October 2010 Grocery Challenge

cw18

de1amo wrote: »

i will issue with Mrs De a notebook--great idea--thanks!--does anyone use some sort of computerised program for shopping budgeting?

I have a spreadsheet in which I record everything I buy - right down to individual item level (and where/when), including what I paid and what the original price was if it was a reduced to clear (Whoopsie) item.

This is why the amounts in my signature look so complicated, but it helps me see what sort of budget I'd need if the Whoopsies dried up (or access to them became a lot more limited, which it will if I go ahead with my re-location plans in 2012)

[Deleted User]

Well Nick I'm afraid that you boss sounds a right royal pain in the butt.I would be extremely cross if someone told me what I could eat or not.Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.You wouldn't try to drive a car on an empty tamk so why make your own body work when its running on fresh air.It is YOUR body and no one can tell you what you put in it.Drinking on an empty stomach is even more dangerous healthwise apart from anything else.You can eat sensibly without missing meals as thats not in the least sensible and it won't make you lose weight either You have to 'kick start ' your metabolism to get it going and the only way to do that is to eat something It doesn't have to be a huge 'fry-up' either or hampster food'(mueselI know some folk swear by it but i just cannot stomach the stuff.A couple of slices of wholewheat brea maybe with a scrabled egg on top is a good start to the day, or some cereal/porrisge with a glass of OJ. 11 stone is hardly obese in anycase.if your good at your job and look smart and bright eyed and bushy tailed that is more important than looking like a rake .
Good luck in you new regime of cutting back.But don't cut back on essential food or you will be ill.lots of fruit and Veg help.even a couple of bananas will give you a boost for breakfast.I bought a huge bunch in Sainsbury's last night reduced to 50p they will do me for a couple of banana custards and maybe a sandwich for lunch and even some chopped up on top of cornflakes.They are full of goodness and come ready packed to take to work with you

de1amo

its a strange place turkey for bargains--there seems little competition in supermarkets--prices are quite fixed---the only place that is beginning to cut prices is a tesco owned out of town supermarket--the British shop keepers do it again!!--i will double my efforts to get there once a month- i am considering leaving the wife at home because she wont forget half the things we need lol
i am going to have a hard problem with this budget because my wife and i eat at our school and the food consumed there goes through the business(along with the staff)--we eat lunch - tea and snacks 'in house'-- on school holidays it all reverses and we have to pay for it ourselves!!--also our daughter eats most of her food with nan and grandad during school terms!--this is why i never have a clue!!

sharronej

jintyb wrote: »

Is that allowed? Sounds like harrassment to me! Surely your weight/appearance is not a matter for public discussion?
Not very pleasant for you!

I agree! How dare your boss speak to you like this? She sounds like the boss off 'The Devil wears Prada'! You're just short of six foot - what does she want you to weigh? My God no wonder you looked ill at 8 and a half stone! Personally, I'd look for a new job - were you rolling round the aisles drunk or did you show yourself up by eating? Do you trough your food straight of the plate?? I hardly think so! I am justifiably enraged on your behalf :mad: I would however record the incident and any further comments to help build up evidence if you decide to take it further - what I wouldn't do is put myself on a diet on the strength of this comment. Healthy eating yes - dieting no way!

Hugs

de1amo

muffin_man_7 wrote: »

jackie well done on lowering your stock of food.
as anyone considered how they would manage their budget if they had next to nothing in the cupboard, fridge or freezer??? which is why we try to build up a reserve in the first place
Any ideas gratefully received thank you
My wife runs a nil balance in the freezer and we eat fresh food constantly--we buy things from mid sized city based shops and the 'parade' shops--where we live still has the butcher the baker,,,,, and even service at the petrol station.--shops open til 9pm and you can get things on the way home from work!-i cant see how shops 'serve their customers by closing when people need food or things! its no wonder local shops are closing in the uk and driving people into monopolising supermarkets!

nicola1303

Right that's it! Need to seriously budget, we're not using enough of what we already have in iyswim?

I try to mealplan and last week apart from fresh stuff I didn't do a ' proper ' shop just used meat/fish we already had in the freezer so I know I can do it .
I just love going to the supermarket and buying stuff then coming home and shoving it in the freezer/cupboards and moan that ' there's nothing for tea ' ( because I haven't taken anything out of the freezer usually ).

So this week I'm going to lock away my cards and put £300 in a spare purse and go from there. I will do a store cupboard inventory also and work around some meals, even if I only do the next few days....it's a start.

So can I put down £300 from now until Nov 27th please?

de1amo

can i put down 175 pounds as a rough estimate!

Sunnyday

Morning peeps :wave:

i`ve totted everything up and i would like to declare £59.28 for the pet budget for this month please MrsM which is 72p under budget
and £180.93 for our food budget which is £20.93 over

I`ve decided not to bother sorting out the stuff that i bought to store for over winter ie the flour mountain and then there was the extra ingredients to make recipes from one of my new cookbooks

On the plus side i can heartily recommend the doner kebabs from the takeaway secret book - really nice :drool:

I`m off to work out the budget for next month which i think will be more or less the same as this month but i need to do a new meal planner and type out my new freezer inventory. Once i`ve defrosted some of the frozen plums that i`ve got stashed in there and made some jam then i shall have room for a bit more stuff. In November i plan on buying the turkey and pigs in blankets, if i`ve time i shall also make mince pies and jam tarts and freeze them as i don`t want to spend all Christmas slaving over a hot stove but would like the goodies that usually result

Nick - i`m suitably enraged on your behalf re the comments from your boss, you sound as if you are a good weight for your build.

I`m just waiting for some pasta to cool - cooked in a huge pan with a dash of olive oil to stop it sticking, left in the pan with the lid on and the hob switched off. It doesn`t take long to cook it like this and saves on fuel. When its cool i shall be adding some red pesto that i found lurking in the fridge, some fried onion and i discovered 4 cooked lincolnshire sausages in the freezer so they will be sliced and added later. I can mix it all up and put it into tubs to take to work and either nuke it in the microwave or eat as is as its nice hot or cold. Some nice cheap meals there i think for not very much money

Good luck with your totals peeps.

SD

muffin_man_7

de1amo wrote: »

muffin_man_7 wrote: »

jackie well done on lowering your stock of food.
as anyone considered how they would manage their budget if they had next to nothing in the cupboard, fridge or freezer??? which is why we try to build up a reserve in the first place
Any ideas gratefully received thank you
My wife runs a nil balance in the freezer and we eat fresh food constantly--

sorrry de1amo but i don't understand what you're trying to say, to me a nil balance means we have nothing in and no money to get stuff which is why I asked the question how would people here go about shopping if they had nothing to begin with it took me best part of a year to get ahead but circumstances have changed and i was hoping for some ideas to help avoid empty cupboards as using up is ok some of the time when rotating stock but not when you're not iyswim

rosieben

NickJW wrote: »

... Anyway - I got to work, and I was going to have my breakfast as usual, when my new boss told me that I wasn't allowed to eat today because I needed to make a good impression on our clients!!! She said that I had 'let myself go'...in public! :mad: ...

She's way out of line! Please don't allow yourself to be bullied by her (there's a little discussion on this topic on the 'Its tough .. ' thread). IF she has a valid reason to pick you up on something like this, it should be done in private; I think she's just throwing her weight around and unfortunately if she gets away with it she will get worse! If you have a decent HR dept, could you discuss it with someone there?

de1amo wrote: »

İm an English man with a Turkish wife and 13 year old daughter - we live in Turkey and İ have no idea what our monthly shopping bill is but would love to find out and see where we can save some money ...

Welcome to the GC! Cheryl has already given you the best bit of advice which is to make a note of all your spends; total them all up in a notebook or on an excel spreadsheet - looking back through it will give you some ideas of where you can save

Planning ahead is a big help; every shopping trip is another opportunity to overspend so I plan ahead and try to keep my shopping trips to an absolute minimum; that means less chance that I go in for milk and come out £20 poorer because of all the goodies I've been tempted to pick up