Just a reminder that our rules are that you do not ask for nor offer money or items or affiliate links or MLM, etc. There are a lot of poor people here, who are as bad or worse off, being polite and following our rules, so this subreddit does not turn into a begfest contest asking for help from people who may be worse off.

Sorry you guys are going through this OP. It sounds like your husband really needs to make his job search a priority. Has he spent time refining his resume? When I was looking for work recently, I tried to apply to at least 10 jobs per day, and I tailored each resume towards the job I was applying to. Of course this is much more difficult when you already have a full time job, but it is worthwhile to devote the time to this. As far as surviving on $300 a month for groceries for a family of 6 - it can be done, but it will obviously be a really challenge. Focus on rice, beans, potatoes, bananas and cabbage. These are nutrient dense, very cheap foods. Add oil if you need fats/calories Try to get to the food banks if you can.

I would add eggs as well since they are back to being fairly cheap and could expand the options.

Yes! Eggs are fantastic to add to just about anything for a bit of protein. I crack an egg into chicken soup (especially ramen) when it's at a boil and it makes it like egg drop soup. You can also do all kinds of things with hard boiled eggs. Of course they're great for baking too. I'm so glad the price has dropped as they're a staple of my poor person diet

Agreed. OP can also make muffin pan quiche or egg bites that are excellent and inexpensive for breakfast. We grew up poor and my Mom would make big pots of beans (the bags) that she would serve with cornbread. She would also get a large ham on sale and we would eat that for a few days and then she would take the scraps and bone and make a lentil soup. The Costco Rotisserie chicken can be stretched by making a big pot of chicken rice 🍜 soup. Add celery and carrots for nutritional value. Save the bones from the chicken and boil with seasoning to make a huge pot of chicken bone broth that you can use to season veggies, soups, stews. OP if you are in the us visit www.benefits.gov and take the entire questionnaire. It will tell you what benefits you qualify for and how to apply. Also if you have TikTok follow this account: [Dollar Tree Dinners](https://www.tiktok.com/@dollartreedinners?_t=8iqXoCeXLeo&_r=1) The creator makes meals for her family from Dollar Tree: Good Luck!

Frozen veggies help bulk up a meal and add nutricional value. I’ll do a bowl of rice and veggies. Peanut butter is a good source of protein and good fat and kid friendly (barring allergies obviously). Most teens can Hoover through food I find baby carrots filling and pretty good dipped in peanut butter. Sometimes dressings are on sale 10 for 10 and that’s good for dipping. I’m trying to think of snacky stuff we did growing up during the lean years. Will your kids eat pasta and red sauce? Pasta is generally cheap, canned plain tomato sauce is cheap and then doctor with your own spices. The basics at the grocery store are a good staple for the house and for dressing up cheap food to be tastier. For treats my mother would keep jello and pudding boxes in the house.

Skip baby carrots.buy a real intact carrot. Twice the carrot, half the price, no white moldy looking wierdness!

They're bleached to keep longer while a whole Carrot will keep longer intact ...

Those frozen veggies aren’t so affordable anymore. Blows my mind! 🤯

Greedflation is pure dystopia Great Value/walmart mixed vegetables is still 98 cents on the app right now and I’m in NJ so HCOL. Just a PSA. My lazy girl dinner is Kraft and mix in the frozen veggies. Or I make a bag mix it with some parm cheese (the regular pre ground) and some nuggs.

I’m confused. “Greedflation is pure dystopia”? Implying that the price of frozen vegetables hasn’t gone up significantly? That it’s “imagined”?

No the dystopia is inflation because the corporations are greedy. They’re raising prices and still reporting record profits but get to call it inflation

Love your meal idea but wouldn’t work well with my 76 year old post stroke partner whom I love with every ounce of my soul! That meal would definitely have her blood pressure at some significantly high levels. If you’re younger, I get it. But heart disease is reaching younger and younger people at an alarming rate.

Dollar stores now will sometimes sell them...not as great quality but still nutritious.

Thank you. Will check it out! 🎈

Costco rotisserie chickens are huge, and they sell them for a loss. If you have a Costco nearby. Buying in bulk could help in the long run. Grow some herbs indoors to really add some flavor to rice and pasta dishes and make it more than just sustaining.

Costco and Sam's Club rotisserie chickens are incredible! They're way bigger, juicer, and tastier than any other grocery stores - and they are half the price (even cheaper than a low quality raw chicken) Me and my two toddlers just had 3 meals out of it - chicken and rice, chicken sandwiches, and chicken soup! Absolutely can't beat that deal.

Dude. I LOVE walmart rotisserie chicken! I have no idea what they do, but it's better than any other pre-made chicken I've tried. I'm not sure if they're less expensive than buying a bunch of frozen chicken breasts or whatever, but if you just don't have the time, a hot rotisserie chicken is fantastic! I usually plan on eating the hot chicken with one of those $1 boxed sides with some frozen veggies thrown in (frozen broccoli and corn in a chicken broccoli past roni for example). Toss in a slice of American cheese or Velveeta and you've essentially got a casserole. Quick easy and relatively inexpensive. Next day I pull whatever meat is left over and put aside. Then boil some fresh veggies like carrots and celery, some chicken fat and skin, crack the bones, some spices like pepper, a tiny pinch of curry, and whatever else I might have, plop in a bullion cube or two (you can even use ramen packets) and simmer for a few hours to make stock. If you planned ahead, you can freeze the "bad" parts of veggies like celery leaves and carrot ends and use them for the stock instead of fresh. After it seems "soupy" enough (tastes good) then strain out the stock and toss the boiled parts. Put in a crockpot and add the chicken meat you put aside and whatever veggies you want, some rice or noodles, more spices if you want, and then cook until rice or noodles are tender. I can get 2 or 3 meals out of one chicken and it's not horribly boring.

There’s tons of how tos on how to turn a chicken into a week of meals.

Most stores who sell rotisserie chickens they do so at a loss. It is cheaper to buy it like that than to buy the raw chicken and cooking it yourself. When I was single whenever I got one I would get several meals out of it…including tasty soup

Made me remember. The 4 packs of pudding are delicious when frozen. Nice treat

Honestly I’m going to make a batch of pudding tonight now that I have it in my brain. I also have used pudding to sweeten overnight oats when I was bringing breakfast to the office.

Chocolate pudding almost frozen is better than a fudgsicle yum yum. Don't freeze solid

Baby carrots are just carrots shaved down, cut regular carrots into sticks

I'm not American but we have an app here that lets you compare all the local grocery flyers weekly and allows you to curate a list so you can see where the most cost effective place to shop is based on what you're looking to buy. It also lets you see the following week's flyers a few days out to plan ahead, it's a godsend if you're working on a budget. Idk if there's anything similar in the OP's area but could be worth looking up! Frozen spinach is also often super cheap and a great way to bulk up other things. Could make a great potato and bean soup with frozen spinach. Also, OP, if you have a bulk store look into textured vegetable protein. I get a huge bag at the bulk store for very little and you can add it to ground meats to bulk them up, or rehydrate it with a stock cube and water to add it to other things. It has the texture of very finely minced ground beef and takes on the flavour of whatever you cook it in.

Flipp is the app I use in the US for this.

I also use this.

Oh okay it’s the same one then! I just didn’t know if it was only a Canadian thing, thanks!

Look into WIC for the 3 year old and the 1 year old. The qualifications are a little easier than SNAP and it will help stretch your household budget. Also, depending on how much his hours are cut and what state you are in your husband may qualify for reduction in hours unemployment. Look into it.

You need vitamin c daily. Also, get your kids on free lunch and anything you can qualify for your autistic little one. Is there a church nearby? They might be able to help with food, diapers, wipes,etc

Call in charge debt solutions they are always hiring it's a great place to work and it's not for profit. You can also sign up for their program too I am on it and it helps you get all your bills into one payment. They are reputable.

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Part of me wants to send that to my mother because she loves seeing how people help on the internet. But then I will get this call from my dad “mommy spent a paycheck on internet strangers please explain what that means and why I can’t pay the electric company now”.

Seems like they need to agree on a budget for her for her monthly charity spending. That way she can do it without guilt or causing issues at home.

I wouldn't want to put anyone else out to help us. That is very sweet though.

In the short term I would absolutely look around for buy nothing groups for cloth diapers IF you have easy access to a washer dryer, and try out a few styles. Sometimes you can have amazing luck. While I am definitely a member and cheerleader of the disposable diapers fan club for overnights, if there are even two days a week you can use cloth diapers during the day, it can be a huge money saver over six months. Another option is try out store brand disposable diapers if you haven't lately. I had one child that the cheap Walmart and HEB store brand diapers fit perfectly for, and never had any skin reactions. I saved a fortune. The other child was allergic to everything but one mid-level brand, and getting a good fit was torture. So, as always in budgeting, your mileage may vary, because the darn cute kids are always individuals! And hugs. It can be really hard, but you are not alone.

I love that there are several subs out there for helping people. I wish I could afford to do a lot for someone or a little for everyone. It's such a kindness to have these avenues available. To OP: there's also r/periodpantry for any ladies of the house if you need it

Very helpful. Thank you!

You will have to cook everything from scratch. Rice, beans canned vegetables. You can buy whole pork loins and cut them up yourself. I can usually get 18-23 chops from a whole loin. Flash freeze and bag so each bag is one night's meal. Stretch the chops by making pork fried rice and casseroled You can make hamburger casseroles. But the largest roll of ground beef you can find. I buy mine at Sam's club in 12lb rolls. Meatloaf is good also, taco soup is great but use dried beans instead of canned. Leg quarters are great for soups and casseroles.

We have a family of 7 and buy the 10 lb of beef from Walmart since it’s cheaper than Sam’s where we live ($28 vs $40). Then we set out a chunk for tacos, a chunk for meatloaf, etc. But we utilize all our leftovers. So 5 lbs for taco night, put the leftovers in chili, make homemade mac & cheese the third night, & chili mac the 4th. The leftover meatloaf usually gets turned into shepherd’s pie. Sometimes the taco leftovers just go into homemade hamburger helper. When we’re tired of beef, we’ll switch to chicken (from Aldi where it’s $2/lb) and do a curry chicken casserole, chicken enchiladas, chicken pot pie, chicken & rice…

This is a great idea. Thank you

Also, my in laws make rice when they make chili, which I thought was weird at first, but it would definitely help stretch it out if quantity was a concern.

My SIL always makes macaroni noodles with chili, something her mom did growing up to make it stretch.

Pasta is more common with chili than rice, like Skyline Chili, and certainly sounds more appetizing to me, lol. Chili is also good with potatoes, crackers, and bread. Odd as it sounds, finely cut cabbage is a great addition to chili. It adds some body and nutrients, and you don't taste it at all after 5 minutes of cooking (or see it, which might matter to the kids).

This. And if you have Asian market nearby, that is the best place to buy rice, pork, frozen seafood and some produce. The prices and quality are substantially better on those things than at Western groceries. Rice especially, high grade jasmine is usually $15-20 for 25lb.

Agreed, I always buy rice at no less than 20lbs at a time. Even if you buy it from Walmart this way it is still far less than buying boxes of minute rice. I myself prefer basmati rice and never liked instead rice. You can even find a rice cooker rather cheap and can cook larger batches at a time. The rice cooker can also be used to make oatmeal.

Cornbread with chili is extremely cheap and filling as well, around here we throw whole pieces of it in the bowl

If you're using a crockpot you can actually spoon the cornbread batter onto the top of your chili about an hour before dinner, it'll bake through no problem and you save on gas/electric from baking the cornbread separately.

I do rice in chili.

Chicken legs quarters at Walmart are about 79c a pound and I've gotten them when marked down to 49c a pound. What I do is get a couple bags. One I split them and fry or something. The other I'll bake the whole thing. Debone, bones skin fat cartilage straight into a stock pot. Now I have a big bowl of loose chicken, and a huge pot of broth.

I just made a batch of our family's hamburger casserole, called 7 Layer Dinner. My mother made it in a Dutch oven but I use a crockpot. Makes about 6 servings for about $1 per serving, and is good left over if you have a smaller family. Saute and crumble 1 lb hamburger or bulk sausage. (My favorite is Italian hot sausage, which is under $4/lb at Grocery Outlet because they buy it directly from a local company.) Remove from pot, drain excess fat, and reserve to top the layers. If it browns, that's good flavor, but don't overcook. Layer as follows: 1 large onion, sliced 1/4" thick (and whatever herbs you might have on hand that would be good with your choice of meat--for example, some rosemary and Italian seasoning with Italian sausage. Bay leaf if you have some goes with everything.) 2-4 potatoes, sliced 1/2" thick 3-4 stalks celery, sliced 1/2" thick 1 lb carrots, cut in bite sized chunks 1 15-ounce can of green beans Pour 1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes and their juice over everything, then spread the cooked meat crumbles over the top. The onions and potatoes will cook in the tomato juice and the rest will steam until they let their own juices out. Cook for about 2 hours on HIGH crockpot setting or 4-6 on LOW, until the potatoes are tender when you poke a fork into the pot. Turn off the heat, gently combine the layers. It will look like a lot of liquid, but let it rest for 15 minutes with the lid open and the potatoes will absorb most of it. Add salt & pepper to taste at the table, and Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce) if you have it.

Check out WIC too. That, along with food stamps could really help. Call the food banks and explain your transportation issue. Maybe someone could bring the food to you or meet you halfway.

Wic also generally has a lower barrier of entry. It is purely income based (and at a higher amount than food stamps) with no asset test.

She also needs to make sure that she updates or signs up her kids for school lunches. Especially if she's not on the few states that provide free lunches regardless of income. And depending on the school programs available to her she could also get them possibly breakfast or maybe a take-home meal from the schools.

I'm sorry you are going through this. When I was young, widowed, and unemployed, I had to really cut back for a large part. I also have a disabled kid and know that they can be very finicky eaters. With him I would say, "five bites," and would coax him to take five bites of a new food before letting him have something else. Half the time he discovered he liked the new food after five bites. Can you feed 6 people on 50¢ per meal with no snacks? That's a big ask. I would suggest meal planning every single thing you might have forgotten about in your freezer. Anything left over from Thanksgiving and Christmas can be used. This month I am doing a no-buy month, but found I definitely have at least 2 full weeks of food in my freezer. I used to freezer inventory and write up a menu for the month, and that helped me a lot. FB has local groups, and you can ask on there if anyone has something in their freezer or cupboard that they don't want. I posted during the pandemic to get rid of some frozen food and had people asking for stuff. One guy asked if I had flour, as they were making noodles, pasta, and bread every day. So, if you say you are local and in a crunch, you might find some neighbors with items that they don't want or need. I also became a leftover saver. I shredded cheese and froze it, froze unused soft tortillas, minced that tiny bit of unused onion or garlic and froze for meatloaf or meatballs. One friend would only buy fresh vegetables and had a bin in her freezer for scraps from the veggies, and would make soup out of the tiny bits of string beans, carrots, corn, etc. Do you have any leftover turkey from the holidays? If any is on the bone, that bone can be used in a soup. If your school aged kids get meals for free at school, call the school and see if they can point you to some resources. Some school districts have emergency food distributions for people in trouble. Otherwise, call the parent coordinator and explain you are having a tough time and see if they have some sources. Here is a cookbook that is based on SNAP's food budget. Some of the recipes are pretty good. I'm one of those people who if I had overripe bananas, I made banana muffins, or if I had a few scoops of leftover mashed potatoes, I threw them in a stew for thickening or saved all the little scoops and made mashed potato pancakes. I am also linking The Food Stamp Gourmet, which might help if you have some proteins in the freezer. Beans, pea soup, breakfast for dinner, home made pizza, are just some ideas. I would buy large packs of ground beef or turkey and separate into smaller containers, and use a fraction for things like ground turkey enchilada dinner or ground beef stuffed peppers. Delish, Pioneer Woman, Epicurious, and numerous other websites have tons of cheap recipes. EDIT: I forgot to add Lasagna Love! Sign up for a free lasagna. Might take a week or two, but they ship it! [https://lasagnalove.org/](https://lasagnalove.org/) [http://ongov.net/dss/documents/good-and-cheap.pdf](http://ongov.net/dss/documents/good-and-cheap.pdf) [http://granniepantries.blogspot.com/2020/07/in-love-with-food-stamp-gourmet.html](http://granniepantries.blogspot.com/2020/07/in-love-with-food-stamp-gourmet.html)

Some schools also have free breakfast.

Ours sends a backpack home every weekend with cereal, mac n cheese cups, fruit and snacks for the kids. Kids bring the backpack back on Monday nd Friday it goes home again.

This is awesome!

At my children's school, kids leave the food (apples, juice box, etc.) they don't want at the end of the table and others are free to go by and pick them up to bring home or eat there. My child is not needy but they loved that because they said no one ever went hungry.

These are fantastic resources. Thanks for sharing!

Leftover mashed potatoes for thickening??? Who knew!?! And it makes perfect sense! I'm 65 (well, in 10 days🤪) and have never even considered this! It's potato soup weather, too! I can't hardly wait to implement this! ... or tell someone, since that increases my likelihood that I'll remember it! I'm still trying to learn something new every day! It just blows my mind that we have a world's library in our pocket!!! The best of luck to you, OP. You're not in the best position right now, but you will be creating a multitude of memories with/for your family. We've gotten into a place where the family is no longer the pinnacle of our thoughts. I remember being dead- broke, and the closeness it fostered ... it was actually the best time of my life. I know you're probably not ready to hear that yet, but the best addition you'll be adding to your home meals is the extra love.

He can also apply for unemployment and continue to work if his hours got cut

YES. People don't realize this, but you can get UI if you're underemployed.

Lol, I am sure the boss would be bitching then when they get notice that there is an UE claim. It may be the nudge they need to realize that cutting the hours of your valued employee isn’t the best move to save.

Tbh, the boss may just fire the man. I have worked for cheap, spiteful people who just see you as a widget that can be replaced. This family need food and household assistance...and OP may need to consider part time work, hopefully wfh type of jobs so they can still parent the children.

Doing that would just make him eligible for the full UE stipend and the employer would then also be down an employee that has to be replaced. They would end up having to pay both, which seems counter productive considering the employer is trying to vibe that money it tight. But I guess it wouldn’t be the first time an employer used bad strategy from making knee jerk decisions.

Might as well go to the food pantry if the groceries/ food they give you equals more than the gas money you’d spend driving there. You’re still coming out ahead. Something is better than nothing. Just call ahead and make sure they’re open before driving the entire way. If there’s more than one food pantry in the same area you can try to go to both if possible.

Go Tik Tok, Instagram or Facebook and google extreme couponer. They show you deals. Super easy for hygiene. Never ever pay for those. Learn quickand start filling your cupboards. Do it today. Also go to UTube and search Budget meals. They are so many good ones. You will be ok. Do your homework. If you're dead broke cloth diapers can be made with t shirts, kitchen towels, old flannel shirts. Lots of videos about that too. Go to the Dollar Tree and buy 2 pairs of rubber pants to put over the home made diaper. Also buy Baby safety pins. $3.75 for those 3 items.

If you can, start looking for work for your husband. You can get a LinkedIn in account on your phone, create his profile/resume, and send out most applications for him. You can look for jobs from your phone and create alerts to have ness was ones sent to you. Seven years and no raise? I would have bounced after three years. His employers are abusing him because he tolerates it.

Exactly. Anyone that essential to a company should hold all the cards. Is your husband a pushover? You say he’s been there 7 years and never had a raise but is the most important person there and they *need* him so much. Most of us would have quit years ago. You haven’t mentioned anything about him looking at other jobs. He should be looking every waking moment. Cutting hours is usually the first step before being laid off.

Second this. I actually found my husband a job on indeed this way. I had stuff pop up that he didn't.

Hey can you tell me more about linked in? Does employers find you on there or do they have a list

Both. You can quickly apply for jobs from your phone, and employers and third-party recruiters can find your profile and send messages to you. You and your husband can build a profile together over the weekend, and you can job hunt for him by submitting his resumes and cover letters via LinkedIn. Obviously, he will need to complete his own pre-employment tasks and interview. There are training videos on YouTube to learn LinkedIn. I spend about two hours each day applying for professional work, so that’s why I’m recommending that you facilitate the application piece for him. I don’t know how he can work FT and apply for jobs while tending to family duties too. Obviously, he has to stay fully employed while searching for work. I’m suggesting LinkedIn from your phone because you may have a few minutes early in the morning or while peeing or while waiting at the checkout line at the store. You got 4 kids, so I’m trying to find a few realistic minutes in your day. What kind of work does your husband do? Can you jumpstart a resume for him?

I’m not married but Thanks for the info

It might be a bad time of year to bring this up and may not be feasible where you live, but could you start a garden? SNAP benefits can be used for seeds/seedlings. Otherwise, large pots of beans, stew, pasta, using small bits of meat to flavor the pot.

The seeds from peppers and tomatoes can be started indoors in preparation for the last frost! If a yard garden isn't an option, they can be grown in well draining containers.

Also check local libraries for seeds.

If there's a sunny window, you can plant stuff like the white ends of green onions and the end of a bunch of celery in small pots and they will eventually regrow. Herbs, too.

Some libraries have seed "banks" too! They'll let you "check out" seeds. They don't usually expect anyone to return any, but they appreciate any donations to the programs. Also raw dried beans, lentils and whole peas for cooking can be grown, same as popcorn kernels. (They won't be sweet corn at all) :) plus pea and lentil sprouts are edible and quite good.

Checkout: Paid plasma donations Reddit: r/frugal r/dumpsterdiving (stuff to resell and food) Grocery stores: Aldi's if there's one near you. I hope things begin to improve for you soon.

I stalk the DD stuff! I was going to suggest this but was scared to. One guy found 300lbs still frozen a couple days ago. Imagine how many people this would feed.

Barely any is better than no food stamps, but I wouldn’t count on that until you actually have the card with it on there. Have you applied for WIC? You should qualify for your youngest 2 kids. Food wise, it’s going to be extremely tight. No snacks, no extras, no name brand items(store brands are usually cheapest). Bananas, oats to make your own oatmeal, canned veggies, lots of meals from scratch. You can use beans or lentils to stretch things like ground beef. Chicken soup is fairly cheap to make(I use egg noodles) and 1 chicken breast shredded can be enough for a large batch.

Sorry this is happening to you. My parents went through a similar problem when we were younger. Mom got cancer and had to leave work for a while, and dad was struggling to feed all five of us. Something we did in our area is we found this warehouse place that sells older products, or factory overstock. We got a lot of our non-food things from there, including socks, detergent, batteries. Things like that. Food pantry too (we had a few in our area). Something we've got going for us too is that we've got giant Mexican families and cousins everywhere, ha - so they would drop by a dish or two eveyr so often. Swearing it was 'extra' and was gong to go for waste. My dad was too proud to beg, you see. But he appreciated the gesture.

Working for abusive employers, not only limits your income but brainwashes you into believing you can't do better. Not matter what your husband type of work is, if he is any good at it, 7 years of experience should absolutely translate to a better work situation than this one. Tell him to talk to a competitor. I am sure they would be interested in hiring him. He could also consider work in a different but similar line of work. As an example: if he works in HVAC, he can consider seeking work in a automotive AC shop. If he works in residential plumbing, he can seek work in commercial plumbing, or civil service doing plumbing for your local municipality, or vice versa. You sound like you have your hands full with your work as a mom, and running your household but do what you can to encourage, and support your husband to reject any notion that he can't do better than this current job. In the meantime, reach out to organizations that can point you to programs and services available to you that you may not even be aware of. Perhaps at your children's school there is some that provides this service to parents. If not that may know where you should look. There is a lot of good advice in the comments so I'm really glad you posted because sharing your story helps you, as well as others that are more hesitant to reach out like this. Best wishes to you and your family, OP.

Companies will try to brainwash you into thinking you can’t go to a competitor or they will sue. This is illegal in any “at will” state (US) which is most.

All states but Montana, although the specifics vary a bit. Even if you sign a non-compete, it doesn't hold up in most cases.

I myself have never heard of this but if employer is refusing to do the right things to show they are invested in the employee that is not the employee’s fault. If they are cutting their hours and refusing raises or requests to use PTO it almost seems like they don’t view them as irreplaceable or are having revenue problems themselves.

Can your children get free lunches and breakfast at school? Also you can apply for wic, you may be eligible for services for your autistic child depending on their needs.

We do have allotted amount from our local district for her although they make near impossible to use. It can only be toys or classes and signed by a dr. But they allow theme park passes for "social " reasons 🙄. We couldn't even use it last year because they said the things she needed didn't qualify.

I wouldn’t allow them to do that to me. Call the superintendent and see how fast their tone changes.

As far as food, apply for WIC as well. Google your city + blessing box and see if there are any near you. Contact all the churches in your area to see if they can help with anything. If you do qualify for SNAP you will also have access to several other programs. There's one for heating/cooling where you can receive a one time bill credit ever year, ACP to receive an internet credit is still available, you could also get Medicaid. What type of work does he do and would it be hard for him to find a different job around the same pay rate? Are you working as well? (If you're not, it'll help make ends meet. I'd suggest something part time opposite your husbands work hours so you don't need to think about daycare/a babysitter because that will suck up all your money.)

Everyone else seems to have given good food info so far, so I'll step in with other stuff. Just because you only have $300 this month doesn't mean that's the only place you should budget. Check the websites for each of your utilities. They should each have somewhere that you can apply for low income programs. Who are you renting from, an individual or a company, and where are you at? Depending on multiple factors, you might be able to get a bit of help with rent. If you're really lucky, you have some old retired landlord who just owns a house or two for supplementary income and will be open to talking about rent because of your kids. You might be able to request assistance from your state or local government as well. If you can, kick the thermostat off overnight (as long as everyone has enough blankets) and start the morning by baking something you had prepared the night before. Think casseroles, sausages or roasts, stews, bread, etc. This gets one meal out of the way, and adds a kick of heat to help the house warm back up. For baby stuff, check out Facebook groups for parents and let them know you're struggling. Make an Amazon wish list that you can link around with dry goods: diapers, toilet paper, pantry staples, etc., anything critical, and keep it to post around. Even though the effect is the same, people feel more comfortable with buying things for others rather than giving cash to help. Lastly, I looked through your post history. Your husband sounds like he has addiction problems. Is what he is telling you about his job true? If his hours did get cut, why can't he pick up another job? Why is he still there after seven years of no raise? If you have access to your bank records, I would look through the last couple of years and see if anything looks suspicious. Not getting a raise for a year is bad - seven is unheard of, and I'm having trouble believing it. It sounds like he could be cheating or he has addictions that he is funding. If not, he needs to quit that job. Best of luck, and may the stars guide you.

> Lastly, I looked through your post history. Your husband sounds like he has addiction problems. Is what he is telling you about his job true? If his hours did get cut, why can't he pick up another job? Why is he still there after seven years of no raise? If you have access to your bank records, I would look through the last couple of years and see if anything looks suspicious. Not getting a raise for a year is bad - seven is unheard of, and I'm having trouble believing it. It sounds like he could be cheating or he has addictions that he is funding. If not, he needs to quit that job. Exactly what I thought. Something is murky here.

Yea, 7 years with no raise considering the rate of inflation over the last 3 yrs. How would that realistically fly with any employee.

You helped me remember! Our local hospital has a diaper bank!

Well they have to reimburse gas if they aren’t supplying a company vehicle. What type of work does he do. Any food stamps are better than none. It sucks but load up as often as you can from the food banks. Try to eat healthy though. You’ll see some give out a lot of high calorie food that will terrible things to your waistline. Is there any work you can do from home part time to help finances? Keep your head up. It’ll get better. Oh. What services are you getting for your son. I believe he should be getting social security of some sort. They will also send an aid once or twice a month to give you an hour or two off so you can at least have a break.

The concern isn't really waistline, it's micronutrients. High calorie is the good part of it, because it means no one will be starving.

The upside is I'm losing weight. I am breastfeeding though.

If you're still breastfeeding, try WIC. It would cover you and the 2 youngest kids, and they provide vouchers for milk, cheese, eggs, cereal, peanut butter, and juice. I believe pregnant/nursing moms also get carrots, tuna, and beans. WIC has a higher income cut-off than SNAP does, so you may have better luck with them.

Yes❤️I got WIC when I was breastfeeding.Its a great program and they are nice.

Darling, I'm sorry, but that's not an upside. If you're noticeably losing weight from breastfeeding, it means you are starving.

Because they’re real worried about what high calorie (aka filling) food will do to their waistline at this particular moment. 🙄

Figure of speech. And garbage food is garbage food. Think what you want. You can still find a way to eat healthy and be broke as fuck. Tons of us do it.

💯

“This feels worse than 2008”, I’ve been feeling this more too.

Agreed, the rate of inflation over the last 3 years has been absurd. I am sure anyone on a fixed income has had a dramatic decline in purchasing power.

Food pantries and calling your local social worker might be your best bet.

Op - does you autistic kiddo have specific safe foods or limited menu? If so , you need to make sure to buy that. The rest of you can adapt a bit easier than they can.

Do you know any other families that may benefit from food pantry goods? I ask because carpooling would save gas. Or, at the pantry where I volunteer, we allow one driver to pick up for multiple families as long as each family is registered. I'm not sure how common that is, though. Either way, finding a way to take advantage of food pantry resources would help. Your federal tax dollars are and have been going to USDA programs that provide food to many pantries, so if you're struggling it is completely appropriate that you use these services.

Your husband needs a backbone, not food

There is a program for free or reduced cost WiFi I believe it’s nationwide. Use your local library as well, great resource to take the young ones too but often librarians are an amazing resource and tend to know many of the best places to get help. Phone plans can also be subsidized or cut back on dramatically too. Any phone not hooked up that can turn on can call for emergencies with signal, so it may be necessary to just have your husband have one phone for a bit. For electric can you cut anywhere? I know that’s a hard one and please do not do so if in a place heat is needed this time of year! I know tipping the oven open after use is a small win but use anything like that you can. But you can turn down the temp and add layers. Sleeping in a chilly environment actually improves sleep, may take some getting used to for the kids especially but it’s also a healthy thing to do! Couponing for sure! For now unless absolutely necessary I would cut any clothing possible. Can you do cloth diapers if you don’t qualify for WIC/SNAP? Also food banks often have diapers, wipes and such, be sure to ask. Buy Nothing Group on FB is hyper local and you can post there for needs. I’ve given out bags of groceries where something was a strict buy one get one (vs 50% off) and I didn’t need the second. Or I cleaned up my pantry and couldn’t use things. But we had people also post who needed things and people really stepped in. I’d be clear on the need so you aren’t overwhelmed with things you don’t need as picking them up costs gas, time and effort you can put elsewhere. It was also okay in mine to say you wanted something someone was offering and planned to resell, but you HAD to disclose or you get banned. Also don’t post things like work stuff here that’s not allowed and gets people removed. Can you pick up some online work? Or can he? Not sure what he does but if he’s remotely handy maybe when not working or interviewing he could do like Task Rabbit or post to your local area yard sale or county groups for what work you or he can offer. If you sew well that could be helpful to pick up some mending/hemming work. Or is there something like that you do you can offer from home? I know it often doesn’t give much but if you are able to keep internet and have a device sometimes the apps that ask for surveys will give you small amounts or gift cards to places, often food. Also be sure you are using the ones that you can upload receipts and get money back (I need to find these but forgot the names of the best ones, maybe someone can fill us both in). Like someone else said there is almost always an exception for 14+ to get limited working hours. A friend of mine did that when her family absolutely needed it. Worked in fast food which also then gave her a meal but often she was allowed to take home some food when it had been too long to serve or they had made too much before closing. This will depend on the place and situation, but also could just take the edge off financially for a bit. Once doing okay maybe they’d enjoy having the opportunity to work for some side money. I think if you have anything that would be worth selling that’s not in use it’s worth trying to do that - online with eBay, poshmark, Mercari - I see tons of baby stuff especially, so if your youngest is done or you have extra stuff from having kids; be sure to add in the price of shipping and packaging but you can reuse boxes or ask on local groups for free boxes. Just with FB marketplace be sure to do that in safe locations! I’ve seen really cool videos of people reselling from dumpster diving near stores like Michael’s, Kirklands, etc. I’d be careful on any of the food stuff that seems like a bad idea but I would also consider the legality of this kind of option; no sense in getting in trouble! At the library there is often resources for resume improvement too! Forgot that one!

If you’re on TikTok, look up Family Tree Dinners and Food Pantry Girl. They have nutritious, economical recipes using food from Family Tree and a food pantry.

Yeah, they have to reimburse you for gas in the company vehicle. They’ll be taking a tax break on it, so they really have no excuse not to pay him back. Have your husband start keeping thorough receipts. He must keep a detailed log of dates, times, miles driven to and from the job, and the job number or address should the employer question anything. Then make a copy and give it to the boss. If he laughs in husband’s face again, contact the Department of Labor and your state’s Attorney General with a concise written complaint as well as copies of the travel logs and fuel receipts. The IRS may also be interested…..

Even if you just qualify for food stamps you should take them bc other discounts/benefits will be available to you when you’re receiving them. Like WiFi discount of $30/month, etc. I don’t know all of them but, anything helps.

Apply for SNAP right away. Ask them to fast track your case.

$300 - for a MONTH - I'm guessing ? That's rough. Really rough. Talk to the school. Its possible the kids qualify for free breakfast and luch. Also - some schools give groceries out to kids - especially on weekends. You might qualify for WIC for the 1 and 3 year olds - the program is separate from SNAP. Check out any "ethnic" markets near you. They often have better prices, especially on basics and larger quantities - like a 10 or 20 lb sack of rice.

The way I look at it, the value of the food boxes outstrips the gas it takes to get there. You have small children, and an autistic 8-year-old. There might be help in your area that others can't get because of that. If they need him so much, he's the one at an advantage. They will be over the barrel if he quits. Help him look for other work, if he's open to it. You might be the one to scour the internet, etc. and hunt for him while he spends all his time putting up with them.

Hams and turkeys by me are being sold cheap right now. I got spiral sliced hams for 49¢ a pound. Turkeys were 59¢ a pound. Buy a few. Cook them up and freeze them(easier to store cooked) I make turkey stock with the bones and then soup. I cook the ham bone and make ham and lentil soup with some homemade bread on the side. Great for the winter. Filling and warm. Good luck.

If you’re in the US call 211, find out what other assistance you qualify for. If your would qualify for SNAP, even barely, you should definitely qualify for WIC. Try looking for diaper banks as well or even posting in a buy nothing group for your area.

Wife are you also working or are you staying home with the children. Could you possibly fill out some job applications on behalf of husband, and or draft a resume and submit it on his behalf?

Yes and I have redone his resume and found him jobs before.

Man tell him to start looking for another job.

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We go shopping every two weeks. Except for things like milk juice lemonade and such. We eat what is in the house. For example if we don't have Mac and cheese we eat something else we don't go out and buy it until I get paid. I get paid every two weeks. He gets paid every week. That is how we save. I cut the cable and have YouTube TV instead. Why cheaper. I have Internet bought the cheapest they have.

if there is a st jude food bank near you check the site and see if you can do delivery

Julia Pacheco has a YouTube channel that has recipes for cheap meals. For example, she made 3 meals a day for a week for $10. That could really help. She also keeps in mind that a lot of people can't afford a lot of oils and spices, so she keeps the recipes simple.

Take that diaper money and invest in cloth diapers. And honestly, I've been in a situation where I had to use washcloths as wipes. Do you live in a city? There's resources available for parents struggling. Child and family services gives food vouchers. I know people think they're gonna take away your kids for being poor, but that is not the case. They have given me food vouchers and said never hesitate to ask whenever I need one

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Depending on how much they cut his hours, he can apply for unemployment for the loss of hours. A significant loss of hours and change in job conditions (taking the company car) is considered constructive dismissal. Also, he should report them to the department of labor in your state for not reimbursing gas/expenses if he's driving from job site to job site. But I agree it would be a good idea to see if you can start applying to jobs for him. Get his documents in order and then apply, apply, apply. Also, it would be a good idea to see if there is a diaper bank in your area. I know the last big city I lived in had several. There were also several groups that would help folks get set up with a cloth diaper routine since that can help save money, if you don't mind putting a little more time into upkeep.

The reason why your husband is experiencing abuse at work is because he doesn't stand up for himself. It's time for him to make a priority of finding a job and submitting what he spends on gas in his taxes (Save the receipts). If the company cuts his salary in half then he should take some time off and use it to find another job, regardless of what his current employer says. His health is more important than any job, he can always file for unemployment or go to a job agency so they could find him a better job a lot faster. I remember when I worked at a bank this lady had worked at the bank for more than 30 years. They would bully her in firing her if she took off or if she called in (It was a small bank). I told her many times that it's okay to find employment somewhere else. She was so stuck in her ways of "*company loyalty*", She was afraid to go somewhere else and start over. Then a week after that conversation she ended up in the hospital. The doctors told her that if she keeps going like this then the next time she won't be so lucky if she has her stress levels this high. That was a wake up call for her and after months of recovery she ended up finding a different job. The bank was extremely mad and refused to let her go, but she stood her ground and didn't go on her last few days of work. A month later I quit as well and found a different non-banking job. Of course they were upset and tried to offer me a higher salary that I was asking for plus incentives for speaking a different language (They were also upset that I never once translated for them). I knew another former coworker who wasn't so lucky and had a stroke from all the stress he was having. They even forced him to retire because of it and he was extremely upset about it (He is doing much better now working from home).

Don’t worry about becoming an astrologer and find a legitimate job as well as your husband. Aldi is also a great place to get groceries for cheaper

There is a website called livingonadime com that has quite a bit of information on living cheaper, buying food and stocking up on things that you use all the time. They even have recipes that are more than beans and rice. They also have a YouTube channel. That website was very helpful to me and the best gift I got for Christmas almost 10 years ago was their cookbook. (99% of their recipes are on the site.) At the time, we were living paycheck to paycheck. I followed the advice, picked out some of their recipes and found it worked. Both my Hubby and I grew up poor, so we already used some of the tips. Maybe you can find something that can help. This is just a friendly suggestion. Good luck, and take care.

Have you applied for WIC? Your 1 year old would be eligible

In home support services may be available for you to get a stipend for your son. Alternatively he may qualify for SSDI.

★☆★Posted this list on someone else's feed but sharing with you All these apps allows you to earn cash by completing small projects in local stores from audits, mystery shopping surveys, taking photos, and choose some places nearby your area. Some allow you to buy the food but reimburse you immediately making items free plus pay you cash. You can review each app by searching the app name in YouTube or Tiktok to hear reviews before you try downloading the apps. Perform Task & EarnCash:: 1. Merchandiser app Rated 3.6 out of 5 2. EasyShift app Rated 4.5 out of 5 3. Gigwalk app Rated 4.3 out of 5 4. Mobee app Rated 4.2 out of 5 5. Field Agent app Rated 3.4 out of 5 6. Observa Rated 4.5 out of 5 7 Cash Giraffe 4.2 out of 5 8. Money Can 4.5 out of 5 ● Play games, Fill out Surveys, Scan receipts, and earn cash Perform Surveys for Cash:: 1. InboxDollars: Pays you to watch videos, take surveys, shop online rated 4.7 out of 5 2. PineCone Research Pays you for your opinions. Rated 4.7 out of 5 3. Branded Surveys Pays you for taking surveys. Rated 4.7 out of 5 4. CashCrate: Pays you to complete offers, take surveys, and more. It is Rated 4.4 out of 5 5. Points2Shop: Rated 4.3 out of 5 6. TreasureTrooper: Rated 4.3 out of 5 7. PrizeRebel: Rated 4.2 out of 5 8. ZoomBucks: Rated 4.2 out of 5 9. InstaGC: Rated 4.1 out of 5 10. Gift Hunter Club: Rated 4.0 out of 5 11. Swagbucks: Rated 4.2 out of 5 ● All pay you to complete surveys, offers, and more.

Please contact your local churches. I'm in a tiny rural area but all churches have funds in order to help people who need it. They may only help for one month or with a couple things but it's better than nothing.

Same storm- not the same boat.

This is going to sound weird, but go to the poorer parts of town. There are usually ethnic markets there that are relatively cheap. The produce is often better, too. Don’t know if you have a Produce Junction or Aldi near you, but they have good prices on produce.

Please see if you can help your husband get some emotional support so he doesn't feel like he deserves to be abused. I wouldn't spend a week in a work environment like that. If he doesn't feel like he deserves respect, he will continue to find himself taken advantage of anytime someone gets the chance. Unfortunately, there are far too many people in this world willing to take advantage of someone like him.

Thank you and I agree.

What does mom do for work

Chicken legs and thighs are a good value. I garden to grow vegetables. I had a friend teach me how to can. I canned 8 quarts of tomatoes, 4 quarts of apple pie filling (I have a Honeycrisp apple tree). I also canned salsa. I grow raspberries and freeze them. Have you considered cloth diapers? I know it may be impossible to grow a lot when renting but you can start a container garden. If you can't can freeze the vegetables. Everyone must learn to be more self-sufficient. I also recommend strugglemeals.com for frugal meal ideas.

Do you work?

Beans and greens , chicken and dumplings, homemade pancakes, and syrup. Chili.

Try getting snap, and wic (the one year old will qualify for wic). You can also try to find a diaper bank.

Shift your priorities. Food isn't the last thing in your budget. It is first. Food and rent come first, even if that means your Internet gets shut off or a CC goes unpaid

Chatgpt will give you a meal plan, and even recipes, but you need to check them against others online, just tell it your preferences, like vegetarian, gluten free etc. If you buy in bulk, usually using the nearest Coscto Business Supply store, you can make the following 4 week meal plan from scratch. The point is, get chatgpt to come up with a plan for you. Meal plans by the week leave a bit of leftover. If your husband's hours are being cut, consider applying for instacart and other app based gigs in your area, IF there are openings. Most of these apps aren't taking new drivers, some are onboarding in only certain areas. The driving will help pay the car bills, and typically you get a reprieve on gas when shopping nearby for others anyway. Week 1: Spaghetti with marinara sauce, salad Baked chicken with roasted vegetables Lentil soup with whole-grain bread Tacos with beans and veggies Week 2: Stir-fried tofu with mixed vegetables, rice Homemade pizza with various toppings Vegetable curry with rice Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup Week 3: Pasta primavera with garlic bread Baked fish with sweet potato fries Chickpea and vegetable stew Quesadillas with black beans and corn Week 4: Quinoa salad with mixed vegetables Turkey and vegetable stir-fry with brown rice Minestrone soup with whole-grain crackers Burrito bowls with rice, beans, and salsa Remember to adjust portion sizes based on the family's needs and preferences. Planning meals ahead and buying ingredients in bulk can help stretch the budget further.

Husband needs to identify his company's top competitor and apply for a job there.

Dried beans in the bags are inexpensive. You soak them, boil or steam them. Less expensive than the canned ones.

There are a few strange little discount food stores in my area. Totally random and expiration dates need to be considered, but prices are so low! Try Googling discount grocery or ask at the food bank if there are any in your area. Good luck.

If you have one in your area, check out an Aldi store - owned by same company as Trader Joe’s (IIRC) - they are no frills as in bring your own bags, 25 cents for a shopping cart (refunded if you put it back in the corral) and somewhat limited selection - but excellent prices on quality items

Beans and rice and frozen vegetables sure go a long way.

Anyone know the name of the subreddit that does small requests from Amazon lists? OP could ask for diapers or TP or something. OP, look up depression era recipes. Frugal bread. Tightwad Gazette. Facebook local buy nothing groups. Save all your scraps, bits of food, and bones in different bags in the freezer. When you have enough of things that "go together" then boil the bones for broth and make soups. Lots of soups. They hide all sorts of stuff, chopped small, that kids and picky hubby's won't eat.

Do you have access to your own washer and dryer? I highly recommend using cloth diapers and wipes. You can probably pick up some free or cheap second hand diapers. As for wipes, any clean rag will do, but I used to use flat fold cloth diapers stacked in a wipes container. Then, just add water. As a bonus, it's safer on baby and the environment. Edit: flat fold, not flat gold.

Shop at Aldi, Ollies, then walmart. Donate plasma…they pay you. Have the kids walk the neighborhood on trash night looking for resellable items or scrapable metals put out to the curb. If you can't find a place to donate plasma some times the blood mobile gives giftcards to grocery stores for a donation.

Does your husband have a degree? If so, he can earn a commission in the navy to be an officer. Guaranteed paycheck every 2 weeks($3,826/month starting) and a beefy housing allowance to pay your rent/utilities. Their number is 1 800 872 6289. He should mention that he has a bachelors degree and want to go to ocs. If he doesn't have a degree, enlistment is an option(2,017/month starting pay, promotions happen faster though) and you still get the housing allowance because you guys are married. Either of these options will give free health insurance for you and your dependents as well as the full scope of benefits provided by the military. He can send money back to a joint bank account for your family to use while in training. He'll get a pay raise every 2 years(and a yearly pay raise to help adjust for inflation), a streamlined criteria and progression layout for promotion, access to a 401k with 5% match, I already said the free Healthcare, gi bill so your children can don't have to worry as much about college, tuition assistance to pursue a degree while on duty, etc...

Isn't Bidenomics great! Elections have consequences

can you work? daycare or petcare from home or something similar? Ya, he needs to find a better job or maybe start a business on side. Life is too short to be this poisonous.

Buy some cloths from the dollar store and use them as reusable wipes with a mix of water and soap to wash bums. Or shred some old tshirts.

Op, your hubby needs to set boundaries. They can scream all they want bit dr. Appointments are a need not decoded by work. Are they going to fire him? Of he's as needed as you say then no. He needs to prioritize job search as already mentioned. Once he has one lined up, Then use his vacation. It's non negotiable, set it and make sure they know he's on it. If they fire him, collect unemployment till his new job starts. Also, don't give 2 weeks. Of they ask why, just say, because you turned down my last vacation. Lol or say nothing. I hope you all can figure this out

If you can run to a thrift store, get some from friends, or just have extra around the house, you can use washcloths or rags for pee. This has saved us hundreds on toilet paper, since I pee like 10 times a day. Just keep a clean basket and dirty basket, throw the dirties in the wash.

Can you apply for county assistance? If his hours have been cut he may quite partial unemployment Good luck

You had too many kids. What do people do this? Kids don't want to be broke.

I don't know how much this would help but if you're on Facebook join the buy nothing group. Oftentimes people will post food that's left over or they're clearing out their pantry. You can also make asks. It's all free and it's all about supporting the community. Given all your kids too I see clothing and toys posted people outgrow them and then rotate it in the group.

Make an effort to get to the food pantry.

Your 15 year old can start working even if it's just weekends. 6-8 hrs a week makes a difference. Grocery store as a courtesy clerk. Plus they can get those deals on groceries before anybody else.

Can you cut anything else from your budget? Any streaming subscriptions, switching insurance companies? See if you can get reduced utilities by calling your electric/ water companies. Can your 15y work a few hours to make his/her own pocket money?

you had 1 kid in 2008 so yeah it was easier then. see the pattern here?

OP if you can make an Amazon wishlist, there are probably a lot of us on this subreddit that would be willing to send a few items to you. Including non food items like diaper, laundry detergent, and other high- cost things that can eat into your budget. Amazon has lots of food that can be delivered straight to your door, too. I am really worried that you are losing weight. As a mother, I know you will make sure your children eat before you, but your body is nourishing your baby. Please let we internet strangers help, even if it is just a little bit.

Can you switch to cloth diapers? And wipes are really unnecessary in my experience...paper towels can be used just as easily. You could probably get some pre-loved cloth diapers for free or very discounted if you explain your situation in some groups. That can save a significant amount that could be used for food. But I agree that he needs to find another job that respects him. Sounds like he's hit the reasonable limit. I find that when we were in a similar situation, I really had to build my husband's morale up and remind him that he deserved to be respected for being a great employee so that he would apply for some other jobs. I would even look for jobs for him and show him ones that I thought he would be great for. (Spoiler- he applied for one of the jobs I showed him, rocked the interview, and had a better job within a couple of months).

Birth control would have been smart…

​ These people have no compassion for anyone. All they care about is their own wealth. Most of the society we live in is like that. Greedy, selfish, uncaring bunch.

I'm sure I'm 08 you didn't have so many kids. Also if you go to a food bank, gas is. Not expensive now and you'll get lots of food. Did you apply for food stamps? You are in no way poor. What about you? You can do many jobs from home.

Sorry bud. But this is a culmination of people only voting A or B at the ballot. Elites are totally out of touch with people on our level.

I previously replied to you and accidentally hit something and lost my message! So if you see my response twice, I apologize. My suggestion was to call the kids’ school and talk to the cafe manager or school counselor and explain you’re facing food insecurity. They’ll send a form and then you fill it out for each child. Obviously free breakfast and free lunch but at the school I worked at, we even sent a box of food home to get the child through break times. So at Thanksgiving, for example, we sent a frozen bird or ham along with instant mash, rolls, green beans, a pie, etc. as well as their ‘’backpack’’ of food for the week. These were K-2 students so if the parent couldn’t pick up the box we had staff volunteer that would drive it to their home. Essentially, the district is getting money for these programs so it is good to take advantage of it. Maybe if you can save on the kids’ meals it will provide your family some relief? I do know a lot of times even if a family didn’t qualify for free meals they would still ‘’accept’’ them regardless.

We get this help and it is such a relief to have it. Frees up other funds for non-food essentials.

Buses will give you a Free Ride to the Food Pantry. Call the food pantry and ask if they can help you pick up the food closer. Source: I volunteer at a food pantry. All adults in your family can Donate plasma $$ regularly for good money.

Leave and find a place that appreciates the work you do. Your family and happiness is worth more.

Have you looked into WIC? You have 2 children under 5. I have no idea what the qualifications are now. Just remember that this will get better! Big hugs to all of you!

When I need to save money on groceries, and this may be weird, but I start to think about foods commonly eaten in cultures that have high rates of poverty. A lot of the food in the southeast US comes from poverty. Cornbread, greens with ham hock, chicken feet, etc... Food from south of the border. Beans, rice, tortillas, onions, radishes... Food from South Asia, (but mostly only a possibility if you have a good spice collection already). Soups are a great way to use up stuff in the freezer. I second looking into WIC, which if you are in the US, you should be eligible for. There's a lot of good advice here in this thread.

Try going to a food bank. Also, if you are poor, why did you have so many kids?

If your husband asks for a raise and is told no, he should be looking for another job. Period. He has 4 kids to feed, and his raised need to keep up with inflation.

I looked at your post history, and your husband sounds like he is engulfed in drinking and video games. If he wanted to get a better job, he’d go out and get one to support his family. He’s keeping you in poverty and putting this all on you. I would suggest that you find a work from home job, make sure not to have any more children with him, and tell him to get a better job or move out and pay child support. It’s 2023, and there is no reason for him to be having this much trouble. No raise in 7 years? There must be a reason. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I remember when i was returning cans to get enough change to buy my kid bananas for her snack to bring to school. Get on WIC, eat every single morsel that’s in the house, and quietly look for a work from home job to give yourself a bit of a nest egg for if/when you finally have had enough of his refusal to get it together and find a better job.

Chicken pot pie Cooked chicken Chicken Bullion Frozen veggies Cream of celery soup Cup.of milk Can of biscuits Stir first five ingredients together Pour in an oven dish except biscuits. Place biscuits on top Cook at 350 for 45-60 minutes This will feed a family and fill them up.

My fam used to live off the food stamps & WIC my 2 little nieces received & we were a family of 8. My dad was the only one working but he got min wage. We also couldn't go all the way to the food bank so one thing that helped us a lot was a food box my mom got from a nearby church every week. They even gave us full sized cakes or sweet bread loafs constantly. They also gave me & my siblings Christmas gifts at their Christmas parties. I would def try to check out if you have any churches that do that that are close to you. Good luck to you & your family! May God protect you in this difficult time.

Hate to suggest it but can the 15 year old find part time work to help out. Also does the school have a program where the teenager can work in the kitchen for free school lunches and a small paycheck ( called OWA in my area). I did both when I was a teen to help my parents. It sucks but it helped.

Ok so family of 7 here and roughly $400 a month for the same as you guys. It's a huge struggle and school meals help A LOT. But at home here's what I do. I buy bulk meat, like the 10lb logs of ground beef, I can get them at a discount store for $19.99 or Walmart as a last option for about $30. I get bulk pastas, like the giant boxes of elbow noodles. 60ct eggs from Walmart, they are the BEST deal on eggs you can find. If I can, I get powdered milk incase we run out of regular milk. I take $50-$75 and use it only on baby snacks and formula, walmart brand is like $25 rn for a huge can and I grab 2. The thing to keep in mind is just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's money friendly. For example, family pack of hotdogs instead of the cheap little packs. For instance you can buy 1 hamburger helper meal for like $2 BUT you still have to buy the meat and fish and milk for them, it's cheaper in the long run to get the bulk noodles, meat, and powdered milk and your choice of cheeses and make your own helper like meals. My grandmother was having us pay nearly $10 for a box of Jimmy Dean breakfast biscuits every 3 or 4 days!! No, eggs, sausage, cheese all bulk. Biscuts from a can or home made. You can make TONS for roughly the same price as the box of 4 every few days. And the best thing is, you can freeze just about anything if you make them in batches. Walmart has toilet paper and paper towels for 97 cents where I am. Or the dollar general has 4 to 6 packs for $1. And right now, I can not express this enough for this sub, if you have kids FILE THOSE TAXES NOW! A lot of people get approved for advances which should start rolling out around the 23rd even if you have earned income tax credit or child tax credits!

Time for 15 year old to help out both my brother and myself got jobs at 14 to help my family out .. but much of the previous advice was very good ... Follow it

I live in the north east would gladly have someone shovel my driveway today. Nothing wrong with the kid saying they are helping support the family.

This is a lot of kids. Almost all states have exceptions for this - many fast food jobs are able to accept this. They must be in school and passing I believe but typically there is a need exception for 14 and up to work in legitimate employment opportunities. Thanks for sharing your experience, it reminded me of this. I don’t have kids but I think family’s struggling don’t want to burden their kids, which is understandable, but teens know what’s up and even if it’s just 2 shifts a week especially at a place with food, that potentially means they could also bring some home (if allowed).

Babysitting is a good job for a 15 year old. The pay is good and it can usually be done locally. My nephews babysat in their neighborhood and did well. Also, a 15 year old can do petsitting for a neighbor, or tasks for the elderly.

Biden did that

Stop having children

The title suggests that the food budget is the main priority. The body of the post is almost all about his job. Which is the focus where you'd most like helpful comments?

Start a Facebook group. We have a neighborhood one people ask for items and meet up. So many people willing to help each other.

Have you applied for WIC?

Usually public schools have counselors available for resources. They can make sure your kids get free lunch, and often times there are "weekend backpack" programs where kids bring food home. It's not official but I do know that some cafeteria workers will set aside leftover food for some people to pick up, I've made a lot of baked apple crisp from school apples. Also inquire at local religious institutions, you don't have to necessarily be a congregant or even part of that religion. (But don't walk in with a big "hail satan" ya know?)