July 2009 Grocery Challenge

Coxy11 · 23 July 2009 at 8:03PM

Hi all,

A NSD for me today. Worked this morning and MIL very kindly had the 3 children for me. We arranged to meet up at a new garden centre and she had already bought them lunch when I arrived, and then bought me lunch too. Bill came to over £34 :eek: which is absolutely atrocious given that DD had beans on toast and DS2 had a 4 item snack box. Daylight robbery. Luckily MIL doesn't have money worries and wouldn't be seen dead in MrT, MrM or MrA preferring Waitrose and M&S - if only!!!

Made the coca-cola chicken yesterday in my SC as we were out at a theatre matinee. It was okay but the sauce was very watery - flotsom and jetsom (sp?) - edible only because we were all starving!!! Any idea where I went wrong?

Spaghetti and meatballs for tea tonight - nomnom. Keep willing the courgette plants to produce - loads of flowers, no courgettes yet. Desperate to try the courgette muffins recipe!!

Coxy
xx

Mrs_Money_Penny · 23 July 2009 at 8:12PM

Hi Everyone. Just popping in to update have to add another £147.18 which I have spent over the last two weeks. School holidays are difficult especially with teenage boys constantly asking is there anything to nibble?? Good luck everyone.

lynzpower · 23 July 2009 at 8:29PM

I agree, I think picking adn choosing can only work if you have a heavily filled freezr. Im fortunate that I do , so when Im passing a butchers i can buy nice meat and freeze itfor whenever. However if you ar only on a really tight budget, it might not allo for too much choice without some level of waste.

You really have to bulk freeze in order to stickto the budget, im thiking veggie tagines/ lasagnes/ 5 bean chilli./ soups/ casseroles/ stews/ pasta sauces.

JayneC · 23 July 2009 at 8:34PM

Spent yet more today!! Went to Aldi for bread and ended up spending a fiver!! Could've been worse though I didn't have a £1 coin for trolley so had to carry stuff. If I'd had a trolley probably would've spent more!!

New month starts tomorrow so will declare at £312.33tho if I include takeaways it would be £348.14!!!

Will try harder next time. Please put me down for £250 again for August and hopefully I'll do better next time.

Jayne x

Flat_Eric · 23 July 2009 at 9:01PM

I have printed enough weekly planners to last me the next year :eek: just need to ensure that I sit down every week/every couple of weeks and plan menus. I am already being good. I resisted the dine in for £10 m&s meal deal today. The menu looked nice but I have *plenty* of food already and £10 is £10....

I am trying to be inventive with what I eat and use the stuff I have already. Tonight's menu included roasted veg (leek, baby pepper, baby onion, red onion, spring onions, sweet pointed pepper - all lurking in my fridge just waiting to grow legs!!) roasted in the oven and served with an uncle bens stir fry sauce, thin cut steak, and a satchet of wok rice. The stir fry sauce should have been eaten by May but looked fine

and I havent keeled over yet :rotfl: I could have saved even more money by defrosting steak but I wasnt very organised yesterday and forgot to take some out but I managed to buy some that was on offer in somerfield so only an expenditure of a couple of pounds.

I have my menus planned up until Monday morning so plenty of time to work out next week's menu at the weekend.

EDIT - I am also trying to be economical with what I cook i.e. not cook say two packs of wok rice when one sufficed (and then end up throwing a quarter of my tea in the bin....)

ilovetea · 23 July 2009 at 9:10PM

Haven't posted for a while but have been lurking.
Thought it was time for an update.
So far this month have spent £49.70 on groceries.Would have been a lot less if I didn't buy fruit :eek:.
There's only me so I must start behaving

.

ilovetea x

ellemm · 23 July 2009 at 9:21PM

Thought I was doing very well with the budget with one more weekly shop to go and lots of stuff in cupboards and freezer to work through............but OH (bless) thought he would be frugal too and went to Aldi and spent over £8, mostly on veg, potatoes & fruit........we don't need!! So now have another 6 green & red peppers to add to the three already in the fridge and another bag of new potatoes!!

What could I say? - he thought he had got some good bargains.:cool:
So decided to slice and freeze the six peppers and bag up for use at a later date, (good tip from these threads) freeze one of the small steaks he bought (he ate the other one) and hope the tatties don't start to sprout before they can be used up.

Still hope to come in well under budget after this weeks shop though and maybe reduce next month a bit more again - we'll see. Just need to update signature now.

skint_spice · 23 July 2009 at 11:14PM

elantan wrote: »

i really feel as if i am being dictated to by food ...i feel like i have enough things in my life i have no control over what so ever (law politics work etc) so food was one of the few things i could say hey you know what i fancy ..... for dinner so i'm gonna have it ... it feels kinda like a loss of freedom

Hi Elantan, just stumbled across this tonight but maybe to help you get your head round the lack of freedom you could look at it as a means to an end - the end being DFness and eventually MFness which would give you lots more options in regard to retiring early or more travel...also less money to the supermarkets which I think would appeal to you too:D!

I meal plan but there are usually things in the freezer for "just in case" which usually means there was a chicken based meal planned and I forgot to defrost it! we all need some flexability so don't stress too much and don't expect to conquer it all at once - babysteps remember...

Moniker · 24 July 2009 at 10:12AM

Went over to DD1's place yesterday evening to collect her bike and a few other things prior to her move next week. She had been emptying her freezer and had a bag of frozen spinach going spare. I had forgotton to take a cool bag but we wrapped it in a bag and stuck it into another bag of dirty washing I was taking away. This morning I went to put a load of washing on and found - you guessed it - the spinach partially defrosted inside the bag! Fortunately it didn't leak into the clothes! Anyway I had a quick look at my recipe books and found a recipe for spinach soup so it didn't go to waste. Here's the recipe if any one else would like to try it (courtesy of the St Michael Freezer Cookery book circa 1975!)

Spinach Soup

25g butter
1 small onion peeled and finely chopped
15ml cornflour
450ml chicken stock
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg
225gms frozen spinach

Melt butter and gently fry the onions until soft and transparent (about 5 mins). Stir in the cornflour and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add the stock gradually, stirring all the time. Add the seasoning and nutmeg and bring to the boil. Add the spinach and cover the pan, simmering gently for 15 mins and stirring occasionally. Puree and taste and adjust the seasoning. Cool quickly and then pour into containers to freeze.

To serve, tip frozen soup into a pan and add 120ml creamy milk and reheat gently until boiling point. Reduce the heat and stir in 30ml double cream (swirl on top). Serve with croutons. Enough for 4 people.

I used half an onion as mine was a bit big and I had a bit more than 225gms spinach which was partially defrosted. I also used vegetable stock as we want to eat it today and it is Friday. I won't be adding double cream but may use the milk or some creme fraiche. It's a lovely colour!

Have a loaf in the BM and have just made a chocolate sponge for OH's birthday. Off to tackle the ironing now...

Catch up later.

Moniker

earthmother · 24 July 2009 at 11:34AM

Had a Tesco delivery yesterday to take advantage of the cheap milk and nappies along with some multibuys that kickstart next month (cheaper to pay delivery than to drive to the nearest store that stocks them).

I now 'officially' have 91p to finish the month (a week on Sunday). I have enough bread, sandwich fillings and cooked meals, but not enough milk, fruit or veg, so I will go over, but I'm still on track to easily beat last months overspend of £88 - and this a 5 week month too

It's helped that hubby has finally seen the light - we've downshifted the Heinz beans (to Branston - hey, it's better than nothing), the Heinz Tomato sauce (to Sainsburys) and the Cheerios (to Tesco own brand) - trust me, the rate we go through those three things it'll make a difference to the budget - but more importantly, it means the most picky eater in the house is starting to reconsider. I think maybe doing the meal plan and sticking it to the pantry door, and telling him how the budget is going each time we shop, has helped there. Even the boys (8,5.5 and 3) now think in terms of how many ice creams or days out we can save by trying something different for tea.

I may finally have cracked it

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July 2009 Grocery Challenge

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