February 2009 Grocery Challenge

sazzledazzle

I actually had real fun on Sat trying to shop on the £6 left in my purse. Went into local high street and brought from local shops I wouldnt normally bother with and the farmers market. Found that some things are cheaper than the big supermarkets, and saved money as walked and was tempted by anything else as these shops only sell the items I was looking for. £6 to spend and came home with 15p change. off to update signature now.

cazspatch

hi all tried to OS style shop this week but still spent £50 ON 2 PLUS 2 PETS

I didnt need any toiletries/cleaning products etc so where am i going wrong??

My meal plan is

Breakfast cereal

Lunch HM soups and rolls (35p for 12!! cheaper than HM)
Yoguarts and fruit

Dinners
sun roast beef
monday toad in hole, mash and veg
tues sausage and courgette pasta
weds spag bol
thurs shepards pie
fri tuna pasta bake
Sat egg beans baked beans and HM chip

jelly and fruit is snacks

I buy sainsburys basics and even spent a £5 on veg at market so how can i reduce my bill???

I found it cheaper when i bought frozen bits from iceland but am now on weight watchers and trying to eat better??

Bit confused on where to go next - think portion sizes may be one way

Thanks for any advice

MRSMCAWBER

Hi all

Another NSD... feeling rough and the snowy weather is enough to put me off going out ..thank heavens for my stockpile mentality ...... we still have plenty in and some cash in my purse -so much so that I have figured that when hubby gets paid in about a week the whole €450 housekeeping can go into my savings account :j

Thanks for asking Scotsaver... I have managed to get them to leave my op until october time (they usually get you in about 6 weeks :eek: ) -but I wanted time to get the rest of my weight off to make anasthetic and recovery easier.. plus I don't mind being stuck in the house in winter looking like the bride of frankenstein...Im not being stuck indoors recovering in summer when I want to get in the garden and do my veggies:p

right back to the sofa with my blanky n x stitch I go..
have a great day everyone:D

Zend

Spent £120 so far this month :eek: . Mind, £10 of that was on a meal out and another £15 on Valentines Day for an Indian meal set we bought at Mr M's, much cheaper than ordering a take-away. We have had a new heating system which means that we nolonger have a water tank. I'm going to paint the airing cupboard where the tank was, put up shelves and use it as my grocery cupboard, the one in my kitchen is tiny.

Ems!

Hi:D

I think £50 is pretty good...

However, my first thought was that you are eating meat at almost every meal. Would you consider eating vegetarian , say 3 times a week? That might save some cash. Things like omlettes with jacket spud and salad, veggie curry, veggie pasta bake.

Also, do you batch cook? That can save quite a bit.

Am sure there'll be some experts along shortly with loads more ideas.

angelatgraceland

recovering_spendaholic wrote: »

Thanks JennieO and Hawthorne for these suggestions. I am not sure I can bear to use value toilet paper but I will give it a go! I will try and stick to 4 cartons of Cravendale but DD1 drinks loads and loads of milk - it drives me nuts!
Sanitary protection is non-negotiable as I have terrible flooding and DD1 has a bad time too. I have to count this as a necessary expense because otherwise I have ruined bedding and upholstery and that brings more expense.

.

I have to agree with you on value toilet rolls. Personally I just find you use twice as much so it saves me nothing. However-as the kids waste it-I have value upstairs and good stuff downstairs.
Re sanitary wear-if you flood-a mooncup would be a very good investment-you need not give up your normal protection but it would save you a lot of money to use on heavy days I promise you. That is the very reason I got one. If you do consider it and have any questions feel free to PM me for any help or with any questions. Ive had mine nearly a year and never look back.
I use tesco value powder and I find it as good as anything. I only ever use half what is suggested.

tessie_bear

hi....hope everyone is well and half term isnt making too big a dent in everyones budget....weve been stuck in today waiting for an ikea delivery so nowt spent...except for the ikea money :eek: which was a bit scary...has anyone else noticed on the board there seems to be more people complaining about the cost of their grocery bill ? its bad how much prices have gone up...i picked up 2 useful leaflets in sainsburys yesterday one about using cheaper cuts of meat (shin etc) and one about all the ranges of meat and how the animals are treated...also it said they no longer sell caged eggs...or they soon wont....im not sure how this will effect prices....but is good news for chickens.......i picked up a lb of shin of beef for 51p it was reduced on the raw meat counter...i thought it would be nice in the sc

we ate up leftovers for lunch which is very pleasing ...would probably have chucked them before joining in on here

mrs m good to see u back posting....i hope all is well and goes well and u arent kept from your garden for too long tata tess

belfastgirl23

Some weeks are more expensive. Did you end up with anything left over from the ingredients you bought for the above? Also do you eat a lot of fruit, I know this can be costly if you are buying out of season stuff. Personally I find it better to even out over the month, some weeks I can easily spend £70 but then I might only spend £15 the following week...

Frugaldom

Hello everyone :hello:

Had to go into town today (and tomorrow, as it happens) and took the opportunity to pop into S€mi Ch€m where I found their sugar at 79p! :eek: :j :T This is a goldmine find for me, as the supermarket charges 93p. I only picked up 3 bags, as I wasn't expecting to have got any shopping, but have to go back there tomorrow morning and might grab whatever I can carry. I also popped into S0merfield for milk and got 6 jars of their own saver brand hot chocolate @ 56p per jar. I suspect this has have been wrongly price but it went through the checkout at that and it's just as good as C*dbury$ and half the price of the cheap Malteser one on Appr0ved F00d. As a result of my trip into town, my grocery spending has now hit £262.50 out of my £1200 for the year. What's it going to be like by the end of this week? Back into town tomorrow and then Ald! store opens on Thursday.

Will attempt to catch up with this thread tonight. Hope everyone is doing alright, don't give up if you are struggling and congratulations to everyone who is succeeding in keeping their grocery spends within budget. Roll on homegrown veggies & free freerange eggs.

starflower_2

Just updated sig, went to the co-op today to buy the stuff i forgot on Saturday :rolleyes:, Washing Powder, washing up liquid, and more bread as it's half term!!

£4.63 spent. getting dangerously close, but I'm determined to stay within budget!!!!

Baking day today, Have made a Victoria Sponge cake, 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies so i can freeze some, and brownies in the oven just now, again made a big batch and will freeze half for next week.