November 2008 Grocery Challenge

Rowan9

Spent about £10 today on a piece of topside and a chicken from Morrisons. Hoping both will make all meals this week and provide for sandwiches. I noticed people really taking their time with shopping and looking for the things on offer. That's a good thing. My timing wasn't though, as the shop was soooo busy - about 12 on a Saturday. I'll try not to do that again.
w

Free_in_Three

Hi

This is my first month on the grocery challenge and things are not going as well as I thought.:mad: First shop at Mr T was £63.91 which I was quite pleased with, downshifted to value on quite a few things and felt I had made some really good savings. Also got some dog biccies, crisps and 50% free shaving foam at a local bargin shop I have never been to before.

The problem is we have probably spent another £100 on takeaways, take out tea/coffee and snacks.:eek: I work away quite a bit with work and have long journeys, hours spent in airports and come in late and tired and takeaways and the odd tea and snack makes life easier. We seem to have spent more on this kind of food in the last couple of weeks than we have done in months!! If anyone has any tips to stop this spending I would be pleased to hear them.

I have £50 of the budget left to last until the 26th but have quite a bit of stuff in the freezer and cupboards so with a bit of planning and NO MORE TAKEAWAYS I still think we are in with a chance of sticking to the budget.

rosieben

Free_in_Three wrote: »

... I work away quite a bit with work and have long journeys, hours spent in airports and come in late and tired and takeaways and the odd tea and snack makes life easier. We seem to have spent more on this kind of food in the last couple of weeks than we have done in months!! If anyone has any tips to stop this spending I would be pleased to hear them. ... .

It's difficult to resist temptation when you've been travelling and working and feel exhausted. Can you make time at the weekend to do some bulk cooking so you can freeze some extra meals ready for those tired evenings. Not sure what to suggest re travelling food, but I'm sure someone will be along with some ideas

huxley

Hi all just updated signature, realy must try and keep a grip of budget this month, Mr A was a disaster this week had my list but kept seeing things I knew I needed and had left off it! Need to check out the receipe section, shot of enthusiasm seriously needed I'm falling into the repedative budget meals trap and its not good:o Oh well dh got me a big box of windfall apples when he was clearing a garden so best go prepare them for the freezer, mmmm maybe some comfort food of home made apple pie and thick custard is what is needed. Good luck everyone with this month:D

gilly1964

Ouch, why do I do it?

Take the OH that is.

Today's shop was £51.59 and have calculated that if I had gone alone it would have been £27.96 :mad:

We did not need dressed crab, mussels, cheesecake, double cream , ice cream or pate

£57.96 left for the rest of the month and he is definitely not coming with me next time.

All the best
Gilly

bestpud

Can I join you please?

I'm not sure how it will work out for me but I'll just have to see how it goes I guess!

For November I have already spent £148 :eek: as I did a big shop this week and have also just been to Avon online and taken advantage of the 5 for £5 offer + 15% discount + 16.5% Quidco cahsback + free delivery and bought enough shower gel, hand wash and bubble bath to keep us going into the new year and beyond, I hope.

I've been spending about £100 a week of late :eek: for two adults, a 16 year old and a 6 year old, plus cat and dog, but I'm sure I can get that a lot cheaper! I've got three shops left this month, soooo, can I set £400 as my target for November please?

:beer:

CAT££

Hi

I was just wondering what other moneysavers put in their shopping trolley during their weekly shop. I'm hopeless at shopping, I start with good intentions and add lots of fruit & veg, however, these can often be found rotting in the bottom of my fridge a fortnight later. I always end up spending a fortune, and yet, I often have to pop to the supermarket to buy ingredients. I should really menu plan, but it's a bit rubbish and doesn't always go to plan, as I live by myself and work shifts.

gairlochgal

Think your question is too general. Do you need to spend a bit of time thinking about what kinds of meals you prefer to cook when you have x, y and z time available? eg can you stick a baked potato in the oven and then have a few diff things that go with it. What about a slow cooker? What about cooking with leftovers in mind? There are lots of ways to jump.

I get a weekly fruit & veg box and just started a monthly meat box, and bake bread at home. So my weekly items (all online) tend to be milk, marge, yogurt, toilet/kitchen paper, cheese, tea/coffee, pasta, any spreads, tinned bbeans, veg, soup, cleaning materials, toiletries.

HTH

Olliebeak

CAT££ wrote: »

.......I start with good intentions and add lots of fruit & veg, however, these can often be found rotting in the bottom of my fridge a fortnight later......

Hi Cat - can I ask you please, do you buy bags of fruit? Maybe you should buy the loose stuff - perhaps 2 apples, 2 bananas, 2 pears for example. Maybe if you are buying the bags, they might be a bit overfacing for you.

What about buying tinned fruit (in fruit juice for extra healthiness ) instead of the fresh stuff - would prevent it going off.

Good Luck - I know that it can be quite difficult shopping for just yourself - remember it well :rolleyes: - but the beauty of it is that you can just please yourself .

oystercatcher

There's five of us and I work shifts plus can never be sure how many of us will be at home for meals. This is my excuse for not properly mealplanning ...yet! I don't bake much , have lots of good intentions but somehow it doesn't happen.

I don't do a regular weekly shop as I work shifts on random days, also with three hungry teenagers I quite simply can't fit a whole weeks shop in a trolley!
I probably do one or two biggish shops a week and maybe a smaller top up somewhere.

Typically a 'big shop' would be, (I'm imagining myself walking round Morrisons now )...
Fruit, a bag of apples, two bags satsumas, big bag of bannanas.
Vegs, onions, garlic, value mushrooms, value peppers, potatoes (mostly big ones for baking) broccoli, a cabbage, maybe carrots/ parsnips. Salad stuff, tomato lettuce, cucumber.
Two bottles of caffiene free diet coke...absolute rubbish but it keeps DH happy and he keeps ME happy
Breakfast cereal usually own brand malties, weetabix, muslie, porrige.
4 loaves white bread ,two loaves wholemeal plus some wholemeal rolls (this all goes in the freezer but comes out for use rapidly!
4 tins baked beans whatever is cheapest but not value as they are all sauce and no beans a couple of tins of curry for quick meals for DS's Maybe Macaroni cheese in a tin too. several tins of sardines and tuna/salmon.
4 packs of value pasta, 4 jars of value pasta sauce, 4 tins of tomato (value) , value basmati rice. Maybe a pack of lentils. Tinned chick peas , value Kidney beans,
Value loo roll, cheap washing machine tablets, washing soda, cheap dishwasher tablets.
Free range eggs, 3 X 4pt Milk (this will be gone in 3 days!!)
Two big blocks of mature cheddar cheese (whatever is on offer)
three packs of Ham (10 slices per pack not sure what weight it is )
Bacon if it's on offer and not too fatty.
4 packs of quorn mince/chunks
Frozen fish/kippers depends what is on offer
oven chips , oven roasts (for worn out days !)
Fish fingers
Frozen chicken/turkey breast when on offer
frozen peas, frozen stirfry veggies (value)

I've probably missed out loads of stuff but I'll get that when I'm back in a few days ...... my mob will eat their way through that in no time at all!
Often the boys cook for themselves as we're all in and out at different times. Not the most MSE way of living but it does at the moment and we are slowly adapting as prices rise and the income doesn't !
My weekly spend is between £80-120 , I'd like it to be less ....

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher