Help! £40 to feed family for the month

KellyWelly

mBaz I don't know what part of the country you are in, but my local authority run a scheme where they give starter packs of pre-fold nappies away or subsidise the purchase of £50 worth of real nappies.

Maybe your local authority do something similar and you could get a starter/trial pack from their offices or something that would see you through the rest of the month?

This is the link to my local one http://www.wastemissionimpossible.org.uk/nappies/Incentive.html

Good luck!

thriftmonster

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Yes, we find that too. DH & DD2 can't stand lentils for this reason which is a shame. Anyone got an advice on this?

I just cook them a bit longer (average 3 hrs for a std bolognese) and give them a good stir.

foxxymynx

a few suggestions...

you can make soups with root veg and a ham shank, or corned beef - that's cheap and a pan will do a few days.

You can buy mince and have chilli or spag bol

eggs you can make omelates

buy some plain flour, lard and marg (unless you have some!) and make pastry - make a mince gravy and make a couple of pies, or corned beef pie (needs potatoes mashed in with it) , things like that (you can freeze these )

MrsTinks

Lunar_Eclipse wrote: »

Yes, we find that too. DH & DD2 can't stand lentils for this reason which is a shame. Anyone got an advice on this?

Have you tried lentil soup? Because it's blended it is quite smooth
I add carrots, tinned toms and stock as well as anything else red veg wise to hide it from DH Usually he gets half way through a bowl and says this is nice - bit different from last time? And only then do i admit to putting in some offending veg like cauliflower etc He knows better than to say he won't eat the rest as obviously it's been fine so far

MrsTinks

pea and ham soup get a ham shank from butchers usually very cheap and dried peas, stock and an onion job done

pink_princess

dazza32 wrote: »

i dont belive anybody is that hard up ,, im on benifits with loads of debt and i eat better than that ,,, you must be spending money on other things too,,,,,

But how much do you earn on ebay etc
enough to order loads of products online.Do you claim your ebay earnings to the benefits agency(i doubt it)
Mbaz your doing great and been an inspiration to lots of mse s in a tight situation .
Not long to go now ,i bet your bill never returns to the high it was.:beer:

mbaz

KellyWelly wrote: »

mBaz I don't know what part of the country you are in, but my local authority run a scheme where they give starter packs of pre-fold nappies away or subsidise the purchase of £50 worth of real nappies.

Maybe your local authority do something similar and you could get a starter/trial pack from their offices or something that would see you through the rest of the month?

This is the link to my local one http://www.wastemissionimpossible.org.uk/nappies/Incentive.html

Good luck!

wow thanks I'll look into it. My youngest is nearly 2 so I've not got too long of nappies left I hope. My eldest is 3 and still needs one on a night.

I had to go for the value ones unforunately as my budget is so tight and both boys have spotty bums this morning so I feel awful. I've got some suducrem somewhere though so I'll be dolloping that in from now on!

1 week and counting.....:rolleyes:

mbaz

pink_princess wrote: »

But how much do you earn on ebay etc
enough to order loads of products online.Do you claim your ebay earnings to the benefits agency(i doubt it)
Mbaz your doing great and been an inspiration to lots of mse s in a tight situation .
Not long to go now ,i bet your bill never returns to the high it was.:beer:

Thanks pink princess! No, I'm allowing myself £100 a month from now on and we'll eat better than we ever have done on £200 anyway! Ended up getting an early night last night so didnt do menu plan for next month. I'll hopefully do it today, I'm really looking forward to doing it it will feel like Christmas!

mioliere

Mbz -both my boys suffered with spotty bums (due to strong ammonia in their wee, according to the doctor). I was told to put natural yoghurt on their bums and it worked almost overnight. It's all I ever used after that. It's cheap and readily available, too.

Lentils: I find they work best when boiled (as per instructions on the packet) then blended before adding to the meal you are cooking. It's a bit of a faff but they lose their graininess that way.

I'm going to make some time to read this whole thread; there are some brilliant ideas here and I really want to get my food shopping down so thanks to all those who post on here!

culpepper

I use oats to thicken stews and find if you grind it up small,it is as good as cornflour.
Mixed with a little bit of cold water and then some of the hot stew liquid it blends right in.
Much cheaper than cornflour too.