June 2010 Grocery Challenge

Winged_one

I finally got DH to tell me how much he spent at the weekend, so another €100 added to the total. In fairness, he went to the SM while I went to the plot. But he brought DD, and treated us as well, so a lemon drizzle cake (less than €2 though), €13 of steak !!!! (for 1 dinner - it was delish though) and a new beaker for DD - to distract her from sweets (roll eyes!). Apparently she spent the entire trip eating - he was amazed how much she was sampling at all the offers (she may be only 4, but she can be quite confident and is into food, so wants to try everything). And there are always 2 cheeses for tasting as well so she makes a beeline fo rthat counter on a weekly basis.

Oh well, at least I am doing this to try to increase the savings pot rather than from necessity. And we should still be on track at the end of the month.

This week, we BBQ'd on Sat (whoopsied burgers and butchers pork ribs from freezer) and Sun (that steak). Mon was pork chops from freezer which we made into a Chowmein with noodles (rare to do at home, but nice). Last night, my sis came over and cooked - BBQ with chicken and sausages.

Tonight, we'll have leftovers from the BBQ (yay!!)perhaps a few extra chicken wings thrown into the oven. There are leftover veggies to cook too, so I will roast those as well, and boil a few spuds.

Thurs: Prawns and rice or pasta
Fri: Spag bol from freezer, I think
Sat: Possibly a mushroom or fish risotto
Sun: Roast chicken (frozen from M&S offer 2 weeks ago)

We also managed to use up one of the tiny pieces of salmon that are floating in the freezer - DD had it for dinner on Monday. It's those sorts of pieces I would use for risotto (I have a few bits of salmon and cod floating around, just never remember to ge them out for DD's dinners).

And I used the tin of crab with a bowl of leftover msah, and handful of sweetcorn, and a handful of sprouts from last seasons HG onions (rather than spring onions) -= mixed, flour, egg and breadcrumbed, and then fried - to finally experiment with making crab cakes. We ate them in the garden on Sat afternoon for DD's tea and our "lunch" (we eat late on Sats), with some sweet chilli dipping sauce and freshly cut lettuce from the plot. Oh that worked well!!!! I'll be adding a new tin to my next "stocking up shop" list. Along with a load of tins of tomatoes as we are almost out anyway.....

And I hope that next weekend should also be a low spend weekend, as I still have lots in freezer to use up. I've another pack of whoopsied burgers if the weather stays good, a pack of mince, more prawns and some more fish bits. And I will have a couple of non-freezer storecupboard dinners too - macaroni cheese, chorizo potato bake, nasi goreng, and tuna pasta. So I may even come in under budget after all!!

ralloctiger

good morning
I am hoping to join this thread for july. What I muddled about is this budget purely food or all household stuff cos I tend to budget for everything in one shop.
We are a family of 2 adults and nearly three teens( 12 who thinks shes 16) 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 ferrets, 2 african land snails, 1 very ancient hamster and fish this sounds a lot but the two oldest girls buy their own pet food from their allowance this was a condition before getting them. So I only cover the dogs and cats!!

I think I do alright but it's interesting redaing all the posts and finding out how other people cope. My wages cover all the bills and other stuff hubby pays the mortgage (self employed ) this works fairly well but as you can imagine we all have to breath in by the end of the month . The girls are fairly savvy and when I say its tight they get it ( they are not that understanding all the time esp when there's a full moon lol)

I will keep an eye out and post when your month changes
big hugs
xx

tessie_bear

hi...looks like it is going to be another lovely day....great for drying the washing....on gc front we have a chicken im going to cook for tea...then leftovers for tea tomorrow...maybe a pie or pasta....depends how hot it is

in asda yesterday i got an iceberg lettuce x6 toms and a cucumber for 50p each...not bad i thoughtoh and i have just had an email saying wipes half price in sainsburys which might help someone

our cake tin is empty so need to think about that at some point

have a nice day
tessa

snorkmaiden

My mum had not been out shopping for years (not very mobile). My dad used to do it for her but he sadly passed away recently. My SIL and I took her to A*da. She was v impressed with the prices (biggish trolley load as bits and bobs to eat for after the funeral). However she refuses to go back again as it is the worst shop for if you are in a wheelchair. The attitude of the other shoppers is atrocious. One woman even insisted on going to the right side of us where there was little room even though to the left was a huge amount of space and didn't care that I had to manoeuvre a heavy wheelchair to move it out of her way. Most of the bu**ers in the shop expected us to move out of 'their' way and got annoyed if we interrupted them yakking in the aisles. Personally I don't think I will be back either. I have heard on these forums that a lot of people find A*da shoppers are the worst.

cw18

ralloctiger wrote: »

What I muddled about is this budget purely food or all household stuff cos I tend to budget for everything in one shop.

What your budget covers is your own personal choice.

For me it's purely food shopping, but others include cleaning products and/or toiletries and/or pet food.

hex2

My budget is for all food, non-alcoholic drinks, household, toiletries and pet food. Alcohol comes out of personal spending. It is entirely up to you what you include though.

I cracked and used my £10 off and a £9 off a £90 for a home delivery yesterday so my total is looking scarily close - on the positive side I have the household, storecupboard, snacky junk and pet stuff for the next month or so. I need chicken feed, bacon, veg, fruit and lots of milk so unlikely that I will come in under target but we are nicely set up for next month.

The eggs had been a bit short for a few days but I found 15 eggs in a little nest in a border yesterday. I did the water check and they are under a week old so need to use those up rather than give them to the neighbours like I used to! A quiche and the lovely chocolate fudge cake from the front page would fit the bill and will go down well with small boys for dinner tonight.

Winged_one

OOh, 15 eggs - that sounds like a lovely surprise Hex2!!

hex2

Winged_one wrote: »

OOh, 15 eggs - that sounds like a lovely surprise Hex2!!

It was, we have seven hens now and they are free to wander round the garden so we do get this sometimes. Also got the first of the strawberries picked, and a first batch of new potatoes so :j all round.

guccigoo

hope you all enjoying this weather but must admit its too hot for me. Today i spent £5.69, bought jacket pots, cheese, tuna etc for dinner tonight, just want a quick meal as its too hot to cook, plus i want to lose some weight

tinkerbell73

Well its 23rd of the month and spend to date is 317.60 which is amazing considering i topped 500 in may!! eeek - i have a freezer full of food and cupboards full of baking ingredients and a meal plan that takes me up to middle of next month !!! This is scarey - being organised :-). I have also started slimming world so may have to top up fruit and yoghurts before the month end but all in all am hoping to hit 350 which is less than my orginal target woohoo - next plan get july in under 300 - we shall see - something may come along and upset my organisation LOL

Have baked twinks hobnobs (and not eaten any myself ) and weetabix brownie to be done tonight - kids think its great and as i have a plan I am not spending my whole day wondering what i am going to eat next yeah!! If i can cut down the spend and loose weight i will be one happy bunny :-)