February 2009 Grocery Challenge

OrkneyStar

tessie_bear wrote: »

hi....i went back to the local coop and got the chickens i was rambling about and they had been further reduced as had sausages...so im going to keep an eye on things now as they seem to be reduced in stages

I think the Coop broadly do (or used to) 25% off the night before, 50% off at lunchtime, 75% off by 4-6pm-ish, then reduced to very cheap (10p/5p) near to closing time. Beware end of night whoopsies with tomorrows date may only be slightly reduced now, and will have further reduction tomorrow. Bread will have, eg, use by 15th (2) meaning that it has to be reduced 2 days before this date, whereas other things like milk just go by the actual use-by. Some things, eg dried fruits, crisps etc, will be slightly reduced earlier on, say a week or so, in some cases. I have worked for the Coop so have memories of how it was all supposed to be done!
Other stores will have slightly different policies.
hth

TrixieB

Storing leftovers/batch cooking - do you have a £stretcher/Instore shop nearby? They sell plastic cartons ideal for freezing ( like the chinese takeaway cartons they all seem to use these days) and also the old style foil ones with card tops - although I prefer the others as can see at a glance what it is ( suppose could write on card tops of others though! doh!)
I got a pack of ten plastic ones for £1.50 iirc.

Just about to enjoy a bowl of hm soup - tin of toms, 2 manky sweet potatoes, can of butter beans, two wrinkly tomatoes from the fridge drawer, generous grinding of chilli/garlic mix and s&p - blended till smooth - then remembered I had a packet of bacon lardons needing used asap, so fried those off till crunchy and have added those to blended soup. Mmmmm my mouth is watering now, roll on half 12! Ryvita with mine and bread with the others'.

Spent £1.00 on mouthwash, away to update.

rachbc

Ok so thats 17 dinners, lucnh and breakfasts. I'd start by going through your cupboards and freezer and working out what can form the basis of meals. I use smart price/ value nappies overnight for my recently potty trained dd and find them great. Use vinegar for cleaning.

Porridge for breakfast.

Soup for lunch - make a batch very few days - lentil and veg, split pea, minestrone.

Do you have a market you can go to for fuit and veg - tons cheaper than supermarket. Also if you live near super market go about 8ish for reduced fruit and veg.

good luck - you can do this I'm sure

OrkneyStar

Just a quick one, don't buy expensive baby wipes.
Cotton wool and water works fine, even cloth made from old clothing/towel and water would be fine too. You can add a little olive oil/shampoo (a drip) to the water.
I love the smell of wipes and I do have a pile of them, but am using sparingly and once they are gone I will only buy for out and about.
Also check out Lidl/Pound shops/Tesco etc for cheap shampoo etc which would be fine for the interim.

sazzledazzle

Well didnt quite keep me quick pop to Mr T to under a fiver but not far off. Spent £7.58 and should only need to spend about another £3 before the end of next week, when I get paid and I can do a big shop.
Have worked out my first three week meals for after payday and then written a shopping list from what is on the list and what is already in fridge and freezer. Hoping to dramatically reduce my food bill next month, as wages will drop about £40 and would like to cover this missing money by reducing food shoppin.

SunnyGirl

Not been posting much but have been reading avidly :T Have just updated my sig with todays spend in Netto £76.76 so very pleased. Meals all planned out for the next week so the only thing I'll be buying extra is milk & bread as I don't have a big enough freezer yet to store surplus :cool:

Catch up with everyone else later on!

xx_Jo_xx

katholicos wrote: »

Buy a bottle of stardrops (80p or thereabouts) and you can forget about buying a lot of other household cleaners.

Where can you buy Stardrops?? - Ive seen it mentioned in a few threads and cant seem to find it anywhere!!

To be fair, it doesnt really help that I am not sure what I am looking for!! :rotfl:

xx

orchid-96

Just popped on here to ask a bit of advice, I made some banana muffins yesterday and although they taste ok, they didn't rise very well and sort of just 'spread out' into each other.....Does anyone have any ideas on why this might happen? I weighed out the dry ingredients, then added the wet ingredients (including melted butter) and then the mashed banana..could I have overstirred it? or does this make no sense? Just thought I would ask as I would like to try some chocolate ones next...

glad I don't have any of those co-ops near me, I struggle to get to the shops with the kids and the thought of all those reduced bargains and me not able to get to them would kill me :rotfl:

Re freezing lasagne/cottage pie....I tend to freeze the meat mix and then use that to make up the meal when I want it....but I am a bit fussy and find that otherwise the lasagne/mash doesn't come out that great from the freezer......but thats probably just me.....If I have leftovers fully made up, I usually put it in the fridge covered and eat it the following day (or even maybe the day after )

By the way, does anyone else get quite excited at the prospect of doing a big shop (that has been planned in with the gc of course) Probably just me though!

orchid-96

egon wrote: »

I needed eggs and spend £2.82 at the green grocers.I also bought some bananas. I like going in there, as it stops me spending too much, as their fruit and veg are lots of money.

We ended up having 7 kids for dinner. So they had tiny toads with magic mash and peas. It went down a treat. And very inexpensive.
DH and I are now having Take away later, when he gets back from rugby coaching.
We usually eat together, but with 7 kids at the table..............

Was going to say, I know we are all suffering with the credit crunch but 7 kids for dinner is a bit excessive :rotfl: :rotfl: what are tiny toads by the way..they sound yum.

clairelouise100

Stardrops was in my local Wilkinson last week. Its with all the cleaning items its a goldy yellow colour liquid. x