September 2009 Grocery Challenge

Angelfeathers

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.

Nappies - I would definitely recommend cloth (especially if your baby is over about a year old as they will then last for *years*) but obviously if you haven't got any already you're not going to be able to afford many on a tight budget.

Otherwise, have you tried Freecycle for baby stuff? Our local one does a roaring trade in toys, clothes, baths, potties etc.

Angelfeathers

jackieglasgow wrote: »

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

Thanks, Jackie! Tbh, the dough did come out everso wet and floppy, and is even now pretty soft (which I personally like, but DH doesn't *g*) so I might have got the proportions a bit wrong.

Your suggestions definitely sound like they would help so will try next time!

turbo5019

I just had to post to say I have found the yellow tickets :jfor the first time since I started the GC last may. I normall find 1 or 2 but tonight I got £35 worth of meat for £8 :T I never seem to go at the right time but I had to take something back to MrA and as I left my DH said you are not to buy anything as we are about £20 off my budget. But he has forgiven me. Lokks like I might be doing some bulk cooking tomorrow.

I have 2 tuna steaks which have been in the freezer for a year don't know why I bought them, (Well I do they were 30p) any idears on how to cook them?

Julimk

After 3 NSDs in a row, I had a small spend of £7.54 today & £5.60 of that was raw king prawns! (whoopsied with 1/3 off). I wanted raw ones, even though they are more expensive, as they are more versatile that the cooked ones & less likely to end up over cooked in the final dish. Also I can freeze them raw & still freeze any cooked left-overs, so I got 2 big packs & am quite pleased!

Actually I have a lot of fish in the freezer already (salmon fillets, tuna steaks, cod loins, sea bass fillets, lemon sole fillets, whole mackerel & a bit of smoked haddock!) so we may be eating a lot of fish between now & Christmas. :rolleyes:

Still over £30 in the budget & only 10 days to go; have 2 joints for the 2 Sundays (beef silverside & leg of pork), which are both big enough to do me & DD at least 3 meals plus over 60 HM meal portions already cooked up.:o So can’t see me needing more than milk, yogs for DD’s pack-ups & a bit of fresh fruit. So should be OK.

cw18

The couple of times I've had tuna steaks, I grilled them like I would salmon.

Not sure if that's the 'approved' way of doing them, but I was trying to get different fish onto the menu so picked up whatever was on offer and did what I thought was most likely to get it eaten :rolleyes2

Botany

Ops forgot to post my total yesterday....

so.... went to Waitrose yesterday and spent 18.55
...then I went back today and spent another 16.09
...leaving a monthly spendable budget of 135.29

I have a serious, serious addiction to Waitrose I tell you.... just as well I'm doing the challenge this month, as this is really 'bringing home' how excessive some of my spending is. I will get there, it will take dedication but I can succeed if I try (I hope!)

:j ... runs and joins Waitrose Anonymous.... :j

LydiaJ

Succumbed to kids' pestering for chocolate after dragging them round several shops looking for clothes, but kept it to less than £2 for all three of us. The rest of today's spending wasn't food related, apart from my round in the pub after work, so monthly total still on track.

wannabedebtfree_2

I know we're 11 days into September but I would like to join the challenge, I have been keeping a spends diary since the 1st so know how much I have already spent on food so can I set my budget at £200 please?? I really need to rein in my food shopping cos its my most erratic spending, this challenge might force me to focus on planning properly........well thats the theory!!

Money_saving_Diva_2

Morning all! :wave:

JackieO - hope you enjoy the pasties when you get around to making them!

MrsM - hope all goes well with your operation.
Turbo - well done on finding the yellow stickers! Isn't it fun?
Botony - I love Waitrose too but had to stop shopping there about two years ago as it was more expensive than any of the others. Now we just don't have one near us which is a shame as I have seen the adverts for their new 'value' range.

Making a nice big spanish omelette out of the left over pasty filling tonight which means I will have made four main meals for two people from one can of corned beef!

I added in my second Approved foods order today to my total. My OH has had a brain-wave re ordering from them, he has been passing on the details of the website to a few people at work so we can put together a bulk order and all save on postage.

I hope you all have a good day.

Diva.x

Ninno820

Turbo - I "marinade" tuna steaks in lime juice and grated ginger for a coupe of hours - then fry them so that the colour changes half way - then turn them. This sounds a bit strange but I aim for a pink line in the middle - its easy to overcook tuna but done right you can't beat a good piece of tuna.

Botony - I love waitrose as well but try to restrict myself to "offers" - that way I try something different which is now reasonably priced. An aunt of mine does her christmas day shopping in waitrose on christmas eve. Her rule is if it is reduced then that is their christmas lunch - if not she'll make do at home. One year she had one of those 5 birds in one - the next it was beans on toast - she likes the unpredictability.