie for dinner is another cheap one too, one batch of soup and one pack of bacon can do two meals for us if we are desperate.
Might not be the nicest month but it's definitely doable

Although eggs are not the cheap meal that they used to be they still make a fairly low cost dinner. Scrambled or poached with tinned plum tomatoes and toast or fried with home made potato wedges and beans. Jacket potato with beans and cheese or tuna. Pasta bake or pasta with sauce or pesto and salad. Home made soup with the cheap garlic bread or crusty bread. Sausage casserole or bangers and mash. Fruit, crackers and cheese or Greek yogurt from a big tub or the Tesco Stockwell one is nice if you are still hungry. Nearly £400 should be plenty for 3 weeks.

We need confirmation of how many people and ages if you have DC, also whether you need to cover lunches too.

You only have to cover food and petrol/transport.

You have £130/week - this may be low for you but actually quite a decent budget.

This will be fine. Go and buy the cheapest pasta, rice, frozen veg, tinned tomatoes, tinned pulses, oats, milk, eggs, cheese, bread, tinned fruit and some fresh bits.

Cook cheap meals e.g. curry, chilli, pasta sauce, pilaf, dhal, jacket potatoes etc., etc.

You mention meals in your freezer, but what about your store cupboard?

Get everything out and list it, so you can make the best use of what you have available. Any pasta, couscous or rice, tinned fish, tinned tomatoes or beans?
You will be surprised what tasty meals you will be able to make with the addition of just a few cheap extra ingredients.

Do you have any dependant children?

is your petrol accounted for?

Cheap meal
jacket potatoes
omlette/frittata/eggs on toast
fish fingers
making mince go a lot further with mushrooms/loads of veg and freezing. Bolognaise/chilli
chicken curry. Again loads of veg and freeze half

No mention of them being teachers.
Nothing saying that they don’t have children.
FFS read the OP.

Sainsbury's do 1Kg of chicken thighs for £2.85, you usually get 8, if it is two people with two thighs each that is 2 meals.

Do one tray bake with loads of veg and some lemon juice on the chicken. Another day make a tomato sauce with veg, then add the chicken on top and bake.

Baked potatoes with cheese and salad.

'Stem soup' get brocolli or cauliflower or both, use the florets as a veg but don't throw away the stems they don't look apetising but make a good soup.

Beans on toast with bacon.

Eggs on toast and egg and chips.

Lentil curry / dhal with rice.

Sausage and mash.

Pancakes.

Toad in the hole.

You don’t think having children wouldn’t be relevant to the op and advice

in any event - the op has moved on clearly