July 2008 Grocery Challenge

gunsandbanjos

annelouise wrote: »

Quick Qusestion for when I move back to the UK.......

When you talk about MOC at the self scanner is it any coupon for any product even if you haven't bought it?????

and where apart from here is the best place to look for MOC on a regular basis ???,just incase I can stock up before I get back.

Thanks for incoming advice.

annelouise

It varies wildly from store to store! A lot of it is managers discretion, as are whoopsies. Some places do amazing discounts and others take 10p off Case of trial and error as to whether your local stores take MOC's. Mr T official policy is that they will take non Mr T MOC's for products you havent bought as long as they actually stock the item, however whether your store will actually honour this is up to MOD. Sorry if thats a bit unhelpful:o

crockpot

I am taking MIL to Lidl today and as Dh got paid on mon I am now into August.

Not sure how I did for month! But as I shop weekly, I know I have not gone over my £50 a week in my cash purse. 1 week it was £51,78 but I had money lefy from the week before so was ok!

Freezer is quite full, had a bbq at weekend and did not eat as much as I thought we would, i have been buying the odd pack of sausages,burgers and bread buns for weeks. So lets hope the nice weather continurs as lots to eat up!

Thinking of buying a Grand Remoska next week when I get paid, getting fat thinking of all the nice stuff I can make.

School hols but should not spend much more as I will just give them what they had for packed lunch.

Herbaholic

Morning all

Phew, its taken 2 days to catch up on posts, but not so many yesterday so it made the job easier, hope that's because you were all out in the sunshine and not because life got in the way I've had 4 NSD's in a row, been living out of the freezer and cupboards and still have £51.00 in my budget until Sunday, if I can keep hold of as much of that as possible, I'll be able to get the paint for the hall, stairs & landing :T

That's the way I work things, did a deal with DH that the money I save each month by coming in under budget, I get to keep to spend on household things we need or things I want to do that he's not bothered about. As we only need milk, potatoes and honey (for the breadmaker) I should only spend £5. Next month I have my eyes set on some new sheets for our bed, also have one of those fancy steamers that you can make the sauces in etc on my wish list, but will maybe use some of the vouchers from surveys etc for one of those as they're pretty expensive.

Done really well this month, usually we spend £450 or more for just the two of us, 2 cats and the stepson who visits at weekends. All the convience stuff has gone, SS moaned because he had to have HM bread toasted for breakfast last weekend because I hadn't bought any 'frosties', he moaned at the HM pizza and wedges and anything else that didn't come out of a tin, packet or was ready made. Was in tears at the end of the weekend, DH said everything was lovely and told the SS to shut up or he could stay with his mother next weekend, but it got to me, which is probs why he did it .

Still on a more positive note, only bought shop made bread once this month and been using what was in the cupboards and freezer, homemade muffins have become a hit with DH and his workmates, one of them has an allotment and sent me some veggies to say thanks for the muffins. There have been a few hiccups this month, 2 can't be bothered days when we got a takeaway from Asda but they were on offer at £3 so not so bad (unless you look at the junk food aspect!), but all in all I'm pleased with myself, I've got as much out of this challenge as I've put in, and really enjoyed all the home baking and making meals with what I have in, rather than getting something ready prepared. Although there are 4 days left to the end of my budget, and I could still fluck it up :rotfl:

WM & BM are on, put them on when I got up to make DH's sarnies, new plan to cut bills is to do washing/breadmaking etc during the economy 7 times. So washing nearly done, but its grey and dismal here and looks like it'll rain, was lovely yesterday though, so yesterdays washing got dry really quickly and I got a perverse sense of pleasure from seeing the washing flap on the line at 8am! Is it just me??? Knew I should have done the second lot yesterday, but was wanting to stick to my washing during econony 7 plan to save money! Got all excited yesterday as we picked a cabbage from the garden to have with tea it tasted lovely, the other half I'm going to make coleslaw with. The only decent pumpkin I have so far is now about as big as a rugby ball, I'm looking after it, need to find some straw for it to sit on and may get it a little blankie (joking!), I didn't think I'd get any at all because a few weeks ago they were all rotting and dropping off, so need to give the one that survived some TLC. My toms have flowers and some have even set fruit and the peas, green beans and potatoes will be ready to harvest soon :j

How sad is it to be this excited about growing a few veggies?! We started late this year and its the first time we've grown our own veg, had some lettuce earlier this month and lots of strawbs and rhubarb, and we have apples still to look forward to. We'll do some things differently next year, I invested in a veggie growing book and will plan things properly so we can grow things year round. Better go get stuck in, still got lots to do and DH is off tomorrow so have to get it all done so can have a 'day off' to spend with him. Will drop in again later hopefully, have a good day everyone, big hugs to everyone, hope all poorly people are feeling better soon, headaches are gone, and life starts showering you all with roses again soon

Herby

PS Sorry about the long post, just nice to have someone to 'talk' to IYKWIM

gunsandbanjos

Ignore stepson herbaholic! You are doing a great job, glad hubby backed you up.

huxley

Would be scrapping in just underbudget this month as reckon I have enough food in to see me through to the end but........... julian greaves have a half price sale until sunday and its when they have these I stock up on cherries/snack seeds etc so do I go over this month or take it from next months budget as thats when I'll use it all oh decisions I dont like them

sashanut

Hi all
Just been catching up on all the posts, took ages as I have been too busy hosp visiting to post. On the plus side I went to the flour mill & got loads of flour - I then asked about a sack of onions as i bought one there before. the nice old gent said they were sprouting, so NFS - then gave me 2 sacks FOC!! Only prob is I now have 2 sacks of onions, the sprouting ones he said use as spring onions & the others are OK to use as normal. I know I need to use them up quickly tho - any ideas anyone - can I freeze them or something? How do I prep if so?? TIA if you can help (DH moaned all the way back - 3 hour drive - about the smell!!)

MRSMCAWBER

Morning all

Declaring my 6th NSD in a row today :T ...

Hubby is on duty today -so won't be back until the morning.... so im going to use more odds n sods out of the fridge/freezer :j

1. Lunch is a portion of liver casserole(from the freezer) with some veggies
2. dinner -im going to cook chunks of the huge courgette i grew, with garlic, onions, mushrooms, peppers, beans and peas (need to fetch them in later) then a dollop of cream cheese and 1 of wholegrain mustard... i really should put pasta under it -but think i might just have it on its own

I am chuffed to little mintballs that i still have the €61 in my purse that i had on Friday evening.... my purse is sat gathering dust :rotfl: . Hubby gets paid tomorrow so my dilema is if i should just whack all the new housekeeping away into the bank and try and get through next month with just the €61 i have it does sound a bit "low" for the month -but i do have loads in and IF i can just be good and ignore the whoopsies i really only NEED fruit and a bit of veg...
I think i will check over my meal plan and double check what i have in and what i should need and decided from there. I guess the money will be in the bank if i get desperate
I know we are off to the NAFFI tomorrow-so hubby can take advantage of the 3 for 2 on whiskey -so i guess "how good i can be" or "how good the whoopsies are" will be the decider well it would be rude to turn my nose up at a bargain wouldn't it

I need to make myself a new loaf of super seedy bread today -im down to my last 2".. it has stayed as fresh as when i made it on friday and there is no fat in it ...very nice it is too..and good for me

think thats about all I have to do today..the rest of the day is going to be taken up x stitching/knitting..ooooh and setting a few more seeds

have a great day everyone....

angelnikki

gillaman wrote: »

Angelnikki - when do we need to let you know our figure for August? I'd like to get as close as possible to the 1st when my next GC will start. Thanks for sorting everything for us.

Hi Gillaman :hello:
You can post your figure for August any time you like, post it on here or on the new thread when it starts. Some people start their challenge half way through the month so just post whenever you've decided on your budget and I'll add you to the list.


Good luck everyone for coming under target this month. We're winning at the moment cos we've had more people declare under target than over so far. :T :T Yay us

Nikki x

WelshWoofer

Morning! It's a lovely morning here in the sunny North West.
Last night's fajitas were yummy - OH was well impressed, I can add that one to my limited repertiore!

Had a NSD yesterday too so good day all round.
Will be making a big veggie chilli tonight so need to get a pepper and maybe an onion on the way home today - will spend less than a pound though cos I don't want to break into the next 10 pound note in my purse until Saturday.

I'm away on the weekend and am out for dinner and drinks on Saturday night so won't need feedin until Sunday evening at the earliest (at home I mean!)

Am trying to put together a menu plan for lunches and dinners next week Mon- Fri to use up stuff in the fridge (virtually nothing in there!), cupboards and freezer - there's plenty of stuff in that needs using but no fresh stuff to go with it so I'll have to venture to the greengrocers rather than Tescos as I always get carried away and buy stuff I don't need there.

Hope you all have a good day - trying to be strict with diet and spending this week - going Ok so far!

Take care
R x

mumofjusttwo

Well had a NSD yesterda y and plan another today.

Think I will have to see if i can find a spare purse that I can use for my grocery money. espcially as I know that i need to buy schol wear etc and don't want to get the two confused.

Herbaholic you sound like you are doing great. It is good that you DH is staying up to his son and supporting you.

Have to saythat I am looking forward to growing some veg etc. DH doesn't eat veg but i know that he does like it when it i home grown so hopefully it will help two-fold. At the moment I am growing sweetcorn, tomatoes, peppers, oregano and basil. they are inside at the moment and not sure if they will last. Bought them in a child's seed pot but they have grown quite well.

Any suggestions as to what I should do with them now?

Have gone over budget this month already but the budget has included buying a new iron etc.