January 2009 Grocery Challenge

bunnygirl007

Mrs Twinks wherever you are thank you so much for the lovely hobnobs recipe :beer: I've just made my first batch and they are gorgeous far better than the bought ones. Only one small problem.........they are still on the cooling rack and already half of them have gone!!:D

Well today I have had a NSD, Hobnobs for snacks and tonight HM tuna fish cakes with sweetcorn and peas. I didn't have any cooking oil and I find they sometimes fall apart when I shallow fry so I squirted them with that spray sunflower oil and baked them in the oven. Cat had a spoonful of tuna too so everyone happy - well actually teenage son not so enthralled with tuna fishcakes - might have something to do with being full of hobnobs me thinks! :rotfl:

I haven't done the challenge before and I still have a week to go till payday however I've been tracking my spend so I think I can do an estimate so here goes. Mrs M please put me down for £220 for all groceries! this is for 2 and a cat!

Thanks

rosieben

Flat_Eric wrote: »

...
Im doing my online asda shop. now one pack of chicken fillets (386g) is £3.75 :eek: at £9.72 per kg. Now this chicken is on multibuy at 2 packs for £7.00.

Question ! does that mean if I buy two packs the kg price is thus reduced?
...

yes, if the price for one @ £3.75 is given as £9.72 per kg, then the price per kg for 2 packs for £7 will be less.

Flat_Eric

some of you have been talking about the food programme from dispatches - The true cost of cheap food. I missed it :mad: but have checked the radio times online and I am pleased to report that it is repeated on Monday as follows

The True Cost of Cheap Food


Monday 26 January
11:05pm - 12:10am
Channel 4
Documentary. Food critic Jay Rayner examines what goes into budget food products and asks why low cost often means low quality. Enlisting the help of Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal, Jay discovers some of the tricks retailers use to make products look more attractive and finds out just what goes into a 5p sausage. Jay argues that, given their market dominance and huge profits, supermarkets have a responsibility to provide more nutritious, cheap food in tough economic times.


and of course an hour later on c4 +1

mumzyof2

Flat_Eric wrote: »

some of you have been talking about the food programme from dispatches - The true cost of cheap food. I missed it :mad: but have checked the radio times online and I am pleased to report that it is repeated on Monday as follows

The True Cost of Cheap Food


Monday 26 January
11:05pm - 12:10am
Channel 4
Documentary. Food critic Jay Rayner examines what goes into budget food products and asks why low cost often means low quality. Enlisting the help of Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal, Jay discovers some of the tricks retailers use to make products look more attractive and finds out just what goes into a 5p sausage. Jay argues that, given their market dominance and huge profits, supermarkets have a responsibility to provide more nutritious, cheap food in tough economic times.


and of course an hour later on c4 +1

Hoping i remember to watch this.. (if anyone sees me online and remembers let me know lol)

lauradora

spent another £6.56 today in aldi...I have been a bad girl new total £60.11

SAV3R

Just watched the Dispatches programme, found it quite interesting. I have to be honest though at the moment we do not buy much in the way of the cheap brands. I do buy supermarket brands just not much in the value. I try to buy what I hope are healthier meat products and where possible stretch the meals. I am not judging anyone on here, If I were in some of your situations I would have to adjust accordingly. I think it is disgusting that supermarkets are able to take advantage of people who can't afford differently.

Did a pretty big shop last night, went to Farmfoods for a few things but spent a bit towards next month, had a voucher for £2.50 - not a lot I know but it all helps - we look like being well in budget so thought I'd fill up while I could. Also went to Mr M's - noticed they don't seem to have any where near as many offers at the moment. Almost got ripped off buying coffee, the sign said 2for £4, I knew we would need next week so duly put 2 in my trolley, got to the checkout £4.98 each, didn't realise they were the wrong size for the offer, 100g sold out so restocked in their place with 200g, I left them there and will see what's on offer next week. Can't believe the amount individual items are increasing by, cucumber £1.28 - (3rd Jan 78p / 14th Jan 94p) how do they justify this. Don't think I will keep taking salad to work as my packed lunch much longer.

Someone recently suggested to me that I cost my meals out, this is a bit obsessive at times, but its quite eye opening. I also did a thorough stock take of my cupboards / freezer etc at the start of the month and have monitored the total we are using daily, we seem to be averaging £10.50 per day for 2AD, DS13, DS9 - this includes packed lunches for us all, cleaning and toiletries.

Rachel021967

Congratulations searching me on your little boy. You're probably quite excited now.
Well I'm so far over that I feel ashamed of myself. I'm £88.99 pounds over budget and there's another week to go. I think my downfalls were not taking into account the extra week and not having the family fully on board, plus my addiction to cola and not been very organised when going out.
I'm determined to do better next month.

TheBees

We have only £15 to spend until the 31st out of our budget!:mad: If only I hadn't spent the £11 on things that weren't on my list last Saturday!:rotfl:

I've made a list for tomorrow and estimated the prices so I MUST stick to it especially if I take cash and no cards! Normally we have a wide selection of fruit in the bowl but this week there'll only be bananas, apples and oranges! I really want to come in on target this month.:D

Really pleased that we managed to find DD12 some glasses frames in a local opticians (that she actually liked and at a good price) without having to travel 25miles to the nearest city. Not only supporting a local business but saving money on petrol, parking and the temptation to spend even more money while in a large town.:j

I watched the dispatches programme and was most shocked at the water pumped into the chicken breasts! :eek: One family tried to buy everything from the value range at supermarkets but I was more interested in the family who tried to do their shopping at the market and local shops as they also saved an awful lot of money.

miss_keep_counting

yummymummy05 wrote: »

I use kidneys quite a lot in stews/pies as they are often half the price per lb than meat.

I have a recipe for a steak and kidney stew in the SC if you'd like it - you can always the put this in a pie/pudding dish and have steak and kidney pud!!

Ooo steak and kidney stew sounds lovely! Please can you link me to the recipe (SC??) and I'll try it next time I find them whoopsied they did look a lot cheaper then most meat and there always seems to be a pack or two a week really reduced. I may see how much they are at the butchers too as that TV prog everyones talking about made me really fancy trying my localish butcher for once!

Another NSD for me, surreal concidering how much I used to spend.

Even planned tomorrow morning so I can bulk cook soup the bean recipe given to me a few days ago on here (I forget the user name!!) and leave it to cool whilst I go to the gym so I can pack and freeze it when I return, going to try and do a load of washing the same time so I can hang it after I put away the soup :cool: so proud of myself over silly things sometimes

angelatgraceland

Flat_Eric wrote: »

some of you have been talking about the food programme from dispatches - The true cost of cheap food. I missed it :mad: but have checked the radio times online and I am pleased to report that it is repeated on Monday as follows

The True Cost of Cheap Food


Monday 26 January
11:05pm - 12:10am
Channel 4
Documentary. Food critic Jay Rayner examines what goes into budget food products and asks why low cost often means low quality. Enlisting the help of Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal, Jay discovers some of the tricks retailers use to make products look more attractive and finds out just what goes into a 5p sausage. Jay argues that, given their market dominance and huge profits, supermarkets have a responsibility to provide more nutritious, cheap food in tough economic times.


and of course an hour later on c4 +1

Ive just watched this on: http://www.channel4.com/video/brandless-catchup.jsp?vodBrand=dispatches-the-true-cost-of-cheap-food
Well I gotta say-I do feel proud of myself! :j :j :j I think I can already say "I knew all of that" and I'm careful what I buy. The only thing I think I will do is to look at farm shops and butchers more if I can find any! Not an easy task where I live. We lost 3 butchers and 2 veg shops-we don't have a fishmongers and the remaining veg shops are expensive and not great quality.:eek: We do have a farmers market but Ive never managed to visit it as whenever Ive remembered Ive been working. Same goes for our market-either the weather is carp or Im working(and I only work approx 2 or 3 days a week). There is a farm shop approx 4 miles away but last time I went there they were VERY expensive, and I came out with very little.:eek: Maybe I need to devote a day to trekking around in the spring to find a better one-possibly further afield where I can visit maybe once a month. Meanwhile though I have food a plenty so no rush. Chutney was lovely with the curry tonigh so Im really glad I made it. Now I must remember to save more jars as DD wants pickled onions! Must update sig! Just posted the claim form for child tax credit for 2003 after having great trouble today in finding out where I had to post it to. The Inland Revenue had changed offices for DH employment and not told the company. Glad we didnt enquire yesterday though as they would have told us the wrong office. Well I will believe it when I see it on his taxcode or whatever as they always wriggle out of paying what people are entitled to. They really do make it difficult-no wonder there is so much unclaimed-but thats off topic and I could rant on for hours on that one!:mad: :mad: :mad:

SAV3R Yes I usually cost my meals out-a lot of them average about 50p! Now and then we do have expensive ones-£1.50-thats not cheap-its always something I bought whoopsied or on offer.
It is an eye opener and while it may seem a bit extreme initially, after a couple of weeks you just start totting up the ingredients in your head as you go along without meaning to(or is that a form of OCD).
Well anyway-Im happy to be a little eccentric! Its called personality.:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Regarding the chicken being pumped up with water you canoften tell this just looking at it-I could see the difference in colour too even on tv. They also add water to fish when you buy it frozen-expensive water!