Looking for work is costly! £3 to spend on food this week... HELP!

Miss_Mulberry

Hi all!

I was shortlisted for a job which is brill but it's cost me £11.80 to get there and they hopefully want to see me again before the week is out. I have a pair of shoes finishing on eBay that can pay for the (hopefully) next interview and cover the shoes postage. Seeing as I had £15 to spend on food, cleaning products and sending additional Special Delivery documents, this leaves me with the grand total of £3.02. I've raided all my bags for spare change but that's all I have.

I know you OSers love a challenge, so how am I meant to eke this out to last me until Sunday?

In the fridge I have one bowl of tomato sauce which I'll have for supper tomorrow.

I've also got:

Half a can of kidney beans
One slice of bread
Half a tin of peaches, although they've been open for five days
One carrot
Three peppers
Four eggs
Butter
Ketchup, Mayo
Milk
Small tin sweetcorn
Tinned potatoes
Baked beans
Half a bag of pasta
Onion
7 cloves garlic
Stock cubes
1" ginger
Rice Krispies

Any ideas what I can buy for £3.02 to make enough meals until Sunday? There's no oven, so nothing that needs baking or roasting, and I'm really craving fruit, but I'm stuck with Sainsburys

Thanks lads and lasses

Josslette

Ooh sounds like a tough challenge.

Is this amount of money to cover 3 meals a day for 7 days?

Will get on sainsbugs website and see what I can do! xx

kboss2010

Do you have any dried herbs?

2 tins of chopped tomatoes (68p), a packet of basic pasta (39p), 3 carrots (30p), a reduced loaf (40p), basics rice(40p) and a bag of dried lentils (£1.09)


Freeze your loaf and defrost a few slices each day

It'll be very boring but:

Rice Krispies and milk for breakfast (add peaches if u like)

Carrot, lentil and ginger soup (3 lunches) - 3 carrots, half an onion, 1/2 bag lentils, 2 veg or chicken stock cubes, half the ginger (grated), salt and 2 or 3 cups of rice + boiling water. Have a slice of bread to bulk it up.

Tomato pasta (3 lunches/dinners) - 3 cups pasta, 1 tin tomatoes, half a carrot diced, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1/2 onion, 1 tbsp ketchup

Red pepper mayo pasta (2 lunches) - 1 pepper diced, 3 tbsp mayo, 1/2 tin sweetcorn and 2 cups pasta

Roasted pepper omelette (2 dinners) - per omelette: 2 eggs, 2 tbsp milk, 2 tbsp butter, 1/2 diced pepper - have with 2 slices bread and butter

Beans on 2 slices of toast (1/2 tin of beans per meal) (2 dinners)

Potato and rice salad (2 dinners) - tin of potatoes diced, 1/2 pepper diced, 1/2 tin sweetcorn, 2 cups rice, 3 tbsp mayo

Kidney bean and tomato pasta (2 dinners) - 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 tin kidney beans, 1 tin tomatoes, 1 diced pepper, 1 tbsp ketchup, 2 cups pasta

Lentil soup (2 portions) - 1/2 bag lentils, 2 stock cubes, 2 cups rice

- pur!e the soups or mash using a potato masher if u don't have a blender, add salt and pepper to everything to taste if necessary.

Josslette

My ideas would be...

You will need 21 meals and maybe some snacks.

Shopping List
Basics Spaghetti - 39p
Basics Bread - 50p
Basics Chopped Tomatoes - 34p
Basics Mixed fruit Jam - 29p
Basics Custard - 17p
Basics Yoghurts x 4 - 33p
Basics Curry Sauce - 26p
Basics Rice - 40p
Onion - 10p?
Broken Mandarin Slices - 23p

£3.01

Sweetcorn and Spaghetti Soup - 1/4 onion, 1-2 cloves of garlic, sweetcorn, ginger, carrot, stock cubes, water, spaghetti, seasoning. 2 Meals

Poached Eggs on Toast - 2 Slices of Toast, Butter, 2 Eggs. 2 Meals

Baked Beans on Toast - 2 Slices of Toast, Butter, Half tin of beans. 2 Meals

Rice Krispies and Milk - Amount of rice krispies and milk depends of how many meals obviously but I'll guess that you have enough for 2. 2 Meals

Pasta with Tomato and Pepper Sauce - 1/2 Onion, 1-2 Garlic Cloves, 2 Peppers, Basics Chopped Tomatoes, Pasta, Seasoning. 2 Meals

Jam on Toast - 2 Slices of Toast, Jam. 3 Meals(Breakfast?)

Vegetable Curry with Rice - Basics Curry sauce, 3/4 onion, pepper, ginger, garlic, kidney beans, rice. 2 Meals

Saut!ed Potatoes with Ketchup and Mayo - Fried 1/4 Onion, Tin of Potatoes, Seasoning, Dip made of ketchup and mayo. 1 Meal.

Yoghurt and Fruit - Basic yoghurt, tinned peaches(if ok), Broken Mandarin pieces. 4 Breakfasts

Pasta with Garlic Butter - Cooked Spaghetti, Garlic, butter and seasoning. 1-2 Meals

Desserts
Basics Custard


So yeah, it wouldn't be the best nutritionally, you could end up a bit hungry but you'd be fed. You'd also have some rice left that you could cook in some stock and has as a kind of soupy thing to fill you up.

Have you got any friends or family that you could subtly scrounge a meal or two from?

Hope this helps.

Josslette

You'd also have jam left so if you had enough milk you could make some rice pudding with the rice and milk then add jam for a filling pudding.

scaredy_cat

look at the recipes on the blog - a girl called jack, very cheap and she prices them all up.

Miss_Mulberry

Thanks so much! It was for all meals for the rest of the week, so you've given me some great ideas. I do have oregano, but that's it in the way of dried herbs. If the shoes go for more then they're at now I'll have extra, but at least for now I have an outline

If I get another interview this week (fingers crossed!) then a friends offered to take me out for a meal, so that's one day at least covered. forget burgers and chocolate, I plan on eating salad, veggies, soft cheese and fresh fruit!

kacie

If you're claiming JSA then you can get them to cover the cost of your shoes, wont help you this week but you can use it later to stock your cupboard with emergency food

Own_My_Own

kacie wrote: »

If you're claiming JSA then you can get them to cover the cost of your shoes, wont help you this week but you can use it later to stock your cupboard with emergency food

Why would JSA cover the cost of her sending a pair of shoes the op that's sold on eBay ?

Do you mean they may cover the travel expenses to the interview ?

kacie

Own_My_Own wrote: »

Why would JSA cover the cost of her sending a pair of shoes the op that's sold on eBay ?

Do you mean they may cover the travel expenses to the interview ?

Sorry I read it wrong thought she was buying the shoes for the interview.

But yes they should be able to pay the cost of the travel expenses

kezlou

If your on jsa, esa or income support, you can apply for your transport costs.

Oh and for your future interview cost. They don't always advertise it, but just ask you never know. Oh and if you need clothes etc ask them if they have a clothing fund, you may able to buy clothes / shoes for interviews.

When i claimed JSA i claimed back £45 for the cost of the train and taxi fares to newcastle and back. all they asked of me was to keep the reciept and show it to them.
If you have a car you cna do the same ting with fuel, they won't for a pay for a full tank if you didn't use it all.
For instance say its costs you £4.50 in fuel return jorney then they will pay that. But if you put in £10 they will only pay for what you have used for the interview and thats it.


Porridge oats are great for breakfasts and snacks, very filling and easy to make.

I'll have a think for some meal ideas to. x