January 2009 Grocery Challenge

gtx

Hi everyone

not going too bad for us - which is just as well as we've no money left other than for the bills - can't wait for pay day:o - we have an unofficial target this month of £180 and when i've added up the receipts its only £168. there's plenty fruit left and both freezers still have loads in so its looking good.

hope everyone is well

gtx

gillst_2

Another nsd but will have to do a shop of some kind tomorrow. Have only got £11 of budget left for the month, so it is looking like I will go over. Have been thinking about going onto an annual budget, but not too sure about this still, so many pros and cons. Keep thinking I have made up my mind what to do, then I have a change of heart. Will decide in next few days. If I go to an annual budget I am not sure I will be strict enough with myself and may overspend with nothing left for final months, but then if I have an annual budget I can stockpile more. Decisions, decisions.

Have run out completely of all veg, used the last of the carrots and onions in the mince we had tonight. Used 450g of mince and with the addition of the veg this was enough for the four of us (adults) with one portion left over which DS2 will have for lunch tomorrow.

Had a couple of apples (the last of my fresh fruit, although do have frozen apples, and tins) that were passed their best, so stewed these up and served them with the left over semolina pudding that I made yesterday. Got another loaf of bread in the bm.

Am planning a stir fry for during next week and have decided to have a go at growing some bean sprouts myself. Will have the stir fry when they are ready. Fingers crossed these grow alright as have never tried them before. Have also sown some cress seeds and hopefully will have a punnett full in a few days as well. Hope to grow a lot of veg myself this year (only ever grown runner beans before), so the bean sprouts and cress are the start!!!

MRSMCAWBER

Hi Princess Leia...

Yep- I only started it up over winter -the plan is to go through everything I set step-by-step -with lots of photos to make it easy for others to use (not that Im an expert in anyway :rotfl: ) -but I managed to bumble my way through last year with mums help and got some brilliant results (we are still using all the extra tomatos etc I roasted and froze :T )..here you go if you want a peep...
http://potioappotment.blogspot.com/

Will PM you in a moment regarding seeds

On the grocery front I think Im going to have to nip out to ALDI tomorrow evening... I can't run out of yoghurts ...I eat them at an alarming rate .. but I have €15 in my purse at the moment and Im refusing to fetch any out of the bank :A :rotfl: -but I will be able to get enough yogs and oranges/apples to cover me until pay day:j ..and still be well under budget:D

TheBees

Having trouble keeping up with this thread but well done to everyone. We're half way through the month now.:j

Not been near a food shop for several days but will need milk tomorrow.

Tonight we had spaghetti pasta bake (leftover savoury mince, a layer of tinned tomatoes on top, cooked spaghetti on top of that and some grated cheese which crisps up on the top when baked in the oven). If you have a go at making this make sure you heat up the mince and tomatoes before assembling otherwise it takes a long time for the heat to penetrate into the middle.

Tracey.32

TheBees wrote: »

Tonight we had spaghetti pasta bake (leftover savoury mince, a layer of tinned tomatoes on top, cooked spaghetti on top of that and some grated cheese which crisps up on the top when baked in the oven). If you have a go at making this make sure you heat up the mince and tomatoes before assembling otherwise it takes a long time for the heat to penetrate into the middle.

Mmmmm, defo going to try this! Nice change from pasta bolognese and pasta bake :T

Rachel021967

I spent 50p at a coffee morning and £4.06 on milk from the milkman. That leaves £29.90 to last the month. I think we will go over but I'll do my best to make it as little as possible.
Yummymummy05 thank you for your reply. I'll try weaning my little girl onto tesco value fromage frais.
I feel really mean today as I refused to buy my middle daughter Heinz vegetable soup as it had gone up to 88p a tin. I thought I could make a large pot of soup for that. So she went out and bought her own soup out of her pocket money.
I made veggie mince with porridge today and they loved it so much they went back for seconds.

turbo5019

MrsM Could you change me to an annual budget as well please - £2000 a year.
I haven't spent anything so far this month I need to go shopping but can't be bothered and to be honest I want to try and defrost freezer so just trying to use everything up. I think stocking up on pasta,rice, toilet rolls etc when MrT was doing £5 off when you spend £30 has really helped I just hope they will be doing that again soon so I can try and stock up again.
Right must try and catch up with the posts.

Kiwisaver_2

Well I planned to split the remainder of my budget over the next two weeks and spend $50 or less today, it's getting very tight, but it ain't over till it's over.

So I spent tonight $54.02 and believe me, there's not alot there. Most expensive thing $11.50 for a piece of corned beef, which I will cook in slow cooker tomorrow and should see us through at least three days dinner with homemade bread and some new potatoes and salad. Felt like such a saddo counting the potatoes into the bag as portions, so I only got exactly what I would need.

However, I did buy any extra pack of coffee which will last for the next two weeks and a whopping 500g of cheese, because it was on offer and only 50 cents more than the 250g I usually get. Also going to split the pack of mince into two portions, make spag bol for dinner tonight and save the other half for stuffed peppers next weekend.

No way am I going to spend less than $50 next weekend, still have to buy a few beers for party, but hey ho onwards and upwards, it would be all too easy to give up and I'm not admitting defeat just yet. :T

[Deleted User]

Well its the end of the 4 week month for me today, and I have £3.78 left over to go into my holiday pot, not bad out of my original £44.00.I am very pleased at how much I have cut back on stuff and now only buy stuff if its really needed and not just because I'm in a shop. I have found it so much better to put my monthly amount in a special food purse and only take enough to cover what I specifically need when I go to the shops.
So my jan-Feb amount is going to be £40.00 for four weeks so fingers crossed all will be well.

yummymummy05

I love this grocery challenge! - I have run out of bread, ham and corned beef so no sadwiches for OH next week I'm going to be creative I still have 4 portions of leek and potato soup in the freezer and a little bit of cooked gamon, and a boiled bacon joint, and I have cheese and salad in the fridge so will use that instead. In my pre-OS days I would have just gone out and bought some more - and then wondered why I have no money left at the end of the month!

Was proud of myself last night; I had bought a kilo of mince before starting the challenge, and previously if I made spag bog it would have just about squeezed 5 portions out of it - I put more peppers/onions/ mushrooms in than normal and also about 2 handfulls of oats and got 8 generous portions!!! I was shocked!! - just had to find room for them in my freezer - ouch!

Well another NSD today as DD now has an eye infection aswel as a stinking cold! - will stay home in the warm and pick up DS early from nursary (they both keep waking at 5am!!) Hopefully they'll be so tired tonight I can get them to bed at about 6pm and have a nice evening in with OH.