PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Hello Forumites! However well-intentioned, for the safety of other users we ask that you refrain from seeking or offering medical advice. This includes recommendations for medicines, procedures or over-the-counter remedies. Posts or threads found to be in breach of this rule will be removed.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

August 2008 Grocery Challenge

Options
12526283031266

Comments

  • brummiebabe
    brummiebabe Posts: 1,894 Forumite
    My August challenge officially starts tomorrow - but did my 1st shop of the new challenge today (but payment won't leave the bank until tomorrow - so I figure that's ok!!:rotfl: )

    My challenge is £300 for August - but I'm not including the week of 9th - 15th August as we're away! This is for 2 adults, 3 children (one in nappies) and includes all food, toiletries, cleaning stuff, nappies & contact lens solutions.

    So...my first shop was a big one as I'd run out of LOADS of things!! Spent £105.71 (had 2 DSs with me...never a good idea!) but I wasn't too shocked..it was actually less than I thought it would be!!:confused:

    Best of luck all!!:D
    20p Saver Club #33 60p/£100
    Christmas Saving £0/£1300

    Saving Target 2014 £25/£1000
  • philsmum
    philsmum Posts: 150 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi Denise
    Sorry you are feeling so tired. When you go to the Drs ask him/her to do a full blood test to include thyroid.
    Are you taking any meds at the moment, like statins for cholestrol these can make you tired.
    Hope you feel better soon.
    Debt free from April 2012:T:T:T:T:j:j:j:j
  • Moniker
    Moniker Posts: 626 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    Moniker-Would you mind sharing your marmalade recipe? OB has got very excited about making his own. Thanks SFT


    Basically I buy a tin of Mamade prepared seville oranges - available from most supermarkets and follow the instructions on the tin! It takes 4lb of sugar and 3/4pt water. The best tip I can offer is to use a really big saucepan or if you can get one a proper jam making pan as then you can get a good boil going. I bought mine years ago from Lakeland and it has a non-stick coating which makes it easy to clean. You may be able to get one via Freecycle or at a carboot or something as they are quite expensive - but well worth the investment I think. The Mamade typically costs about £1.25 a tin and I use Fairtrade unrefined granulated sugar at about £1 for a kilo - but you could do it cheaper if you use non-fairtrade sugar. I save and recycle all my jars and although I buy the wax discs I use the original lids. As I have a dishwasher everything is clean enough not to have to sterilise jars etc. The whole batch takes about 30 mins from start to finish.

    HTH

    Moniker
  • Moniker
    Moniker Posts: 626 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    chelltune wrote: »
    Any ideas what I can do with runny jam? I attempted to make strawberry jam a few weeks ago but I couldn't get it to set. It is a bit too runny for using on toast. I made a jam sponge pudding with some a couple of weeks ago but it is too hot to want to eat that sort of thing just now.


    You could try reboiling it to try to get it to set. Or add something with more pectin in -I think apples work though I haven't tried it. I think you can buy liquid pectin from a pharmacy or health food shop to add to improve the set, but have never tried this and don't know how much it costs.

    HTH

    Moniker
  • WOW,THIS THREAD HAS REALLY SNOWBALLED EVEN IN THE SHORT TIME SINCE I LAST VISITED.WELL DONE EVEYONE!!!
    I have just posted this on July one and then realised that july is almost over so copied my post to here to.
    Keep coming here and doing the challenge even after you think you have it sussed.I was doing great,started off at about £400 a month and got it way down to under £200,even did it for about £120 if I remember rightly the last month I posted here.
    well I thought I could manage without the challenge but I cant.Shopping bills back up to silly amount and hubby doing shopping and not even able to give me a rough idea of the totals.
    I need this place so I have come back with my tail between my legs,my purse empty and my bank balance in a mess again because I have not been watching the pennies so closely as I ought to.I have started to buy things we dont need because I want it or else feel I deserve it,things like wine and boursin.The old bad habits are returning and I thought I had better return here and get myself back on the straight and narrow.
    I wont even hazard a guess at my July spend,I really dont know.I will join the challenge again for August with a £200 budget.
    "Reaching out to touch the stars dont forget the flowers at your feet".
  • Does anyone bulk buy non-perishables at trade price to get their grocery and housekeeping bills down?I dont know why I hadn,t thought of it before and another post I read earlier got me thinking that really we dont need to pay shop prices for anything at all,do we?
    Does anyone have a local co-operative perhaps who buys at cost price?I think I feel a new personal mission coming on.The never pay shop prices again challenge:D .
    "Reaching out to touch the stars dont forget the flowers at your feet".
  • NW-ANGEL
    NW-ANGEL Posts: 299 Forumite
    hi wondered if you could add me please - ive been watching our spends for a few months now and wanna put our target at £250 for 1/8 - 31/8... me and hubbie two bunnies and a pond full of koi :rolleyes: lol...
    thanks,
    kel x;)
  • Flylady_Flower
    Flylady_Flower Posts: 2,855 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    philsmum wrote: »
    Hi Denise
    Sorry you are feeling so tired. When you go to the Drs ask him/her to do a full blood test to include thyroid.
    Are you taking any meds at the moment, like statins for cholestrol these can make you tired.
    Hope you feel better soon.

    Thanks for thinking of me Philsmum.
    The doc has already filled out my blood test sheet and I'm booked in for tomorrow morning, but I might mention it to the nurse when she takes the tests. (not sure if they can though if it's not on the sheet :confused: )
    I only take Asthma medication, so no other meds, just my current lifestyle I think - food intake getting better but stress of new business and job beginning to take it's toll I think :D (and also this insomnia that I keep getting - still wide awake and I've been up since 5am! :mad: )
    Thanks again,
    Denise x
    LBM April 2013 - £29,000.00
    Vanquis CC's PAID - Debenhams SC PAID - A+L OD PAID - Asda CC £783.75
    Barclaycard CC £1400.78 - BoS CC PAID - Freemans Cat PAID
    F/D Loan & CC £1458.96 - Santander Loan PAID - Mum Loan PAID
    RBS OD PAID - F/D OD £1026.52
    Weekly Grocery Challenge - £95.00 budget / spend £-
  • Penny-Pincher!!
    Penny-Pincher!! Posts: 8,325 Forumite
    Can you put me down for £275 as DD is at home and costs a small fortune in extra fruit and nibbles. This will include my diesel too though as usual.

    August started on the 21st July for me and is 4 weeks at a time.

    Thanks

    PP
    xx
    To repeat what others have said, requires education, to challenge it,
    requires brains!
    FEB GC/DIESEL £200/4 WEEKS
  • ZoeGirl_3
    ZoeGirl_3 Posts: 383 Forumite
    Hey Guys

    I had some jam ideas somewhere, will see if I can find em and link...

    Have to say I was cleaning my classroom today and found a chocolate bar wrapper under a desk with the "win a bar" promotion, and thought I would check and it had won a free 100g bar! My friend said that was disgusting, but :confused: I was stoked...was a nice avo treat.

    Have to go and cook dinner soon, bit later than usual but we had a snack when we came home (after the chocolate lol).

    Opps, ruined the link but here is the jam ideas, sorry to repeat...

    Jam Muffins

    3 cups flour (could try half plain half wholemeal if you want)
    5 tsps baking powder
    1 tsp salt
    1 Tbsp sugar
    50g butter
    3 eggs (or two large)
    1 and a half cups milk
    Jam (whatever flavours you want)

    Melt the butter and whisk (or beat) in the eggs and milk. then add the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

    Half full muffin tray cups with the muffin mix and then put a tsp of jam on top of each. Then top with more mix until jam is mostly covered.

    Bake at 200C for 15 mins, makes 24 medium sized muffins or 18 v large ones.
    These also freeze well. :T :T :T

    Also, with jam, I put it on pancakes, :P, and you can use it to sandwich plain biscuits together instead of icing them together. ;) You can add some to bread pudding or bread and butter pudding.

    You can use it on icecream as a topping, or even mix it with HM plain sugarless yoghurt as a flavouring. When there is just a little bit left in the jar you can thin down with water and freeze to make iceblocks for the kids. (Or just use the runny jam you have to make some with yoghurt mixed with jam mmmm)
    "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!!"
    Nov NSD: ?/30 Nov Make 10 Day ?/300
    Get Rid Of Debt: ?/2000 !! :mad:
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.6K Spending & Discounts
  • 244.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 599K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177K Life & Family
  • 257.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.