February 2009 Grocery Challenge

mumzyof2 · 1 February 2009 at 2:37PM

Thankyou everyone for your replys about buying meat from the butchers/market vans etc. I think i will carry on buying meat from the market van but i must admit ive only bought there once and only bought there because i dont dare shout out what i want - i get embarrased easily and when i bought the meat my step-dad shouted it out for me

I think i will have to overcome the fear.

I am going to be withdrawing £100 out of the bank and putting it in a seperate purse and this will be my grocery spends for the month. I know i wont spend all this but what i have left will go towards a debt repayment :T

I have plenty in the freezer and i have lots of frozen veg in the freezer. Have yogurts in the fridge for DS and DD.

What do people have for lunches for there selves and there LO's?
My DD wont really eat sandwhiches and doesnt like cheese and i dont buy ham as its expensive.usually we have packet pasta but i am sick of giving her the same thing everyday more or less. My DS is at school and has school dinners. My DD doesnt like egg but likes egg fried rice :rolleyes:

Your advice would be apprechiated. Oh forgot to say she is 3 on wednesday (something i hate to say because she is no longer by baby.. I have no babies left in my family as they are growng up too fast!!

Hope everyone is having a relaxing sunday.. Im not! the kids are driving mecrackers.. but i love it really

:rolleyes:

Mumzy

elly2 · 1 February 2009 at 2:40PM

I really need to get back into the swing of this grocery shopping so am back to try again can i be added to the weekly list please and £60 will be my budget , this is for me 2 teens(16 and 14) and 2 little ones (4 and 5)3 cats and 2 goldfish it will include everything needed to run the house. I think the best way to go for me will be a seperate purse for the shopping money and avoiding the major supermarkets where i tend to fill my trolley with rubbish....will ask DD to go through the freezers/cupboards and try to make some sort of meal plan from what is in there.

Rowan9 · 1 February 2009 at 2:45PM

Hi - can I be included this month for £200 please? This is more than usual for me but we have DSS (!$) staying with us and our usual menus will change a bit. I usually eat a lot of veggie food when DH is away with work but I don't think DSS will. It's all a bit complicated here ATM and I want to make my life that bit easier by not failing my grocery challenge.
w

Flat_Eric · 1 February 2009 at 3:10PM

Menu planning going well with first two weeks written up using only what I have in the house. :j

Will only need to buy potatoes, milk, natural yogurt and eggs this week (and the same next week I think as well) so pleased

Have enough veg (both fresh and frozen) to last me for the time and intend to have some organic veg delivered on the 12th which will hopefully keep me going until the end of the month. Will try to chop and freeze what Im not going to us.

Have also just written to asda to comment on my shop delivered yesterday. amongst complaining about the chocolate crispy bites which are horrid (taste stale and chocolate disgusting), I have pointed out that I found it annoying the delivery man delivered my 2 bags of frozen then went away for ages before returning with the balance of my shop in one trip! have also commented that it would be nice to have a voucher or free delivery offer so will see if i get anything? Slightly off topic but thought I would share :j

Hope you are all having a lovely sunday afternoon. Im off to finish my banoffee pie

dazzle21 · 1 February 2009 at 3:14PM

Did the first shop of Feb! Still got a nasty cold but needed baby things...spent £15.34p on baby formula, oats, tissues, lemons and baby food - not very os but wanted ease until my cold passes! Planning to empty freezer totally this week so i can defrost it as it is full of snow which i'm sure isn't healthy! Hope everyone is having a good start to feb x

KITTY_2-2 · 1 February 2009 at 3:18PM

Just back from my bulk shop at Mr A and have enough of everything except fresh stuff, milk etc to last a couple of weeks.
Spent £77.20 on food, £18.72 for pets and £4.26 on toiletries. I have split my monthly budget of £520 into £250 for food and £270 for everything else - petrol, pets, toiletries, kids - so not doing too badly so far (I know it's only the 1st but my month started Friday

)

Good luck to everyone for this month, K xx

Different_Corner · 1 February 2009 at 3:37PM

angelatgraceland wrote: »

Different_Corner said about frozen chips and potatoes and felt a bit guilty?
I can make chips but always buy frozen ones-and potatoes for the other cooking methods. No harm in being a tired mum and wanting an easier route. We dont have to do everything from scratch all of the time-don't feel its a waste or feel guilty. Im sure lots of us buy both without giving it a thought(well I certainly do).

Angel,
Thing is those bags of frozen chips take up so much room in the freezer and always taste like cotton wool to me. I have a deep fat fryer that I dust off occasionally and always pleased with the results. But I guess it's always best to have emergency chips in the freezer

Cheapskate · 1 February 2009 at 3:43PM

MrsM, please would you put me down for £380 for February? I've decided to make it include petrol, haircuts & cheaper incidentals as well as food/toiletries, etc.
My main oven had a blue fit yesterday & now doesn't work :mad: although the top oven is OK, but it's very small & the grill's gone on that!! Looks like we'll have to get it fixed - think DH can fit parts, but we'll have to get proper Smeg ones, so hope it's not a dear do. Bad timing, cos I've a bit more space in the freezer & was going to bake today & tomorrow to fill it up for the next few weeks. Never mind, at least I can do some menu plans this afternoon, so the afternoon won't be wasted!
A x

Miss_Liquorice · 1 February 2009 at 4:03PM

This is my first Grocery Challenge, I get the feeling I am going to do hideously badly, but we'll see.

I'm going to start off with a budget of £120. This is for me, my two guinea pigs (who I swear must eat more than me :rolleyes: ), my boyfriend twice a week, my baking addiction and a posh valentine's dinner I'm planning - including alcohol, household products etc, but not bills.

My budget seems well above everyone else's

I'm just trying this to see how I go for a more realistic idea next month.

kezlou · 1 February 2009 at 4:07PM

Well started badly today ended up spending £25.07 in MrS as my eldest decided buying the most expensive meat on deli counter and bleeding nora has the cheese went up, sure it was twice the price of last month:eek:.

But got fresh prawns so that do us for a lovely prawn and egg curry, reduced chicken liver and strawberries for the boys fruit salads. Fresh bread was reduced so got two large loafs and a ciabatta for £1.04 for pack lunches.
Hardly any reduced food on offer, looks like arriving at 1pm is no good as it was literally all gone. But on the plus side got five energy saving lights bulbs for 50p, not really an essential but thought may as well buy them as they were so cheap.

Hope everyone else's day has been fine.

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February 2009 Grocery Challenge

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