January 2009 Grocery Challenge

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  • nickynoo08
    nickynoo08 Posts: 1,860
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    Where are all the value range dissapearing to in mrt's:confused: . I normally buy quite a few of them but over the last few months they have almost dwindled to nothing! Somehow i managed to stick within budget even tho i had to buy a fair amount of stuff at a higher price, and not many bargains to be had either.
    Anyhoo i spent £52.10 n i reckon i should have enough to last us the month except milk, bread etc...
    Thanks to everyones comments RE: teabags (sorry i'm terrible at remembering names), i always forget about the £1 shops and home bargains for things like that. Prob coz i try and avoid town at all costs:p
    I'm still to write my list of meals for my pinboard so will do that tonight or tomoro, but so far this month things seem to be going well. Hope i havent just jinxed myself:rolleyes:
    Off to update sig
    £387.39/£196.46
    Pay my debt by End of Feb 2022
    49.28% paid!

    £199.55/£500 savings by End of April 2022
    39.91% saved!

    Make £2022 in 2022 - £20
  • woop woop!!! Signed up to a certain bingo site yesterday to get cashback (spend £10, get £30 cashback...) and just won £13.07 so have won back what I deposited as well! have withdrawn it back into my account and am now going to gloat cos I never win anything like that!!

    Anyway, a no spend day for me so far although I am tempted to go to the supermarket because it'll be warmer than my house! I have dug out my ski gear and have on a thermal top, polo neck (luckily big enough to cover bump!), fleece, scarf & gloves!!! Do we think it's nearly time to go and have some soup for lunch? Then I'll have an excuse for huddling round the gas hob!!

    Sausages & mash for tea tonight...yum! :)
    Jonathan Douglas born 20th January 2009 - 9lb 4oz
    Alexander William born 30th December 2012 - 10lb 2oz
    GC June 2014 £79.04/£150
  • saffouri
    saffouri Posts: 82 Forumite
    Butterflybecks - your golden syrup should be fine. Last November I finally used up a tin that was dated best before 2000... I can confirm that DH and I are still alive... though I admit I didn't bother scraping the last bits of syrup out of the tin where it had gone a bit black! My new tin looks by comparison ever so nice and shiny.

    HTH.

    saf
    March GC: £147.75/£180 groceries + £36.75/£50 meals out

    February: £163.19/£180 + £66.14/£50 monthly budget for eating out Total £229.33/£230 :j
    January:
    £170.01/£170
  • Boodle
    Boodle Posts: 1,050
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    mummysaver wrote: »
    I found toddler groups weren't expensive - you can always offer to help make the coffee or wash up, they're usually free then! Even if they had costed a few pounds I'd have paid, they were worth their weight in gold to me. I didn't know anyone locally, and none of my friends had children when my older ones were little, so they were a great way of getting out of the house, letting the children play and meeting other parents, and often grannies (who gave me all sorts of reassurance and great tips and advice!)

    Very good points. In fact, the one I take my daughter to is free but is at the library and is the only one I've found that she enjoys - that's why I thought of recommending it. The storytimes are great too for meeting others, and the kids usually get to do crafts or at least some clouring in activity as well. The other groups I tried were just dusty halls dotted with toys and rowdy kids and were £4 a pop :eek: Good tip about washing-up, etc, if you come across a good one tho - will keep it in mind!
    Love and compassion to all x
  • Frugaldom
    Frugaldom Posts: 6,935
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    nickynoo08 wrote: »
    Where are all the value range dissapearing to in mrt's:confused: . I normally buy quite a few of them but over the last few months they have almost dwindled to nothing!

    I've been noticing this for a while now and am beginning to worry about how to keep the grocery spending under control. :confused: Martin & co recommend down-shifting but they haven't explained what to do once we've downshifted as far as we can go and then the supermarkets withdraw saver/value/smart price ranges. :eek:

    I was thinking about the whole stockpiling situation after being asked the question, "WHY?" Family & friends cannot see the point in this day and age, so I came up with the following, and it does take some careful consideration: I likened it to the horrendous times suffered by many families during the Foot & Mouth crisis - stuck out in the country with no access to shops because they were literally prisoners within their own homes, forbidden from leaving the farms. There are no supermarket deliveries, as they are not within the delivery area radius. This is the situation many of us could face during the next crisis and it is bound to happen sooner or later, so I'm sticking with my plan of always having powdered milk, long shelf life dry goods, tins and basic cooking essential. It's like war against inflation and impending recession/depression or any other 'ession' you can think of, and it's best to stock up on these things before the supermarkets stop stocking them completley. I'm not banking my spare grocery cash, I'm stockpiling for the long term. :rotfl:

    Tonight's dinner will be the second half of the tomato, sausage & bean casserole spiced up with some chilli and served with boiled rice. Tomorrow will be roast turkey dinner - making mental note to take sliced turkey out the freezer, along with a carton of apples for an apple sponge. (Planning for 2 evening meals is as far as my menu planning has got, but I'll keep practicing and hope to get better as the year progresses :o )
    I reserve the right not to spend.
    The less I spend, the more I can afford.


    Frugal living challenge - living on £4000 in 2024

    Spends to date: £632.45
  • Must admit I felt a bit 'uncomfortable' about something on another thread somewhere. It was about people buying things when they are BOGOF etc etc - one person was saying how they bought (what seemed to me) to be huge amounts of stuff. I can't help thinking oh god that's so greedy. Talked to OH & he says I have unclear vision of modern life! I agree wholeheartedly re keeping a 'larder' of things, but just seems to me that some people are so greedy?? (Please don't shoot me down - I'm not talking about anyone on here - it was an observation).
  • OrkneyStar
    OrkneyStar Posts: 7,025
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    Just spent £6.06 in local grocers, on anti-bac spray, kitchen roll, sandwich bags, bananas and a wee packet of stork. Although it is more expensive than Tesco/Lidl, I can walk down the town, thus saving diesel money (it's a £30 mile round trip), and also I am thinking more and more to support local and only go to Lidl for tinned toms, juice, bread flour, non-perishables like that, and to Tesco/bigger COOP for anything I cannot get in Lidl! There are also good small grocers/butchers in the same town as the big Lidl and Tesco, and sometimes go there too for things.
    I will likely make a trip to Lidl/Tesco (they are right next to each other) this Saturday or next, so will go through the meal plan and work out what non-perishables we are likely to need.
    Signature updated.
    Must admit I felt a bit 'uncomfortable' about something on another thread somewhere. It was about people buying things when they are BOGOF etc etc - one person was saying how they bought (what seemed to me) to be huge amounts of stuff. I can't help thinking oh god that's so greedy. Talked to OH & he says I have unclear vision of modern life! I agree wholeheartedly re keeping a 'larder' of things, but just seems to me that some people are so greedy?? (Please don't shoot me down - I'm not talking about anyone on here - it was an observation).
    I completely agree with the sentiments expressed here. (ETA I have taken away my big explanation- I know what I feel is right or wrong and trust others can make up their own mind on this :))
    Ermutigung wirkt immer besser als Verurteilung.
    Encouragement always works better than judgement.

  • McCalls
    McCalls Posts: 31 Forumite
    How about looking on freecycle or ebay for a cheap freezer if you have the room? I've got 2 freezers and it saves me a fortune buying in bulk.

    I've found shopping at costco and buying a big pack of chicken breasts, trimming the goujons and a bit more off the breasts, dipping in beaten egg and then rolling in breadcrumbs to make chicken nuggets and freezing those in little sandwich bags.

    I buy a big pack of mince for £15 and pop that in the slow cooker with some onion and garlic, stock and then I divide it into three after I've cooked it and add chilli and peppers and baked beans/kidney beans to make a chilli to one , add tomato paste tins of tomatoes and bit of bolognese seasoning to make a bolognese sauce/lasagne filling and then to the last I add oxo cubes and carrots, chopped up potatoes and finely chopped celery and top with mash to do a cottage pie. I then either freeze whole in ovendishes and double wrap in cling or I portion it up in those foil take away boxes you can buy and you have a "ready meal" to pop into the oven to reheat. I've saved so much time doing this as you save cooking from scratch every night and really just need to do some jacket potatoes/pasta or veg to accompany.

    I got 16 chicken breasts for £13.50 and make a little slit in half of them and fill with cream cheese/philly cheese with some herbs in or maybe add a slice of onion/tomato and then wrap in some parma style ham from lidl/aldi and freeze those in sandwich bags.

    I really think getting another freezer would help

    x

    With
  • Must admit I felt a bit 'uncomfortable' about something on another thread somewhere. It was about people buying things when they are BOGOF etc etc - one person was saying how they bought (what seemed to me) to be huge amounts of stuff. I can't help thinking oh god that's so greedy. Talked to OH & he says I have unclear vision of modern life! I agree wholeheartedly re keeping a 'larder' of things, but just seems to me that some people are so greedy?? (Please don't shoot me down - I'm not talking about anyone on here - it was an observation).


    I know a lot of supermarkets have limits on the quantity you can buy at any one time....normally about 3 isn't it? I have to say I've never personally done it as I'm not a huge stockpiler. I'll maybe pick up a couple of extra things if they're a good deal and we're definitely going to use them in the next couple of months. The only thing I do buy a bit more or is things like shampoo/conditioner or toothpaste if I see it at a good price as it's more expensive to start with!

    :rotfl: Thinking about it, maybe I don't do it because the supermarkets don't do BOGOFs on their value ranges!!!
    Jonathan Douglas born 20th January 2009 - 9lb 4oz
    Alexander William born 30th December 2012 - 10lb 2oz
    GC June 2014 £79.04/£150
  • elizabunny
    elizabunny Posts: 1,030 Forumite
    It just occurred to me as I was eyeing my pot of minced beef and veg. that menu planning really is a must isn't it. My biggest downfall in the past was to not always think about what we were having for dinner that evening because I was too busy and then to rush down to the local supermarket for something quick and expensive or even worse dive into the chippy:eek: Nothing wrong with this I know, because a treat is always nice, but it becomes less of a treat when you do it too often and it's also not great for the pocket. I hope all that's changed now though and I wonder how many of us feel quite smug when we cook up our lovely creations for next to nothing and also get to delight in the lovely aroma's coming out of a nicely warm kitchen. My DH always knows when I've got something on the hob or in the oven and says he can smell it as soon as he gets out of the car -hope that's a compliment:eek:. Anyway in my Minced Beef with Cobbler Topping today is:-

    400gm steak beef minced
    Half a Celeriac diced
    Half a Swede diced (I've run out of carrots)
    10 small potatoes halved
    4 Sticks of celery chopped
    2 Red Onions Sliced
    1 Red Pepper Sliced
    1 Tin chopped tomatoes
    1 Tin of Red Kidney Beans
    6 Cloves of Garlic (quite alot I know but supposed to be good for us)
    1 tsp. each Oregano, Basil, Marjoram (All I had to hand)
    Quarter Tsp. each Cayenne Pepper, Crushed Chilli, Cumin Seeds
    Half tsp. Ground Ginger
    A good few dashes of Worcester Sauce
    About Half Pint of water
    Salt & Pepper to taste

    I cook everything together in a pot on the hob until the meat is cooked and the veg. has softened and has reduced. I shall probably thicken the whole lot with oats and then taste it first just to make quite sure it doesn't taste rubbish, before dividing it into portions and then adding the Cobbler Topping.

    Any portions that I freeze, I allow the Mince and Veg to cool first before adding the topping as I like to cook the topping only once and I do this when I eventually take it out of the freezer.

    The portions that I use today will be baked until the cobbler topping has puffed up and is golden brown.

    The link to the recipe for the Cobbler Topping is on this thread at the beginning I think. Sorry:o I am no good at linking things. But many thanks to the creator of the Cobbler Topping Recipe because it's great and my DH really loves it.

    I'm a bit of an anything goes cook as you can probably see by the above recipe and will put in anything I happen to have in stock (within reason of course) but I don't mind experimenting. Anyway it smells ok, but of course the proof will be in the eating. Sorry for waffling:o Have a good day everyone!
    Sealed Pot Challenge 7 Member 022 :staradmin:staradmin:staradmin
    5:2 Diet started 28/1/2013 only 13lbs lost due to Xmas 2013 blip.
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