December 2009 Grocery Challenge

albacookie

I spent £1.80 today but tomorrow I'm off to my mum's and by the time I get back it will be after payday and into next month's budget so my total is £74.86.

Very pleased to be under budget for my first month:D
See you all in Jan!

cw18

Clocked up a spend of £4.03 in A!di today

Got 1 each of cauli, savoy cabbage, head broccoli, iceberg lettuce, cucumber, bag of spuds, bag of sprouts

Still need to get cheese, milk, cream, radishes, spring onions, bread, and cold meats before I start work tomorrow (now in at noon instead of 1:30pm, so it's going to be an early morning for errand running here!)

mark55man

NSD today - busy finishing off xmas preparations, and then went out carol singing. very much in the mood for xmas now - we had to be careful - it was a combination of x factor and skating on ice !!

we even got mince pies from one lovely old lady who had seen us coming up the street - bless

merry mse xmas everyone

rosieben

I have one small trip to the local shop for milk and a couple of other bits, and then my christmas will start!! Off to ds today for turkey dinner and probably a snooze


Safe journey to all who are travelling, and a happy and peaceful christmas to all!

cw18

Just back from Mr M and A!di

Got the bits I needed, plus a few bits I fancied - and spent a whopping (for me) £26.66 in total !!

Got

Cheese : Mature Cheddar, Cheshire, Lancashire, (slightly whoopsied) Red Leicester
Bread : 1 sliced loaf
Cream : Double, Single and Thick Jersey (we're a mince pie & cream family, rather than Christmas Pud and sauce)
Cooked Meat : Ham (this came to a staggering £3.87 :eek: But it's the first time this year I've bought 'decent' deli meat - have had cheap things like Haslet a couple of times - so it's a real Christmas treat, and something we have missed at times through the year)
Veg : Spring Onions, Radishes and Vine Tomatoes
Cheese Biscuits : Cream Crackers and (2 packs of 'cos they're my favourite) H0vis Crackers
Crisps : 2 multi packs of Hula H00ps (which I remember, as the half price offer ends on 3rd Jan - shouldn't actually be needed until next month)
Milk : 2x4pt
Ice Cream : Vanilla (will shut younger DS up, as he's been without for 2 weeks or thereabouts - and it's nice with mince pies :rolleyes2 )
Cakes : 2 packs of Whoopsied jam donuts (only impulse buy of the day, which came to a total of 58p)



I'm now almost £6 over where I should be by the end of today - and I still want younger DS to nip into Mr M (while I'm working, so I can't do it) at around 2pm to check out the meat reductions for me/the freezers :eek:

Only have £23 left of my annual budget too...... so may have to get him to be very careful about what he spends, and try and get him to stay below £20!!! (Will probably need another 4pt of milk next week, and a pack of cheap ham for pizza topping - but other than that I'm really hoping we can make do with what I have in, especially as I have the bits needed to make bread in my machine if we run low)

poppy-glos

lidls yesterday, total updated.
Have all the veg in the shed as house a bit full, so am going to do a paper lined cardbox box later and layer top with newspaper to put all the veg in out of their plastic bags to help them keep.

go careful everyone on the ice, my xmas plans cancelled and a date with the fire tonight after last nights hairy driving!

Aril

Very many apologies- I have been unwell this month and consequently not kept records of my spending. I know that if I have gone over budget it's not been by much but should be better prepared next month.
A very Happy Christmas to all:xmassmile
Aril

Frugaldom

Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas dinner preparations well underway here but I haven't been for any more shopping and we aren't having turkey. I'm just doing a chicken with all the turkey trimmings instead. Clootie dumpling boiuling away as I type, trifle almost made and a lemon drizzle cake cooling, to use up some spare lemons I had lurking in the fridge. Sadly, the ducks got at my thriving lettuce/salad leaves, so the prawn cocktail may be lacking some greenery! Other than that, all seems to be running smoothly so far.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day tomorrow and doesn't over-indulge (too much ) on mince pies and fancy, festive foodstuffs.

poppy-glos

i couldn't resist a trip out for whoopsies, very pleased i went! arrived at 4 and left at 5 on a mr t shutting at 6 and the staff were fab, doing the second reductions i was able to pass them my once reduced stuff and they happily did the second reduction ( i say happily, one did very cheerfully and stopped what she was doing to help, the other said i had to wait (which i did) while he did other reductions and, then prompted by the other (as he had the machine for that type of reduction) he did them when he finished and i said thanks he said a little cheerfully 'every little helps'.

so for £19.66 i got, (think it would have been about £50 before reductions)
large bag carrots
pint whipping cream
2 bags of sprouts
bag of pears
bag of apples
10 bananas
2 packs of strawberrys
halfa cucumber
3 bunches big spring onions
4 bundles of brocolli
tub of organic mushrooms
4 corn on the cob
2 finest stir fry kits with mini corn, purple sprouting, chilli and other bits
4 bunches of coriander
3 free range chickens
1 pack chicken thighs
4 heads of celery
two swedes
finest prawns

have not had a whoopsie shop like that since the store first opened and the staff were overordering alot. am very excited about it now, but freezer is nearly full (eek), so going to cook the chicks and veggies on 26th and 27th (as have 12 mouths to feed), then will make soups or preserve what is left as i can. As house is full the shed is now lined with newspaper and cardboard, with the veg and fruits laid out, out of their plastic wrapping, and with more paper to insulate, takes me back to the whole of some upstairs rooms of grans farmhouse
being covered with newspapers and apples to keep them for the winter (although probably my shed not quite so frost free but will not leave it all there for 8 months so probably ok).

time now to sit and have a beer...

winterfrost

Did a big shop today and might just have made it under budget, but then came home to discover that the fridge-freezer has broken! Have stuffed a few things into the mini-fridge, but most of the things I eat are chilled... argh. VERY glad I had Christmas lunch last weekend!