If you were to stock up for 6 months, what would you buy?

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  • Just wanted to say I have passed on your wisdom to a couple of pals heading south (they live in the highlands) and are doing a big shop too in Yorkshire.

    So now the lists have been passed on and how to calculate what to take and I forwarded her a copy of my own list to see.

    They wanted to say a big thank you to you lot as well. xx

    (Well I could hardly take all the glory could I?)
    Total debt 26/4/18 <£1925 we were getting there. :beer:
    Total debt as of 28/4/19 £7867.38:eek:
    minus 112.06 = £7755.32:money:
    :money:Sleeves up folks.:money:
  • Pippilongstocking
    Pippilongstocking Posts: 16,336 Forumite
    edited 24 April 2009 at 3:02PM
    Hello All (and a huge thank you)

    I just spent £10.07 on essential fruit and veg

    Just a quick update - So far I am still under my april budget - £43.07/50

    Whoop whoop - normally spend at least £200 (erm maybe 300 or so a month) or so and have a groaning freezer to boot. So we are going to meal plan for May again


    May for us - would love to try for the grocery challenge at £50 again - but we were away for a couple weeks in April......or can i persuade myself to try for £50 again............

    How about I think and try for £75 in May

    + (I will put away an extra 50 to save for my next 6 month shop to retop up the garage)

    My own little corner shop in my garage is brilliant - the kids even take their friends in there - so I will be dipping into that for my non-perishables - which I worked out was about £50 a month......

    Apologies if it doesnt make sense - it kind of does to me :)

    And what did I forget - so far - I have noticed - I bought butter and cooking marg but no 'use on toast marg' - so we are using the cooking stuff and its OK but otherwise can't see anything so far I have missed.

    BTW - this is saving us a fortune - no reason to go shopping - NO SPENDING on extra rubbish and just fancied that stuff........

    My NSD's have gone up by 3x this month

    Meal planning is working really well - the kids love it

    And no one is missing going shopping at all.

    I have been to the supermarket about 2x since I came home for just fruit and veg.

    So its working isnt it????????

    (Just be nice if my expenses claim was paid soon....for the petrol and the ferry)
    Total debt 26/4/18 <£1925 we were getting there. :beer:
    Total debt as of 28/4/19 £7867.38:eek:
    minus 112.06 = £7755.32:money:
    :money:Sleeves up folks.:money:
  • The shop as it was lasted for almost a full year - a few things ran out early - but on the whole its been ace

    I'm down topping up again

    Its saved us so much money I'd never be without it again

    Thank you MSE folks :)
    Total debt 26/4/18 <£1925 we were getting there. :beer:
    Total debt as of 28/4/19 £7867.38:eek:
    minus 112.06 = £7755.32:money:
    :money:Sleeves up folks.:money:
  • Iffy_Wallet
    Iffy_Wallet Posts: 266 Forumite
    edited 1 April 2010 at 11:31AM
    Boychild here has a nose like a ferret - so the crisps will be found
    Have you thought about running a 'multiple-lockbox' system, where you lockaway some of the more popular 'goodies' to avoid all the nicest things disappearing in the first week or two. Then you could have a ceremonial grand opening of the lockboxes on the first weekend of every month, and withdraw some new 'stock' (i.e. chocolate / crisps / and other favourites). It might add a little 'colour' and excitement to the proceedings. :D
    The shop as it was lasted for almost a full year
    Wow, that's impressive. I haven't kept up with this thread. There is some major money saving going on.

    Do you subscribe to the various saver emails that some of the supermarkets send out? Aldi & Lidl (for example) buy in 'specials' (non food items) that they sell for a week or a day at greatly reduced price. If you were contemplating a visit to a store, it might influence you thoughts on which week to visit, depending on sepcials available.
    [ Eat, Drink and be Merry - for tomorrow we get the bill ]
  • Iffywallet - good idea on the lock box thingmy - I do stash some of the goodies but inevitably I am weak and give in!

    I'm gonna try your idea - thanks :)

    I do look at offers of local stores etc and lots of our local stores reduce massively because it costs them to disposed of OOD stuff at home - so if I do shop at home for bread/milk/meat I don't shop til after 8pm.

    Where I live we've 3 small supermarkets (lidl,mrt,co-op) - so if there's any types of offers in those I go for them and stash them.

    But, I only get access to the biggies (bigger versions of those 3 and also Mr S and Mr A) probably about 2 (maybe occasionally 3) times a year.

    Don't subscribe to much aside that I used Mysupermarket to do my list.
    Approved foods and alike charge too much (IMHO) to send stuff upto us.

    Any major offers I get a pal to buy (EG - the slow cooker from asda - when it was on offer) and they keep things for me.

    I've put away £25 a month for this store cupboard now - I spend about £260 last year - so I've given myself a similar kind of budget.

    To be honest I can't beleive how much I've saved on my monthly shop having this 'shop' in the garage.

    Thanks for your post - you've cheered me up :)

    THus far on my shop I've only done the laundry/toiletries/cleaning stuff
    Next is tins

    Filling the inside of the car is a bit like a moneysaving game of tetris! If I have to take a car off to the mainland I want to make sure its absolutely choccablock with moneysaving goodies for home. :)
    Total debt 26/4/18 <£1925 we were getting there. :beer:
    Total debt as of 28/4/19 £7867.38:eek:
    minus 112.06 = £7755.32:money:
    :money:Sleeves up folks.:money:
  • Iffy_Wallet
    Iffy_Wallet Posts: 266 Forumite
    'fayjmck' and 'rosieben' - profuse appologies. I haven't really been logging in to MSE a lot recently (although I desperately need to do so). I just seem to read Martin's email letter instead. Anyway, I wasn't ignoring your request for a recipe. Unfortunately I'm very much an 'approximate' recipe kind of person, so excuse any lack of clarity.

    BROWN SAUCE - here goes.

    Take 2 pans (of 2-2.5 litre size each).
    Half fill each with water and boil it.
    Add a pinch of salt to each pan (or not, if you don't want salt)
    Add a tea bag to each (hush-hush, top secret), and remove each bag when the water starts to go brown.
    Add a 'star' of star anise to each pan. Shake in some powdered ginger and corriander.
    Add 100-150g of brown sugar (or even better, Molasses!!) to each pan
    Add one bag of Tesco dried "stone-out dates" 375g to each pan. (Any dates you can get your hands on will do).
    Add 250g of Tesco Greek currants (or any currants you can get your hands on) to each pan.
    Add one tin (400g) of chopped tomatoes to each pan.
    Finely chop one large onion into each pan.
    (Hopefully the pan hasn't overflowed yet).
    Boil for about 10 mins to get soft.
    REMOVE the star-anise and discard.
    Remove from heat and allow to cool a little. **
    Liquidize or use hand blender.
    Source 568ml (approx one pint) of dark malt vinegar *** - pour half into each pan.
    Boil for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring.
    Pour into sterile bottles using a funnel, then seal.


    ** This is only 'cos I don't want to be splashed with boiling liquids during the liquidizing phase.
    *** Vinegar is the backbone of dark sauce, and I think that shop bought brands use upto 30% of the total volume as vinegar, which is way too tart by my thinking. If you start to overflow, you may have to transfer to a bigger pan!

    NOTES:

    This isn't a recipe, it is a starting point on a journey into making your own sauce. Salt, sugar and vinegar are all preserving agents, but some people will prefer no salt and less sugar. There again, you may prefer it sweeter with even more and/or darker sugar (with molasses being the best). Malt vinegar gives brown sauce a real kick, and commercial brands use a lot, especially as it is cheap. However, I'd tend to use less than they do. Then if the sauce is too sickly, remove a little from the top of the container and replace with vinegar, then shake. As for the currants and dates, I generally just throw some into a pan until it looks right. If you start with the above amounts then change things to suit yourself, then I'm sure that you'll come up with a winner soon enough. I hope that I haven't been too vague.

    PS, if you want more accurate recipies for a variety of cooking, then have a look at:

    http://www.mydish.co.uk/
    http://www.five.tv/programmes/cookery/chinese-food-in-minutes
    http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/recipes-az.html
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/oct/24/recipes.foodanddrink1
    etc

    They are all a lot more 'professional' than me.
    [ Eat, Drink and be Merry - for tomorrow we get the bill ]
  • Iffy_Wallet
    Iffy_Wallet Posts: 266 Forumite
    Filling the inside of the car is a bit like a moneysaving game of tetris! If I have to take a car off to the mainland I want to make sure its absolutely choccablock with moneysaving goodies for home.

    Brilliant !! :D :T
    [ Eat, Drink and be Merry - for tomorrow we get the bill ]
  • sinw
    sinw Posts: 7,771 Forumite
    Cushelle 18 for £4 Morrisons - I got 4 packs so far
    SIMPLES!
  • rosieben
    rosieben Posts: 5,010
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Forumite
    Iffy_Wallet thanks so much for the recipe, it's worth waiting for :T

    I've added it to the front page recipe index on the Grocery Challenge ;)
    ... don't throw the string away. You always need string! :D

    C.R.A.P.R.O.L.L.Z Head Sharpener
  • Pippilongstocking
    Pippilongstocking Posts: 16,336 Forumite
    sinw wrote: »
    Cushelle 18 for £4 Morrisons - I got 4 packs so far


    thanks will have a peak at that one :)
    Total debt 26/4/18 <£1925 we were getting there. :beer:
    Total debt as of 28/4/19 £7867.38:eek:
    minus 112.06 = £7755.32:money:
    :money:Sleeves up folks.:money:
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