Urgent help needed!!!

carlih1

HI,

I have been following this board for a while but i am now quite desperate. I am having problems with my tax credits they say they have fallen off the system and therefore i have only had my child benefit to live off for the last two weeks!

My problem is this i NEED to go shopping i have about £40 in the bank and about £30 in change that i could put in one of those machines and use in store, also £7.00 tesco vouchers.

I need to divise a plan for the next two weeks at least as i do not know when they will sort this out, they say i will get money on friday but they said that last week also! I practically have nothing in the house apart from milk and bread and a few veggies. I mainly eat veggie stuff and some meat occasionally just through preference but need to eat very very cheaply indeed.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how i can feed my two children and buy gas and electric on this sort of money? All my wages will go on my bills as i not getting anything else on top i have to make these a priority.

Any suggestions would be greatfully recieved

Carli x

Churchmouse

Poor you! I do hope they sort it out quickly for you. Nothing practical to offer re menu planning, but please don't use the supermarket change-converter thingy (technical term you understand:rotfl: ) they charge at least 7% commission!:eek: You need every penny, better to get bags from the bank and bag it up yourself then pay into your own account.

Rachel85

Okay so you have £70 to last two weeks. How much of that needs to be spent on Gas and Electricity? I take it you're on pre-pay? If its a post-pay account I'd suggest calling them, explaining the situation and asking (politely) if you could have an extra week or two to pay. Its suprising how often they say yes if you ask. Just don't leave it until its overdue and you have no money as they'll not be so accomodating then.

As for meals there are LOADS of threads on here about how to eat cheaply. I suggest going through your cupboards and looking at everything you have. Perhaps even post it on here? It may only seem like a few bits and pieces but chances are they could make a few meals. Try going to markets if you can to get lots of fruit and veg. Only buy brown/wholemeal bread as its more filling..etc

You don't say how old our kids are but if they're school age I'd probably speak to them about what's going on. Not to scare them, but just so they understand that they can't nag you for an ice cream on the way home from school for a couple of weeks. Perhaps suggest that if they're good and don't moan then you'll take then for an ice cream when the money comes through?

RacyRed

Hii Carli and welcome

I hope things are sorted quickly for you.

1st take a deep breath and grab a pen and paper.

You say you have bread, milk and veggies. OK, what about tinned stuff and store cupboard items? Try listing those out and see what there is, it will help those with better meal planning skills than I have sort you out some ideas.

Churchmouse is absolutely right about your change, why pay commission when you don't need to.

((((hugs))))

MrsTinks

Is it also worth contacting the tax credit people and advisign them that due to their mistake you're unable to feed yourself and your family and can they sort out an emergency payment? Depending on where you work they might be able to help too? I knwo my company can be approached for help in times of need for a no-interest short term loan... sounds like even say £50 would be enough to see you through?

melancholly

Churchmouse wrote:

Poor you! I do hope they sort it out quickly for you. Nothing practical to offer re menu planning, but please don't use the supermarket change-converter thingy (technical term you understand:rotfl: ) they charge at least 7% commission!:eek: You need every penny, better to get bags from the bank and bag it up yourself then pay into your own account.

well said! i always want to go tell people how much money they're wasting by using those machines!!

Jay-Jay_4

I know what you mean about the coin converter thingies but if it's a choice between paying bus fare into town or paying for parking to change the money then it's often just easier to use the coin machine.

Carli, I echo Racy's advice, take a deep breath and prepare for some surfing. It doesn't sound like a lot of money but it's only a temporary measure and between us we can s-t-r-e-t-c-h that money out over the next two weeks.

The main thing is your gas and leccy consumption as you can't do without these things. Go around your house now and switch everything off at the plugs (inc microwave, video, dvd) It doesn't matter if the times go off these things, you can reset them later. If you have gas central heating, turn your thermostat down a notch and reduce the amount of time it's on.

As the other said, give us a list of your tins and freezer content.

Don't worry, you'll get through this no problems x x x

EagerLearner

You poor lass - don't worry though, it can be done - my suggestion would be to buy bags of chick peas, beans, butter beans and soak portions overnight, then cook in big pans - you can use them for soups, salads, stews and they are very healthy, giving energy for longer and filling you up. You can make nice Tuscan soups with these and old bread plus a little olive oil. The dried beans last ages in the cupboard and you only need to soak the quantity you need. Also add credit to your electric & gas first as you don't ant to run out of those, then see what's left and how best to spend. You can buy milk & freeze it plus Buy 1 Get 1 Frees will help too. As previous MSEr's suggest, also use up your freezer content too.

Good luck!

EagerLearner

culpepper

sorry to hear about your predicament
Re the milk and bread ,You can make little toasted squares of bread and put milk on for breakfast. Its quite nice with sugar / honey / raisins/ cinnamon .
Those packets of noodles you can buy very cheaply are good with cut up bacon/fish/ sausage and veg.
Sardines are really cheap and you can bulk them out with breadcrumbs and marg for sandwiches.
Bacon bits are much cheaper than rashers.I buy a packet that lasts us 3 meals(4 full sized people).
Potatoes can make a good meal.You can buy a big bag for under £4 and use them for baking,chips,mash etc and add things like cheese/tuna/sardines and veg or salad.
I hope its sorted soon,its so frustrating when 'official people' think your life is trivial.
When I was 17,my mum had a life threatening illness and there was just me,my brother and small sister.Mums widows pension money ran out and we survived for about 6 months on my brothers and my junior wages.The postmaster would not let us have her pensoin money because she couldnt write her name.Thank goodness my sister got free school dinners or I dont know what we would have done.

garret1

Hi there. i have been there so I know how you're feeling. First of all count the change and get it changed at bank. Plan your meals for the next 2 weeks or one week and repeat it.
Yesterday i did my first shop since starting budgeting and was amazed how much I got.

I bought the basic of bread, milk etc and then planned my meals carefully. Tesco value bread is fine and 28p
value pasta is good. If you have a farmfoods theirs is 3 bags for £1 and it's a good brand. This should do a few meals. I'm doing macaroni cheese onne night, tuna pasta one night and spaghetti carbonara one night. Discovered tesco value cooking bacon for 78p and it works well for carbonara. a small packet of mince will go further with tesco value carrots and some lentils.
Look in the reduced section for freezable meals and a big bag of tesco value oven chips goes quite far. Tesco value fresh orange is also fine. if you have farmfoods near you check it out for some great bargains. I don't trust their own brands but they are good for loo rolls, biscuits and tinned soup. A big bag of value/reduced veg will make great soup.

I'm new to all this too and am really just regurtitating the advice I have been given in other threads. i'll think some more and get back to you.

Take care

carlih1

Thank you for all your help. I got an emergency payment from the enquiry centre, but before that i spent £63.00 on a massive shop, i literally filled the trolley up, i didn't go down the clothes toys or magasine/book aisles either and didn't have to buy any cleanning things so now i have a full fridge/freezer and cupboards.

The tuscan soup sounds nice how do you make that?

THanks again

carli