October 2016 Grocery Challenge

blubella · 5 October 2016 at 2:33AM

Burly_Shirley wrote: »

I'm managing to get confused over my own rules.

My question to myself is, should this come from my grocery budget or my "entertainment budget"?

I have a separate 'spending money' budget for treats and eating out and I spend it on what I want (£30 per month).

I'm using YNAB to organise me and budget all of my pennies, it's taken some getting used to...just spent half an hour trying to figure out where £30 has disappeared to :huh: ...finally figured it was on fuel...must improve my recording methods!

t14cy_t · 5 October 2016 at 7:03AM

nsd yesterday, yipee!! xx

elsiepac · 5 October 2016 at 8:50AM

Morning all!

I didn't get around to sorting out my middle freezer drawer last night, so I'll be aiming to do that tonight, but I did do two lots of batch cooking and cleaned the bathroom so I don't feel bad about it!

I made a Chickpea and Aubergine Harissa Stew:

And a Bean and Pepper Chilli:

I ended up doing this because I had been browsing for recipes in the afternoon and came across these two which used things I already had in the house. I also have one more for a dahl which I'm hoping to do tonight, but the freezer drawer must be cleared first as no more room!

Aubergine and Chickpea Harissa Stew

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 v. large or two medium aubergines
2 tbsps harissa
1 tin of chickpeas
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
500ml water (just under a pint)
2 tbsps fresh coriander (optional)

Saute the onion in the oil until translucent
Stir in the harissa and saute for a further minute
Add the aubergine and stir until well mixed with the onion and harissa
Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and water, stir well and simmer for 30 mins
(I simmered a little longer as I wanted the liquid to reduce a little more, but only about 45 mins total)
Take off the heat and stir through the coriander

Bean and Pepper Chilli

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
350g mixed peppers (if you don't have a glut of fresh ones like I did I'm sure that frozen would work well - I used 3 peppers and it came to 353g!)
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp cumin
1 tin kidney beans in chilli sauce (I bought these by mistake ages ago and was so pleased to find a use for them!)
1 tin mixed beans (I just used a tin of cannelini)
1 tin tomatoes

Saute the onions and the peppers in the oil for about 8 mins until soft
Stir in the spices and cook for 1 further minute
Add the beans and tomatoes, mix well and simmer for 15-20 mins until thickened

Hope these are useful to someone! I found them on the BBC Good Food site when just browsing :j

Oh and I had a nsd yesterday for grocery budget... did spend on other budgets though :rotfl:

LC x

Herbyme · 5 October 2016 at 2:40PM

Blubella, YNAB?! Please explain! Thank you!

thriftwizard · 5 October 2016 at 7:19PM

Another £10 dribbled away - a loaf of good bread, some veg. to go into omelettes tonight and some frozen veg for the freezer. I needed to do the omelettes, to save some eggs that I bought a couple of weeks ago, before the "girls" came back into lay, and some I'd brought back from Mum's that were on their use-by; the carers would have chucked them otherwise. So that went onto this week's meal plan, but the veg I would have used had already been snaffled up by our resident veggie (really a pescatarian) in the meantime!

I still need to get to the farm shop to update the spuds & poultry supplies. then we should be "all in" except fresh stuff for the rest of the month.

ETA: I've added £10 because I can't find my co-op receipt. But it's a rounding-up, rather than down, as some of it was YS and DD1 works at the bakery/cafe so gets a good discount on the bread.

And PS - I think YNAB is either an app or a piece of software for budgeting, in full You Need A Budget?

blubella · 5 October 2016 at 8:26PM

carolinerunner wrote: »

Blubella, YNAB?! Please explain! Thank you!

YNAB (You need a budget) is budgeting software which enables me to budget my monthly income...you create your own categories and assign money to each one/or not! It means i don't spend more than my monthly income...it's also helping me to pay off my pre YNAB debt and save for a rainy day :A...

It cost me approx £40 although i think they have changed their fees since Xmas...but it's definitely helped me keep track of all my spending and where the money goes!

BeTheChange · 5 October 2016 at 8:50PM

So I have completed my online shop for tomorrow which means I will have spent a total of £100.95/£250 so far this month. Therefore all on track

pinkypig · 5 October 2016 at 9:10PM

£6.50 in Aldi on 8 pints of milk, onions, salad stuff, frozen sweetcorn, mayonnaise and some brown sugar for DS's food tech.
PP x

lynnejk · 5 October 2016 at 11:00PM

Evening all

Another NSD here today :j

I don't think we will need anything until the weekend now, fingers xd

Hope you all have a thrifty Thursday
Lx

Elephantchunks · 5 October 2016 at 11:19PM

£70 spent on monthly shop -tea, loo rolls, sandwich stuffs, cereal, tins, cleaning, washing, etc.
£6 wine to take to Sunday dinner at the in-laws
£1 bread.
Should be ok with £40 for the rest of the month for bread and milk IF I remember to defrost meat most nights.

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October 2016 Grocery Challenge

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