January 2009 Grocery Challenge

cw18

Just finished reading the thread from the top -- and wanted to say

Welcome to all the newbies :T

I've only completed one month of this so far (October) due to a change in home situation half way through November -- when I opted to withdraw until 1st Jan, rather than pile additional pressure onto myself trying to keep up with this through a rocky time. I'm sure you'll all feel as welcomed as I did back then

I'm pleased to say that I've still found myself checking and double checking prices in the shops before buying though, and have automatically found myself looking for cheap meal options for a couple of days after cooking something 'expensive' (for which read over £1/head!)

I'm glad to be back though

Miss-spent_2

sistercas wrote: »

my aim this week was not to shop between xmas and new year and so far so good :A

Me too and ASDA is shut on the 1st so I willl not go until 2nd
I have a slightly different challenge to meet because I get £200 worth of ASDA vouchers a month. My husband gets these at a slight discount from work, I think he pays £193 for them. I would like to set my self the challenge of spending only £50 per week on food and houshold goods, using these vouchers. Shopping days will be 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd Jan.
My son works for ASDA so I get 10% discount
This is for 3 adults and senior cat

MRSMCAWBER

Miss-Spent...

Don't know if this makes sense but here I go....
Do asda still do stamps? if so could you use some of your leftover vouchers to buy stamps towards next xmas (sorry to mention in allready folks:p )...because didn't you used to get 2 free stamps with every card filled up???
If my mad ramblings make sense (and it will be a 1st if they do :rotfl: ) then you are gaining a little bit extra
right I will shuffle off with my waffling

Kulakman

Hello everyone
I have been lurking for a while and would like to try the grocery challenge. Just me and dh but sometimes we seem to spend far too much and don't seem to get a lot from it. We are both trying to lose a bit of weight so I have been doing much more meal planning (home made soups and healthy veg meals) but still end up throwing too much stuff away. Please can you put me down for £300 from 3rd - 31st January.
Some really interesting comments on here - thanks!

sharronej

angie_baby wrote: »

Will get some frozen veg too. Is Icelands any good for this? Anyone got any recomendations for cheap frozen veg thats good?

Angie

Hi I've discovered Farm Foods this week and most of the veg is 39p for 750g exceprt for the Broccolli and Peas which were 99p

Julimk

I know I said I would try & stay out of the supermarkets while I had DD with me, but she needed some new pyjamas, so we popped into Mr T quickly for those & I picked up 4 chicken breasts for £1.40 and a large pizza for 80p.

Previously I had picked up some packs of 250g beef mince for 90p each (not a huge reduction, but every little helps …) & today I have batch cooked 8 portions of bolognaise sauce from 250g mince & 8 portions of chilli from 250g mince; didn’t even add any lentils! :rolleyes: Did use 100g of soya mince in each though plus 2 cans toms in each & food processed some carrots, celery & onion for each, then added ingredients as appropriate.

Still had some portions in the freezer from last month. We used 2 portions of the bolognaise sauce for tonight’s spaghetti bolognaise. I have 24 portions of HM ‘ready meals’, 8 portions of HM soup (3 varieties) & enough meat & fish in the freezer for at least another 60 meal portions!

So really do have enough food in for the rest of the month, other than a few fresh bits. Will still keep an eye on the reduced cabinet though.:D

angelatgraceland

angie_baby wrote: »

Ok, ive changed mine now to £20. Have gone through all the cupboards and freezer and think i can do this until the 29, it will be a long month but worth it as its DS birthday on the 22nd. Have managed to meal plan from the freezer until the 29th. Just need some eggs, veg, fruit and milk. Will get some frozen veg too. Is Icelands any good for this? Anyone got any recomendations for cheap frozen veg thats good?

Angie

Iceland is very good for frozen veg as is Lidl. Just don't buy Iceland frozen roast pots as they are full of oil! Lidls or Asda own cheap ones(about 69p-79p) are fantastic tho and so are their wedges.
Check the weight on the packs wherever you buy them-sometimes they look the same but are up to 200g difference.
Iceland often have their frozen veg with 25% extra free so this is when to stock up(I used to work for them).Iceland mashed potato is excellent-just as good as Aunties!

sharronej

cw18 wrote: »

Just finished reading the thread from the top -- and wanted to say

Welcome to all the newbies :T

I've only completed one month of this so far (October) due to a change in home situation half way through November -- when I opted to withdraw until 1st Jan, rather than pile additional pressure onto myself trying to keep up with this through a rocky time. I'm sure you'll all feel as welcomed as I did back then

I'm pleased to say that I've still found myself checking and double checking prices in the shops before buying though, and have automatically found myself looking for cheap meal options for a couple of days after cooking something 'expensive' (for which read over £1/head!)

I'm glad to be back though

Welcome back cw18 and all the best for 2009

jackiegibbo

Miss-spent wrote: »

Me too and ASDA is shut on the 1st so I willl not go until 2nd
I have a slightly different challenge to meet because I get £200 worth of ASDA vouchers a month. My husband gets these at a slight discount from work, I think he pays £193 for them. I would like to set my self the challenge of spending only £50 per week on food and houshold goods, using these vouchers. Shopping days will be 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd Jan.
My son works for ASDA so I get 10% discount
This is for 3 adults and senior cat

Is it shut??mines is open on the 1st

JayJay14

MrsM - ASDA do savings cards now, you put money on and you spend it by swiping the card - looks like a credit card lots of shops have them over here now.
Jackiegibbo - our ASDA is shut on 1s my DD works there and she thinks they are all closed that day.