A couple of things. Do you have access to a local library? You could try to get hold of the ‘More With Less’ cookbook and ‘Simply in Season’, produced by MCC. They are absolutely brilliant with suggestions of saving money and food - It’s revolutionised how I cook… Tonight we’re having shepherdess pie - carrots, onions, peppers, corgettes, green and red lentils, tinned tomatoes, tinned beans all cooked together, then topped with mashed potato. I don’t know if you could be hungry after a serving of that!
Do you have a freezer? I’m convinced they can help save money in the long run!
In terms of working from home, I had to do this a few years ago. Now in fairness, my work background lent itself to this, but I found it’s sometime easier to get work that’s short term.
So, if you could phone a few organisations (small businesses are best), offering to stuff envelopes when they’ve a mail shot to do, or type up papers. I even spent a day putting documents in alphabetical order. Or how would you feel about tutoring kids in english or maths? If your grammar and spelling are good, there’s often work in proof reading documents. It’s piecemeal, but when things are tight every little helps…
There are also online survey sites. I only know the European ones (try a web search for consumer.customer panels), but you do an online survey and get paid a small fee (usually £1 - around $2). It takes a while to stack up, but again, every little helps! It’s also worth e-mailing companies and asking for free samples (me, mean?). Writing letters to companies whose products you like often results in coupons or free samples.
Oh well…