£20 till last us to the 28th - need advice on how to make things last

kirsteenatom

So I had to buy a plane ticket this month which cost £300. It's not a holiday I've booked, I'm visiting a friend who doesn't have a lot longer.

Anyway, the upshot is that I've just looked at our bank account and with several bills coming out, and petrol for the car (I need the car for work) we have about £20 to £25 for food.

I've been through all the cupboards and freezer and this is what we have in store:

Big bag of pasta (2.5kg)
Tin Kidney beans
Carton of Passata
Chick peas (tin)
Chilli Pasta sauce
Tomato pasta sauce x 2 (jar)
Tin pink salmon
Plum tomatoes
Cake mix x 2
Bread mix (sun dried tomato and rosemary)
Fahitas
Burrito spices
Tomato Puree
Noodles x 5 (assorted flavours)
Tomato soup x2 Heinz
Beef flavoured rice
Butterscoth delight
Chocolate delight
Mexican savoury rice
3 tins baked beans
Brown rice (half bag)
White rice 2kg
Sage and Onion stuffing (1 packet)
Shake and Bake (from my MIL in Canada) 2 sachets
Pizza base mix
Szechuan stir fry sauce
Strawberry delight
7 packets of malaysian curry sauce (assorted) sent from friend in Malaysia, just add meat, potatoes or veg, some recommend coconut milk to be added which I don't have.
Bag of onions
Bag of red onions
Large bag of potatoes
Tomatoes
White cabbage
Bag of carrots
Apples
Bananas
half bag flour
half bag self raising flour
bag caster sugar
loose brown sugar in caddy
10 yoghurts for the kids
One big pot of yoghurt


Frozen
Cauliflower cheese
2 x shepherds pie mix
7 bags of home made turkey meatballs (7 meatballs per bag)
Frozen mixed veg
Frozen peas
Chilli con carne (for 2)
Beef mince 2 bags 1kg each
4 pieces of frozen white fish


I usually cook the mince in batches and add grated carrots and tons of veg, and have been reading and thinking about adding lentils as well (will have to buy some). We make a lot of home made soups, particularly carrot or vegetable (trying a green bean soup at the moment to use up what I have).



There is me, DH and two kids 3 and 1. I work full time and need to take lunches (have been doing baked potatoes with beans or tuna pasta salad so far but getting bored). DH is a stay at home dad, so need to do his lunch as well as the kids.

We have probably enough cereal to last two weeks for the mornings.



I'm lost, I seem to have so many random ingredients I can't see how to put them together and spend wisely with the remaining money we have.

We have an overdraft facility but I never use it, my credit cards are clear and I don't like the idea of going into debt, so would really like to get through this month with what we have.

Any help will be really gratefully received!

Kirsteen

slowandsteady_2

Just bumping back up for you, ive not many more ideas that what you have mentioned already but hopefully someone will be along soon with more imagination than me!

determined_new_ms

Hi sorry am not as os as man t=others on this forum but stumbled across this the other day:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=326929&page=2

its long but lots of really cheap and tastey meal suggestions. Look on mysupermarket to find what deals are on in each of the big 4. I shop at Lidal and Adli as are so much cheaper.

lunches, I make tomato soup - onion & 2 cloves of garlic (if I have it) tin of toms (31p aldi/lidal), a large potato (or a couple), a large carrot, and a hand full of frozen peppers. Saute onions & garlic, add carrots, peppers & potato and saute for another 5 mins, add tin of toms chopped, add water, stock cube & seasoning. simmer for 15-20 mins. whizz up in a blender - delicious and cheap

veg/meat chilli con carne

soda bread (very cheap and easy to make) and cream cheese ( always get generic or lidal)

get some eggs and make pancakes, omlettes (adding veg & pots)

do a search for the thread about times of day things are heavily reduced in supermarkets.

oh I bought a gammon steak (look on the above thread so you could get it cheaper) had slow cooked it, with onion, carrots & a chopped apple, with cous cous (although u could use rice), then had it last night in a pasta bake (tin toms, onion, dried basil if you have it, cooked sauce for 10 mins boil some pasta and then mix, a little cheese if you can and bake for 20 mins.

Also sp porridge oats to fill eveyrone up in the morning.

And last tip from me I use long life milk rather than fresh. Its 59p a ltr in aldi/lidal/nettos, and I think its more yummy as its creamy

Good luck! Hope the trip is nice even though it is in sad circumstances x

meanmarie

Hi Kirsteen,

It would appear that you have lots of carbs to last you until 28th, with possible exception of bread...would agree with OP that soda bread is very easy and quick to make, would also agree with 50p meals thread recommendation, there are others.

Basically your 2 k of mince with veg and a little oatmeal added should give you at least 6 dinners, with leftovers for you to take for lunch.....you have pasta sauce, curry sauce, you can make chilli with the beans and some of mince mix. You have also 2 shepherds pie mix ( does that mean whole meal?) and fish to make a meal with veg and potatoes, The turkey meat balls should make another 2/3 dinners and you can give the children rice with veg and an egg stirred in when you and OH have the chilli for dinner....I make that 13/14 dinners.

What you need to buy is milk, bread, veg, fruit, eggs, cheese if you eat it, and porridge oats....

Not very good at clear advice....write down as many meals as you can think of to make with what you have, being 'creative' if necessary. Then make a list of what you have left, see how many more meals you need and make a list of what you need to buy as a minimum to make the meals required.

No doubt someone else will be on to give more sensible and easily understood advice....you can do this!

Marie

wssla00

kirsteenatom wrote: »

So I had to buy a plane ticket this month which cost £300. It's not a holiday I've booked, I'm visiting a friend who doesn't have a lot longer.

Anyway, the upshot is that I've just looked at our bank account and with several bills coming out, and petrol for the car (I need the car for work) we have about £20 to £25 for food.

I've been through all the cupboards and freezer and this is what we have in store:

Big bag of pasta (2.5kg)
Tin Kidney beans
Carton of Passata
Chick peas (tin)
Chilli Pasta sauce
Tomato pasta sauce x 2 (jar)
Tin pink salmon
Plum tomatoes
Cake mix x 2
Bread mix (sun dried tomato and rosemary)
Fahitas
Burrito spices
Tomato Puree
Noodles x 5 (assorted flavours)
Tomato soup x2 Heinz
Beef flavoured rice
Butterscoth delight
Chocolate delight
Mexican savoury rice
3 tins baked beans
Brown rice (half bag)
White rice 2kg
Sage and Onion stuffing (1 packet)
Shake and Bake (from my MIL in Canada) 2 sachets
Pizza base mix
Szechuan stir fry sauce
Strawberry delight
7 packets of malaysian curry sauce (assorted) sent from friend in Malaysia, just add meat, potatoes or veg, some recommend coconut milk to be added which I don't have.
Bag of onions
Bag of red onions
Large bag of potatoes
Tomatoes
White cabbage
Bag of carrots
Apples
Bananas
half bag flour
half bag self raising flour
bag caster sugar
loose brown sugar in caddy
10 yoghurts for the kids
One big pot of yoghurt


Frozen
Cauliflower cheese
2 x shepherds pie mix
7 bags of home made turkey meatballs (7 meatballs per bag)
Frozen mixed veg
Frozen peas
Chilli con carne (for 2)
Beef mince 2 bags 1kg each
4 pieces of frozen white fish



Kirsteen

Hmm... I'm not very good at stuff like this... but lemme see..28th is 18 days away. I'm sure you will be fine

Ok... If it was me I would stock up on cheese,eggs, butter and milk, tuna as well as some oats if you can.
Pasta:
1. Pasta and meatballs x2
2. Cheesy pasta bake- using small amount of grated cheese, butter, plain flour milk and pasta
3. Tuna pasta bake- pasta sauce, tuna, cheese pasta
4. Chilli bean pasta bake (chilli pasta sauce chick peas, pasta, cheese)

Other:
5. Malaysian potato and onion curry x2- If you haven't tried these sauces yet please do! Very nice!!!! When I came back from Malaysia I would buy these from a specialist shop! Very easy too. Serve with rice
6. Fish pie- fish, tuna (?)roux (butter flour milk) peas mash potato top
7. HM pizza x 2 times- bread mix, passata red onions tomatoes peppers
8. Shepherds Pie with peas
9. Beef mince fajitas with onions and peppers if you have any
10. If you invest in the eggs- egg fried rice- rice onions peas and eggs
11. Chilli and rice for you, spicy buritto seasoned meatballs and rice for the kiddies with some pasta sauce nice and gives it a bit of heat
12. Chicken noodle soup. using either the chicken stuff in the packet or (more appealing) a stock cube to make a stock and boil the noodles in it, add any veggies you fancy and perhaps a whisked up egg to add some protein
OK three days to go...... er will post when I have another look.....


Lunches can just be leftovers reheated through... for both of you as you can always use a microwave in work to reheat! Yummy!

goodgodthatonesevenbigger

I feel for you, im in a similar situation i have #14 to last until the 21st, and thats got to include #8 worth of bus fares.

Does anyone have the recipe for the soda bread cos i'm sure i can make use of it over the next 2 weeks

wssla00

OK.... then maybe would add some bread and so you can make some easy meals
1. Beans on toast
2. Soup and bread
3. Jacket potato with salmon

Ok... so that's 18 meals one dinner for each day

Then... snacks

Make those cake mixes, and divide into nice pieces,
use up the whip lovely frozen as lollies
Apple crumble using butter, flour and oats
Yoghurt and roasted bananas with brown sugar YUM YUM

Ok my brain has gone to mush lol.... Hope it helped a little!

wssla00

Rachel Allen's white soda bread recipe here

nearlyrich

Check who is selling which veg cheap each week, they seem to have a price war on veg, worth a trip into any local supermarkets to see what's on offer or try your local market to save even more...good luck with your challange

goodgodthatonesevenbigger

How long Does Soda bread last is it just like normal bread in respect of storgae etc?

determined_new_ms

goodgodthatonesevenbigger wrote: »

I feel for you, im in a similar situation i have #14 to last until the 21st, and thats got to include #8 worth of bus fares.

Does anyone have the recipe for the soda bread cos i'm sure i can make use of it over the next 2 weeks

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/3342051/Bread-making-use-your-loaf.html

ok I used the recipe on here, easiest bread I have ever made, however the timing as a little long - i'd do it 20-25 mins and then turn over for 8-10

also op there is a thread on 2nd or 3rd oldschool page called feed a family of 4 for a month on £40, obviously prices have gone up, but lots of inspiration