September 2009 Grocery Challenge

russetred

Last year we bought a whole mutton and I kept a note of what we used for each meal and how many portions we got out of the beast to see if this was an economic way to buy meat.
Well here's the results:
Whole mutton cost £65
Portions 79 @83p each
Roasts 50 portions
Curries 29 portions

All the portions were generous and could have been stretched out further with added veg or pulses.The mutton was absolutely delicious,like extra savoury lamb.There was a lot of fat but the portion cost was calculated after I removed the fat.I had the butcher bone the mutton out so all I had to do was cut into joints or pieces.We reckon it lasted us about 7 months

Today I've ordered another one and this time Ive got it butchered with the bone in some joints and into chops.Can hardly wait!

turfy6

Hi can I set my budget at €300 please for Sept. I did manage €250 last month but dont want to leave myself short so will stick with the normal. Thanks

lauhen

I have had to spend 8.31 at tesco, needed the dreaded nappies (should be out of these fairly soon), a couple of bottles of lemonade, usually buy tesco's own but they had a bad batch and cleared the shelves, i did manage to use my £5 tesco voucher, which was a bonus, so this month i have spent £162.47.

i do have plenty of food in though, so if careful i should be able to meal plan really well, i enjoy cooking alot more, now that i do it all from scratch, i like making my own pasta sauces and i have come up with a shepherds pie (or is it cottage pie) that tastes yummy, i use quorn mince and chorizo, delicious. By the way i dont use quorn because i am a vegetarian, i use it because i just dont like the taste of mince at all.

lauhen

Tomorrow i am going to do my weekly top up shop which is for next week. I really want to stay in budget, i probably want to spend between £20-£25, i have never acheived this ever, is it possible, i need to buy 2 6pt milk, about 3 loaves of bread, about 3 bags of potatoes, various vegetables, cheese. It should easily be acheivable, i will do it, i will do it, i will do it.

jackiegibbo

lauhen wrote: »

Tomorrow i am going to do my weekly top up shop which is for next week. I really want to stay in budget, i probably want to spend between £20-£25, i have never acheived this ever, is it possible, i need to buy 2 6pt milk, about 3 loaves of bread, about 3 bags of potatoes, various vegetables, cheese. It should easily be acheivable, i will do it, i will do it, i will do it.

yes you can do it make sure you stick to your shopping list and eat something before you go. DO NOT GO FOOD SHOPPING ON AN EMPTY STOMACH:D

Catzpaws

I bought half the weekly shop @ Lidl today as needed to go anyway. Got tons of fresh veg, groceries and other household items for £13.96. Feel pleased with myself! Will pick up rest at weekend once I have sorted out what meals we're having next week) - obviously hoping to stick to budget!

CP x

Botany

russetred wrote: »

Last year we bought a whole mutton and I kept a note of what we used for each meal and how many portions we got out of the beast to see if this was an economic way to buy meat.
Well here's the results:
Whole mutton cost £65
Portions 79 @83p each
Roasts 50 portions
Curries 29 portions

OMG a whole mutton? Don't get me wrong, I think it's a fabulous, fabulous idea... just wandering just how big is your freezer

Botany

pixie1 wrote: »

Ive just remembered that I also brought 3 x 6 packs of take away style containers to use for batch cooking - should i include the cost of these in my total spend?

3 x $4.00 reusable food containers.

Thanks

Pix

Pixie, I'm new to the challenge but from what I have read in this as well as past threads, it is completely up to you whether you include reusable food containers etc in your budget.

Personally, I do, but only because it makes my life much easier. For most people supermarket / market shopping includes food but also things like shampoo, toilet paper, cling film etc etc. So for me personally it makes more sense to include everything "supermarket-y" in the same budget. If I then at a later stage want to go more in depth and calculate how much of the budget went on food-proper, I will always be able to do so using the receipts I'm saving.

Anyway, this is what I do but everyone is different. Depends what your shopping habits are really.

Good luck with filling your new cupboards!!!

:T

shellsmithcat

Yesterday was a NSD, however today have been to local garden centre and brought a Chilli Plant for £2.99, and a treat of a jar of Sundried Tomato and Courgette chutney for £2.79. Then popped into Mrs SF - and brought- 6pt milk £2.26, box of own brand honey nut flakes £1.82, organix fingers for baby .72p, 8 bread rolls assortment for £2, and x2 own brand toilet roll packs 9 @£2.20 each.= £10.66 so total spends so far this month -£21.73 -leaves £378.27.

shellsmithcat

russetred wrote: »

Last year we bought a whole mutton and I kept a note of what we used for each meal and how many portions we got out of the beast to see if this was an economic way to buy meat.
Well here's the results:
Whole mutton cost £65
Portions 79 @83p each
Roasts 50 portions
Curries 29 portions

All the portions were generous and could have been stretched out further with added veg or pulses.The mutton was absolutely delicious,like extra savoury lamb.There was a lot of fat but the portion cost was calculated after I removed the fat.I had the butcher bone the mutton out so all I had to do was cut into joints or pieces.We reckon it lasted us about 7 months

Today I've ordered another one and this time Ive got it butchered with the bone in some joints and into chops.Can hardly wait!

:j

Wow how do you go about getting one of these - do you just go and ask a butcher or do you have a special supplier - thanks