October 2010 Grocery Challenge

boultdj

Spent a total of $23.60 yesterday between market and C*op, payday tomorrow so I'm declairing a Total $178.01 for this month.:j:jWoohoo! 2nd time I'v come under budget:D,Good luck to those still on this month and I'll see everyone on the new thread.

sharronej

Chloris wrote: »

Thanks sharronej and carolinerunner, my husband and I have discussed getting a slow cooker, I think it would be really useful for days when we are out all day. Which size would be good for a family of 5? 2 adults and 3 small ones. Need to do some research :T.

I noticed that Mr T have a 3.5l one in the sale at £10 atm - this would be big enough as I also feed five (adults - 3 with men size appetites) . In fact this model is one of the ones that I have.

TizerCat

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:

What sort of a job do you do? My sympathies to you for having to put up with that !

rosieben

de1amo wrote: »

... - it begs the question whether the dominance of the supermarket has really been positive for the majority of people who live in the suburbs --it makes car ownership obligatory and soaks up the fuel too.
İ also saw how much wastage went on in my sisters house --milk and bread seemed to last no more than 2 days in summer--it couldnt have been too 'new' when purchased in my view or its cheaply produced--veg was the same - my sister is not on a restricted budget and shops between waitrose and the like!! ...

the question of dominance of the supermarkets has been asked many time in the last 10 or 15 years and alas I don't have the answer

as regards waste, I can't help feeling that is down to your sister not to the supermarket; if I bought bread or milk from the supermarket and it was no good after 2 days I would take it back and demand a refund. Most of us on OS have cut our food (and other) waste considerably as part of taking control of our spending

NickJW

TizerCat wrote: »

What sort of a job do you do? My sympathies to you for having to put up with that !

I work for an internet company for mobile APP downloads. I work in the admin side mainly, but last night they needed some help with a promotional party to sell some white labelled products. Normally it's fine - they treat us to drinks, meals out etc, but you have to work hard. It's just this one woman who acts as though she is the queen-bee, saying that people are stupid for eating after 6pm because they will get fat etc etc. She doesn't sit directly with me, so I don't have to deal with it much, and she is rubbing a lot of people up the wrong way though. Sounds horrible, but I wouldn't care if she goes. I think she is insecure about herself personally which is why I usually laugh it off, but yesterday was tougher than normal.

I've actually asked today if I can be removed from the promotional stuff, because it's not my main job, and I don't feel comfortable doing it. If I'm removed from this, and do my general admin 9-5 then I won't have ANY contact with the woman...

Now, on the OTHER extreme, a girl is leaving tomorrow for maternity leave, and our finance manager (who is LOVELY and hates the other manager), said that we're going to order Domino's pizzas in on work. So I go from NO food, to 2000 calorie food. My mind boggles!!!

Having chilli con carne with rice tonight - yummy

de1amo

İ thought it was just the norm'--i dont live in the uk and here i use uht because of the 'warmth' and practicality--the distance back to the shop and hassle seemed to out-weigh the refund to my sister--my brother in law drives a very non mse motor!!

i kinda slightly dropped a bottle of expensive liquor in August--i got an exchange after complaining at the supermarket-so i like battling!!--my arguement was that it just fell over as i put the plastic bag down on the floor and the bottle should have been up to that--the bottle only broke into 4 bits!!

Diflower

sharronej wrote: »

I also find if I set my meal plan in stone, I never want what I've planned that night :rotfl: Am I alone in this?

You're not alone:) The first week, I wrote a plan and stuck to it, and enjoyed it. I quite liked looking on the fridge door each morning and just getting on with it.
The second week, I wrote and re-wrote the plan several times. I did stick to it, but didn't enjoy it, felt I was being made to eat things I didn't want!
This week I tried to do a plan, but only got as far as Tuesday, which was fine. Tuesday night I got the big chicken out of the freezer.

Yesterday I cut it in half, roast one 1/2 in harissa, orange & mint and the other with lemon, thyme, garlic, bay. I fancied the harissa. Roasted some little bits of potato, added a few frozen peppers to the harissa-oily chicken tin for the last 10 mins, and made coleslaw with red & white cabbage, onion, carrot, and a mustardy dressing. Would have had a lettuce-type salad but no lettuce. 'Twas lovely, I enjoyed both cooking and eating it.
Tonight there's enough of that half left for - well, something! Probably a sort-of Spanish chicken, with rice;no chorizo but there are some pepperoni slices. Something like that; final decision when I stick my head in the fridge!

Tomorrow we'll have the other half, maybe as a roast. And maybe I'll have what's left in a sandwich as a treat. I could also have frozen that half for another time.

This suits me far better, just planning roughly for a few days at a time. You do of course have to take account of what you have fresh, so tonight's will have some mushrooms added, and tomorrow's will have the last of a savoy cabbage.

cw18

Picked myself up a real bargain today - probably the best of the year :T

Bakery manager was cleaning out the fridge where they store yeast and cheese, and found an unopened 2kg bag of grated mature cheddar that was OOD (by a few days) so can't be used. The official line is that it has to be processed through the waste and discarded, so I caught a store manager

Me: On the basis of "you've nothing to lose by asking"....
Manager: Uh Oh! (he knows me so well )
Me: We've got a bag of cheese that's past it's date and due to be wasted. Is there any chance it could be processed as a staff sale instead?
Manager (with a slightly surprised look on his face): Why? Do you want it?
Me: (silent, but vigorous head nodding in process)
Manager to bakery manager: Find out the cost to us, then reduce it down - I'd rather get something for it than nothing.....

End result - 2kg grated mature cheddar for 75p :T

Just as well I've been making small 'holes' in my freezers, as I now need to split it into 100g bags (each of which will last me around a week) and get them squeezed in

No idea what the 'price to us' is, but I've been checking out some shop floor prices for my spreadsheet records

Mr M have a 200g bag of grated cheddar on 'better than half price' - cost £1, so £10 for 2kg
Cheapest at Mr T appears to be £5.69/kg - so £11.38 for 2kg
Cheapest at Mr A is a '2 for £3' on 250g bags - so £12 for 2kg

adelight

Declaring for October over budget at £56.84 with 16NSD. This month is a "use up all the junk in the freezer" kinda month, quite the challenge

de1amo

talking of best bargains reminds me of an experience i had this summer in 'wilkinsons'--i was looking for some white tile paint as a way of saving on an expensive retile--i didnt realise how expensive it was--18,99 a 500ml tin- wilkos own brand-i then spied some ronseal on the shelf that wasnt priced--i asked the manager and he went to the check-out and got a price fix because it was end of line because they were no longer stocking such an expensive brand! it cost me 14p a tin because it had a 99pc discount--i have no idea how it got to 14p-i needed 2 cans but i paid with 30p and left 2 p as a tip!!

there was loads of other types of paints that had no price status--so other bargains??