What to do when you have no money for food
Got no money for food and wondering what to do?
Finding yourself skint with not much on the cupboards can be a worrying turn of events, but there are lots of things you can do to make sure you have food for you and your family.
I know exactly how stressful it can be to find yourself at the limit of your overdraft with an important bill to pay and no means to pay it. It’s upsetting and is something that consumes you with worry.
We’re going to talk about exactly what you can do to get hold of food to eat now and simple steps to take that mean you will not face this problem again in the future.
No money for food
If you have no money for food the first thing to do is take a deep breath. You can methodically work through this problem and find a solution. There are lots of things you can do right now, and we’re going to talk about those in this article, but begin by reminding yourself you will be able to solve this problem.
Getting to the stage where you have concerns you won’t be able to feed yourself and your family is extremely stressful, so start by speaking to a friend or your partner.
That in itself can often help you to calm your emotions and focus on solutions to your problem.
Reach out to loved ones and tell them what’s happening, that is often the absolute best place to start with any issue you might be facing.
What to do if you run out of food and money
Take stock
Do you really have no money or food? You may be at a very worrying stage, but start by taking stock of what you actually have in your cupboards, in the freezer and in the bank (plus in your pockets).
There’s a whole lot you can do with leftovers and random stuff in your freezer and pantry.
Check your bank account and the money in your purse, wallets and pockets. What cash do you have right now? Figure out how many days until you will receive more money, either from your job or from elsewhere, and you will know how many days you need to make that cash last.
Consider what you can do with what you have
You can actually do a whole lot with food for less than £20 – I have a whole post with a week of meals for less than £20 – so get creative with your spending in the supermarket. Go for cheap cuts of meat like pork belly and chicken thighs and bulk your meals out with cheap ingredients like lentils, beans and grains.
Write down what you have and think of some meals you can create with it. It may be that you end up eating the same meal for a couple of nights, for example if you have some mince in the freezer you could cook up a big batch of spaghetti bolognaise.
If you have a bag of flour, some eggs and milk then that’s enough to make up some pancakes.
Think about how you can make meals from what you have, and if they are not quite enough for you to make meals, what additional things would you need to create a meal? If you do need to buy more food, then follow the next few tips to help you afford it.
Check offers and points
Do you have loyalty cards with points on that you can use to get food? Check things like your Nectar and Tesco ClubCard to see what points you have there.
If you were saving them for something this right now is more important, so make use of those!
Even a few pounds on those loyalty cards can be enough to see you through. Purchase cheap staples like pasta, rice, chopped tomatoes and pesto plus some vegetables and fruit if you can manage (go for canned fruit and frozen veg to make savings and help it last longer).
If you do have a little cash then look at offers that can help you to make it go a little further. Shop at cheaper supermarkets such as Aldi and try to shop later in the day so you can take advantage of their discounts on food. Yellow stickers – showing discounts on food – tend to appear towards the end of the day when supermarkets need to clear food that’s about to go out of date.
You can save 50% or more on food in this way! Remember to freeze it if you’re not going to use it immediately so it doesn’t go off.
Find ways to make cash now
The best way to get cash in your pocket within days is to sell some of your stuff online.
Facebook Marketplace is a fantastic option, because you won’t have to pay fees for advertising your stuff. You also get access to thousands of people in your local area.
If you state you want your items for sale to be collected then you won’t have to front any cost for sending the item.
I have used Facebook to sell lots of stuff – including baby toys, pushchairs and my own clothes. It usually sells within three days and is such an easy process! The person comes to collect the item, they hand me the cash after checking over the thing they’re buying and we’re done!
So go and check your loft, your garage and your shed. What have you got that you are not using any longer?
Old pushchairs can sell for hundreds of pounds. If you have lots of baby clothes then consider organising them together (you could group them by size) and sell as a bundle deal.
You could make yourself hundreds of pounds within days by doing this, depending on what you have in the house.
Can you delay paying monthly bills
This is not an ideal option, because whatever you don’t pay this month you will eventually need to pay. But needs must, and if you are totally skint with nothing to feed your family then you need to free up cash somehow.
Instead of defaulting on payments call your gas, electric and water companies that supply you. Can they give you a one or two month deferral for payments? Most companies are used to these requests and can talk through your options with you, as well as how that will impact your future payments.
Ask your friends and family
If there is zero in your bank account, you have no cash and you can’t free up cash by selling some of your stuff then consider asking a good friend for a loan.
If they can’t offer you cash then maybe they can help you out with food by having you over for dinner, or can they cook a little extra to pass over to you and your family?
Of course this is a difficult road for many people to take and you may not feel at all comfortable with doing this.
I’m lucky enough to have parents who live very close who I know I can always ask for financial help if I need to, but I obviously would prefer to do many other things before I go down that road.
If you are at the stage where you do not have food in the house to feed you and your kids you really need to focus on what’s important, which is to make sure everyone can stay healthy.
Find free food
There are several places you can turn to if you are out of food and money. Charities and organisations across the UK are stood ready to help you out!
Here are a couple of ways you can get hold of free food.
Food banks
A food bank is a community organisation that provides food for people who can’t afford to buy their own. They will typically provide a minimum of three days of emergency food.
To access the service you typically need a referral. You can get this from organisations such as Citizens Advice by visiting your nearest branch of the organisation.
You can also call them, if you live in England or Wales, on 0808 208 2138.
Other ways to get a referral is through your local council, health visitor or school.
Once you have got your referral you will receive a voucher to present at your local food bank in exchange for a parcel of food. If you cannot reach your nearest food bank then call or email them to ask if they provide a delivery service.
The Trussell Trust is one of the UK’s leading food bank providers, with more than 1,200 centres across the country. You can check out where your nearest food bank is on their website.
Sign up to the Olio app
The Olio app aims to stop food waste by encouraging users to share uneaten food.
People who use the app will upload details of food that they are about to get rid of, allowing other users to step in and take it off their hands.
Of course if you live in a big city like London you are more likely to live close to lots of users of this app, and so have more options.
However it’s worth a try wherever you are living to see what might be available, as the app has 3.9m users!
Try Too Good To Go
Food is not free from Too Good to Go but it is massively discounted.
This app aims to combat food waste by partnering with brands such as Starbucks, Morrisons, Co-Op and Greggs. Customers shop for “Magic Bags” from the companies partnered with the app. These bags contain food worth more than double the cost of the bags!
The average bag costs around £3.09 but some users report getting £33 worth of food!
You can read more about Too Good To Go in my review.
What to do next
Once you have found a way through this difficult situation the next step is to figure out how you can avoid it in the future.
Having no money to pay for essentials is a horrible feeling, and can have a terrible impact on your mental health. So it’s really important that you get yourself on a path to financial stability.
A monthly budget where you set out all of your essential spending, including setting aside money for a rainy day fund, is absolutely critical.
In that budget you should be thinking about ensuring you have money for annual expenses, such as your car tax for example. You can make sure you are prepared for these expenses by starting a sinking fund.
This is different to a rainy day fund because a sinking fund is for known expenses, things that you expect such as your council tax, Christmas presents and holidays.
How big your sinking fund needs to be really depends on this expenses, so one of the best ways to get yourself organised is to start by writing all of your expenses down, as we will discuss next.
Ways you can balance your budget in the future include:
- Write it all down. Take stock of where you are and what your future costs will be. Certain costs are fixed and it’s far better to be totally aware of what costs you have coming up, even if you have a shortfall to cover those costs, because you can start to figure out how you will deal with that. Other costs may be unexpected, but they still need to be paid. Think of what expenses you may face in the coming months, for example is anything in your home on the verge of needing to be replaced like your boiler or washing machine.
- Try a savings challenge. This can motivate you to meet your savings goals. Having a rainy day savings fund is so worth having, so why not start by trying to build this up. It should be enough to cover your essential bills for three months.
- Check out these frugal living tips. Frugal living definitely does not have to be boring, and it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. Small changes can add up to a big difference.
- Meal plan. When it comes to ensuring you stick to your food budget this is really the simplest and best way to do it. By meal planning you will waste less food and be less likely to overspend in the supermarket.
- Cancel subscriptions you don’t need. I remember when we cancelled our Sky TV package I quickly wondered why it had taken us so long! I don’t miss it at all and we’ve saved £40 a month. Consider what subscriptions you have – make a list of things such as TV, magazines, clubs and gym membership – and decide whether you really need them all.
Final thoughts
I hope this has given you some practical steps to take to solve your problem.
Remember that it’s important you address the key concern, which is getting your family food now. The other stuff, such as how you move forward, can come next when you assess your budget going forward.
To get on an even keel with your budget you may need to cut back on certain parts of your spending, but actually this can be a lot easier than you may expect it to be.
I’ve made savings in the last year or so on things like dyeing my hair, which I now do at home instead of at the hairdressers, and cutting back on the amount I go out (I guess I can blame the kids for that as well!).
Get creative with changing your spending habits, and you will probably be surprised at how easy it actually is!
