September 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

annelouise_2

Howdy,

Just booked my Mr A delivery the afternoon I land to my meal plan / shopping list.

Considering OH has salt and pepper I think I did exceptionally well for 3 joints,fish,milk,fruit and veg ,all staples and food for packups for 3 kids it came in at £96.00.

Will let you know how I get on with "SMART PRICE".

annelouise

Downsizing__for_sanity

Guns and banjos -

Make sure you ask about a childcare fund - I get nearly all my childcare paid for, which is the only way we can afford for me to be at Uni. There are also Govt hardship funds which the Uni administers - don't feel proud, you will no doubt be paying back student loans at some point so apply for everything you can. DFS aka Ellie x

mhe

Yikes I cant believe its the start of the 9th GC of the year. August was a disaster for me due to being on holiday - im not even declaring as it cant be totted up but i know it was WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY over and some more.
Im sticking on £200 for September.

Downsizing__for_sanity

Am sure I could get seeds and nuts cheaper elsewhere though... Anyone got any good ideas??[/quote]

Julian Graves does "Clearance" days once in a while when everything is half price... I tend to stock up then. Also got myself a yogurt maker then (worked out much cheaper than Lakeland, we use it loads. )

HTH

DFD aka Ellie x

Downsizing__for_sanity

Please put me (Downsizing) down for £250 this month...

Am going back to med school on 29 Sep so I will try to stock up on tins and packet stuff so I can have an emergency cupboard in my new commuter flat....

Surprisingly it is going to be slightly cheaper for me to rent a flat in Aberdeen than to travel every day (which involves getting the train at 0640 :eek: ) But DD will miss her daddy lots on those 3 nights a week so it will still be a bit of a wrench... can't wait to get back to using my brain though! (and why did I not realise looking after a nearly 2 year old was more tiring than a degree?)

Mature students - enjoy - for me, studying feels like a holiday, when I drop DD off at nursery!

DFS aka Ellie x

Flylady_Flower

cammumof3 wrote: »

HI
Thanks, I couldn't bear asking in Mr A's or Mr T's where the kidney beans are, I would feel so embarrased. I would rather walk round several times looking or get my nearly 8 yr old dd1 to go and ask, haha
I am very interested in stepping up my challenge now to bulk cooking and freezing, never done it before, never made a curry or chilli.
I havn't eaten kidney beans of any type of bean apart from baked beans for ages as when I did eat them I could not stand them as they were hard and didnt like the texture so never bought or cooked them.
But, when we went to friends house on Monday bank Hol they had done a rice dish and it had bean things in it, I asked if I could give mine to my DH and my friend said try them, so I did. They were soft and not as bad as I thought they would be, or as bad as when I had them before.
So now I am proud to say I now want to start cooking with them.:j

Good on you! I checked when I went in Mr A's today and they are in the same area as the baked beans and tinned veg and in the next aisle down, so you should find them quite easily

I still can't eat kidney beans though - I hated them at school and just the thought of them makes me heave - I do chilli with them though as hubby and DS have that, but I have a bolognaise or something instead. Lentils are good though, as are other dried pulses, just not kidney beans :undecided

Flylady_Flower

pink_princess wrote: »

Denise some of us are still on august so aren t on the list but i ll say now can you please include me MRS MC £350 for september although my pay month doesn t start till 12th so i ll keep reading both threads till then.
I have to reduce my budget due to other half s redundacy.
Also mrs mc thanx for the tip about the seeds got loads drying now so role on feb / march so i can plant them.
Cammum your post about processed foods etc nearly made me cry it s just what i was like a few month s ago and the guilt i now feel about what i was feeding my children is awful .
Thank you s all so much for this thread it makes me such a better parent and person i think x
TTFN:D

Hi Pink Princess, I thought there would still be quite a few, but I was really interested to know - would have been better to have checked out the August one really and seen numbers from there for the total month eh!

Even so, I think over a 1/3rd back already is great going - I bet that it is way over half still do the challenge every month and it's amazing to see how great this thread is at helping people. Must admit I'm hooked and will be back every month because I love the friendly, helpful atmosphere on here that really spurs me on to save.

I hope your OH gets sorted out quickly. I was very lucky that mine was only off for a very short time when he was laid off about a month ago, so fingers crossed for you x

I also know what you mean about the processed food stuff. I feel so much healthier now and although we seem to be eating more, we are all loosing weight and seem to have more energy - it's amazing how we think that we have to live out of boxes because it's the norm, it's what busy people do! This thread has truly changed our lives and made me realise that although I'm busy and working, there is time for cooking and it is enjoyable. I can't thank everyone on here enough . . . :lovethoug

pinkjen

Hi all

I've been reading the posts on these grocery challenges while umming & ahing about whether i can do it..but i'm going to give it a shot as I know I waste money at the supermarket & want to see how I do.

Could I be put down for £120 for September running from 27th Aug to 24th Sep for myself & 14 yr old DS.

Reading these posts & knowing others are doing the challenge as well may help me along!!

Pinkjen
xx

Sian_the_Green

Well the move has been completed, with more than a little help from my parents. The new room is much tinier (about 5 foot across) and has major space problems but there is quite a lot of storage, some out in the hallway.

But as you can see I have the internet all sorted already, my cd player is working, my bed is all made up and I am really happy with my housemates . I mean how can you not like people who have a 'treats' drawer

pink_princess

Hi pinkjen welcome to the board.
Denise i would be curious to know how many of us there is as well ,i know i lurked for months before posting .I used to read people with big familys (5 or more) coming in way under my £650 a month:eek:
Now i come in at £375ish .OH was made redundant with 6 month s notice so i saved up well
As long as he has a job by jan we ll be ok .
TTFN
Glad your move went well annelouise and save the green