DFW Grocery Challengers -

second_chance

ok commencing fri im going to set an allowence of £250 then try and reduce monthly im sure our usual spend is £400 ish including nappies etc i want the £250 to cover treats to so we will see....

ozzyfan_2

I've worked out that we have £4.33 a day left so heres what we're having today. Its my 1st attempt at this but I've tried to be as accurate as I can! Majority of shopping is done at Tesco using cheapest/value items.

Breakfast
Porridge 15p
Milk 27p
Pure Orange Juice 24p Total 66p

Lunch
Egg & Salad sandwiches
1/2 Wholemeal loaf 24p
Eggs 24p
Cucumber 21p
Tomatoes 32p
A few lettuce leaves 5p
3 apples 27p
HM Carrot cake (made this yesterday hard to work out exactly what it cost roughly 10p slice) 30p Total £1.63

Dinner
Tuna Pasta Salad
Pasta Shells 16p
2 tins Tuna 58p
1/2 Lemon 10p
1/2 tin Sweetcorn 9p
Mayo 17p
White wine vinegar 5p Total £1.15 Grand total £3.44

Will be making blackberry & apple pies later after picking a fair few yesterday so will probably be having that too so will have to add the cost of that on too Ds will probably have a few snacks inbetween but its usually cream crackers or fruit so not too expensive.

Good luck to everyone with the challenge :j

elantan

ozzy fan your blowing me away i don't think i could do that for one meal never mind three....gonna have to pull my finger out

ozzyfan_2

hi el, how are you doing?

I've only just got my food shopping more under control this year, looking back now it was really bad. I used to buy 2-3 takeways each week, that alone was £44-£66 a week :eek: for 5 of us back then. Then there was trips to the bakers & supermarket sandwiches several times a week
I really get loads of inspiration from the old style forum though I am very much a lurker there I've printed off all the recipes from the index that I know I could use & keep them in a folder & this helps enormously. I still think I have alot to learn & would love Black Saturns food budget! It all takes time making changes, even if you cut your costs by changing just a couple of things a week you will get there

xx

EagerLearner

Iriahm wrote:

Hi, I wouldn't use tablets as you don't get a lot for your money - even with own brand ones (in my opinion).... i've been using sainsburys or asda's own brand powder and it seems to sort out OH's nasty footie kit and socks (HOW do they get so minging!) so it must be ok. Also its only £3 for big box that lasts us a few months (2/3 washes a week)

I started to use the gel tablets as the powder stuck to the drawer so much, and *blushes in shame* I never reeeeeally knew which drawer to use! Plus sometimes with the powder you got white blothes of undissolved powder... so lazy but so easy to just sling in a gel tablet right into the drum...

What does everyone else do? Any suggested brands? Near me I have Sommerfield and Sainsburys.

EagerLearner

I found the most amazing thing 2 weekends ago!!!

Cheapest snack lunch EVER!

Go to Sainsburys store (not online as they don't allow you to buy this online) and go to the noodle section.

There you will find their 'basics' noodles - chicken or chicken curry - at a gobsmacking 8 PENCE per packet!

Yes, you heard me right - and they're lovely with a slice of bread or two.

So for 2 people, 16p plus some buttery bread!

We buy 6 at a time now and make sure we eat one each on Saturday lunch, before heading shopping... to avoid the big lunch spend in town!

cupid_s

EagerLearner wrote:

I started to use the gel tablets as the powder stuck to the drawer so much, and *blushes in shame* I never reeeeeally knew which drawer to use! Plus sometimes with the powder you got white blothes of undissolved powder... so lazy but so easy to just sling in a gel tablet right into the drum...

What does everyone else do? Any suggested brands? Near me I have Sommerfield and Sainsburys.

I hate the powder. I am sure i dont overload but there still are white marks on the clothes.
I used gel tablets for ages but now use liquid which you put into the little ball. I use the purple persil stuff and find it great. It's more expensive than powder, but is quite a bit cheaper than the gel tablets.
And you can easily vary the amount you put in. If you're doing a half load you can't use half a gel tablet but can easily just pour in half the amount of liquid.

EagerLearner

Very true Cupid - I may well go back to the bottled stuff, I just never could get it right re the white marks! Can you get refills for the liquid wash? Do Sommerfield or Sainsbury's own brand ones perform well?

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the types - Bio / Non bio?

loobyloo1980

Well my grocery challenge has failed. I have until Thursday to officially fail, but my target was £200 and I have spent £245.56. It was my first go though, so maybe not too bad, and out of that has been a birthday party for my son, nappies, toiletries etc. I have tried so hard, I really don't think it is possible for us to manage on less than £250 a month.

cupid_s

EagerLearner wrote:

Very true Cupid - I may well go back to the bottled stuff, I just never could get it right re the white marks! Can you get refills for the liquid wash? Do Sommerfield or Sainsbury's own brand ones perform well?

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the types - Bio / Non bio?

I've had no problem with white marks and the liquid. Only the powder proved a problem for me.

I shop at asda and tesco and there was very little difference in price between their own brands and the persil (maybe that was on offer at the time). But when asda own brand gel tablets were on offer i bought those and they were brilliant so I imagine their own brand liquid would be as good.

Dont really understand what you mean re refills though