November 2008 Grocery Challenge

JennyBee_2

Hi all

As it's pay day on Monday and I'm not going anywhere near the shops tomorrow, I'm going to declare at £156.53. A little over our budget but not too bad.

OH thought I was having a nervous breakdown today when I burst into tears because I wanted a chinese takeaway....Have had a rubbish afternoon standing in the rain at a craft fair and just wanted comfort food. Finally reined in the pregnancy hormones, saw the light and the fact that there is nothing in our budget for a takeaway and just cooked up the mince that we'd taken out the freezer. Chilli and rice bulked out with porridge oats! 3 spare portions in the freezer for later on as well so I was quite pleased.

Will be very glad when I finish work on Christmas Eve the stairs to the office are a killer in the morning!...only another 4.5 weeks to go

Please can you put me down for £200 in December. This is more as I'll be batch cooking and also stocking the cupboards for January as well. Got the meal plan sorted for December and half way through January too (although that will be subject to change as and when this little wriggler decides to appear!)

*BigBird*

I've lost the plot a little over the last few days and am not going to make my target this month (That'll teach me for not coming on here regularly!) Currently have 22p left to last til 30/11. I only need milk and some F&V next week, so it shouldn't be too much over. Some of the overspend was on booze and nibbles as we should have had friends over this evening, but it got cancelled. The booze can be carried over to next month, so I suppose I could knock off the spends that relate to those. The £10 spent today on the meal offer at M&S was unforgiveable though (but the sticky toffee pudding was delicious )

Slightly off topic, but OH has bought one of those energy monitor things that shows you how much electricity you are using. What an eye-opener that is! :eek: We have spent the last few days turning things on and off to see how our energy usage changes and have concluded that the kettle is evil. As is the oven and the WM. And as for the shower - spawn of Satan!!!

Right, got to go put the remains of tonight's beef stew in the freezer now before OH polishes it all off.:rolleyes:

Caroline73_2

This is my first post on MSE ever! I love this thread. I have decided to budget from now until the end of the year which is 40 days. £10 a day so £400.

I spent £5.70 today on loads of reduced chicken fillets (and some choc but I saved loads on the chicken, lol)

angelatgraceland

keld wrote: »

Well, a bad day today, spent £4.60 on our lunches (too hungry to think) and a deposit of £40 on curtains for my daughters bedroom (although to be honest I'm sure that this must be outside the GC)

Yes-don't beat yourself up! Curtains just can't be classed as grocery!

MrsMcK wrote: »

Hello,

I went shopping and ended blowing my budget:eek:. Still have a few days left to go but starting to feel a little disheartened. Don't think I have enough willpower to do this.
xx

Just tell yourself you will do this for one more week-tell yourself that every week! Think back to before you kept a record of what you spent. Sometimes you will be under and sometimes you will be over. If you look at it with a longterm view and add up say, 4 months totals they will average out. Its just a blip!

highland_fling wrote: »

hi everybody,
have been reading posts avidly and although I have been keeping an account of my spending for last six months have not so far had the confidence to set target yet. maybe next month.
sorry to show my ignorance but what is Mr. T. ?
is it a discount warehouse? or a supermarket?
don't think I have seen any in my neck of the woods

Hey-none of us bite on this group! Do join in-there is no competition, just support. I bet you have cut back somewhat while you have been waiting in the wings? Good luck and do join in..

mummy2mygirls wrote: »

hello everyone, hope your all getting on ok with your challenge.
Just a quick question:
When you make lasagna and you have extra that has been bulked out etc, how do you freeze it?? do you cook it in something that can also be frozen??(not sure i fi have anything that can go in oven and freezer!?!?) or do you try and take it out and put in bags (sounds to messy!!) or should i just make up the amount we will need and just freeze the left over mince to then take out and make a lasagna when next wanted????
any ideas would be greatly welcomed......
thanks for reading
xx

I use baco tubits. They last for yonks! Little plastic pots made by Baco(the people who make baco foil) Have lids and available in different sizes. Approx £2.50 for 5 portion sized tubs. I cook lasagne(or whatever)then serve it up into the tubs. Let it go cold and freeze. Can be cooked in micro from frozen with the lid loosened.

wmf wrote: »

Congrats on DS's wedding snowy!
Frozen lasagne question - I'm now wondering if you can cook it from frozen and if so for how long?
Rainbow had half price frozen turkeys here in Suffolk, so I imagine they are in all their stores. Planning to buy one for cooking next weekend. Sorry if someone has already mentioned this on here
w

ps can I go in for £200 for December please?

For one portion I generally deforst for about 5 mins then cook on high power for 5 mins. Depends on portion size and your micro though.

*BigBird* wrote: »

The booze can be carried over to next month, so I suppose I could knock off the spends that relate to those. The £10 spent today on the meal offer at M&S was unforgiveable though (but the sticky toffee pudding was delicious )

Slightly off topic, but OH has bought one of those energy monitor things that shows you how much electricity you are using. What an eye-opener that is! :eek: We have spent the last few days turning things on and off to see how our energy usage changes and have concluded that the kettle is evil. As is the oven and the WM. And as for the shower - spawn of Satan!!!

Right, got to go put the remains of tonight's beef stew in the freezer now before OH polishes it all off.:rolleyes:

Just don't touch that booze! ;+)
Yes we also have an energy monitor-not sure if it makes us cut back or not but it certainly makes us aware of what is going on! Well a shower is about 8.5 or 9.5 kw so thats approx £1 per hour! However-if you are only in there 10 mins you are ok-just 10p so don't be too alarmed. Also-outside lights bump ours up-we often have seen a sudden jump and then realised that 2 500w lights had come on out the back. Educational indeed!
Oh I do fancy an M & S meal sometime-just never near an M & S. Hopefully Waitrose will do some again.

KAAT_LADY

Caroline73 wrote: »

This is my first post on MSE ever! I love this thread. I have decided to budget from now until the end of the year which is 40 days. £10 a day so £400.

I spent £5.70 today on loads of reduced chicken fillets (and some choc but I saved loads on the chicken, lol)

Hope this thread helps you caroline ..it has helped me a lot to reduce my spending and make more things from scratch..you will probably have some cash left

wow your first ever post as well

KAAT xx

rosieben

mikeD wrote: »

..... BTW Hello to all my old friends on this Board, see you all again sometime. :beer:

Greetings Frogmeister - obviously still as mad as a box of frogs! Lovely to see you

Just wanted to say that a frequent question newbies ask is what to include in the GC. I include all food, toiletries, laundry and cleaning supplies;

I only have myself to cater for but if I were catering for a family at home I think I would have separate budgets for:
- 'celebrations', ie special meals out, birthdays etc
- for booze
- and for petrol/deisel.

I'd still keep a tally of those things but keep it entirely separately. It's difficult to see how your food shop is going down if you're including so many extras in with it. Just a thought :cool:

carolt2

Good evening Everyone.

Just popped in to update our totals, have been doing alot of spending recently which has affected our budget as we are now approx £33 over.
Going to try and limit the damage.
Have got plenty of food in and have meal planned to the end of the month.
Main reason for over spend is stocking up on offers, getting a few bits for xmas and trying to get abit of a store cupboard going for rest of winter. Spending will eventually even out because some of the things that have been bought eg toilet rolls,laundry powder cleaning stuff wont be needed for a couple of months.....

Mrs MC can we be put down for £180 again please

ZLS1984

Right my chuckies, I am off on the ole shopping trip 2moz after church and I am dreading it. We are going to Morrisons and I only have £40 at a push to spend and that is to feed 3 of us. Including dinner for me but when my mum is not about I try not to eat but she is here most days arghh.

We still have some things in but I am limited what I can eat. I have been naughty and had bad foods. Need to stick to very low fat next week, quorn and chicken. Only problem is my dad and daughter dnt eat quorn.

Going to have a nosy at recipes on here see if I can gain some cheap ideas.

JennyBee_2

rosieben wrote: »

Just wanted to say that a frequent question newbies ask is what to include in the GC. I include all food, toiletries, laundry and cleaning supplies;

but if I were catering for a family at home I think I would have separate budgets for: - 'celebrations', ie special meals out, birthdays etc
- for booze
- and for petrol/deisel.

I definitely agree about petrol/diesel....That's an entirely different section on my spreadsheet budget! Also I don't get cashback when I go shopping as it confuses me a couple of weeks later when things don't add up! I make myself go to a cash machine if it's totally necessary because then it shows up as a cash transaction on my statement! Ok, it sounds like I'm really anal about this sometimes doesn't it! I just get irritable if I can't figure out why my bank balance and spreadsheet don't match!

On the plus side, I never have that awful feeling of standing at a till and wondering whether there's enough money in the bank for whatever it is that I'm buying which has improved my ability to sleep at night amazingly!

That's one of the best things about this, everyone has their own budget based on their personal financial situation but if nothing else, don't you all feel happier just knowing what that situation is? I do, for sure

savingfortravel

Welcome Caroline!!
I think this forum (all the threads I've visited/posted on) is so life affirming and life changing...In very uncertain times its reassuring that we are all doing so many positive things to help ourselves and our families.

I think all of us should feel very proud of what we've achieved..
SFT

Oh hi to Frogmeister....Old B thinks you're a legend...