November 2009 Grocery Challenge

nickynoo08

Afternoon jsut got back from sainsburys and spent a grand total of £28.44, thats £8.44 more than i intended on spending but as i'm still well in budget for the month we thought we'd try and get a head start for next month, plus i got some baby toiletries while they are half price;) and i got quadruple nectar points too:j
Right off to prepare stuff for dinner.

scotsaver

Mrsgibbs1503 - sending you a virtual hug, I think you are so right that the weather makes us feel more down.

keiss21 - Happy birthday for yesterday, glad you had a good day and it was made better with the Scotland victory (I too am a relocated Scot).

Another NSD today and after writing out Freezer and cupboard inventory we are having Roast chicken and all the trimmings today - should have been lamb as I do a 4 week cycle of Chicken,lamb,beef and pork but want to use up what we have in first to make space in the Freezers ready for Xmas - I also like to make sausage rolls, yule log etc in advance for Xmas so will need space soon.:o

The only plus side to this horrible weather is that it stops you popping out to the shops.:rotfl:

Off into the Kitchen now to start peeling veggies etc - have a good afternoon everyone.:D

JayneC

Happy Sunday everybody,

Hugs to Mrs Gibbs and belated happy birthday to Keiss too. Hope you feel better soon x

I've just had a couple of bits n peices spends. Forgot loo rolls when I went to Sainsbugs so had to get some from local shop - only 69p tho so could've been worse. Also got milk and bananas today another £2. OH got bacon and sausage for 'brunch' today but not including that cos he bought them and I wouldn't have!

We having lamb for lunch today - not had it for ages as it's usually sooo expensive but was on offer at Sainsbugs so decided to get some for treat. We will have meat and potato pie tomorrow - with mince leftover from cottage pie yesterday. And that's end of month so should be under budget. YAY!

Will post final tally on Tues.

Hope everyone has a good Sunday,

Jayne x

ariarnia

Last few bits and pieces for this month.

Bread and bagels, both on b1g1f, some pitta breads for a quick lunch on sat, with some lovely (but expensive) local ham and sandwich fillings to make it last; more marmalade, as I seem to live on the tangy goodness when the sun is gone, and lastly O got something called brawn. never seen it before, but it's cheap, looks like pate, but apparently it's soft pork luncheon meat. If we don't like it I'm sure we can cook something with it that disguises the taste...

£20 in total (just under) and shouldn't mean we buy anything else for the end of the month.

This means my first month is under budget, but there will be less in the freezer next month, so I'm going to stick at 300 for a while longer and see if I can get an average.

Roll on the (expensive) month of december.

cw18

After sleeping on the matter, I decided to go back for more of the R@gu even though it makes my budget mighty tight.

Went to A!di for potatoes first - expected that to be 59p for 2.5kg (which might just have lasted until the end of the month, but more likely not), only to discover they'd changed the offers..... I haven't got used to them changing weekly yet!! So ended up paying 79p, but this was for 5kg - so definitely enough to month end now

Then to Mr M, and they still had the specific R@gu I wanted (I get the traditional, which has a higher quantity of tomatoes per 100g than the original) - so £1.65 for 3 jars of that. But I then made the mistake of checking the Whoopsies, and ended up picking up some bacon that I might break into next month, but will more likely stay in the freezer until next year But 16 slices (250g) of unsmoked streaky for 85p (instead of £1.67) seemed too good to miss, so I bought 2 packs (refrained from taking all 4 that were there though, as we'd don't actually use bacon all that often!)

I now have £1.65 left, and will certainly need £1.09 of that for milk before month end Also a possibility I'll need a loaf of bread (47p), so really only 18p to "play with" in the next 8 days :eek:


I have everything else I need in up to and including Friday, and for the following Monday. But the weekend will be a test!!! I have pizza down for Saturday, which normally means buying a couple of cheap cheese and tomato ones then adding our own toppings. So looks like I will finally have to try out the pizza base mix I bought a short while back :rolleyes: I haven't actually got anything planned for Sunday, so guess that will mean looking through the freezers for inspiration - but at least they're pretty well stocked with an assortment of stuff, so I know I'll be able to find something

Long_tall_sally

Hello is there room for another one? This is my first post so not too sure what I am doing I'm afraid! I really need to reduce the amount of money that I spend on my food shopping which I have managed to do a bit the last few months. There are 4 of us in the house all the week (OH, me, DD aged 10 & DS aged8) plus 2 others (SSs aged 17 &15) half of it. I used to spend about £650 per month, I am a bit ashamed to say but have been a lurker on this & other threads for a while and this has really helped me to focus a bit more & I have reduced it by £50 pm for the last few months. This has been done really by shopping around all the supermarkets rather than just using Mr T's but I know I could probably do much better if I could get organised enough to do meal planning & also used up what I actually had! I have £62 left till the end of the month on my target I set of £470. I have done a store cupboard & freezer check & do seem to have quite a lot food so I am hoping that next month will be even better.
Hope this message goes to the right place! Lol!

helen_jelly

Long Tall Sally - Hi and welcome, nice to see you here. All you have to do is decide how much your budget is for December [there's no hurry for it] and let me know and then try and stick to it, yes I know, easier said than done!! Don't forget to check out the great recipes on page 1 that are hunted down, trapped and posted by Rosieben. Well done on what you have achieved so far, you've done really well. Good luck and happy no shopping, Helen.

Budgets done up to and including Ariarnia

Helen x

franby64

OK.... I spent £14.32 today...TOO MUCH! I now have only £41.94 left and I'm sitting here staring ruefully at the calendar.

On the positive side today's purchases included a large gammon joint which I'm going to use for all next weekend and I reckon I've got enough for main meals so I will mostly be buying bread, milk, fruit and some kiddy stuff like sausages and chips.

I always spend more at weekends - the week should be better!

taka

Hmmmmm my GC is not going too well this month... I seem to be spending money like its going out of fashion. :eek:

I did manage to get lots of liquid bargains today though...
4x fizzy water (2l bottles) @5p each = 20p
2x fizzy berry flavoured water (2l bottles) @39p each = 78p
2x posh fruit juice (750ml bottles) @77p each= £1.54
2x diet coke (2l bottles) @18p each = 36p
2x diet irn bru (2l bottles) @18p each = 36p
Total = £3.24

Somerfield seemed to be getting rid of loads of drink stocks and the victoria wine nearby was closing down today = bargain city!

The above along with my weeks shop (including another 3l of diluting juice :rolleyes:) was horrendous to carry home, even with a fairly direct bus. Sometimes I wish I drove... My hands still hurt and that was with 50% of the liquids in my rucksack. :rotfl:

Todays damage (£10.90) makes it £1198.64 running total for the 2009... and £121.36 left available to spend. :eek: :rotfl:

XSpender

Went to Mr M yesterday for fruit and couldn't resist some offers and treats. Got the Ragu 3for 1 and 4 mushy peas for £1 and solo pizzas at less than half price. Oh also got princess OJ at 50p which is cheaper than value! We don't normally shop in Mr M but thought there was a lot of good offers and will try doing the big shop for Dec there.

Then after Church this morning nipped to Mr S for some teabags and basics instant custard as run out of both and ended up buying a double pack of bacon for DH. I have put half of it in the freezer or he would just eat it all in the space of a week.

I am over budget but on looking at the categories I split my GC into the overspend is on Christmas stuff which means I will be able to claw this back next month.

I do not need to buy anything else before payday but will hold off posting final figs until then.