January - the month tighter than Mr Tighty's hosiery

samanthaneww2d

If you have a bit of oil flour you can make tortillas very easily. chickpea dahl is filling as well. Is there a food bank near to you . Are you anywhere near to leeds ( if so i would be happy to offer you a few bits) and if you have a blender any soups you make can be very filling parsnip and carrot or carrot and coriander can all be made more tasty with some spices or a dash of some sauce you might have lurking. If you did a full inventory of stuff you have in the cupboard and posted it we might be able to come up with ideas. My friend made a garlic soup the other day which was exceptionally cheap and even though I was suspect it was really good. Hang in there and don't starve yourself. We are all here to help support in practical ways. check any of your loyalty cards (sainsburys./tesco etc do you have any points you could use off shopping.

You take care of yourself and keep posting on here there are people who have managed in the most dire of circumstances on here.
x

bargainbetty

All useful advice here on how to make the money go further. In the meantime, I would suggest that your BF separates his stack of invoices into date order and insists that at least the oldest ones are paid so that you two can eat properly and without damaging your health.

Her marriage, Christmas and moving are not your problems - please ask him to go in and ask for the oldest two bills to be paid immediately. This is business! What happens if she gets to the end of the month and claims hardship again? He must demand that she makes some inroads into the debt.

AnnieO1234

Except bargainbetty that might be when she packs in entirely and OPs OH finds he's in a queue behind the tax man and not getting any money at all after a bankruptcy filing as well as no longer having that income source. It sounds as though his business is such that payments probably do ebb and flow, such is the nature of a lot of accounting/finance departments.

I have clients putting money on account currently so as to use up money from their budgets before year end - ensuring their budgets aren't slashed next year. It's why anyone even someone salaried should try and have a back up of money and food always. I've been through lean times believe me, you learn from it and get stronger. There's an end in sight OP! Xxx

WantToBeSE

Hi Jo, sorry to hear things are so tight. As well as Jacks Blog (already linked above by others) I would also recommend looking on Facebook at a group called 'Feed your family for about £20 a week'.
There are some brilliant (and v cheap) recipes on there, but you have to scroll through to find them. You can also post a message on their page (maybe saying what ingredients you have), and people will reply with suggestions for recipes etc.


If you have a CEX store nearby, do you have any tech stuff (CDs, DVDs, computer games) that you could sell? Any 'points' (like nectar, clubcard etc) that you can use?

Butterfly_Brain

Jojo hun look on the £7 a week thread there are some really cheap ideas on there.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4084527

skintmum2012

Hey Jojo I don't suppose your near Northampton? I have a stock cupboard I would be more then willing to give you a some stuff

A girl called Jack is Fantastic her older stuff is where you want to start though as that's when she was on a very tight budget as time goes on her recipes get a tad more expensive as she gets a little more money still really yummy though I have both of her cookbooks and am always cooking out of them.
I saw a link to this women on here the other day http://www.thriftylesley.com/contact-thrifty-lesley/ this women is fantastic she also makes really cheap yummy food.
Good luck jus think 2 weeks in 14 days I count down so each day that passes I feel I have got a little further.

Butterfly_Brain

Baked Bean Lasagne
Baked beans from a can 26p
A tin of tomatoes 31p
A diced onion 10p
1 Clove of Garlic, (Easy garlic, garlic paste or even garlic granules whatever you have of these will work)
Milk, flour, butter (for the white sauce or buy a packet of instant 29p Asda)
Lasagne sheets 39p
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated cheese to top or not if you have no cheese

Finely dice the onion and add to a pan and cook for a few minutes
Chop the garlic and add to the onions
in a few minutes add the tinned tomatoes cook on low for about 10 minutes, then add the baked beans.
to make the white sauce melt butter in a pan and add an equal amount of flour and stir slowly and warm milk to the butter and flour mix and stir ( until it looks like white sauce), or use an instant sauce, all you have to do then is just boil the kettle and whisk.
In a dish make layers of baked beans, lasagne sheets, then white sauce, carry on until all the mix is used up then top for with grated cheese and cook 180C or gas 4 until golden
It is lovely with a few slices of bacon, fried, chopped and added to the mix.
If you don't like garlic then just leave it out

Lentil Bolognaise

Serves 2
1 onion sliced
1 clove of garlic or a squirt of garlic puree or lazy garlic if you have any.
1 carrot
1 tablespoon oil
mixed herbs to taste

1 vegetable stock cube
a tin of tomatoes
100g red lentils, rinsed
optional: 2 tablespoons tomato pur!e or tomato ketchup, to thicken the sauce
grated strong hard cheese, to serve
Peel and slice the onion, peel and crush the garlic, and put both into a large saut! or non-stick frying pan. Wash the carrot then grate into the pan and add the oil. Put on a low heat and fry gently, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking and burning.
Add the herbs to the carrot, onion and garlic in the pan.
When the onions are softened, crumble in the stock cube and add the chopped tomatoes, tomato pur!e or ketchup, if using, and lentils.

Stir in and simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked You may need to add some water if the sauce looks too dry, but use your judgement.
Once the lentils are done, it’s ready to serve. As with any Bolognese, this is delicious topped with a grating of strong hard cheese.

I would buy a ball of mozzarella at 44p it is a bargain for this especially if you can't afford hard cheese.

For a lentil lasagne just use the bolognaise recipe

Garlic sausage is 37p a pack in Aldi

You could make a selection of soups such as curried parsnip, carrot, lentil and french onion soup.

Aldi do 2 part baked baguettes for 39p and DH is full after just one.

Spaghetti (20p in Aldi) with butter and garlic is lovely or how about cooking it with a couple of stock cubes of whatever type you have and add a knob of butter.

There is alwaysAnna Del Conte's marmite spaghetti made famous by Nigella, yo can add some peas and carrots or sweetcorn to stretch it out. If you have any marmite that is.

Lentil Curry with 40p rice

Buy 15 eggs from farmfoods for £1 full of protein and very versatile and filling.

Lentil cottage pie using lentils instead of meat with a topping of potato or carrot and swede mash, you could use thin slices of potato as well.

CHEESY LENTIL BAKE
175g/6oz red lentils
350ml/12fl oz water
110g/4oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper
a little mustard
cheese sauce mix
1 tsp butter

Preheat the oven 190C/375F/Gas 5.

Rinse the lentils thoroughly and cook in a tightly covered pan with the water for 15-20 minutes.
Check after 10 minutes in case you need to add more water. The mixture should cook to a stiff puree.
Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the grated cheese, chopped onion, parsley and mustard . Season to taste.
Make up the cheese sauce mix and pour over the lentils.
Grease a 450g/1lb loaf tin with the tsp of butter and press in the mixture.
Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is golden brown and the mixture feels firm to the touch.
If you are serving this loaf hot, let it stand for 10 minutes in the tin before turning it out. Alternatively, serve cold with a salad.

More lentil ideas here

http://www.mumsnet.com/features/21-lentil-recipes-that-are-really-quite-nice-actually

xxx

Broomstick

Do you still have the top of the sad beetroot? I haven't tried this so don't know how long it takes but you can sprout new greens.
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-beet-water-seeds-28164.html

If you hunt around there are other ideas for regrowing veg greens from the peelings eg. http://www.buzzfeed.com/arielknutson/vegetables-that-magically-regrow-themselves#.sfX1567X1

Hint: Tiny amounts of shredded greens sprinkled on boring food including soup can make it look gourmet posh!

You can also sprout pulses. I've done chick peas in the past - they took a few days and made a change from the cooked version.
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/how-to-sprout-garbanzo-beans-chickpeas

If you do take up the idea of buying a bag of spuds, you can make an infinite variety of 'fish cake' equivalents by mashing whatever you have into the mashed spuds and frying them (again, I've done this with things like chick peas). If you squash them flatter they look bigger. They freeze as well. Serve with baked beans or other veg or salad.

B x

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

You are all amazing! I'll have a good look in the cupboards to see if there's anything I've missed - we've been systematically emptying them over the last few months, though.

He lost his job due to being very ill and only just went self employed in November after zero income for a couple of months, so he's absolutely dependent upon this one person until he gets additional work out of the immediate area. I also had to pay out about £80 for essential things he needed for this work just before Xmas, which was also invoiced for, but again, that's not been refunded to him yet. Seems like people don't like settling their bills over Christmas.

I've discovered an unclaimed tenner from Quidco this afternoon, (not bad considering I haven't bought anything online for over a year) so hopefully that'll come through quickly, too. They reckon it'll take five days, so I'm hoping that'll be in my bank account by next Monday at the latest.

I was very lucky at work today - my new boss came in late, laden with salad, fruit, olives, sundried tomatoes, cooked chicken breast, hummus and pitta breads, together with fresh orange juice and strawberry tarts 'because it's your birthday', so I've had what felt like a feast today and still had enough to bring home for a lovely meal tonight. I should have probably tried to make it last a couple of days, but I couldn't help but pig out, because it just tasted so fresh and crisp and lovely.

I think we can probably get about a fiver for the rest of the week, and he's been to see a mate. He must have said something to him, because I've been proudly presented with lactose free milk, a small loaf of bread, a birthday card and a small bunch of flowers. I would have said food would be more useful but he looked so happy doing it, I just didn't have the heart to sound ungrateful. Knowing the friend, he would have insisted on buying the card and flowers himself in any case.

Plan for the next few days is to get potatoes, oats and some vegetable oil, as that ran out yesterday. It's about a half hour walk to the nearest Morrisons, but it sounds worth a try.

If we can get more than a fiver, I'll get some basics tinned tomatoes and more onions. I've just remembered I've got chickpea flour in the cupboard, so that means I can do a sort of pancake thing to wrap potato/lentil dahl in. There's also an Iceland within walking distance, so as soon as I can, I'll get as many frozen veggies as possible.

I think if we were junk food fans, this would be much harder, but with the help you've offered, you lovely people, I think we can manage it, and I wish I lived near some of you, as I'd love to come and give you a hug to say thank you!

****

So - two adults (the cats are fine, I bought loads of cat food as soon as I got paid, which means they're well fed until I get paid again), both quite small, one (me) can afford to lose a few pounds. I vaguely remember the GP saying 1,200 calories would be OK if I wanted to lose weight, but he obviously needs more, as he's a very slight build and will begin to look ill if he loses more than about five pounds. (And he'd need smaller clothes then, which are completely out of the budget - if I lose weight, I can pinch his trousers ) I don't have to walk far to get to work, where I can get free tea and coffee.


Budget is about a pound a day and any money will be coming in piecemeal.

Thinking about it, February/March is also going to be a struggle, as he isn't needed to work for two weeks, so won't get a huge amount for this month's work, either, whenever she gets around to paying him. So I need to keep this going for the foreseeable future.


I'm not particularly fussy, other than having problems with dairy. I'll eat meat/fish if the opportunity arises, and I'm not bothered about sweet things. His only real dislikes are fish other than cod/haddock/coley and mushrooms. We both have an innate distrust of anything beige/out of a packet, partly because it's overpriced, low nutrition rubbish and partly because it all seems to have dairy/lactose of one form or another hidden in it.


I'm going to look at other websites - the beanburgers already sound great, as I love the things.


Thank you, everybody - you really are amazing, whether posting here or by PM, you're wonderful!

samanthaneww2d

If you have chickpea flour you can make pakoras and flatbreads and these
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chickpeaflourpancake_5094
obviously tailor it if you have no chillies etc i think you can use it for dumpling aswell my friend cant have gluten and I am sure she says she uses chickpea flour

I am so glad you got some nice things from work
keep smiling