Help make £18 last 10 days

[rainbowslate]

Please can you give me any ideas how to make £18 last 10 days. Family of 4, 2 adults, 2children.
Should have enough fuel to last, so just lunch boxes and evening meals really
Thank you in advance

I’d say breakfast:
porridge or weetabix with bananas
lunch - beans on toast or if needed placed lunch cream cheese, jam sandwich, a biscuit bar and value crisps
Dinners - sausages and chips, pizza, chicken nuggets and chips, pasta and sauce, eggs on toast all repeated twice
Snacks for kids - cheap biscuits, apples or crumpets

Just thinking about filling everyone up, I'd say some reduced price bread (ideally wholemeal as it's more filling) and cheese for lunch with a banana or apple, or maybe homemade flapjack. Then:

Shopping List

• 2 kg of rice (approx. £1.80)
• 2 kg of dried lentils (approx. £3.00) (Try Indian supermarket if there are any near you for cheap bulk buys of these)
• 1 kg of pasta (approx. £0.70)
• 1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (approx. £1.50)
• 2 bags of frozen spinach (approx. £2.00)
• 4 cans of chopped tomatoes (approx. £1.60)
• 1 kg of carrots (approx. £0.60)
• 1 bag of onions (approx. £0.40)
• 1 bag of frozen fruit (approx. £1.50)
• 1 box of porridge oats (approx. £0.75)

Meal Ideas

• Rice and lentil curry (use onions, carrots, tomatoes, and spinach)
• Veggie pasta (use mixed vegetables, onions, and tomatoes)
• Lentil soup (use onions, carrots, and spinach)
• Fried rice (use mixed vegetables, carrots, onions, and eggs if possible)
• Overnight oats with fruit for breakfast

Good luck!

Also try too good too go app. The higher the ratings the better the value.

So sorry OP, this seems very hard❤️ we’re currently also struggling so you have my sympathies.

Do you have any good neighbours that have fruit trees you could grab some apples or pears?

Pizza dough is simple and cheap to make if you have the ingredients in. 500 ml plain flour, a sachet yeast, pinch of sugar, pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 200 ml warm water. Mix and let rise for at least 2 hours or risen. Any toppings you have.

Shopping in the evenings for yellow stickers

We use them, go for ones with good ratings as can be variable, but we got 3 bagfuls of co-op food last night for £9. Pizzas, quiche, sweetcorn, burgers, chicken pasta, potato wedges, fruit...

This is what I would buy from tesco, if you have an asda or Morrissons nearby you will get better prices.

£1 4x baking potatoes
£1 bag of carrots
£2.50 box of 12 mixed eggs
£1.09 Rosedean 6 apples
£3 400g cheddar cheese
£.074p loaf of bread
£0.80p Creamfields 12 x fromage frais
£1.45 4 pints semi skimmed
£1.24 stockwell wheat biscuits (cheap wheatabix)
£1.69 4 x breaded chicken steaks - frozen
£1.20 butchers choice 20 pork sausages frozen
£0.99 Growers harvest frozen mixed veg 1kg
£0.80p Hearty food co 10x fish fingers
£ 0.29p Stockwell baked beans x 4

You can do Jackets with beans. Sausage and Mash ( I meant to add a few more potatoes and maybe a bag of chips) . Pasta if you have some with chopped sausage. Chicken burgers sandwiches. Omelette with chopped sausage in. Fish fingers and chips. That's 5 meals. Plus veg soup from what you have left. Some tinned food you have left. You might be able to manage another 3. Any relatives you can visit for tea?

I’d live on lentil dal. Have you got toilet rolls and stuff?

Have you got anything you can sell on FB marketplace? £10 or anything would put you in a better position. Local council may be able to help with a Household Support fund payment. Give them a call.

Do you have any devices you can take to cash converters? Assuming you have the money to get them back in 10 days.

Also, ask for a referral to a food bank asap. I don't think £18 is anywhere enough to stretch 10 days unless you're ridiculously well stocked already, or can live off toast, potatoes, rice, pasta, and ramen until you get paid 😕

Definitely try Olio and ask your local supermarket staff what time they put out the yellow stickers. At my local Tesco it's at wierd times like midday but if you get there early you can pick up decent veg like whole broccoli etc for very cheap. If you then throw all this into a stew or curry, you can probably do that for around £1 plus add lentils you've got in the cupboard. If you can do something like that every day then for £8 you may be able to get over a week of dinners plus leftovers can work for lunch (throw curry in a lunchbox for example even cold in a bap it would work). Pick up breads or pastries on Olio or a local food bank. Check local cafés at closing time, I was given some really gorgeous bread and foccacia for 50p that they were going to throw out otherwise. Even though they said it was going out of date, it was good for another two days (just sprinkle water and pop in oven for a few mins to revive it)
Any local mums you could do some swaps with ? They take your kids for play date and tea this week and you take theirs in 2 weeks time?

Foodbank

For bought food I’d buy chicken pieces very cheap in Asda or Iceland and can make several dinners
frozen mince ( mix with lentils and veg to bulk it up for shepherds pie ect) or use for keema curry
pack of potatoes are cheap - can put them in the oven with beans on top for jackets
chickpea curry with onions over rice
fried rice with peas or other veg bits and some of the chicken chopped in
Soups made with veg scraps and blended

Chicken nuggets cost more than a whole chicken these days

Vegetable and lentil soup costs about 25p a serving if that, make enough for 2 meals. Bread is available for under 50p plus spread 80p and there's ham for 80p in Lidl, tuna is 60p a can in Lidl which will do 5 lots of sandwiches assuming you have mayo in the fridge. Jar of pesto is 99p there and pasta can be bought for 40p, throw in any veg you can spare.

Lentil dal and rice is your biggest friend. It's pennies to make (I do use one onion and fresh ginger which is 10p for a knob of it in Lidl) you then can serve pan fried veg with it eg some veggies with a bit of cumin. It's genuinely healthy and delicious.

Nipping to Waitrose if there's one local an hour or so before closing can come up trumps eg bought a large chicken for £1.50 recently

£18 is not enough to feed four people for 10 days, and since children are involved I wouldn't encourage you to try. You need to contact local food banks - many don't require a referral, often just proof that you live locally.

Veggie chilli is another very cheap option - 3 cans beans (3 for a pound often in world foods aisle) and a can chopped tomatoes. Use existing spices or a sachet of seasoning (45p or so) serve with rice once day then with wraps the next

This

https://olioapp.com/en/ try olio app for surplus food donations

https://www.trussell.org.uk/ your local food bank & also check places of worship

https://soupkitchenlondon.org/ also Google for ones in your local area if you're outside London

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/ switch bank accounts to get £100+ introduction fee

Sell anything you don't need now because people are now buying for Christmas. Get each child to donate at least 1 large bag of out grown, old toys, books, clothes & household items. Do collection only sales on fb market place & e bay.

It is doable OP dont worry

However I wouldnt go into regular supermarkets for a lot of the tinned stuff, still quite expensive in comparison to Home Bargains, B+M bargains etc
I find Iceland quite expensive

Things like tinned fish, coconut milk etc as suggested by others can be on the pricey side so have a look in HB and B+M

You havent set out exactly what you already have, there might not be a need for buying massive bags of rice or lentils and then you can focus on other things. A cheap whole chicken for example, do you have a slow cooker?

I wouldnt waste time or ingredients doing things like home made pizza, its not particularly filling or big and doesnt go very far. Similarly with bread, if you mess it up, then you've lost the ingredients for the bread, just buy some really cheap bread if the kids need sandwiches

Porridge is very cheap for breakfast and will fill up more than toast.

Also, can one of you pick up a few extra shifts in a bar/restaurant/cafe or shop either in the evenings or wkends? This will be helpful particularly in the lead up to Christmas. The hospitality sector is desperate for staff & there are plenty of jobs available.

If running out of money is a regular occurrence then you need to increase your salary & reduce your expenditure. This is a long term plan though, everyone has suggested short term tips up thread.

Olio app. During the day it is normally just bread but the meal type products usually get loaded around 9 and have to be collected that eve

Talk to your kids school and explain the situation. They may be able to help with lunches or direct you to a food bank. They will want to help you.

On Keto now, so know that 2 boiled eggs, mayo, 2 inches of cucumber keeps you going from 11.30 til 3pm
Carbs fill you up, but sugar drops so you get hungry quicker.

There's a recipe from an Instagram reel that I love at the moment that would make use of the rice and lentils and inexpensive additional ingredients.

You add rice, stock and grated veg to an ovenproof casserole type bowl, cover and cookuntil water absorbed. Top with cheese sauce, or just cheese, and let it get bubbly. For your situation I'd buy a bag of carrots for around 60p, and use those with the rice and lentils (for a bit of protein for a nicely filling and balanced meal), a stock cube and whatever dried herbs you have that would go, and an onion although it would be fine without that. Grated cheese on top if you can.

The account is broccoli_mum if you want to go find the original recipe for quantities. She makes it vegan, but I've found it's really versatile to using different grains, different veg, and normal cow's milk cheese sauce or just cheese on top.

A second, not dissimilar recipe suggestion is from somebody in mumsnet for a carrot & cheese oat bake.

Carrot and cheese bake

Serves four
14oz of carrots grated ( or two large carrots per person
3oz of porridge oats
1oz of flour
A few tables spoons of vegetable water or stock
1 teaspoon of dried thyme (could omit)
4oz of cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper seasoning
Mix thoroughly
Press into greased dish and bake for 40 minutes

It would also be useful to speak to Citizens Advice or a debt and benefits advice charity to see if you are getting everything you are entitled to. If you are also in debt you can get help with that too. They can also refer you to local food banks.