August 2010 Grocery Challenge

Winky,_The_House_Elf

Quite a big shop in Lidl today, stocked up on lots of stuff like loo roll & washing up liquid for the month. They had copies of the Express by the door so I put that through last, and ripped out the £5 off coupon much to the bemusement of the cashier! I smilled and said "Well I could have just paid seperately for it first!" After discount I spent £49.05.

I made double of the roast (veggies, gravy & roast pots) last week, and froze it all so I picked up some nice beef to go with it...just need to make some yorkies and we are good to go with no fuss...YUM!

Winky x

Rowan9

First spend of the month. Went to A$da although I prefer Sainsb. Anyway, spent £21.87 and got a chicken for tea, lots of fruit and veg, dairy stuff. They have 5 Mullerlights for £1 but this is not really a saving since I usually buy Sains Basics! However, have topped up the food supplies. We are following a healthier eating plan at the moment but goodness me, the costs of all the fruit and veg is high. I usually get quite a lot of it from L1dl but didn't think they had much on offer yesterday, although they do still have their lovely vine tomatoes on offer.
So...braised chicken, cabbage, brocolli, cauli and carrots for tea tonight then chicken and salad for a few nights after that. There's only the 2 of us at the moment although I do have a friend and his son coming to stay for a night on Wed. Am thinking of veggie soup and then cajun turkey steaks when they are here. Should only need a top up of milk and some bread or rolls.
Good luck everyone.
Off to update sig.
W

angelatgraceland

Gintotmelinda wrote: »

Hello everyone!

Spent £83.36 so far. How did that happen?:mad:

We visited the new L**L that had opened near us before we went on holiday and were pleasantly surprised at the choice available.

Next went to Morrisons as we had a £5 voucher off a £40 shop. Bought biscuits for DH to take to work as a back from holiday treat plus the usual offering for DH to take to model train club (sigh) on Wednesday. Some good offers - stocked up on Cole***s BBQ mix, Ragu sauce(for emergencies)Hei*z baked beans.

Need to sort some cheap meals now!

Oh well, off to update sig.
Take care.

Gintot

Ah another "local" to me! We are promised a Lidl soon-it will save me driving 7 miles to my nearest one. Mr S is being turned down in our location as far as I am aware -we have a large Co-op and a Waitrose and Iceland. I think that Lidls deli items are as good as Waitrose myself.
Made an apple crumble earlier and Id forgotten just how yummy they are.
Must go through the cupboards and bring back some more memories.
I will have a look down the recipe list for some ideas.
Coop are doing BOGOF loo rolls at the mo but I do like Lidls cheap ones for my "wasters"-less than £2 for a pack of 10 and unlike other cheap ones they dont go into holes when you use the paper.

CupOfChai

Spiggle wrote: »

Hi All,

If you don't mind me sharing some things I've learned on here, the MOST IMPORTANT thing is to MAKE A LIST before shopping and STICK TO IT. If you get tempted to go off list always ask yourself do I NEED this or do I just WANT it.

If only I had looked on here before I went to the shop!

I do know that, but sort of fell off the wagon earlier and bought some things that were not on the list . Hereafter I shall really have to exercise more willpower, and not think I'll just treat myself to this or I'll just get that since it's such a bargain. Otherwise I will never get to my target, £24.87 spent today and it's only the first of the month! Aargh!

greent

Well, day 1 of August for me and a spend of £8.33 today on Sunday paper, milk, yogurts & potatoes - not too bad!

PAmmy - we have 2 g-pigs and they add very little to my budget - and I include all of their stuff (wood shavings, hay, food etc) - I buy huge bags of stuff for their cage and bags of g-pig food from either Mr S , wilkinsons or Mr a. Our local petdhop sells it loose, but it's more expensive unless you buy masses of it - but I do buy the cage stuff from there. They also eat the runner bean trimmings, cucumber ends, carrot tops, celery trimmings, free dandelions... etc etc

I'm keeping my budget at £450 for the hols - but DH is working away in the week, so I should spend less than this - but I haven't a clue by how much! It's like loosing an adult for 5/7ths of the month (except for the days we're on holiday - self catering, so will come out of GC) - but weekend takeaways may go up as a result.

Had a good result on free food this week - my mum brought me a bag of blackberries picked whilst dog walking and a bag of bramleys from her tree. My nan visited with an aunt and brought courgettes, eggs, tomatoes and runner beans. I have made 6 pots of runner/ French bean chutney yesterady, as we also have beans in the garden. And LOTS of courgettes - just keeping up with them if I make some cake and flatbread this week! Tomatoes are just beginnig to ripen - should be able to harvest the first ones in a couple of days. We also have lots of lovely new potatoes that I'm firtling for Carrots are teeny yet, but will grow - and I've sown some more carrot seeds, too. Aubergine hasn't done anything yet Squash plants have buds, but no flowers out yet

Think I'll be making more chutney in a couple of weeks - will use some for Xmas presents or we'll be drowning in the stuff!!

guccigoo

well we went out for the day today with the kids so dh said we would pop to mr t to get stuff for lunch, came to £19 but he paid for it so it didntcome out of my budget :j
so for me today it was a nsd food wise and i wont be buying anything tomorrow ( famous last words) as i dont need anything, fridge, freezers and cupboards are full to the brim.

im off to do pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream a we fancy something sweet. Have a good evening all

MrsBartolozzi

Hello Everyone :wave:,
I've not been on this thread for ages, but really must get the budget under control before DS1 goes off to uni in September. This will be the last month with his CTC and CB coming in so I really need to rein in DS2's ready made pizzas and snacks in order to manage everything come Sept.

It's just me and 2 starving teenagers, so I'll start with £150 please, MrsM, as the baking cupboard is empty and I need a few staples too. This is to include cleaning stuff and packed lunches for DS2, and DS1's hollow legs while he lazes about. I'll be off to Sains and Morri's tomorrow so I'll post my spends then.

MrsB.

unhappy_shopper

Spiggle wrote: »

Hi All,


Finally, (well probably not but all my poor brain can muster today ) the sm know how to make us spend and invest hugely in finding ways to coerce (it's not even persuasion) us into spending more, so when they give you vouchers for free delivery/money off for spending over £50, £60, £etc., do think long and hard if you NEED to spend that much. For instance, MrT have sent me three vouchers for £5 off three consecutive £50+ spends. There's no way I want to spend that much and so if the date for use passes I don't care because I've only spent what I NEED to spend not what they WANT me to spend.

Spigs

Having read this, I managed not to spend more than what I must. So, a good start to my GC. :j

Spent £12.99 at M*S, couldn't bypass the Dine-In promo though.

Long_tall_sally

Welcome to all the newbies!

Just added another £1.50 to my signature for potatoes that I had forgotten OH purchased the other day. Will soon need to buy some more though as only actually have a few left now.

Winchelsea

First spend of the month - popped in to C"-"p to get a bit of fruit and veg, also got a bag of DW salt, as I saw on the Preparing for Winter challenge that you can use it on icy paths (not expecting any in August (!) but thought it was a good enough price to store it). Total spend was £3.43, not bad I thought.

Gintotmelinda and angelatgraceland , I can't be that far away from you, I'm in B&NES (in Odd Down, Bath).

Where in Bristol is the new L**l? I go to the ones in Brislington or Fishponds when I go to see DS, or occasionally Midsomer Norton.

Must go and update sig now.