February 2009 Grocery Challenge

elly2

Evening all a NSD for us today did a full list of all food items in the house and have started to form some sort of meal plan from what we have i am going to buy a sack of pots this week and need F and V some eggs milk and marge (am thinking of doing some baking this week :j )

Julimk

I hadn’t defrosted the chicken livers, so made some of Weezl’s lentil pate instead (& yummy it is too). Also made up a batch of curry paste/sauce ready to use for the main batch cook at the weekend.

Popped into town to get my prescriptions & into Mr T for some pitta bread to go with the pate for pack-ups. Had a little bit left in the budget, so got some whoopsied chicken breasts & cod loins, which are both always useful. Too early for major reductions (4pm) but most of the meat & fish goes fairly early & still 1/3 off.

Noticed that the Willow Farm chicken is now carrying the RSPCA Freedom Foods logo.

That should now be it for February. There is enough left if need any milk, but seems unlikely as DD isn’t here! Won’t declare yet, as still a couple of days to go, but fingers crossed.

TheBees

Not doing too badly but have found that now it's half term I'm finding it hard to motivate myself to keep the routine of meal planning and preparation going.

Yesterday DD had 3 friends to sleep over so they made home made pizzas. Tonight we had FR roast chicken (Lidl). DS who I had a real go at earlier in the week because he was being so fussy actually ate all his vegetables without any fuss! :j Leftover chicken will be made into a pie on Wednesday.

Bought some cheap bacon intended for DS to have sarnies in the mornings during half-term. But when we opened it it's really chunky. Instead it'll be used for a risotto later in the week.

I set myself a personal challenge at the beginning of the year to stay away from our nearerst city until half-term. Well I did it and tomorrow I shall be meeting my friend for a much looked forward to day of looking around the shops, eating and nattering! Any money spent will come from a separate budget and not my Grocery one!:rotfl:

brummiebabe

recovering_spendaholic wrote: »

Every week I buy:

4 or 5 x 2L Cravendale milk (£6.64/£8.30) - have you tried just switching to own brand milk - Cravendale generally more expensive
pack of 9 toilet rolls (approx £4.50) - have you got a Home Bargains nearby? They do pkt of 18 loo rolls for £2.99 - and they're not bad at all - I don't like the value stuff either, but these are actually fine!
2 packs of kitchen roll (£2.10)
12 tins of dog food (dog has colitis and has to have the same sort) (£6.50)
2 tubs of Flora (I try and get this in bulk when it is on bogof) (£1.00)
1 dozen free range eggs (from local shop) (£1.50)
8 yoghurts (tend to buy muller on offer) (£3.00)
2.5kg potatoes (currently 69p in Aldi)
other fresh fruit (about £5.00)
salad stuff and veg. (about £5.00)
bread (currently using Aldi breadmix so £1.58)
naan bread for curry (£1)
squash (2 for £2)
Sanitary protection (me and DD1) (I buy some every week so always have on hand £4.00)
cheese - whatever is on offer (about £4.00)
Stardrops (85p)
Surf (2.60) - have you tried buying a big box when it's on offer- works out cheaper. We're a family of 5, I buy a big box of bio & one of non-bio - normally lasts a good 2 months or more (using half the powder that they recommend - it's fine!)
washing up liquid (usually get 2 for £1 so 50p a week)
bleach (usually get 2 for £1 so 50p a week)
flour (about £1)
Stork for baking (buy in bulk works out about 30p a week)
caster sugar (89p in Aldi)

Don't know if that's of any help (or already been advised - I've not had chance to read through all the posts!)

Good luck

cazspatch

thanks everyone - has given me ideas for next week!

We normally eat at parents on a Sunday so i guess our shopping would have been £45 not £50 as we dont normally buy roasting meat!

I have changed the pet food to market stall dry food now which will bring down our shop!!

I may be being a little tough on myself as we are eating healthy and not crap everyday and £50 is not that bad!!

Keep my spirits up and try again next week! Especially a couple of meat free days!!

orchid-96

Just realised I had less left in my budget than I thought :eek: so my Friday shop needs to be more like £30 ish which will leave me some to play with for next week if nec....

TheBees..Enjoy your day tomorrow

Caramia182- hugs to you hun, you sound like you are doing everything possible to sort out the finances, but am coming up against a lot of walls :mad: hoping you get things sorted out hun xx

Bitsy_Beans

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

I only buy MrS basics cornflakes, porridge and weetabix
I have veggie days twice a week if I can
I look for price reductions and freeze them
I make my own bread or buy cheap rolls
But the sad truth is the supermarkets are still increasing prices - so much for things getting cheaper in a recession
Note to all have you seen the 9p a bag increase in sugar? I am going to get a stock in - just in case

Given MrS drive on drop a brand a lot of their basics stuff is creeping up :mad:
The supermarkets are the only ones making a mint at the moment.

Good luck with cutting your shopping. You'll get loads on ideas on this board.

Tracey.32

pigpen wrote: »

Cats eat anything.. they are scavengers by nature.. They don't much like gravy as it makes their whiskers sticky but they'll wait until one of the other licks it all off then go eat the bits lol. Asda Tiger or tesco premium and kitekat if there is nothing else.. they eat mice and birds they don't care so long as they are fed!

Oh, is THAT why they don't like it?!! I just thought mine were parky little beggers!! :rotfl:

LeeSouthEast

Cook batches of the same product, then freeze what you don't use on the day. You end up building up a good assortment of ready, home-made frozen meals you can just whip out and microwave at will. The added advantage is you only "fully cook" the product once, saving gas or electricity in the process, and can buy in bulk all the ingredients you need. For me this works especially well as I can take good, home made food to work with me.

Cut down on meat. Since I began trying to live heathily, I've noticed I've naturally cut out a lot of the meat I used to eat. There's just not enough calories left in my pot to eat meat on a daily basis, and still get optimal nutrition. When I do eat meat, it's as part of a healthy dish, such as a spicy vegetable stir-fry, in which I'll throw in a couple of diced chicken breasts for variety. Buy bog-standard mince (forget the lean nonsense) and just drain the fat off yourself. It only takes a moment and you'll save £££.

Go shopping late at night. You'll be absolutely amazed at the discounts available. It's almost criminal.

Plus everything else everyone else said

narabanekeater

use quorn mince instead of meat
Its a pound a bag in asda and tescos at the moment
It makes loads so easily 2 meals for the 2 of you and best of all its very low on WW points
I do a shepards pie and a mince cobbler with less than a pack to feed 2 adults and a hungry baby