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i cant afford to eat :(
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
anyone know how you can make £10 last for 3 weeks of food?
im just so fucked.
:crying:
im just so fucked.
:crying:
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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Can you not borrow a few quid from your parents - or perhaps your boyfriend?
:crying:
Could you not do some work in some places to gain extra money?
Buy food that can last, ie- Pasta, Rice ect, Things that will fill you up instead of buying snacks that you eat and eat which only fill you up for a little amount of time.
Also when you've eaten, and have leftovers, Freeze them/store them, that way you can unfreeze things when you're hungry instead of buying more bits and bobs.
Smartprice bread - about 40p
= Beans on toast for a quick and easy (and filling) meal
Tesco noodles - 8p = Okay so not the most nutritious meal in the world but it'll stave off hunger for a while
Big bag of pasta - 70p
Tin of chopped tomatoes - 40p
= Again not the most flavoursome thing in the world but needs must and all that
Big bag of spuds - £1
= Always filling
Best advice i can give is to drink lots of water, that way you're less likely to feel really hungry at any given time.
Also, make sure to check out the discounted section in supermarkets - it's a bit of pot luck if theres anything worth buying but sometimes you can get some real bargains with stuff going out of date on that day.
Boots also reduce sandwiches to 60p on day of the expiry date :thumb:
Should be clear I'm not suggesting ways to eat well, just ways to eat. It's mainly about bulking up on cheap, processed carbs more than anything.
First things first, do you have a freezer? If you do then you need to be looking at make large amounts of food and freezing it - especially pasta, etc.
On the money front try phoning your bank and explain the situation, consider calling the local council to see if they have emergency support available. There may be something there - maybe even weekend volunteering at say a homeless shelter. You'll likely to get fed if you're helping out feeding other people.
Make sure you don't buy anything that isn't economy or basic ranges - it's the only way to try and drag that out amount of money. It may be worth checking the supermarket shelves for reduced stuff, but normally that would still be too expensive.
Meat, cheese and milk are probably out I'm afraid. Basic pasta normally comes in around 40p-ish for 500g so go get say 6 packs of that. As Orwell said, poverty is tedium, so you might have to get used to being pretty bored when you eat for the next few weeks.
Pasta sauce might be alright - but may be best to look at what you can water it down with or getting tinned tomatoes and if you have enough spices in using them to keep yourself going. Pasasta used to be much cheaper than sauces so may be worth checking as well.
Economy beans can be a pretty survivable option instead of pasta sauce. Guss you're looking at about 10p a tin so maybe pick up one can for every day of the three weeks - till only about 2 quid.
Chickpeas and Dahl always get mentioned to me, but not my usual kind of thing so I don't how cheap that option is.
Other tinned veg could be worth exploring - tuna isn't bad if you can find economy tuna - don't touch anything over 30p a can. Combine that with 20ish p can of mayo and 12-15p cans of sweetcorn and you can actually feel you're close to a real pasta meal.
For lunch you can stick some of that in a pot and bring it in. Economy bread, economy chicken roll and economy marge would be about 1.50 and might see you through a week of lunches.
Eggs are pretty damn good as well - again, battery farmed, economy range brands should get you close to 18 for a pound.
Potatoes - always a good choice but shop around the find the most and the cheapest. With a bit of cheap gravy and some marge that'll keep you going.
Basically you're eating like a teenage boy. Might be worth looking at economy oven chips if you have a freezer, there are what, a pound for a huge bag?
Strong spices help as well but are not worth wasting a penny on. However if you have sage, basil, garlic, ginger, anything that will change the taste of the food then that will help. Anything to make the same food seem like a different meal.
Old trick that sometimes gets mentioned is the breadcrumbs instead of meat in pasta - helps make the food feel like it's got something real in it.
Most importantly, if you really need to live for 3 weeks on this kind of money then buy as much as you can at once. If you spend a fiver in the first week and save the rest you're likely to be desperate just for a mars bar or can of coke or some other luxury as the days go on.
Maybe save a bit to replace anything like the eggs, but try to stock up in bulk and you really need to think about avoid any treats even if you think you're doing okay.
As a last resort and only if you can repay it it's worth seeing if any of your local corner shops will let you have anything on tick. That's only really something that you should consider for the last couple of days but you'd be surprised at how many shops actually like to feel they are helping people out. Especially somewhere that may know you.
If you've got money after the 3 weeks then start to draw up a list of all the staple food you should have in your cupboard for when the 3 weeks are over. Budget what you can and remember online ordering often doesn't charge until dispatch. So maybe book an order to turn up the day you'll have money again. Hopefully that'll mean you have stuff in for the future.
Hope some of that helps - main thing is get down to the supermarket and start counting the pennies and think of anyone else who could help. But not a path you want to go down regularly, best of luck though.
But in Poundland and Home Bargins you can buy all sorts to make a meal with, even if it is just beans on toast. Also have a look at supermarket own brands I'm sure you can get beans for like 23p in Sainsbury's and Asda!
Would your bf not lend you money? I HATE, hate, hate lending money but I remeber when I was so skint I only had £100 to last me a month and a half and I had to swallow my pride and ask for money for food of him and my mum. I know it's not nice to have to depend on people but in this case you might just need to have to ask. Also go round your bf's house and raid his cupboards and fridge
Just get a credit card and get yourself down to Sainsbury's :thumb:
Thats a fab place to go for help ^
piecesofme - my boyfriend actually offered to give me one of his credit cards before (after i burst out into tears after seeing my bank balance) until my money situation is better which was SO nice of him (provided i pay it off). i turned the offer down though. i don't know how he can trust me like that after the mess ive got myself into with mine. i dont really want to lend money off people. im too stubborn and proud for that. he's said to me though that i can lend money off him if i want to. however, i want to avoid that at all costs though because i simply do not know when i can repay him and that isn't fair.
i feel a bit better now though knowing the offer is there. 3 weeks isn't too long to live off shit food for. i'll be ok.
khss - the person giving me my birthday money is skint themselves at the moment. im probably not going to get the money until a few weeks after my birthday.
On the first few pages, there should be a few stories of people living on £20 for a family of four for a month! Clearly not out of choice, but needs must for that one month..
- 2 + Tesco Value Medium Sliced White Bread 800g £0.90
*
- 1 + Tesco Soup & Broth Mix 500g £0.60
*
- 1 + Tesco Value Mild White Cheese Small £1.49
*
- 3 + Tesco Value Baked Beans In Tomt/Sauce 420g £0.87
*
- 1 + Tesco 10 Value Chicken Stock Cubes 97g £0.10
*
- 10 + Tesco Value Curry Flavour Instant Noodles 65g £1.00
*
- 3 + Tesco Uht Value Skimmed Milk 1 Litre £1.62
*
- 1 + Tesco Value Spaghetti 500g £0.43
*
- 1 + Value Onions 2kg £0.67
*
- 1 + East Anglian Vales Sovereign Potatoes 2kg £1.00
*
- 1 + Tesco Value Coco Snaps 375g £0.66
*
- 1 + Market Value Carrots 1kg £0.49
*
- 1 + Tesco Value Sunflower Spread500g £0.36
*
Guide price: £10.19
the broth mix, carrots, potatoes, onions and a couple of stock cubes will make several really nice pots soup that you could get a few days out of each, and its healthy.
Value UHT skimmed milk is the cheapest milk, and cos its skimmed you cant taste the fact that its UHT, some cheapie breakfast cereal for the mornings. I think cornflakes or rice pops was cheaper, but then youd have to buy sugar on top.
Cheap toast, cheap sunflower spread, cheap cheese, 10p noodles, baked beans.
ive lived worse than that before, and whilst obviously its not good long term, for a short while i think youll be fine and there would be no shame in borrowing a tenner off your bf if you run out, but at least this way itll show you tried.
How about you go shopping with him to buy some grub for a slap up meal but you offer to cook it in return for him buying the food? Then in 3 weeks you can do the opposite and he can cook what you buy for him?
In a way it might make something nicer out of a tough situation.
gonna make a trip to asda today and see what i can get with a whole ten pound note
Blah, what kind of stuff do you have stored in your cupboards anyway? Do you have things like stock cubes, sugar, rice, flour etc as a matter of course? If you tell us what you have already, people can suggest things that you can make and you'd need to buy less.
Still think you should take £20 or so off your boyfriend though, seeing as he's offered it.
I've done it before and it's not pretty, but it's doable. That said, I did supplement with inviting myself to other people's houses for tea whenever possible!
Also, on the borrowing money - if you need to, don't borrow a credit card, that's way too much of a temptation, just ask for £10 or £20 CASH (a reasonable amount that you likely would eventually be able to pay back, even if it's a couple of quid a month) and go immediately out with it and buy food and essentials. If you need the help, take it. Being stubborn about it won't get you anywhere.
i tell you what i do have though...that bag of lentils (i think thats what they are) i bought with you that time from morrisons. i have never got round to using them and don't know what to do with them!
erm, apart from that, i have a few tins of soup, cous cous and spaghetti and just a few herbs & spices. most of that is going to be used for lunches at work though and i only have about a weeks worth. oh and i have those plain noodles you put in stir frys. stir frys are too expensive for me right now though. vegetables are expensive :grump:
i hate being poor
Baked beans are good, eek a can out for 3 meals (serve with the mash). Tinned spaghetti is even cheaper, although not as good for you as beans
Kidney beans will count as one of your 5 a day and have protein to keep you fuller. A value can is about 14p. Mash them up and cook with a bit of stock and some spices if you've got them, serve with 1/2 a pack of value tortilla chips (17p in tesco). That'll do you 2 meals for 31p.
Also mix kidney beans with baked beans to make the baked beans last longer. Adding curry or chilli powder to this is nice
Cook rice with a stock cube (or curry powder) and add 1/2 a can of peas (12p)
Boil pasta and toss with a little butter (and cheese if you can spare it), and the remaining 1/2 can of peas
Value curry powder is about 30p, add this to rice and cous cous etc to add flavour. A tub will last you 3 weeks.
Oats are about 60p. Eat porridge every day for breakfast, and as a snack if you get hungry
Lentils make a good soup, or dahl to serve with rice. Use afore mentioned curry powder. Remember to keep checking the water in the pan becase they soak up loads and can burn easily
if it is 2 feed like 1 person make 1 big meal like a cottage pie of sumthink like dat
drink water from the tap
wen u go shoppin buy things like bread that is reduced and place it in the freezer
again buy things that can b frozen and on the reduced sections
that way the £10 will last longer
and dont buy things u know u dont need
and buy things which u could get buy 1 get 1 freed on
trust me it works
wen do u next get money
:chin:
i bought the fan and ate bowls of rice for 2 weeks.