January 2011 Grocery Challenge

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  • Hi, hope everyone having a relaxing day!

    Well didn't manage to get to the outdoor market yesterday to get my fruit/veg, managed to get into town had a bust up with DH came home emptyhanded!:mad: It least I didn't spend anything!

    But had to nip out today when I realised that Sainsbugs was open! Brought the following

    Bread
    2 Pks MullierLight Yogs
    Cabbage
    Milk
    Eggs
    Broccoli
    Bag of Gala Apples
    1.915 Kg of Fairtrade Bananas
    Bag of 8 Kiwi's

    Total £11.23

    Off to update siggy!:)
    Grocery Challange for DH, Me & 2 Fussy Cats (inc Grocerys, Cleaning Products & Cat Food)
    G/C -May £177.04/£235.00 Apr £237.79/£235.00 Mar £226.16 /£235.00
    G/C - Jan £248.52/£235.00 - Feb£214.72/£235.00
    NSD -May 3/31 Apr 10/30 Mar 3/31 Feb 6/28 NSD Jan 3/31
  • XSpender
    XSpender Posts: 3,811
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    edited 1 January 2011 at 3:09PM
    oooh that sounds lovely :drool: any chance of the recipe?

    Here is the recipe as requested:

    Cheese and Parsnip Loaf

    1 tblsp oil
    1 large sliced onion
    175g SR flour
    1/2 tsp salt
    1 tsp thyme leaves
    50g parmesan or mature cheddar, finely grated
    175g parsnip, grated
    1 medium egg, beaten
    2-3 tbsp milk
    Freshly ground black pepper

    Pre heat oven to 180/Gas 4.

    Fry the onion until lightly coloured, about 10 mins. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

    Mix together flour, salt, thyme, cheese, parsnip and add some pepper then the onion and the egg. Make a soft dough by adding the milk. You might need a bit extra milk. Shape into a round and put on an oiled baking sheet.

    Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when you knock the bottom.

    Eat warm with lots of butter.:p



    We made it out last night for our meal with friends after all, I was going to add this to the total but in hindsight it is a night out not a meal out cos we couldn't be bothered to cook so I am going to leave it out.

    I do have to add £8 for some beer I bought for DH yesterday when I thought we were staying in. NSD as I am staying in. Off to make some bread to have with soup for tea.

    Happy New Year everyone x
    Save £10,500 - £2673.77 - 25.5%
    Pay off £7000 - £1743 - 19.4%
    Make £2021 extra income - £99.75


  • Oh forgot to mention that in sainsbugs they have got the 6 pack of Mullier Light yogs for half price @ £1.64 and a lot of fruit and veg at half price too x
    Grocery Challange for DH, Me & 2 Fussy Cats (inc Grocerys, Cleaning Products & Cat Food)
    G/C -May £177.04/£235.00 Apr £237.79/£235.00 Mar £226.16 /£235.00
    G/C - Jan £248.52/£235.00 - Feb£214.72/£235.00
    NSD -May 3/31 Apr 10/30 Mar 3/31 Feb 6/28 NSD Jan 3/31
  • well have added to my siggy, we popped out yesterday for a couple of bits as well as some proper bagels :)

    have a meal plan all organised and heres hoping we stick to it!!
    Nonny mouse and Proud!!
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  • Cat72
    Cat72 Posts: 2,398 Forumite
    HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !

    Hope its a great moneysaving year for us all. Really being struggling the last 2 months with this challenge as so many things have been happening personally, its hard to focus on saving money/budgetting.
    Hopefull can get back on with it no so put medown for £150 for food for us, that way not too tight a budget .Hopefuly workable, gives me something to build on and get up and running again .
    Good luck everyone x
  • Spiggle
    Spiggle Posts: 1,787
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    david69 wrote: »
    In my monthly budget what do i include?
    just food or cleaning products toilet rolls etc
    Hi Can I join in too please? I really need to get the grocery bill down. In the past we probably spent between £220 - £250 a month and theres only two of us.:eek: I haven't included the pet food in that either ...

    Hello and welcome david69 and pixiedust09 and all other newbies, :hello:

    Everyone puts into their budget what suits them best which doesn't really answer your question I'm afraid. :doh: Most people though include all food they buy for their household. Some will also include takeaways or meals out if they have them. The majority will include all ceaning stuff whether for the people or house so toothpaste, shampoo, etc. (toiletries) and washing powder/liquid, polish, washing up liquid/tablets, etc.

    Some include the petrol/diesel for the car. Personally I don't but in my personal overall budget planner I have a separate budget for this. (There is a fantastic annual budget planner spreadsheet that runs on excel on the main web site that you can download and allocate individual spends - it's very good and you can find it here on this page. It's not the Budget Brain one by the way but that is good too, I think.)

    As for pet food, my two 9 year old kittens (:p) have a special dry diet food most of the time which is quite expensive. They also have a pouch of Wh*sk*s a couple of times a week. Initially, I only included the cost of the pouches because I buy them in the sm. I excluded the dry food. As time went on and we got spending more under control, we included the special diet food into the GC budget. So rather than reducing my GC budget accordingly I included the £31.99 it costs per month/six weeks.

    We don't include alcohol in the budget as we only buy it for the house on occasions that we are likely to provide it for visitors e.g. birthday party. Personal consumption is paid for by each of us out of our £15 per week pocket money (pm). OH uses virtually all his pm on beer whereas I occasionally get myself a bottle of martini or wine but otherwise ferret the money away. :D

    Similarly, for smokers (bad people of whom I am one :o) it's up to them whether cigs/tobacco are included. I have a separate budget line in my planner for tobacco but include papers and filters in the GC.

    For Christmas and birthdays I have separate savings accounts and budgets (take a peek at the piggybanking guide on the main site). Christmas goodies, of which we don't buy too many, I list separately from the GC but Christmas/party food is included in the GC budget for the relevant months.

    Then for things like garden, DIY, etc. it's up to the individual what they include.

    I hope that helps a little. :)
    suzybloo wrote: »
    ... but we are going to live out of the freezers and store cupboard, as I made a January box gradually over the previous three months picking up offers here and there, so this will now be out into the cupboards to restock them ...

    Suzybloo what a brilliant idea the January box is! :idea: I must admit that as I have around £110 of vouchers points in MrT and MrS I had earmarked those for January this year. But as I'm now going to try to avoid the big four sm after spending the vouchers/points and buy only from local independent shops and the Coop, this idea will be good for next year. I'm going to put into my spreadsheet to start this in October. :T

    Ok, OH just popped over to the local shop to get some spaghetti so I'll add 89p to the spreadsheet and sig in a few minutes. The £6 already showing by the way is the washing liquid I bought on offer back in October (I think) that is still waiting to be opened and used! :rotfl: So not a NSD today but hey what the heck it's a new year! :naughty:

    I think I remember getting an email from MrS a few weeks back saying I could shop online with my N*ct*r points so I'm going to look at drawing up a home delivery order as I can't cope with the thought of going to the store. Essentially I'm going to be using these to get all the big bulk things like loo rolls, kitchen rolls and store cupboard items.

    Right, first essay of the year written (sorry :o) so I'm off to browse the boards a bit, check out my budget planner and make a list for the online shop.

    Hope your new year hangovers are not too bad and you're looking forward with enthusiasm to a new year moneysaving.

    Take care,
    Spigs
    Mortgage Free October 2013 :T
  • ironed_out
    ironed_out Posts: 153
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    Happy New Year everyone :)

    I'd like to join in for the first time please and set myself a budget of £360 for January for my family of 5 (4 adults & 1 child) This will include all food, toiletries & cleaning materials.
    I normally spend about £100 pw but I do have a full cupboard and freezers.
    Looking forward to being able to reduce this :)
  • NickJW
    NickJW Posts: 680
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker Debt-free and Proud!
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    edited 1 January 2011 at 3:51PM
    First spend of the month came to £16.20 at Mr S. I did get quite a few meals from that though including stewing beef, which will be added to the leftover carrots, parsnips, onions, cranberry sauce and red wine :o from Christmas, as a stew tonight. I feel very lazy today - I just hope that there is something half decent on TV! :D

    Happy belated New Year everyone! :beer:
    Grocery Challenge Jan 24 0/300

    Grocery Challenge 13 -spent £1453.06
    Grocery Challenge 12 -spent £1565.51
  • wssla00
    wssla00 Posts: 1,875 Forumite
    Thanks Mrs MC will give that a go. Just used some of that hand ground flour for my bread making and it is amazing! Really nice to work with and beautiful in consistency. So now I have a wholemeal loaf and a cholla bread proving, getting ready to be baked in the oven :)

    Lovely stuff!
    Feb GC: £200 Spent: £190.79
  • As for pet food, my two 9 year old kittens (:p) have a special dry diet food most of the time which is quite expensive. They also have a pouch of Wh*sk*s a couple of times a week. Initially, I only included the cost of the pouches because I buy them in the sm. I excluded the dry food. As time went on and we got spending more under control, we included the special diet food into the GC budget. So rather than reducing my GC budget accordingly I included the £31.99 it costs per month/six weeks.

    Spigs[/QUOTE]

    Thanks Spigs. My two springers were on Natures best expensive but good, but have pooches with delicate tums. But have had to switch to bakers complete with natures best for their supper. !!!!! cat has good old felix which is quite often on offer. When I get into the swing of the grocery challenge and make serious cuts in our spends, I'll add the pets to the budget, too scary at the moment. :eek:

    On the bright side today has been a NSD :T
    MFW 142- Oct 1999 £55,0000, Jul 2013 £27,593.17 Oct 2013 £26,531, Dec 2014 £22,600, Dec 2015 £20,190, Jan 2016 £19,944.19 Mar 2017 £16,944.76 Decluttered 207/2018
    Smile it confuses people :)
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