December 2009 Grocery Challenge

franby64

Spent £6.04 today. Got T-bags from the Co-op (I like to buy Fairtrade one's), milk and 4 small, reduced Hovis loaves which I have just about managed to shoehorn into the freezer!

I've got a space in the kitchen where another freezer could go - it would be really handy - but there is just too much junk in there that needs re-homing and I can't face it at the moment...perhaps after Christmas!

elizabunny

Sunnyday wrote: »

Eliza bunny i`m not sure if this will help or not, it does depend on the exact situation.
There is more info here http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/bladder-stones-crystals/

Our GSD cross suffered from struvites when she was younger. She seemed to have a spate of bladder infections quite close together and our vet was a bit baffled by it. We had all the usual tests done etc and the vet told us we could either try the food or alter her diet or a bit of both.
In the end we changed her diet and now she is fine. The only time she has a problem is when she has really exerted herself and she passes a tiny amount or urine without noticing in her sleep but this happens once or twice a year.
This may not be suitable for your doggie but have a word with your vet.
Our hound is a huge eater so either way was going to be very expensive but we managed to cut the cost a bit.
The vet did do checks after she had been on a different diet for a while and she was fine.

She now has a more or less normal diet and is very healthy. We gradually altered her diet so that it wasn`t too much of a change for her and then over several weeks we altered it back.
She still has chicken and brown rice etc added to her food sometimes too as well as other bits and bobs.
Hope this is of some help for you.

Well i`ve done two shops, one at MrA and one at MrM so as soon as i`ve taken the extra bits and bobs off the bills that i`ve bought for other people i shall post my total spends for the week.:D
SD

Sunnyday Thanks so much for your really helpful post. It is encouraging to know that your dog was able to go on a normal diet eventually. I am really struggling to work out how we're going to manage to keep ours on the PD for upto 6 months, but her problem is quite severe at the moment. She is due for repeat tests in 3 weeks, so I guess we may get more info then. I cannot possibly include the cost the PD for our dog in the monthly GC budget, so we're going to have think how to do it.

PS. The webpage you linked is really interesting & helpful, thank you!

Hopefully another NSD for me today -so 3 in a row and no cooking today as out to dinner with family:j
Have a good day everyone!

candygirl

I vowed I wasn't gonna get any more shopping in till after the hols-i'm going Monday morning, but have just been to Morrisons and got lots of stuff for when we come back, inc a bottle of sloe gin to add to Mum's xmas box:j:jSpent £44 so well under budget, and might even be able to avoid the shops now till after xmas;):D

SaverShell

We had our first spend of the month last night. Popped to buy gerbil food and walked out with £18 worth of food we didn't really need.

We need to get better at not buying unnecessary food when we go shopping. They had big mushrooms on offer so I fancied stuffed mushrooms, so had to buy all the stuffing then my OH doesn't like them so had to buy a pizza for his tea. Really should learn to only go to the aisle where i need something and not wander round the whole shop.

£18 out of a estimate of £300 doesn't seem a lot but it all adds up when we're doing it 3 or 4 times a week plus the big shops in between! :eek:

scotsaver

Hi everyone - updated total with today's spends, looks like a lot but I have bought Booze for Xmas and had some ingredients to buy for some recipes I will be doing over the next couple of days to stash away for Xmas.;)

Dinner tonight is Aussie Pie from the Dinner Lady cookbook by Jeanette Orrey, a favourite in this house and we haven't had it for ages, shall serve it with peas & sweetcorn.:D

Hugs to those that need them , have a good evening everyone.;)

Forgot to mention that Sainsbury's are doing bags of Cranberries at half price at the moment, £1.89 - making my relish tomorrow.

thisismoneysaving

SunnyGirl wrote: »

thisismoneysaving I used to regulartly do this until I hit in the idea of making a huge batch of tomato pasta sauce at once, when I had the time, & freezing it in meal sized portions. I use 8 cans of toms which I chop up with scissors in the can, 5 chopped onions, 2 Tablespoons of garlic or chopped fresh garlic to taste, 2 Tablespoons of mixed herbs, a stock cube, salt, pepper & a couple of teaspoons of sugar to counteract the acidity of the tomatoes. Fry the onions then add the rest of the ingredients & let it simmer gently for 45 mins giving the odd stir. Then blitz if you like a smooth sauce or just pour into freezer bag lined tubs and close the tops. Once it's frozen lift the bag out of the tub so that you have a convenient 'brick' shape to freeze.

When I use it for a recipe I add chopped bacon, ham, peppers, courgettes, carrots, celery or any other veg thats around depending on which dish I'm doing Hope this helps. Play around with the sugar as if you're used to jars of Dolmio as they can be sweet. I weaned us off extra sweetness slowly HTH

I'm going to do this... I know it's something I should do.
Thank you SunnyGirl for writing it out for me - in black and white I shouldn't be able to ignore it!!

Changingme

Can you please put me down for £320 not sure how much to budget as spend christmas with family and share food cost for christmas lunch and tea so £60 extra should cover this and a few extra treats.
Wishing everyone good luck.:rudolf:

oligeo

Have brought all the stuff to make christmas cake, christmas pudding and mincemeat today, so spent £12.25 in local shop that sells dried fruit, and £20.76 in Waitrose (although £6 of that was on some dairy bits).

coffeeholic_2

£3 added to the spends for this week, we ran out of milk and a few other bits. Doing this challenge is really making me realise where our money is going and what we are frittering it away on! So I am hoping to learn a lot from doing this.

Lady1973

Hi,
Just £4.40 spends so far this week on groceries, still shouldn't need a proper big shop til the end of next week. Looking good so far.