January 2009 Grocery Challenge

SAVVYMUMMY_2

Good morning, just quickly updating sig and catching up with posts.
A NSD for me yesterday, but will have to get a few bits down town today and next week.
Doing pretty well so far with the budget, but will be lowering this for next month, as I think I can do alot better.
I have brought bulk meat items this month from the butcher, which i`ve never done before, as a trial and is cheaper in the long run.
So next month should be cheaper anyway and haven`t decided what my new budget will be yet.
Well done to everyone no matter what they have or haven`t acheived. I`m holding out til the end of Jan as I`m 01-31 jan. Should be alot better next month as it`s shorter aswell.
Catch u all later.
Savvy

rockie4

I went to Asda last night and spent £29.98, not bad when I'd budgeted £30 Hopefully I'll last until payday now with just a bit of milk and maybe a bit of fruit/veg.
I'll declare properly next week - the weekend always seems to have a few suprises:rolleyes:

orchid-96

Have been to Morrisons this morning and am of to Asda in a minute as I also need to look for something for ds birthday in 2 weeks....Morrisons are doing good deals at the moment on the chinese stuff....I got 4 bottles of tiger beer for £2 pack of prawn crackers for 40p 2x packs of veg spring rolls for 50p each and some stir fry sauce that we love (hoi sin and ginger sharwoods) for 75p - didn't fancy the ready meals that are in their offer so as I have noodles/rice/veg in I am going to pick up some bean shoots in asda and have a chinese night with dh and ds tomorrow....Spent just over a tenner so will update my sig after my asda shop - I was pleased as in morrisons I also got a quiche on offer (usually prefer my own but it was a nice one for £1 that will be the main part of a meal for all of us) and they have chick kieves from the chiller for £1 also (dh and ds love them) so as well as a whoopsie avocado, a bag of kids apples, 2 garlic baguettes and a lump of stork (to make twinks hobnobs with) I think I did pretty well!!


Sharonnej, that programme last night didn't focus on anyone/thing suffering for cheap food, only that the supermarkets are pushing their value ranges and how poor some of that food is (mainly pies/sausages/mince) and how they could improve the standard of that food by quite a bit by spending just a penny or so more per product...and it also had families on their trying ways to cut their shopping by using the value ranges or shopping in local shops....it was quite interesting really, but not at all condemming (apart from the supermarkets with all their profits etc.) The family that was using the value ranges (from the big 4 supermarkets) did pretty well with the stuff they got as they didn't seem to rely on the convenience stuff....

Anyway sorry for waffling,,, well done all who have completed January under budget :T and well done everyone who are getting there.....I am going to stick to my budget of £200 for Feb as although I am a fair bit under at the moment and should come in well, I did have a lot in to start with and to be honest we would usually have had at least one takeaway but were treated to one in Jan so didn't have to pay....have also been fed by mil on a couple of occasions but she is going away in Feb (cruise) so this will not be happening.....Thanks

elizabunny

sharronej wrote: »

I haven't watched the programme so forgive me if I'm about to say something outrageous but we all have to feed our family in the best way we can. I used to buy all organic or at least free range, supported local businesses and had a veg box delivery but over this last couple of years it just hasn't been possible for me and there's only so many times you can say I'd rather do without than buy the eggs (for example).
.:think:

Totally agree with you on this -everyone has to do the best they can with what they've got

NSD for me today hopefully -just hanging on to my £2.88 for a bit longer. I'm going to raid the freezer for tonight's dinner.

Have a good day everyone!

jtb2412

Just popping on to see how everyone is doing and update sig. Well done to everyone - those who have come in under budget and also those who haven't, you've probably still achieved to spend much less than you had been doing :T

Popped to our local 'discount' store this morning, am making the most of hubby 'working from home' and being able to shop without the kids and weekend hoards. Our discount store is a cross between Home Bargins and Appr0v'd Food (mostly in date but a few bits close to BB dates). Picked up some great deals for my 'stockpile' :j Heinz baked beans (4 pack) were £1 ! :eek: BB date is Jan 09 so prob why they're cheap but they'll do for me - I picked up 5 lots . Also their H0v1s bread is 79p each or 2 for £1.50. Mr T's is selling this for £3 for 3 so I got 4 and got an extra loaf for the same money :T Various other good buys too (you do have to watch discount stores as sometimes Mr Ts and Mr S work out cheaper for some things). Spent a total of 23.75 in there and have plenty of storecupboard stock for next month.

Picked up my milk from Mr S (the 1% fat that is £1 for four pints) - saves me 53p per 4 pints and we do get through a lot. I've worked out that my savings on this so far this month (may need some more before 31st) is £7.95 .

Then on the way back, we stopped at the industrial estate (fishmonger) and picked up catch of the day (sea bass) 2 for £10. Just checked Mr T website and the price would have been £15.82 for the same weight, prepacked. Ours were caught this morning . Also bought 2 mackrell (£2 each) and a bag of frozen whole sardines (£3). Now where did I put that Rick Stein cookbook :think: :rotfl:

So, we'll be having fish towards the latter part of next week instead of meat.

Total spends today = £44.75 and I think i've got about £45 left but shouldn't need to buy anything apart from maybe some more milk and bread (and possibly some fruit towards end of next week). :j

Still a week to go yet but I wanted to just say that I've really enjoyed doing this challenge and reading all the posts has kept me motivated and on track so THANK YOU :A :beer:

I'll think about next month's budget soon

CARRENA

Hi all,
well I would really like to join in here. I will do anything to save money in todays climate.
There is only me and my fella and our two huge dogs to feed. The dog food is as cheap as I can find it without permanently having them on Tesco Value goods.
I tend to shop at Farmfoods, Lidl, Aldi, Tesco or Asda. But due to the recent hike sin prices I don't want to sho at Tesco or Asda anymore- I am fed up with them now!
I do buy the Tesco Value thick bread from there though and fella eats alot of bread- 4 slices every morning!
Someone help me set a budget. Have been currently trying to stick to £35 per week and will no more shortly whether I have managed it or not. Spose it is a matter of being organised.
Can anyone give me some more inspiration on meals to be cooked- I am stuck and need some help.

Thank you to all for helping

sharronej

orchid-96 wrote: »

Sharonnej, that programme last night didn't focus on anyone/thing suffering for cheap food, only that the supermarkets are pushing their value ranges and how poor some of that food is (mainly pies/sausages/mince) and how they could improve the standard of that food by quite a bit by spending just a penny or so more per product...and it also had families on their trying ways to cut their shopping by using the value ranges or shopping in local shops....it was quite interesting really, but not at all condemming (apart from the supermarkets with all their profits etc.) The family that was using the value ranges (from the big 4 supermarkets) did pretty well with the stuff they got as they didn't seem to rely on the convenience stuff....

Ahh I see in that case I'll look out for the repeat, I don't eat the really cheap meat products as a result of seeing what's in them! I'd rather have a smaller protion with better quality sausages etc What's the difference in the Mince? I thought it was just the amount of fat?

gillst_2

sharronej wrote: »

I haven't watched the programme so forgive me if I'm about to say something outrageous but we all have to feed our family in the best way we can. I used to buy all organic or at least free range, supported local businesses and had a veg box delivery but over this last couple of years it just hasn't been possible for me and there's only so many times you can say I'd rather do without than buy the eggs (for example).

Tbh I probably wouldn't have watched the programme anyway because it would just make me feel bad if someone else was suffering so that I could buy cheaper food and at the moment there's nothing I can do about my situation.:think:

I could not agree more with you. I don't have a choice at the moment other than to buy as much as I can for as little as I can and the budget ranges are helping tremendously. Trying to keep to a budget of £200 a month to feed four adults, so I can try and deal with our debts situation and assist DS2 (in his mid 20s) who lost his job just before Christmas and has not found anything else yet.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. I had been expecting them to tell us horror stories of what goes into these foods, how detrimental they were to our health, etc but they did not. Hopefully the big stores will take note of their experiments as apparently these ranges can be vastly improved with only pennies extra on the cost.

They had two experimental families and the family who lived on the cheaper range of foods for the month did not come to any harm. They did not make any discouraging comments, other than sometimes a lack in the range of what they would like to buy, and the extra fat in the cheaper mince, but otherwise their comments seemed quite positive, especially about the fruit and veg.

yummymummy05

Well an enforced nsd for me but I've cooked a chicken casserole to be pureed for DD. and have prepared a fish pie (got the fish whoopsied at Mr A yesterday) Twinks Hobnobs have all gone - dh usually takes a couple to work but he took 5 yesterday and today and his bosses love them - good thing I bought 2kg of oats this month!!!

Mrs M - I can't remember if it asked you to put me on the list for feb but if not can you put me down for £160 please!!!

miss_keep_counting

I have a question... I keep seeing kidneys in the discount section... are they worth buying, i.e. do they taste nice when cooked, is there much waste for the weight (they say the gut the middle) or will I be better off sticking to my normal fish, chicken and now beans for protien??