advice re money and food ideas

[mumtooo2boys]

hi im waiting for a universal credit claim to come through and just atm living of my child benefit christms has had to be put to oneside as we just cant afford it .this isnt a begging thread btw im just wondering what people would buy with the money we have we have no savings and waiting for this claim due to partner loosing job .my child tax credits have gone on to the universal credit claim i have been told to appeal and try get the money paid fortnightly but been told i dont fit the criteria you have to be vulnerable homeless etc for that to happen apparantly
Any way cb is £33.40 a week i have a 4 month old and an 8 year old
School have put my son on free school meals so thats not an issue .
I get milk tokens im just wondering what things people would buy i have to buy nappies and wipes out of it and gas and electric plus enough food for me my partner and 8 year old .
Partner has a few job interviews lined up next week as he would much rather be working i have tried to sell items but have had no luck

Thought i would get some ideas as sick of sitting here worrying we have no access to credit so thats not a option for us

thanks for reading and any ideas are welcome mainly its around what food to buy never had to do this before ,Universal credit ive been told will be paid to me just after christmas as you have to wait 9 weeks for a first payment well thats what there telling me anyway

Congratulations to your Dp

Italian style cooking can stretch the budget; a lot of the dishes are nutrient dense but use 'poor' ingredients:
Carbonara and Amatriciana sauces use bacon bits;
Meat loaf, meat balls and burgers use Basic mince 'stretched' by adding eggs and bread crumb;
1 Chicken=5 meals : 1) chicken breast, 2) thigh and wings (cooked in tinned tomatoes and sage), 3) leftover tomato sauce 4) the carcass has lots of meat on the back (boil with potatoes, carrots...), 5) the broth from from the carcass (with lentils/beans, vegetables and rice or broken spaghetti or dropped eggs);
Meat and fish portion can be reduced by adding a cheese/cream sauce (butter, cream and a sprinkle of grated cheese);
Pulses can be enriched with a sausage or pig skins.

I hope you get some respite soon.

Regarding food banks

Trusses trust ones require a voucher or they can in certain circumstances give out an emergency voucher themselves. It does mean you risk a sorry you cant have an actual three day bag but they usually have some help yourself stuff in a box, including toiletries. Some food banks are also independent of the TT and have their own set of rules and regs and have no voucher system so look up food banks in your actual area.

I helped set up a food bank and used to belong to a regional food bank committee. The town I live in has one TT and two independent ones within a 5 mile radius, I live in quite a deprived area.

Well done to your DH on his new job and I hope things look up for your soon op.

Good stuff!

If I were you I'd freeze one of the packets of chicken for next week (then if there's none reduced you have some in stock, and if you know you've got to buy washing powder next week then that will cost a bit more on next week's shop).

So you could have:

microwave baked potatoes & beans, or just with cheese on top.

Beans on toast

pasta & sauce, then make it different by having pasta bake with grated cheese on top for second meal. You can also have a cheese sauce on your pasta with the butter, milk & cheese if you've got some plain flour.

chicken curry & rice (use 1 chicken breast between 2 adults, and bulk it out with some veg or potatoes in the sauce)

chicken stir fry with noodles & frozen veg (use the remaining chicken breast)

Next week, if you buy some eggs that will help to stretch things - eggy bread/french toast, boiled egg & soldiers, omelette, egg fried rice with veg, fried egg on toast etc. And tinned tomatoes are really cheap and you can make a great sauce from them easily, and also make them into soup.

OP have you any nectar points / tesco vouchers to use?

If food bank referral involves SS I'd still go for it. They are there to help and support not penalise and it might free up a little of your money for gas etc.

Have you anything you could sell on facebook to bring in a little extra?

Dahl is the cheapest meal I know. Red lentils, onion, tin of tomato, some spices. Served with rice.

Try the cheap value nappies. Cut up an old fleece jumper to use as wipes. Then rinse/wash afterwards.

Ask to be referred on to the food bank. Talk to your health visitor ASAP.

Use face book selling pages to sell stuff. It's effective. Type the name of your area plus the word sale into the Facebook search bar

hi no i havent any points or tesco vouchers to use.i had boots points but i used them buying nappies.
partner starts his job on the 7th hes got a 3 day induction this week then starts full time on the 7th .
i did try and get a food bank voucher but was told the food bank in my town had closed due to an issue i will try and sort out voucher tommorow
ive put lots on facebook to sell toys,baby clothes and baby chairs etc but had no luck had a few no shows and some one has asked me to hold an item until next thursday .
had a terrible day yesterday just keep thinking im a failure i no im not and hopefully going to the doctors tommorow will help .were not sure when my partner will get his first wage we think it will be after xmas though.we have rung universal credit and told them about partners new job and they said they will keep the claim going as tax credits and housing benefit will be paid under that anyway .
Been thinking about xmas dinner and think im going to try and buy an item every week if i can towards it .hopefully i will be able to sell some things
thanks everyone for all the ideas and suggestions xx

I believe the coop are doing a Christmas dinner for £10 it's a frozen one. Not too sure about the details.
Could you get in touch with any charities? I know where I live there's a toy appeal in the radio which you can donate to.
Your doing all you can. Sometimes things happen you can't control don't feel bad.

Chicken is a good alternative to turkey.

i havent heard that about the co op ill se if i can save a few pounds a week and maybe get it xmas eve .
i dont really want to go to charities as im managing to get food etc and think theres going to be people far worse of than us plus im terrified of social services getting involved read so many horror stories

yes chicken is even when he had money for the dinner last year we just got chicken i prefer it x

Hope you get on OK at the doctors. You're doing OK - even if your partner's job doesn't pay out till after Christmas at least it hasn't dragged on him being out of work, which is a really good thing.

hi yes just been doctors been great really helped me a lot .
I have some one coming to pick up a toy bundle for £10 shortly so thats a bit extra .yes i no i dont think he would have coped not working so pleased its something at least .

hi all hope im still ok to post here .had a rough couple of days feel like ive come to the end what i can cope with .Had a letter on friday to be told my child benefit is going on to our universal credit claim so everything is paid as one monthly sum last week was my last payment of that i think until universal credit starts which the paydate for that is just after christmas.i litterally give up went to the food bank on friday had to walk to the next town as the one near me only opens mondays its at a church .feel such a let down now the one freind i have told about this was going to do me some shopping on saturday but an unexpected bill came in and she couldnt help .The food bank limit near me is 2 parcells a month well so im told so im going to wait until xmas week and ask for another then .wish i could sleep until next month begining to hate the build up to it just want the day over now.sorry for posting on here just needed to get it all out .spoke to universal credit re partners job they said we willstill be entitled for these 8-9 weeks we have waited although they dont back pay but we will get the first monthly payment then it will carry on but obviously money will reduce down to just tax credits dont quite understand it all if im honest.feel drained with it all now and like the worse mum in the world i no things will get better and ive come this far i suppose in my own way i just wanted to make my babies first xmas special and my little boys and thats why im more upset as its coming closer x

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/support-while-waiting-for-benefit-payments

Have you read this?

hi thanks for the link i rang for a shirt term advance earlier but they was ready for shutting im ringing in the morning and if accepted i will get the advance tommorow so looks hopefull. thanks for the link lots of great info on there x

short not shirt lol x

Child benefit is not included in universal credit.

so why does my letter say it is ? wish i could add the letter on here to show because it says its all moneys and goes on to name them .
it says i can appeal the decision of monthly money if i feel i wont be able to cope being paid that way .
partner started work anyway so i wont have to put up with this for much longer hes ben told his firsy payday will be after xmas but the people who he works with have said usually it hits the bank xmas eve as there payday is the 28th so thats not to bad better than i thought
think ill ring the child benefit office and see what they say then

Are you getting confused with the benefit cap? Child benefit is included in that.

Or your child benefit could be changed from weekly to monthly. If do ring them and say you still want it weekly. They may think you want it that way. Dwp think they no what's best fir you!

hi rang them they had tried to put it monthly to go along with universal credit told them in no uncertain terms i do not want this to happen as im struggling as it is .they havent paid m today she said she cant do anything about that but i will possibly get a double payment next week or it could go in before she has updated the system and put it back to weekly payments.
feel relieved was so upset when that letter came

If you want to show the letter do we can help decipher it, cover your name and address etc and take a photo. Then click the paper clip and select photo.

Glad you got that sorted.

hi everyone just an update were nopw due to get paid on the 29th so not to bad think last time they told me a few days later than that .
Been upset all week as there is no way funds are going to allow a christmas dinner i thought i would be able to afford the co op meal deal but i just cant my liitle boy keeps asking when were getting some treats in i feel truly awful cant wait for this week to pass and to be over just hoping the 29th comes sooner rather than later .
i havent been eating much so think maybe thats why i feel so down i dont no though .things are looking up though partners job etc just got to get through this last week.
would like to thank you all for all the support and ideas ive had from here its helped me to vent and sound off so thanks :)
xx