September 2009 Grocery Challenge

mooomin

slowandsteady wrote: »

P.S. How do you resist the allure of takeaways? They are a big weakness of mine but cant justify the expense really and hate the feeling of guilt about the cost when i do order one, which is more often than i should! Thanks x

I had my first one in ages the other week (Dominos) to celebrate not being redundant - I found out I had a job and was no longer at risk. I enjoyed it, but didn't enjoy the amount of money it cost.

What I do now is make sure I have one meal in the freezer (e.g. chilli etc) that can be easily defrosted if I can't be *rsed cooking. Cheese on toast also makes me happy.

slowandsteady_2

ooooh i love cheese on toast, havent had it for ages as my grill is weird to use and not very good! Oooh might have to do a makeshift cheese toastie on George forman grill methinks!

Im a big fan of Dominoes too, funnily enough they are the ones i can resist because they are very expensive especially when i know i can make it for pennies! I save having dominos till my friend comes and stays which isnt often and we get the online buy 2 get 1 free deal!

Its the local chinese i cant seem to resist! Am gonna have to keep that meal in the freezer i reckon! Since i started with the OS forum i literally never buy ready meals now, as i find them really bland compared to my own cooking which i think is progress! Also cant bare to spend the whole pound coin or so on one, i now think
'i can buy x, y or z with that pound!' Am i taking it too far?
Have even bought pudding rice the other day so gonna have a go doing my own rice pudding in the slow cooker, should be interesting!

Sorry to digress, i just LOVE this thread!

slowandsteady_2

PS Flying Fresian congrats on your job! Nothing like knowing you have job security in this day and age!

TheBees

Evening everyone -

Well I did a sensible shop at co-op a couple days ago and managed to get 3 different roasting joints (lamb shoulder, pork, and a chicken) all half price so they've gone in the freezer. (Apologies to my butcher but I couldn't resist these bargains!) Also some whoopsied sausages and bread.
We now have £1 to last until Wednesday!!!:eek:

Chewy62 - I agree with all the advice you've been given so far but would add that if you do buy crisps or small biscuits like penguins that you know the family are going to grab - I would advise hiding half away. When the first batch has all been eaten leave it a few days before you put the next lot out otherwise they think there'll always be an endless supply and just eat them faster. I have a secret hideaway in the utility room where I hide fruit juice cartons, crisps, chocolate bars, nuts etc... I currently have some cans hidden in the tumble drier!:rotfl:

Please put us down for £370 for October please

[Deleted User]

slowandsteady I do a rice pud in the SC overnight and usually do a 2 pint one .If you like it, sprinkle a few sultanas in with the rice I do as they plump up beautifully. plus by making double the amount I can stretch it out over several days ,I just portion it up in some plastic containers( like the ones you get from the chinese) and stack in my fridge .Then one night I can have it with custard,another night with prunes,another with a dollop of jam a~la school dinners
I do like old fashioned puds especially when its cold .I usually either have soup plus main meal, or main meal plud pud, means the main meal can be a smaller portion. You can tell I was brought up by a canny little scots lass during rationing can't you:)

cw18

slowandsteady wrote: »

P.S. How do you resist the allure of takeaways? They are a big weakness of mine but cant justify the expense really and hate the feeling of guilt about the cost when i do order one, which is more often than i should! Thanks x

Have to be honest and say I very rarely touched them even when I had much more money coming in (and spent as much on groceries in a year as I've now got for all my bills - though we were a family of 5 then which softens the :eek: at how much I was spending a little!), so not having them now isn't a problem here. DH was the one who used to eat them - especially after a heavy drinking session, meaning they came out of his 'pocket money' and were never counted as part of any budget I had

Have been tempted to get take-away pizza a couple of times this year, but when I look at the price lists I just shudder at how many days GC money I'd be spending on one meal...... so if I really want pizza we just have it the cheaper 'make at home' way (though I use bought cheese&tom pizzas. to which we just add toppings of choice)

Caroline73_2

I'd like to declared £276 for September (4 weeks) so £26 over budget. Not too bad as I stocked up on a fair bit of stuff we use regularly as it was on BOGOF and I have about 5 family meals in the freezer from last months budget.

I'd like to offer up £300 for October, the month is longer ( 5 weeks) and includes half term.

annie123

Helen....Declaring £205 for September, please put me down for £280 again for October

Finally got the hang of this only taken 2 years to get it down from over £500:eek:
Its a 5 week month for me next time so wont push it too far.

Saving Tips:
Only take enough cash to buy what you need
write a list and dont forget to take it:rolleyes:
Get you teenagers to stay at friends houses and eat there instead:rotfl:

Good luck for next month everyone

Janae

Hi
Update for end of month:
Am declaring £348.71 for September, over budget by £17.71. which is a vast improvement on the last couple of months.

Would like to set budget at £365 for October, still working on £80 p.week for the three of us.

Thanks Mrs M

kj

CRANKY40

This weeks total was £28.06, so my September total is £92.19. I still think I could have done better as the freezer has a lot in it, but maybe that will help next month when dh is home on leave again.