February 2009 Grocery Challenge

searching_me

right im gonna get this right if it kills me...
mrs m put me down for £150 please..
i can do this i did it before with change at the end of the month, i WILL get back to that x

MRSMCAWBER

Hi all

No problem Toonie -have changed your budget,
Mummyof5 -yes you can freeze the parmesan -but it will last yonks in the fridge (once frozen and defrosted you may find it a little crumblier -but also a little stronger;) )
Orkney-Hopefully you wil be saving on laundry products, electricity, wear n tear on the washer and your back by moving to dispossible nappies ..and YES you have done well doing 20 months of washables :T

Righty ho Im declaring for this month -only a couple of days left and we have loads in ..so my spends (on the annual budget) so far this year now stand at €172.67 :j and I have loads of stuff in for future months.. especially, loo rolls, soap, pasta, xtra mature cheddar (5 blocks in the freezer), and loads of other stuff.... so Im planning on a good month for March ..
If only the cold, frost, rain, snow, frost would go away and let me get my seeds set :mad: ..... I do have the first buds on my sweet potato which will soon be slips for growing my own :j he is living on a radiator at the moment -so thats the only thing I have started..but everything else is ready to go...
We have just had cheese salad sandwiches on HM bread done in the remoska -and it was gorgeous -I have to say I make damn fine bread :rotfl: and why do the simple foods taste so good ????

Anyway -I will get back to my x stitch now...keep up the good work everyone

OrkneyStar

Coolmum66 wrote: »

Hi
Thanks Orkney Star for replying to the quetion from Reb about shopping on different days.
I use my tax credits (paid weekly) for my shopping money - so as long as I buy my usual shop (or just what I NEED) - by going a day later each week - you then end up with a weeks money "spare". When I manage this - it gets paid straight off the credit card!
I guess depending on how you budget / shop this may not make any sense or work for you - just another little idea to try??
Anyway - off to MrT tomorrow - so will pop totals up and see how we go.
Take care
Coolmum. x

Yes, sorry I kind of jumped in for you and answered . I think this is a great idea and as its only one day you don't notice so much. Although I am on a yearly target I generally withdraw my GC amount in cash every week. Because my allocated weekly amount is not an exact multiple of ten I cannot take it all out, and normally take less, letting the extra few £'s each week build up (for a bigger shop every so often probably). I am not trying to pay debts off as I don't have any, but we are on a limited budget so any spare money is always nice!

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Orkney-Hopefully you wil be saving on laundry products, electricity, wear n tear on the washer and your back by moving to dispossible nappies ..and YES you have done well doing 20 months of washables :T

Thanks MrsM, I am trying to see it as every reusable was one less disposable in landfill. It was also money saving too as I did not even pay for a lot of them. The sooner DS is potty trained the better lol.

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

If only the cold, frost, rain, snow, frost would go away and let me get my seeds set :mad: ..... I do have the first buds on my sweet potato which will soon be slips for growing my own :j he is living on a radiator at the moment -so thats the only thing I have started..but everything else is ready to go...
Anyway -I will get back to my x stitch now...keep up the good work everyone

I hope the weather behaves for you.....I am not growing anything this year, just too much bending over etc involved. We may get a couple of tomato plants at a sale later on. In the meantime enjoy your x stitch.
I spent another £3.39 in Coop today (digestive biccies, glace cherries and reduced chocolate bars) and hoping for NSD's (or at least low spend days!) for rest of week until new money withdrawn .

Miss_Liquorice

I just realised the spreadsheet I'm keeping a note of everything on, I was adding adding everything up wrong (everything spent on card was a negative figure, and everything spent in cash was a positive figure) - argh! Sorted it out though, and I'm at a much less impressive £96.46 spent of £120 - so it only worked out as spending a tenner more than I'd thought.

Need to go and get green leafy veg for the guinea pigs. I wish there was somewhere close by that could sell the kinds of stuff they eat for cheaper. I'm probably spending at least 70p a day feeding them with fresh stuff, and the whoopsie lettuce keeps disappearing at MrS before I've had a chance to get to it. Also there's an ongoing dispute in the shared flat about who's turn it is to buy toilet roll, and I may end up buckling first even though I know it's not my turn. :rolleyes:

jtb2412

Hi everyone, hope all is ok !

Had to pop to Mr S for some essentials today and spent just over £20 - have to agree with S_Wales_Saver in that everything seems to just cost so much more recently. We're well over budget and I know i'll still have more to buy before the end of the month. However, my storecupboard (stockpile) is looking good and if I took off what I've got storecupboard wise then I'd probably be well under budget !

I think i'm going to see how March goes and if I'm over that month too then i'll probably revert to a yearly challenge amount. Our costs during the summer months are going to be considerably lower due to growing our own fruit and veg so things should even out over the year.

Well done to all those managing to stay in budget and good luck for the last week of the month !

angelatgraceland

bluetimone97 wrote: »

Can I join please, hoping to save enough to get a food processor and new breadmaker (my freecycled one will not cook).
Do I just put on here what I think I want to keep to?
There are 5 of us, 2 adults, DS's 16, 15 and 11.

Will your freecycled breadmaker make the dough? Just not cook?
Ive experimented a lot with mine and the best combination Ive found is to make the dough in the breadmaker on the dough programme and then to cook it in the oven. No better combination(or shape).
Try this-if you are happy with it you may not even need a new breadmaker. Also if the element has gone in the BM it may even be worth repairing? Fitting a new element is normally simple-worth pricing up the part?
This may not be for you of course but its definitely moneysaving.
You can also ask for a FoodProc on
Freecycle. Many people have them and never use them!

Miss_Liquorice wrote: »

Need to go and get green leafy veg for the guinea pigs. I wish there was somewhere close by that could sell the kinds of stuff they eat for cheaper. I'm probably spending at least 70p a day feeding them with fresh stuff, and the whoopsie lettuce keeps disappearing at MrS before I've had a chance to get to it. Also there's an ongoing dispute in the shared flat about who's turn it is to buy toilet roll, and I may end up buckling first even though I know it's not my turn. :rolleyes:

I got my g pig greens free today! Not the norm I do admit but it is worth asking your greengrocer if they have any odd leaves/fruit/veg suitable for your "pigs". Ours was giving it away free-not a shop I use often but I go in there for eggs and I saw the free cabbage leaves. Also ask the market stallholders and any shop staff you are friendly with. Scrounge all you can-it will all help.

Regarding toilet rolls-when my dd was at uni they put in a fiver a month in the kitty for all cleaning stuff and loo rolls. Would that not work better?

skintcinders2

can you please tellme what you put in the ramekin dishes for meals please as I am so skint and a 2 weeks to go before mypension comes in and not a thing inthe freezer thank you skintcinders2 any ideas for cheap meals

Miss-spent_2

skintcinders2 wrote: »

can you please tellme what you put in the ramekin dishes for meals please as I am so skint and a 2 weeks to go before mypension comes in and not a thing inthe freezer thank you skintcinders2 any ideas for cheap meals

could you make things with a mashed potato base like leek or onion and potato with a bit of grated cheese on top, or mash with tuna with bread crumbs on top, that sort of thing. Or Eggs baked on top of shreaded veg with a splash of sauce? There is a thread called 'plate pies' which gives lots of ideas for cheap filling meals
Good luck

Miss-spent_2

OK just updated sig and have more or less made it this month although it's going to be tough not spending anymore until Thursday when I get paid.

I have had two great NSD. This morning we went on a guided 2 hour walk around the local country park which was free and then we had lunch out but OH paid so I don't count that.
Yesterday I worked at home all day and then went for another free swim in the evening.

My problem comes next week because I am working full time and want to carry on with my gyming/swimmimg each evening. I have planned and sorted out meals for OH but DS1 is so fussy he won't eat the home cooks I do. Normally he has steaks or chicken breast but i'm not buying any until next weekend.
This money saving takes up a lot of time.

kunekune

I think I have done it or at least very nearly done it! I have never gone below £550 before and I think I will come in at low £400s. Today's shop from Waitrose was £90 for the food bit (there was also wine, but that's not in the budget for food) ... and yes, I do round it a bit, but it's a budget by desire not necessity and I can't be arsed being too precise. We've run out of a few things and I was trying to persuade DH we should just do without them, but they're not a biggie.

I must be the first person ever to cut their grocery bill by shifting to Ocado! I think the reason is that I really like their own brands, so I'm down-labelling. They might cost a bit more than other people's own brands but if we weren't ever using those, that doesn't matter, what matters is that they cost less than the branded stuff I used to get. It's hard, y'know, being a food snob (snortle).

I will also end the month with a fair amount of meat still in the freezer: I reckon that I will still have 2 packs of sausages, 2 packs of mince, 1 pack trout, chicken livers, pork spare ribs x 2, chicken drumsticks x 2. And maybe some other stuff I've forgotten. I'm just delighted.