September 2009 Grocery Challenge

tessie_bear

hi....hope all are well...we are enjoying lovely weather here...planning a barbie for tomorrow so hopefully it will stay nice...had a bargain in tesco today...got a coupon with free paper for £1 off a whole chicken...used club card points voucher and ended up paying 50p for a huge free range chicken...so im going to use it on the bbq...not whole;) but chopped up...spached maybe

have a great weekend
tess

ps i would have liked to offer to help with the thread but it skills are even tinier than the budget iv got this month and thats miniscule:D

WelshWoofer

Back from the butchers and managed to get...

2 very large chicken breasts diced (will be enough for about 6 meals)
4 organic sausages
1 steak burger
1 chicken parcel stuffed with sausage meat
1 big lamb kebab
1 big cajun chicken kebab
big scoop of steak mince (enough for 4 good portions of spag bol/chilli)

all for £15 - I thought that was very good value as the meat is all free range/organic and locally sourced.

That should keep OH in carnivorous activities for a while!

highland_fling_2

Hi everyone,

Good luck Mrs. Mc with op and thanks to everyone who offered to caretake. I would be lost without all the advice I receive on this thread.

I am going out tonight for dinner with friends so that will be quite a big spend. Will try to take it out of GC but if things are too tight near the end of the month I will transfer money from other budget. I know it is a bit of a cheat but don't want to leave myself short and I have to go tonight.

I always fancy what everyone else on this thread is having for dinner. It's like walking round the supermarket and being tempted. Someone mentioned bacon and leek pasta and I am going to make that for tomorrows dinner and the pasties sound delicious. Will definitely try them next week.

Hope everyone has a good evening.

freakyogre

I went over to my dad's this morning via my car dealer as needed to pick up some parts. My dad then very kindly fitted a new washer pump to my car (in time for MOT next month...blah!) and touched up some damage to the paintwork.

We then went shopping and I got some apples, grapes, raspberries and some chillis for about £4...didn't get a receipt, so not sure on the exact amount though. I picked up some things while in the other shop (some plastic boxes for food, cloths, a bookmark and screenwash) and my dad grabbed it and paid. Grr! Not happy as he also paid for lunch so I owe him next time.

My brother and sister are coming over tomorrow so i'll try not to buy any rubbish in town, although do need a few bits for meals next week, so will make a small list later.

So £4ish spent on 'groceries' but including car stuff it's over £50 :eek:

victoriaplum1

Oh crumbs! I have realised I need to be spending no more than £150 from October as income falling dramatically...is it possible to get food and toiletries, nappies and related baby stuff for that per month...and if so does anyone recommend one supermarket over all others...I dont have time to shop around and when I do I end up buying more as more temptation...am reall panicking.

Angelfeathers

Hi! Finally made time in my busy schedule to pop here an update! :-)

If anyone was interested, the fig rolls were a success, though DH said the pastry was a bit heavy in comparison to bought ones. Hmm. Bit of a homemade thing, that. Still, I'll try a different recipe next time and at least he's eating them. What's stranger is that I am too and I've never liked the shop ones!

Been doing a fair bit of spending:

Weds - milk from corner shop - £2.90 for 2 x 4 pints! They're so cheap!

Thurs - pills & shower cream from Wilkinsons (including almost BOGOF on Radox) - £5.36

Today - sunflower seeds, wheatgerm & a cereal bar from Holland & Barrett (BOGOF on Neal's Yard stuff) - £6.43

And a sandwich and a 'Dine in for £10' meal from M&S - £11.60. I've never bothered with that offer before, but wow, I got a good deal - a chicken worth £7.26, Mediterranean veg worth £2.49, 2 choc pots worth £2.99 and a bottle of Froglet Chardonnay worth £4.99 - making a saving of £7.76!!!!

This brings my total for the month to £65.59. Which sounds amazing, but I will be doing a pretty big Tesco shop tomorrow as I've got several Daily Mail vouchers from my parents which need to be used this weekend. Still, I'm feeling very proud with our lack of spending so far!

cw18

victoriaplum1 wrote: »

is it possible to get food and toiletries, nappies and related baby stuff for (£150) per month

I'm sure it must be if you're careful, but it would depend on a number of factors...

for starters......

how many are you catering for?
if still a while to go in nappies, have you considered getting cloth ones?

Cloth nappies weren't my favourite thing, but I used them when strapped for cash while on maternity leave - then went onto disposables when I was back at work, but still used cloth ones at weekends and overnight if things were getting tight towards the end of a pay month!! But (from what I've heard) they've come a long way since then, as that was 20 years ago

helen_jelly

Hi everyone

Just wanted to say thanks for all the mesages, I shall be calling for help if needed [very loudly]

Also wanted to say that I'm very impressed with the friendliness of all you people - especially how you encourage each other on so thank you and well done

Helen x

Fire_Fox

victoriaplum1 wrote: »

Oh crumbs! I have realised I need to be spending no more than £150 from October as income falling dramatically...is it possible to get food and toiletries, nappies and related baby stuff for that per month...and if so does anyone recommend one supermarket over all others...I dont have time to shop around and when I do I end up buying more as more temptation...am reall panicking.

You don't have go to several places each week to get the bargains. Check MySupermarket for the offers in Asda and Tesco, and the Lidl/ Aldi threads on the Groceries board for offers there. Then every time you need a shop you go to the one you think has the best deals.

I mainly use Asda as I find it cheaper, but head to Tesco when I have plenty of Clubcard or newspaper vouchers. At the moment you can get £10 off a £50 Tesco online shop, and £10 from a cashback site on top if it's your first Tesco home delivery. Use a list and take cash to the shop then you can't overspend with a card.

jackieglasgow

Angelfeathers!

To make that pastry for the figrolls a bit lighter, try using self raising flour, it makes pastry lighter without too much effort. The other thing is that you might be overworking it a bit, oh and you could also substitute half the sugar with icing sugar, for a lighter, smoother finish.

HTH Jackie X