August 2009 Grocery Challenge

cw18 · 9 August 2009 at 10:21AM

Wandered down to the shops twice yesterday - and managed 4 small spends of £3.68 (ice-cream, milk, fruit & veg - total allows for DS giving me 50p towards the ice-cream as he binged on the 59p Neopolitan a couple of nights ago!), £1.70 (soft spread and soft cheese), 50p and 95p. So a total spend of £6.83, which was not much under what I spent in total in the first week :eek:

But I did really well, all things considered. I picked up 2 x 1 litre of milk from A!di in the morning, but wasn't sure by tea-time that this would see us through until Mon/Tue even with what I'd still had in the fridge. So I bobbed back just before closing, and they had some older milk (same size & sort, but bbe 10th which I'd avoided in the morning and picked up bbe 15th) reduced to 25p..... a couple of which came home, and the boys are already half way through the first of them. (Just took a few seconds to re-arrange the milk in the fridge to make sure they used the clearance stuff first).

On the way home I just had time to check Mr M before they closed - and I managed to get 2x6 Free Range Eggs (down from £1.37 to 19p), so elder DS can now have the egg butties he's been wanting for the past week (bbe 13th). I also picked up (total luxury!) 3 chilled baked cheesecakes (2xRaspberry + 1xToffee) which were each reduced from £2.99 (:eek:) to 19p...... it would have been rude to leave them at that price

So as of last night I was just over 25% of the way through the month, and 8.73% of the way through my budget

tessie_bear · 9 August 2009 at 10:36AM

hi all...just a quick post iv tried to log on a few times and the computer has told me iv put in wrong pass word...oh well

we are doing ok had a few bargains from m and s the other day...i find their stuff great but pricey so when its reduced its a good day

got a chicken roasting at the mo...smells lovely i am off to find rubber chicken thread to get some ideas

did anyone watch the economy gastronomy programme ? i enjoyed it thought the mince looked nice and the chilli wraps...couldnt stomach the hot dog hot pot thing i dont think...i find it amazing that people spend so much on food to start with tbh...and i think its funny when the suggestion of a bit of cooking from scratch is as much of a revelation as an asteroid landing in their garden...next weeks family sound as though they spend a lot so should be interesting

take care
tess

ktpie · 9 August 2009 at 10:50AM

Morning!

I've spent £147.96 out of my £300 budget so far, hopefully have most of the basics now and just need to buy fresh veg and meat.

I have a husband who eats a lot as well, but he does do a lot of exercise so needs to. He cycles to work so it saves us loads of money on diesel, but I do need to feed him! Any tips for filling healthy snacks would be appreciated. At the moment during the day he has loads of bananas, usually some cake and lots of rounds of sandwiches.

ktpie · 9 August 2009 at 10:53AM

jackieglasgow wrote: »

Will be experimenting with new lunch ideas for the boys next week in preparation for school the following Monday. Anyone got an idea for how do do sweet treats like the caramel Rice Krispie Squares? My kids love them, and I only let them have a sweet for Friday snack at school, and usually try to do homemade, would really like to try this, but don't want to risk wasting the ingrediants.

I used a Nigella recipe recently to make chocolate caramel crispies. Just melted down mars bars with a bit of butter and mixed in cornflakes, but you could use rice crispies and it would be similar to the rice crispie squares. Not very healthy but I put what looked like stingy amounts in the bun cases and it turned out about right as it was so rich.

mooomin · 9 August 2009 at 10:58AM

Small spend yesterday:

Onions 32p
Mushrooms £1.09 (Froze the leftovers, felt very OS!)
Ham 82p
Bread 59p (Warburtons, whoopsied!)
Lettuce 55p (Whoopsied)
Wraps £1.14

Vague plans in place to go to M&S this afternoon to check out the reductions, but may also lounge around the house

DrFluffy · 9 August 2009 at 11:40AM

I've not been anywhere near to a supermarket yet this month

Getting to the 'only crumbs left in the cupboard' stage though

JayJay14 · 9 August 2009 at 11:47AM

Well I've been shopping with DS this morning and mu total has jumped to £82.55, so I am going to have to reign myself in or I will be well over at this rate.

I do have plenty in - I just keep spending money!!!!

highland_fling_2 · 9 August 2009 at 12:00PM

hi everyone
had a wee glitch earlier and ended up repeating post which I thought had been deleted. Just like at home really, tend to repeat myself.:rotfl:

Anyway, does anyone know if it is o.k. to freeze philidelphia cheese and can you freeze double cream?

Off now to reorganize freezer to make sure I use the items that have been in there for ages in my menu plan.

annie123 · 9 August 2009 at 12:54PM

I can't believe how little I've spent so far. The only change is that DD is away with BF and his family.
I had no idea how much a tiny 19 year old size 6/8, 4 11" tall teenager can eat:eek:
By now I would have done 2 x £70 odd shops, after trip this morning I have so far spent £58:D
Wonder if she wants to move out yet :rolleyes:

rosieben · 9 August 2009 at 1:00PM

highland_fling wrote: »

... Anyway, does anyone know if it is o.k. to freeze philidelphia cheese and can you freeze double cream?

Off now to reorganize freezer to make sure I use the items that have been in there for ages in my menu plan.

yes to philly, I always have one or two tubs in the freezer - I use it as a quick pasta sauce base;

and yes to double cream, although I've seen recommendations here on OS that you whip it a bit first

you're very organised! I really need to do an inventory of my freezer but its too hot today - that's my excuse anyway...

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August 2009 Grocery Challenge

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