September 2010 Grocery Challenge

hedgesparrow

cookiemum wrote: »

Spent £16.21 at Iceland on a few bits and pieces. Got a poorly elderly cat with Kidney problems who hates Kidney food from vets so advised to feed him white fish and chicken. Got latest batch from Iceland but if anyone has any ideas where fish may be cheaper I would be very grateful? Local fishmonger is soooo expensive!

I had a friend who had a cat that could only eat chicken. She used to buy rotiserie (no idea how to spell that) chickens when they were on sale at the end of the day and pick off the meat and freeze it. Give kitty a pet for me!

cookie9

Another NSD for me. Bringing it to up to 4 since Saturday. Parents will be visiting me soon so hoping they will have bacon and eggs for breakfast and make do with soup for lunch for a couple of days so I don't have to buy food until Saturday. Better remember to cook pasta tonight so I have some for my salad tomorrow.

Lindy_-_Loo

been the co op to see what their new offers where, our store hasnt got all the signs up yet but did get 2 punnets of nectarines for 38p each, bag of apples 40p (reduced from £1.60) and a fresh plate apple pie 34p. with the icing sugar and malt bread that was a bargain £2.50!

Milly-Ann-Molly

Long Tall Sally Hi My Tax credits were cut in half automatically the month that my youngest turned 1. Could that be your problem? I do not think the government would cut them without formal notification letters first. You could just ring tax credit helpline and ask them outright ~ It might just be an error.

I did my grocery shop today at mr T. Tried to be as stingy as possible...but still spent £76.48. Only bought foodstuffs (for the first time in years!;) ) and got great whoopsies. I should start to menu plan though as when I got home I realised we are having full roast dinners and salads for the next 3 days :eek: ...hmmm. I also bought massive box of tea...only to find 2 massive unopened boxes of tea already at home! I do not need tea until next year now :rotfl:

I will get better at this. I must as I am now in my overdraft!

On the plus side the little old lady at the post office sold me loads of old kids craft activity type sets for a few pounds (she is clearing out last years stock) ...so that is the stocking fillers done for the elves already :T

kerrypn

Spent £11 today on nappies and margarine :eek: probably not the cheapest deal on nappies but done OK so far. Quick Q-how long does raw chicken keep OK in freezer for???

Hippeechiq

Long_tall_sally wrote: »

I'm feeling a bit fed up again tbh at our lack of money & also that there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get all the jobs done. I only work part time so goodness knows how I would cope time wise if I worked fulltime, which I am thinking about. There certainly wouldn't be time to go round different shops for different bargains, but who knows - maybe the fact that I would only have time to go to one place or have 1 on-line shop delivered would actually save money in its own way.
I noticed today when I got a mini bank statement from the cash point that my child tax payment this month is only half what it normally is. I've had no letter explaining why this has happened which tbh doesn't surprise me as I have had this happen before where the letter telling you about a change comes days after the change itself! Has anybody else had their child tax payments cut? I was wondering whether it was something to do with the new government?

Sorry - can't help with the Child Tax Credits, but I can empathise about the lack of money. It can be depressing money watching all the time. We were hard up before I lost my part time job. Now, things are just plain dire. I think sometimes we expect too much of ourselves, and it really is ok to get fed up from time to time

Stocked up with Te$cos Douwe Egberts offer yesterday of 200g jars, BOGOF, only 4 jars, but still over £11, plus 4 tins of Corned Beef (2 for £2.50). Only use it once a month, but still, it's shot up so alarmingly that I thought I'd get some while it's cheap(er). Also some cheapie loo rolls, fruit and a couple of other bits to get another £3 off a £20 shop.

Today had my 1st A$da shop of the month delivered. Rather annoyed, as 3 of the items I specifically ordered because they'd been "rolled back" had been "rolled forward" today :eek: even though I checked the prices as late as 9pm last night, and so I was charged at the dearer price.

I must learn from this as I've been caught out before, and I know their offers often end on a Tuesday. Got to make a mental note to have my order delivered on a Tuesday and not a Wednesday

Sooooo I'm lots of money lighter tonight, to the tune of £76.98 between the two, bringing total spend so far to £142.14 out of £275..........thats over half my budget eight days into the month although I won't do another big shop until the 21st.........she says, hoping that in some way that information makes things better

Jevvers

Spent £7.01 at Tecso today although DH has just stepped out for a bottle of wine and some ice cream so there will probably be another £7 to add by the end of the evening!

Even so I am feeling rather proud as I have stuck to the meal planner so far and I have also made a massive vat of cauliflower cheese this afternoon which is in the fridge and about to go into the freezer. It was using the two for a quid caulis I got at Mr T on Friday and half price cheese so I reckon the whole lot cost about £2.50-£3 including the butter and milk. There is one large family sized dish and then eight ramekins for individual kids portions / lunch portions.

A couple of quick rubber chicken questions - how long does sliced roast chicken keep in the fridge? And where do I find the rubber chicken recipes? Is it just the recipes on the front page of this thread?

Thank you all, I get so much help and encouragement from reading the Old Style board

suzybloo

Had a NSD for groceries today - although I did buy a pair of sports trousers and t shirt for going back to the gym on Friday, Have used up some stale bread and made it into a bread and butter pudding for tomorrow night. Out of a pound and a half of mince I have also made mince and veg for hubbies tea tonight, lasagne for tomorrow night and enough bolognase for re-freezing for a meal next week. Its amazing what you can get by adding grated carrots and some lentils!!! Cupboards are begining to look a bit emptier than normal but at least then I will see what I need instead of just pushing things in any space, meaning things go out of date at the back, The white sauce made by Ragu I used tonight for the lasagne was use by 03/10 - it looked ok and tasted ok and the vaccum spot on the top of the jar was fine - in times gone past I would have binned this but I am sure its going to be fine !?!
Cant think of any shopping I need before the weekend so fingers crossed the NSD's will increase!

rosieben

Jevvers wrote: »

... where do I find the rubber chicken recipes? Is it just the recipes on the front page of this thread?

Rubber chicken thread is here I'veput a link to it on the front page index as its a useful thread.

I just found a good recipe for Lentil Shepherds Pie which I've also added to the front page list

We have loads of great recipes in the front page index and you'll find many more in the Complete Cooking Collection

we have a link to weezl's great website :T on the front page too

wssla00

Jevvers- My favourite rubber chicken recipe is puff pastry pie. First of all you pick off your chicken of all of the available meat then you boil your chicken carcass with just enough water over it to cover it for a couple of hours. Then, you add enough cream or milk to make it up to about a pint and a half, add a couple of teaspoons of roux (butter and flour cooked together and cooled) to make it thicker then add some butter fries leeks and the chicken and heat until it is all warm (you can add any other veg you fancy at that moment- i like peas or mushrooms) pour that into a pie dish, add some ready made puff pastry on the top and brush with either a little egg or milk and cook in the oven until the pastry is nice and brown. I usually serve it with mash potato for a yummy heart warming dinner.

Everyone gets a wobble about how much money they have. I think when I was earning double what I am now I still went through (probably more) upset about why I couldn't afford x y or z but now after being so ill at the beginning of the year, I have realised that that isn't what matters and every day I am grateful that I can wake up and spend precious time with my friends and family. Christmas this year will not be about presents (unlike usual) it will be about celebrating me and my family having another month together in which we can enjoy each others company. Money didn't buy me happiness but being happy with myself and my situation is worth way more than the income I lost. I read about a lady once who danced along the river to give people happiness in their day. I may not be able to dance along a river- hell most of the time I can barely walk along the river but in my own way I hope that I am making my family and friends happy with my own (still and silent) dance along the river. When you go, it's not the possessions that people remember it's the effect you had on their life. I just wish it took me less time to realise that .

Anyways that's my philosophy over for one night LOL I have just had pizza but because it's on expenses it's not counting towards the budget . Why does food taste better when it's free?

Have a good evening all