March 2009 Grocery Challenge

jintyb

Hello all!
Its official. I AM sad!
I got a card for the cash and carry today, so I went for a wee look.
I got 12 litres of Cravendale dated 21/3/2009 for £2.10 :j . I am going to make it under budget if it kills me, even tho Ive got £4 left. Only need bread and a few tatties so should make it even if its just a quid!

cw18

jintyb wrote: »

I got 12 litres of Cravendale dated 21/3/2009 for £2.10 :j

Wish I could get milk for that price -- best I can manage is 45p a litre at A!ldi !!!

Younger DS (almost 18) gets sick of me nagging not to use so much -- he could get through a litre a day without any trouble whatsoever, but my grocery budget just doesn't allow for that type of consumption :eek:

And with elder DS (20 yesterday) now home for 5 weeks, I'm going to be [strike]struggling[/strike] fighting to keep useage to under 2 litres a day -- especially Mon/Tues/Wed of each school week, when I also have both my GDs (4 next month and 5.5) here for a few hours a day




Been to Mr T today - and my meal planning is definitely paying off. There are some freezer bits I need between now and the end of next month (I've meal planned to end of April), and I knew Mr T would be a lot cheaper for them than the walkable local shops. So while I was there (had nipped into the next town for a different shop which has closed down since I last went :mad:, so hit Mr T while I was in the vicinity) I thought I'd check what the prices/choices were. Stood there looking at just what I need (no browsing for 'ideas') while trying to decide if I had freezer space to get them today -- then remembered the pork joint needed pulling out to defrost for tomorrow, which means extra space available.....

So I came home with 2kg oven chips, a 1kg bag of roast potatoes (am doing 3 roast meals in the next 6 weeks, so I got these as a treat while I know they'll get used and not buried) and a pack of 4 chicken & mushroom pies -- and they've all gone in the freezer (along with the 'extra' curry portions from last night).

But not only did they fit without me having to shuffle stuff around to make room, I still have more than enough space to freeze the bulk of the 2.5kg of carrots I got (again needed between now and end of April) :T

nickynoo08

Afternoon everyone, hope your all having a fab weekend. Just a quick update from me. Spent £6 on milk yesterday. I started making my list for my next big shop of the month too, then realised i dont need to yet. My freezers are still rammed with food. Really dont understand tho. Last month i seemed to be consantly needing to buy stuff and went way over budget and this month is the total opposite. I have to say i have changed where i shop this month i normally go to mrT's but with there ever increasing prices and decreasing value ranges i switched to sainsbury's and have to say i got a lot more for my money. Or maybe its just coz OH has been working nights and hasnt been able to stuff his face:rotfl: .Either way i'm very pleased with my spends so far this month.

russetred

Hi everyone.I seem to be spending a lot more this month i really need to stay out the shops more.I sent OH out for milk and he usually just sticks to what he went for.Ohno DD has gone with him that spells money!

jintyb

cw18 wrote: »

Wish I could get milk for that price -- best I can manage is 45p a litre at A!ldi !!!



I know, that was definitly a one-off. They had a trolley with half price items and the milk was on it! OH couldnt believe how excited I was!
Ordinarily, the cash n carry sells 4x 2ltrs for £3.48/87p each which is brill, but cravendale is £1.45 per 2ltrs.
You are SO organised you put me to shame - you should write a book!
Have a great day

fletch3163

Well, that was a much better effort. Don't get me wrong, I still had a couple of impulse items in the trolley but I spent a mere £41.97 today. I stupidly shopped whilst hungry and I find myself now with cranberries, goji berries, 2 tubs of dip, Belgian waffles and a couple of slices of dumpling. If I hadn't bought these items my shopping would have come to a mere £28!!

For the first time on this challenge I feel optimistic. My last month's shopping was near the £600 mark and I set a challenge of £450 whilst hoping against hope to be well under that. I've got my week's meals planned (and now all purchased). Hopefully all I need next week is bread and milk.

Miss_Liquorice

My boyfriend is being incredibly helpful this Grocery Challenge. He was heading out to MrS's (for him to walk there he has to walk past my flat) so he popped in and asked me to keep him company. I headed out with him and said I wasn't allowed to spend today, but caved and picked up some premade basics yorkshire pudding batter (8p! Going t give it a whirl with toad in the hole next week) and a half price sandwich (£1)... and he took them off me and paid for them, haha.

It's quite sad, I'm now getting loving gifts of basics yorkshire pudding batter...:rotfl: I don't know if this is in the long run helping my GC or not,but it's amusing in the meantime!!

Cornishpixie_2

Miss_Liquorice wrote: »

My boyfriend is being incredibly helpful this Grocery Challenge. He was heading out to MrS's (for him to walk there he has to walk past my flat) so he popped in and asked me to keep him company. I headed out with him and said I wasn't allowed to spend today, but caved and picked up some premade basics yorkshire pudding batter (8p! Going t give it a whirl with toad in the hole next week) and a half price sandwich (£1)... and he took them off me and paid for them, haha.

It's quite sad, I'm now getting loving gifts of basics yorkshire pudding batter...:rotfl: I don't know if this is in the long run helping my GC or not,but it's amusing in the meantime!!

:rotfl: I had major row with Hubby yesterday and to make up for it today (as I was still noughty), he popped in Lidl on way back and bought the shopping. Result.:D Sad thing is I prefered that to the Daffodils he bought me, as I thought shopping much more practicle:rotfl:

egon

MMMMMMMMhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this month is really going potty ........

The total spend is now £264.01.... I just hope I can keep it within £300.

Julimk

NSD here – completely & absolutely, didn’t spend a penny, zilch! 4th in a row re GC.

Will need a tiny top up shop for a few fresh bits on Monday for the last week & will have to be really strict with myself & just stick to what is actually needed. An OH buying me bits would be really nice right now!

Ran the main shop for ‘April’ through mysupermarket & got £63 at Mr S, with Mr T over £70. Ran it through again & got Mr T at £61 with Mr S over £70. Both times I selected picking to print a split shop between the 2 but only reduced it by pound or two.

Manually went through & picked out the best deals from each & got it down to £54! Mysupermarket definitely does not substitute like for like when switching stores. For example, both Mr S & Mr T do a 6 pack of crusty rolls which is cheaper than buying 6 individual rolls. But when you switch, with a shopping list that has the 6 pack, it offers 6 individual rolls.