I don’t have enough money for food for the rest of the month

[Tiredasamf]

I know there’s lots of threads about this at the moment. But what the hell is going on. What is the world coming to. I’m stressing out!

we’ve lived quite comfortably for the last few years - not wealthy at all, working class family (total income of around £2,700 a month after tax) but have always been able to afford all bills, food, clothes etc for the kids and always done 1-2 days out a month, and been able to save a little.

with the rising costs of everything we are now in a situation where we’re struggling.

as of today, I don’t have enough money for the food shops for the rest of the month. Bills are all paid and there shouldn’t be any extra expenses this month. It’s just food shops and petrol left

we’re literally going to have to eat beans on toast or other things equally as cheap.

if it’s going to be like this every month I don’t know what we’ll do. How are we going to afford Christmas? No more days out, no more fun things, no treats, no new clothes (kids are young and grow so fast so that’s a necessity that we can’t even afford now)

It’s set to get worse too isn’t it. what the hell? What are you doing to save money or cut costs? Please give me all your advice

Well I speak from experience,, by mistake I have an entire freezer full of tarka dhal. Its very nice but my god Im sick of it. I made over 20 portions by mistaking the quantities that I normally make, not sure why I messed it up so bad and ran out of pots and containers so was in a right mess

How on earth do you store 20 portions of something with onlly a freezer box?

Whatever you do, don't fall pregnant again. Get your tubes tied or DH get the snip. I only say this because you mention last one wasnt planned.

Are you claiming the married couples tax break if eligible? Tax back for work expenses (who pays for husbands fuel/ expenses away from home/ does he wash a uniform)? Might be worth looking at what you can claim tax back on on the hmrc website if you don’t already

Hope you get the Tesco twilight job that would be ideal! Just think of it as 12months to get through until your luck changes, those free hours and your DH’s career progression will hopefully be a game changer for you.

Eggs are good for a cheap meal, can’t beat ham eggs and chips. Slow cooker meals like slag bol and cottage pie are filling and can be stretched with added veggies. Cut out treats like wine, chocolate, icecream and crisps or make them a weekend treat only. Tell yourself it’s for health reasons to try soften the blow!

I know they say Christmas is only one day but I get how important it is, start making lists of things to do for free, any community Santa events, carol service at the local church, a late night walk to see Christmas lights. Raid the kids rooms when they’re at school and sell any toys/clothes/shoes they’ve outgrown. Then keep an eye on the selling sites and bag some early bargains and put them away for Christmas. You can do it!

Op, I can sympathise. We have a take home household income of £3000 a month, Dp earning the majority of that. I posted about our financial situation on here and how we are struggling but I was slated as I couldn't possible struggle with that much!!

it's very much the middle ground, not low enough to get help and not high enough money is not a problem.

we are still managing to buy food so I can't imagine how stressful that must be for you. It's easy for people to say we'll get another job, up yours, cut down on stuff. But for many families, it's not that easy.

I don't have a solution for you, but you're not alone and I hope things get better!

I don't know how helpful, but I just want to say, lots of what is being said on here is reminding me of my own childhood.
I was one of three siblings and my mom was a SAHM (no childcare help those days).
My dad was a van driver in the week, a coach driver at weekends. We barely saw him when we were little...he also had side hustles.
When I was 13 he started his own business in haulage and got the first time we had money spare. But when we were little, meals were home baked pies, weird concoctions liked tinned salmon, mash and peas, sausages and jacket potatoes. In hindsight all very cheap.
There were no holidays until I was in my teens, days out were to my cousins and family friends or to the local park. We had very few clothes and we all got paper rounds as soon as we hit 13 so we could start to buy our own stuff.
I didn't even realise any of this was down to lack of money at the time, it was just life. I was always, always loved. And because of the lack of entertainment maybe, I became obsessed with my local library, read voraciously and became the first in my family to go to university.
And because of that work ethic of if I didn't earn, I didn't have it, I've done very well in life...not a millionaire, but earning very well and always working full time, even when I had three very young children of my own.
I think sometimes we think challenges are new but they're not. And my parents did ok in the end...between taking on the business, out of necessity really and us all growing up and moving out they're having a very lovely retirement travelling and doing all the stuff they struggled to as young parents.
So I guess what I'm saying is keep the faith, focus on the important stuff and work as hard as you can. It's never easy, but then it never has been. Just don't compare yourself to others - so much of people's stress is down to comparison.

This is our income too and when I went on maternity leave we sold one car which has made a huge saving. I don't know if this is a possibility for you, presuming you have two in the first place.

Evening job in a supermarket is a great option. You will also get discounts on shopping once you've completed your probation! I'm sure it will more than cover groceries with you working.

Tbh gone are the days when families could afford one parent not to have a job.

Check out your local supermarket for twilight/nights jobs.... absolutely changed our lives, and because it's Christmas and they're busier they're super flexible with days and hours too, plus you will maybe get a staff discount card too which would help with Christmas pressies?

Do you drive and have access to a car, could you do just eat delivery or something? Also, check out the earn £10 per day thread on here for some tips. The olio app is good too, it's just stuff people are giving away, could help with toys/clothes etc.

Really shit isn't it OP! Like really shit! 💐

I really recommend a) meal planning and b) fundamentally rethinking what you’re cooking. Spending £6 on a packet of mince is not the best use of what funds you’ve got when the same money would cover quite a lot of basics like rice, pasta, pulses, tinned stuff, whatever-fruit/veg-is-on-special-offer-in-Aldi/Lidl that would stretch far further than one meal.

I say this from experience because I’ve had times where I struggled for money and meal planning really does help make the most of what you’ve got, make sure than nothing gets wasted and also helps you stick to a budget (I used to do mine on a spreadsheet!). There are lots of online resources for budget cooking: like here, here, and here (the latter doesn’t always go down well on MN but I have made some of her recipes and really liked them)

Good luck

I feel the same though things not yet as tight for me as I’m on a fixed fuel deal till May. I brought my 2 kids up by myself, worked full time and took voluntary early retirement with redundancy 6 year ago. I lived comfortably on my private pension, carers allowance (DS is disabled) and small p/t earnings to give me some spending money, paid my mortgage off, waspi so no state pension yet and I’ve lived modestly since but with enough to enjoy my life. Now I feel all my hard earned spare cash will be going to fill the coffers of wealthy people who’ve done absolutely nothing to deserve and don’t need it. It’s as if they won’t be satisfied until thy have all our wealth.
I know how to live frugally. I’ve done it before so I’ll survive till I get my state pension but it just leaves a bitter taste

30k isnt huge esp as you are supporting a family TBH .Can you make Spag bol /chilli with half mince half veg and or oats? This really helps spread the meat to go further . As PP said eggs ,beans and chips maybe with some bread and butter fairly filling and cheap.Days out do you live near a forest ,park ,Museums are often free. Take some sarnies and drinks (We use hot chocolate in flask made with water to take with us.) Buy a big box of Ice cream and some cornets and have as a treat when they get home.Christmas Ebay or vinted .Also set a limit for each child and ask DGP to get a good present . You do Stockings. some Selection boxes,small toys .Clothes they need wrap up as a pressie.

Do you have £2800 net a month? Because that's not a low income at all what is your money going on? Even with the COL you should not be struggling at all.

just trying to understand not criticising.

Some ideas:

1. Now is a good time to have a sort through your kids’ clothes and toys, and sell bundles on eBay/Facebook buy and sell (quicker)
2. Make a list of everything in your cupboards and freezer. There might be more ‘meals’ in there than you think.
3. Only buy red meat when reduced. You really don’t need to base meals around red meat. I’m always surprised on the ‘what’s for tea’ threads by how many people routinely have beef/lamb/sausages/chops etc for dinner. We eat red meat once or twice a week.
4. Buy tinned fruit rather than fresh for a few weeks. Cheaper, it keeps and your kids won’t get scurvy.
5. Sit and plan the meals for the next couple of weeks on a piece of paper - don’t just grab stuff out the fridge to make

No more days out, no more fun things, no treats, no new clothes

By George, she's got it.

Get an air fryer !! seriously, the rankest, cut price, piece of meat cooks like a dream. Not in your position OP (but truly have been in the past).. Got the knocked down Chicken bits for my dogs.. air fried them.. and oh my !!! ... Seriously, if I had a young family now.. I would be able to feed them well. Get the cut down ham trims etc.. cheap pasta and a tin of soup... Mash in with a bit of cheese on top. Wish I had known this when I struggled. My mother had to feed me - I lived on boiled rice for years.....

My family are in a similar life and financial situation, probably on a bit of a smaller income though. We are finding it tough and are having to budget more than we already did. Batch cooking and meal planning does help. Do you know that you can get up to 85% of childcare costs covered when you receive universal credit, even before your child turns 3? Might allow you to increase your work hours. Just find a lot of people don't realise this...

Tinned fruit isn't cheaper!

One tin of pears is £1 in sainsburys today. For 1 tin.

Buy seasonal fruit, that's whats always cheapest. Big bags of frozen berries can also be good for chucking in porridge or rice pudding etc.

It’s set to get worse too isn’t it. what the hell? What are you doing to save money or cut costs? Please give me all your advice

Ive got a list of cheap eats, as cheap as beans on toast to get me through the last week of the month, or a couple of days each week to cut back the shopping bill

I make a food menu and list each and every week and stick to it

I make the food list for 8 days and then go one day later to the supermarket each week

I have a budgeting plan, all bills paid from one account and a weekly amount sent to another account so I have weekly money to spend and when its gone its gone - but then only have a few days until the next week and the standing order pays into my account

save for xmas every week though the year - just `£5, but it soon adds up to a few £££ for present and food

don't use the car

get a second job

I have been thinking about this a lot too.

My conclusion about Christmas this year is that we need to keep it simple. I will get DC one present and we will go and look at Christmas lights, go to the carol service at church and the village panto, read Christmas books from the library, eat a normal sized meal, no doubt watch a lot of TV….

Where do you shop op?

£5.60 for mince seems a lot, I’ve just googled and even Waitrose sells 500grams for £2.00 from their essentials range. That should be plenty for 2 adults and 4 kids once bulked out with veg and beans with rice or potato wedges etc

Might not be your thing, but have you heard of Olio? It's an app where people redistribute leftover food from supermarkets. So when the foods last day has passed, instead of being thrown out people collect it to give away. Where I am I can get lots of good stuff on it - lot of bread, fresh veg, avocados, pastries etc. Obviously you usually have to eat it quickly because the best before date has passed, but with four kids shouldn't be a problem

I bought mince in Lidl yesterday for way less than that!!

Is there a food bank you know of. No shame in useing one. Lots of people are struggling you are not alone. You have got to do what you can to survive.