September 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

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  • wishus
    wishus Posts: 1,175
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    Hi,

    I'm going to have to give this a go, I think.

    I just came scarily close to redundancy today - I live to fight another day, but I want a new job and a new life with my fiance in another town - and soon. He has no money-mangement skills to speak of. I am starting not to manage too well myself.

    My money now has to be devoted to doing up my house to rent, and the rest of my time into getting a new job. Groceries are one of the few areas I can start slimming down on, so I'm up for this challenge. See you tomorrow and I'll post about how I get on.
    Still wanna live in a house in the countreeee! Debt-free/£25K paid OFF!

    March Grocery Challenge: £88.9/150

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  • bertiebots
    bertiebots Posts: 1,433 Forumite
    Hi folks....been to do my shop today and made a mess of my new system already! The plan to do monthly £100 store cupboard shop + £15 to £20 per week might not be as easy as I thought. On line shop actaully came to £96.
    I spent £28 at mr s nearly double what I meant to and that was just milk,fruit ,veg ,1 large chicken (hopeing to make 3 meals out of this) coffee (none arrived with online shop) and I got some basics kidney beans for the month..not sure why these arent on line 14p per tin x4. Basics choc mousse x4,basics ham, I got 2 small basics food containers which now contain dh shepheard pies for lunch at work....., a large bag of ground cumin and some reduced oxtail soup 15p a packet! Oh and some suet for hm dumplings! I hope I can do better next week!
    Bring it on...lol!
    JAN GC- £155.77 out of £200:D FEB GC £197.31 out of £180:o. MARCH GC - out of £200
  • AFter reading some of your posts I am feelinga little better - after all, even if I go totally over it's probably still an improvement and I'll know better next month (if only that I did an unrealistic budget) :)

    So... the past few days I have spent 3.50 + 2.50 (ish) on lunches, 5.70 on cafe (but was expecting more) and 27 something on groceries.
    I have a friend coming to stay on Friday so not sure how that will go with the budget for food.

    I think I'm roughly on track with groceries, it's just the entertainment/extras that are getting me down, and I've never really budgeted for them before. Next month will be increasing ent budget but I"ll perservere for now and see what the damage is at the end of the month.

    I figure that if I overbudget I can always add the leftovers to my savings at the end of the month - my target is knowing how much I spend on average and keeping within budget (whatever that may be).

    Right, I'll be off to update my sig now :)
    *puts on brave face*
    March 2020 grocery challenge $921.76/$500AU
    April 2020 grocery challenge $744/$800
    May 2020 GC $724.11/$750
    June 2020 GC $370.31/$700
    July 2020 GC $316.87/$700
  • Rowan9
    Rowan9 Posts: 2,207
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    £17 odd spent today and for the first time \i really noticed how expensive things are. I think it was because the shopping was not for actual meals. Things like milk, bananas, crackers...obviously more, oh, and a bottle of wine at £3.99. But, you know, I had a £10 note in my hand and also a £20 in case |I needed that instead of my £10. I couldn't believe it was as much as £17 and yet I had bought carefully, Tesco 'Marmite' etc. Actually, I probably had a few things, like the yeast extract, which I don't buy often but I was still shocked. We have quite a houseful this weekend with a meal for 8 on Saturday night and a Sun lunch to do for 6. Yikes
    w
  • Just in case anyone else, like me, didn't realise home bargains has some amazingly cheap grocery items, I had always assumed it was just like Instore but it really impressed me!
    God is good, all the time
    Do something that scares you every day
  • JayJay14
    JayJay14 Posts: 1,918 Forumite
    I went to Mr A last night and bought a few things - but managed to keep the damage down to a minimum, and to get a couple of things to put in the freezer for Xmas so I didn't do too badly.

    Today however I sucumbed to a fish and chip lunch - everyone else in the office was having one and it's a new job, I'm only in my second week, so I thought that even though I had a pack up in the fridge I would join in. So £2 spent there but I think of it in terms of part of the bonding process. (It was only a small fish but I really enjoyed it:rotfl: )

    The job is going well at the moment so it looks like I might still be in employment this winter - at least I am in a growth area, Council Recycling Department.:D
  • Thought I was going way overboard again, but I am actually not doing so badly on the GC, it is all the other spends that are making me feel I have overspent.

    GC suffered a little from 2 trips to Costco, one specifically for the 3 pounds off pork joint and a few other bits, the second to get rib eye steak for DH birthday meal on Saturday. Used 12 pounds worth on one meal for 4, :eek: but a lot cheaper that eating out, and more convenient because of all the going in and out of town all weekend for DS and DD to stalk La Machine.

    Wouldn't buy tuna there because it was too expensive, then looked at mysupermarket to find it appears to have really gone up in price, 1.38 for 185g and DH uses a whole tin on one lunch, usually once a week. I am sure I only paid 55p last time. This is one item that I won't really get smart price, not sure why, but think I read about some ethical isssues with it, so will just have to monitor its use.

    Had to eat a lot of lamb meals since a week on Saturday, as having bought half I hadn't enough room in the freezer for all of it raw, so cooked and froze some. We have had 28 servings so far, roast, Irish stew, Basque casserole (variant), barbeque breast ribs, balti curry & brown rice with MrsM's naan bread, soup with chunky veg (left over from roast) and HM bread. Three joints, all chops and some cooked meat still frozen (about 48-50 servings left taking it to about 50p each.)

    Good luck to everyone.

    Zzzz
  • Made a freezer list today and posted that on my fridge door with a magnet. I'm going to find this very useful as I shall cross off each item as I use it and then I'll know what space I've got and what I'm running short of.

    Made pizza yesterday for dinner and had a quarter left over which I had for lunch today. I made a tomato sauce for the base using a couple of tins of tomatoes and froze half for another day. I also roasted some more toms from the garden and froze those. Not sure if all the green toms on the outside plants will ripen, but those that look half ripe I'm bringing in and leaving on a windowsill.

    Today I made a big soup with lots of veg that needed using up - will freeze some and have the remainder whizzed in the blender for lunch tomorrow. I used to spend a lot on things for lunch - like Quorn slices (turkey style, beef style etc), hummous, cream cheese etc. I'm trying to make things from scratch now and also use leftovers. Made a large scone loaf today as I was out of bread. I might freeze some, but it might not last long enough.

    I shall have to buy fruit and veg tomorrow. Will update sig then.

    Lots of useful tips on the board these last few pages. Thanks to everyone who's posted, too many to mention individually.
    Dec GC £100/76.61/16.46/10.19 - £103.26
    Jan GC £100/64.20/20.91 (£14.89 left)
  • angelnikki wrote: »
    The recipe for Lemon Curd Ice Cream is on the first post on this thread: Show Jamie How To Cook On A Budget Champagne Contest

    Actually nikki, that isn't the recipe I use. :confused: Sorry, but this is mine.. Similar but not the same..:D This tastes slightly tangy, and it's really nice with fresh blackberries.

    10floz/300ml whipping cream
    4floz/110ml Greek yoghurt
    1 lemon, zest and juice
    4oz/110g lemon curd
    3 large meringues

    In a large bowl, whip the cream until thick but not stiff. Fold in the yoghurt with a spatula. Mix the lemon zest, juice and lemon curd. Gently fold the lemony mixture into cream.
    Break the meringues into pieces (make sure some of the pieces stay quite large. They’ll break more when scooped).
    Fold them into the cream. Scrape the mixture into a plastic freezerproof container.
    Cover and freeze for 4-6hours or until solid. Remove from the freezer just before serving

    I have the same recipe (for pb cookies) in one of my books which is where I've got the conversions from ;) My recipe says you can add 75g / 2.75oz chopped unsalted peanuts :)

    Nikki x[/quote]
    Thank you for posting the Peanut Butter cookie recipe for me honey. I actually got the recipe online about 3 yrs ago when my nephews were pestering me to make easy biscuits and they both loved peanut butter. Using a cup measure is just so easy.

    Diva.xx
    To be frugal, you need to spend money wisely, simply spending less is not enough.
    If you can't handle me at my worst then you don't deserve me at my best...
    Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I will try again tomorrow.
  • Hiya guys,
    Why is it when you go to the cupboard, whatever you went for is finished just because peeps take things out but don't update the lists.:mad:
    Sooooooo have to go shopping tomorrow. I will be bargain hunting in mr m's and will look for the utterly butterly for 60 odd pence, thanks to whoever posted info.
    Will be doing sausage casserole tomorrow in SC(using 50p ones from mr m) which will do lunch for 3 then 4 portions for freezer. Also try cauliflower / broccoli cheese for freezer meals,:o to say, not made my own sauce before.
    All those lovely cake recipes on here too but everyone in our house are watching their weight Doh
    HWGA xx
    lost 3stin 4mnths GC nov£90/£51.65 July£100/£97.67 Aug£90/£18.59
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