Tantaraza vs the Frogs!

beanielou

Good to see you :wave:
Sorry to hear things have been so tough.
Hope your back improves a little & the physio helps.

beanielou

Oh & hope that your PIP is sorted out ASAP.

please-let-me-be-lucky

Glad to see you back posting .

£80 a month to live on :eek:. Hope you get all your benefits sorted asap Xx

Eager_Elephant

You can always send a message via your journal under the heading of payments and ask them to reduce the amount they are taking for the advance and the budgeting loan and explain why.
They will either reduce the amount or take only one at a time.

tantaraza

Thank you, everyone! :grouphug:

Toni’sfriend, I’m worried about under- or over-cooking the food, and then having to waste it.

I’ll try to get the cupboard shopping list posted tonight (I won’t be able to do the frozen food yet until I know what I can spare). I’ve already remembered two things that I forgot to add to it so now the total cost will go up again.

tantaraza

EE, thanks for the advice but UC have said they’re unable to reduce the amount (they’re allowed to take up to 40% of my payment) and they won’t defer one or both because I took out the budgeting advance quite recently, and when you take out the advance you agree you can afford the repayments.

That’s another reason I want to get the cooker sorted — oven-cooked food is cheaper than microwaveable food. I know you can buy ready meals for £1 but I don’t find them filling at all, and I’m really craving hot food at the moment with this horrendous gale and no money for heating.

If it was a long-term issue it would be a nightmare but because it’s only a few more weeks, I just need to muddle through temporarily. I do have a few things I could sell but most of what’s been advertised hasn’t been popular and I’ve been messed around a lot with one particular item, so it’s really demotivated me to advertise the rest.

Eager_Elephant

Did UC say this on the telephone or was it your work coach as what you have been told is not correct?

They can take up to 40% but equally they are very fair and will reduce payments or defer if it is causing hardship. I have done this numerous times with my clients at work.

HairyHandofDartmoor

It's lovely to hear from you Tantaraza .

I hope your back pain improves soon and you manage to get your benefits sorted. Keep posting and then you can get lots of good advice from people .

tantaraza

EE, UC have said this over the phone. I actually asked for my advance payments to be deferred for three months (so I could scrape the money together a bit at a time) but was told it wouldn’t be possible until after my first payment, so applied for the budgeting advance instead. The lady I spoke to was very snooty and said that by applying for the budgeting advance I was agreeing to make both payments each month and I wouldn’t be entitled to ask for a deferment. I agreed as I decided the £29 a month would be cheaper than the extra cost associated with laundrettes and microwaveable food.

Thank you for the support, HHOD

I’m going to post my shopping list in a moment (fell asleep last night, was clearly more tired than I expected) and hopefully I’ve managed to remember everything.

tantaraza

So, here is my cupboard shopping list. I’ve not added frozen food because I need to work out a budget for that, nor have I included the regular food shop. What I would love to achieve is to have a certain quantity of X at all times, so if I use a tin of X then it goes on the weekly shopping list and gets replaced promptly, which will leave me with a continuous rotating supply that can be run down in times of bad weather or no money.

Although we all know what they say about the best laid plans...

I appreciate there’s a lot of drinks but in the past, I had a horrendous Diet Coke/Pepsi habit and would spend a fortune on those, especially out and about because I get quite thirsty easily, so even though it seems like a lot to spend, it’s a huge saving on what I’d otherwise have spent on Diet Coke/Pepsi because I really want to reduce how much I drink those.

SP = SmartPrice
OB = Own Brand (the next brand up from SP, usually chosen when SP is unavailable or inedible)

All quantities are per item, so for exams “3 @ 50p” means 3 at 50p each with a total of £1.50 for that particular item. I’m copying this list in the order it appears in my basket (sorted by categories) so the most important food is lower down in the list. :think:

SP nappy sacks — 2 @ 35p

OB chocolate bourbons — 3 @ 44p
OB custard creams — 3 @ 34p
OB plain digestives — 3 @ 33p
OB chocolate digestives — 3 @ 44p
OB Nice biscuits — 3 @ 45p
OB rich tea biscuits — 3 @ 30p
OB rich tea fingers — 3 @ 45p
SP choc chip cookies — 3 @ 39p
SP jaffa cakes — 3 @ 27p
Fox’s party rings — 3 @ 50p
Jammy Dodgers — 3 @ 50p
McVitie’s vanilla biscuits — 3 @ 50p

OB apple and blueberry porridge — 2 @ 89p
OB plain porridge — 2 @ 79p
SP lemon curd — 1 @ 35p
SP marmalade — 1 @ 27p
SP strawberry jam — 3 @ 28p
SP wheat bisks, 24-pack — 3 @ 74p

SP instant coffee — 2 @ 74p

OB basil — 1 @ 45p
OB apple sauce — 1 @ 45p
OB chives — 1 @ 69p
OB classic BBQ sauce — 1 @ £1.00
OB golden breadcrumbs — 1 @ 80p
SP gravy granules — 4 @ 20p
OB cinnamon — 1 @ 58p
OB cumin — 1 @ 49p
OB nutmeg — 1 @ 79p
OB mango chutney — 1 @ £1.00
OB curry powder — 1 @ 75p
OB onion chutney — 1 @ £1.00
OB oregano — 1 @ 49p
OB paprika — 1 @ 49p
OB parsley — 1 @ 74p
OB baby beetroot — 2 @ 52p
OB bourbon BBQ sauce — 1 @ 94p
OB rosemary — 1 @ 69p
OB sage — 1 @ 74p
OB stuffing mix — 1 @ 38p
OB salad cream — 1 @ 45p
OB 1L sunflower oil — 1 @ £1.09
OB salt — 1 @ 27p
OB thyme — 1 @ 59p
OB tikka curry powder — 1 @ 97p
OB ketchup — 1 @ 67p
SP mustard — 1 @ 32p

OB green pesto — 1 @ 79p
OB butter chicken sauce — 1 @ 79p
OB mushroom sauce — 1 @ 84p
OB tomato pasta bake — 3 @ 75p
OB korma sauce — 3 @ 60p
OB red lasagne sauce — 3 @ 64p
OB Spanish chicken sauce — 1 @ 75p
OB tikka masala sauce — 3 @ 69p
OB tuna pasta bake — 3 @ 79p
OB white lasagne sauce — 3 @ 64p
SP bolognese sauce — 3 @ 39p

OB ibuprofen — 2 @ 29p

SP batter mix — 2 @ 25p
OB chocolate spread — 3 @ 80p
SP self raising flour — 1 @ 45p
SP plain flour — 1 @ 45p
Atora vegetable suet — 1 @ £1.50
Silver Spoon 1kg caster sugar — 1 @ £1.60
Silver Spoon 2kg granulated sugar — 2 @ £1.28

SP hot chocolate — 1 @ 70p

OB bathroom cleaner — 2 @ 59p
OB marigolds — 2 @ £1.00
OB furniture polish — 2 @ 61p
SP toilet cleaner — 2 @ 54p
OB window cleaner — 2 @ 59p
SP bin bags, 40-pack — 1 @ 70p
SP j cloths — 2 @ 35p
SP cling film — 1 @ 60p
SP dish cloths — 2 @ 73p
SP dusters — 2 @ 68p
SP cleaning liquid — 2 @ 25p
SP disinfectant — 2 @ 30p
SP loo rimblock — 3 @ 20p
SP scourers, 8-pack — 2 @ 40p
SP 2L bleach — 2 @ 28p
SP tin foil — 1 @ 65p

OB saucepan — 1 @ £2.50

OB longlife milk, 6-pack of 1L — 1 @ £3.40

OB lasagne sheets — 2 @ 45p
SP 1kg rice — 5 @ 45p
SP 500g pasta — 5 @ 29p
SP 500g spaghetti — 3 @ 20p

OB apple juice, 4-pack of 1L — 1 @ £2.40
OB 1L mango juice — 2 @ 68p
SP blackcurrant squash — 1 @ 38p
SP orange squash — 1 @ 38p
OB strawberry water — 20 @ 37p

OB apple crumble tea bags — 1 @ 74p
OB blackcurrant tea bags — 1 @ 74p
OB chocolate orange tea bags — 1 @ 74p
OB mango and strawberry tea bags — 1 @ 74p
OB strawberry and forest fruits tea bags — 1 @ 74p
SP tea bags — 2 @ 39p

OB apple slices — 4 @ 79p
OB butter beans — 1 @ 39p
OB chickpeas — 4 @ 33p
SP leek and potato soup — 10 @ 45p
OB pineapple slices — 3 @ 50p
OB strawberries — 6 @ 77p
OB tube of tomato pur!e — 2 @ 37p
OB mushrooms — 5 @ 90p
SP baked beans — 10 @ 23p
SP chopped tomatoes — 5 @ 28p
SP garden peas — 5 @ 21p
SP mandarin pieces — 1 @ 35p
SP new potatoes — 10 @ 34p
SP peach slices — 1 @ 33p
SP pineapple pieces — 1 @ 66p
SP carrots — 10 @ 20p
SP sweetcorn — 3 @ 35p
SP passata — 3 @ 35p
SP tuna chunks — 5 @ 65p
SP vegetable soup — 10 @ 24p
Heinz tomato soup, 4-pack — 3 @ £2.00
Uncle Ben’s korma snack pot — 2 @ £1.00
Uncle Ben’s sweet and sour snack pot — 2 @ £1.00

SP toilet roll, 12-pack — 3 @ £1.98

The shopping basket total comes to £168.44, but this doesn’t include a couple of other items:

Vegetable stock cubes (OOS)
Pepper (can’t remember if I want black or white)
Ready made pastry cases (available in-store but not on the website??)
Washing up liquid (as above)
Kitchen roll (not a fan of SP and can get nicer brand cheaper elsewhere)
Other flavours of Uncle Ben’s pots (available elsewhere)

I’ve tried to bulk out what I can, so that I’d be able to live off these stocks for a couple months if absolutely necessary, but I keep feeling like I’ve forgotten something important. Also, as I’m starting a kitchen from scratch, things like herbs and spices that would be otherwise infrequent purchases need to be included in this basket. I’d appreciate honest thoughts/advice if you’re willing.