September 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

gtx

hi everybody - i read this thread every month, set a target and fail. so this month i'm officially joining and putting it down in black and white. £200 for sept.

BigMummaF

Sorry ...forgot the two NSDs & someone was talking about cooking rice--perhaps Cammum :rolleyes:
Well, whoever is interested I use a dry cup/mug to measure out the rice into the pan, then USE THE SAME CUP to measure out twice as much water--ie 1 cup rice=2 water; 2 rice=4 water etc....Bring it to the boil, stir once, whack the tight fitting lid on & turn the gas off. [If you've electric etc, remove from heat] DONT LIFT THE LID for at least 15mins --the longer you can leave it the better--& it cooks itself in the steam & all the water should be soaked up in the rice.

Over on the Saving Gas & Electricity thread, folk have said they cook pasta like this too by leaving it to cook without extra heat underneath, but I haven't tried it yet. HTH

ailz95

My pledge for September is £150 for 2 adults and 3 rabbits.

Money_saving_Diva_2

Morning all!

Ok, so yesterday my OH went to Tescos and got some marked down bread and eggs and milk for todays baking. He also bought me a new stick blender which was reduced from £20 to £10. It wasn't completely an impulse buy, my last one died about a month ago and I have been looking around for one so that was a lovely suprise.

Have to get a 'real' Tescos online order done today. We are having friends for dinner on Tuesday so need to get a nice joint as they have requested a roast dinner! (My OH's roast potatoes are to die for!!) They are bringing the dessert and the wine, so that will help with the financial side of things!

I hope you are all having a great weekend and *hugs* to anyone who needs one. Life is never simple and we can never control how other people act, but we can control how we re-act to their behaviours.

Diva.x

ifonlyitwaseasier

hey all,

so spent £15.43 in MrS on papers veg and some sweets and anti nicotine things for OH, he has finally quit smoking!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so i have enough food for three weeks (yeah right) enough lozenge things for OH for about a week hopefully and so much in the freezers i might have to do another inventory.

i have some wedding piccies for those who are interested, gimme a few minutes to sort thro them and upload some of the not too bad ones to flickr then you can have a gander. i need to get a couple from the photographer tho as she has some amazing ones.

i'll stick my links in here in a minute or five ;-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nef5/2814270328/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nef5/2814268712/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nef5/2813420415/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nef5/2814268482/

ok thats all i have for now, need to de people a couple of others then might put them on later

yellowmonkey

Hi

Would have posted yesterday but due to the closure I was unable to say that Asda ( Canterbury) were doing the 3.9Kg ( 50 washes ) of Daz washing powder for £3 per box.

Dont know if the offer is still on

ym

LearningToSave.

jackie_w wrote: »

Hi,

Would you mind sharing your recipe for a watermelon smoothie? ive just thrown half of one out:mad: . I didnt even think about using one in a smoothie.

Jackie

i dont have a recipie im afraid..............i use 2 or 3 bananas dependant on size then whatever we have around when i do smoothies.....i make my girls one every day,never done a recipie just bung in and hope for best! never had one they havent gulped down yet!!

Flylady_Flower

erin_go_bragh wrote: »

Hi,
I am looking to get my finances back on track having realised since my husband lost his job that we have been living beyond our means for quite some time , and have 3 loans, credit cards and large overdraft as well as mortgage I realise drastic action is needed. It would be great to join the September GC , there are 5 of us , me DH , grown up DS , 27 , DD 14 & DS 13 , currnelty spending way too much on food, which I am ashamed to say often gets wasted . Could you tell me if this challenge just includes food or if it is to include all spending ie prtrol, dinner money, bus fare etc?

Hi Erin, I am sure everyone on here has given you some great tips to get you on your way, but not caught up yet so thought I would add my tuppence worth...

Definitely use Martins Budget Planner - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning - it can be scary at first as it does include EVERYTHING and you may be well over when it comes to the end, but it is a true breakdown of everything you use and can be your LBM (light bulb moment) when you actually see it all in black and white (or colour on the screen ) and realise where you are headed if you keep on! Don't worry though, there is light at the end of the tunnel and you have your starting point.

I include all stuff I would buy from a supermarket - cleaning stuff, toiletries, food, etc. mainly because I am lazy and can't be asked to separate my receipts up - we budget £60pw for ours, but everyone is different and has different needs (and different fussy kids! :rolleyes: ). I have separate budgets for fuel (ours is £60pw but we do a lot of miles), an extra one for extras (£20pw for prescriptions, those little unexpected bits, school stuff, etc) we also now have an entertainment budget as we both work really hard and enjoy a bit of relaxation plus we deserve it too now, so I budget £50 for that and we can get out a couple of nights a week now (wouldn't have been able to before as we spent it all on wasting food, etc...)

The rest is on DD's & SO's for bills, credit cards, rent, etc... and any left over goes into savings or off a card (I try to do half and half so we are building up an emergency fund too). I also try to pay my grocery money onto my credit card each week, so if I am under, the balance stays on my card. It also means that I am paying off more each month and the interest is less, even though I am using it straight away again... sneaky eh!

I hope that helps you. I know it is always hard when someone is out of work, but you will find people on here are some of the best and they have been through similar situations or can offer advice and help - but the main thing you will get from this site is encouragement - remember, you won't do this in your first week, I still mess up and I've been doing it for 5 months now - this is my 6th, and each month I learn something else and try a different method that works better for me - I have yet to come in under budget but I am always pretty close and it is still miles better than what I was doing and I am still learning and improving - moving forward.

Just one more thing that you should always remember:
You are not a failure until you stop trying - when you don't reach your goals you are still one step closer to them than you were before you tried and it only takes once to win, so get up, shake yourself down and try again - YOU WILL GET THERE!

EDIT: Oooh, that sounds really preachy and knowall - it's not meant to be, so hope you don't take it that way, it was meant to help!

rockie4

I did Asda, MrT and Sainsbugs yesterday, lots of 'whoopsies' for the freezer and a few BOGOFS.
Spent £76 al:eek: together - a fair chunk of my budget but I'm well stocked now and should only need fresh stuff and cat food for a couple of weeks at least (famos last words for me :rolleyes: )

bails

angelnikki wrote: »

I would hate to see someone on here feel that they had to survive on £40 a month just because someone else does. This is not a competition but a personal challenge to lower our grocery spends to a level that we, personally, are happy with.
Nikki x

Of course not Nikki, I would hate that too. You're right, we do all have very different situations and beliefs etc and I wasn't suggesting a competitive element at all. I just always find it very inspiring to read of other people's situations and budgets. Maybe people can keep/put it in their sigs if they want to and then PM for extra tips/inspiration if they felt like it.