October 2010 Grocery Challenge

JulieGeorgiana

Well I have £2.43 left this month... I have worked out I only need Banana's in two weeks (50p) and Carrots for the Rabbits the next two weeks (£1 a week) so I am on track for a £0.07 overspend!!!! That's £0.02 less then last months overspend!!

I cannot believe that by having 1 budget a month instead of a weekly amount could do so much... I can now buy things I NEED when I need them and just adjust as I go through the month... while before I spent it, went over that week and just had the same budget again the next week!!!

Oh and I always meal planned... but now I do a month at a time it means 1 larger shop and smaller shops thoughout the month!!!

Makes me much less tired! I find I enjoy shopping when it's just 1 or 2 bags worth!!

rosieben

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

...
Makes me much less tired! I find I enjoy shopping when it's just 1 or 2 bags worth!!

I agree, I love my online shopping! I quite enjoy a little mooch around a shop when I only have to get a couple of things, I used to HATE that weekly scrum

forgot to say I had 2 online shops (MrT and MrS) yesterday, normal shop plus a little more winter store cupboard stock plus stocking up on toiletries and laundry supplies, including soda crystals ..... I thought I was doing so well but I forgot stardrops! :doh:

JulieGeorgiana

mrsbowie wrote: »

anyone know how to cook brisket so that it can be used as a roast meat and not a stew? thanks

I cook mine in the slow cooker covered in beef stock, redwine, carroway seeds (this brings out the nutty flavour), worcestershire sauce, paprika and seasoning.

When it's cooked I take it out and slice it like I would a roast beef!

You can thicken the 'stock' to use as gravy (leftover can be frozen as icecubes and used as stock)!!

My family love it over a traditional roast anyday of the week!

[Deleted User]

I too love brisket and cook it overnight in the SC in fact I have my friend coming to dinner next Tuesday and that's just reminded me that I have some brisket in the freezer.Its delicious to eat and I 'rest' it after I have taken it out of my SC so it slices beautifully.Seems not to shink as much as ordinary joints, and the flavour is to die for.served with mash, swede and carrots I think it will make a nice dinner with a bit left over that I will use for something else mid week.

Spiggle

jintyb wrote: »

Spigs
Thats a really good idea re piggy bank a/cs - this may be a daft question but are they actual banks that you put cash in or do you save on a card or something? I save every week on an Asda card for Christmas, and on a PO budget card for car tax. We seem to have loads of birthdays all between Aug and November and it would be good to have a plan for next year!

Hi jintyb,

You can do piggybanking anyway you like really, physical piggy banks or bank/building society accounts. The way I do ours is using my IF account. I'm NOT recommending them as you can get slightly better interest rates with other providers. But for me the fact that within the account I can set up named 'jars' is really useful. So I have a Golden Virginia jar (we are smokers), a Car maintenance, Car Insurance, Car tax, Building & Contents Insurance jar, a birthdays jar, a Christmas jar, a clothes jar and an entertainment jar. Each has a a budgetted amount allocated to it per month which is transferred by direct debit. The first ones I set up months ago but the last ones are relatively new. So when the tax, insurance etc comes up in April next year I will have all the money ready and waiting. When I need to spend anything on these items I just transfer by BACS from the relevant jar to my bank account and voila my money is balanced. (I think there is a piggybanking thread somewhere on the money section of the forum.)

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

I cannot believe that by having 1 budget a month instead of a weekly amount could do so much... I can now buy things I NEED when I need them and just adjust as I go through the month... while before I spent it, went over that week and just had the same budget again the next week!!!
... Makes me much less tired! I find I enjoy shopping when it's just 1 or 2 bags worth!!

JulieGeorgiana it's amazing isn't it? My constant mantra is do I need it or just want it. If it's the latter I try to put it back on the shelf. (Successful 90% of the time ). Can't say I ever enjoy shopping though! :rotfl:

rosieben wrote: »

.. I used to HATE that weekly scrum

I sooooo agree with you rosieben. :T

To all who have been discussing it, brisket is the finest tasting beef you can buy provided you cook it right. And without doubt it's the best value. :cool:

I'll need to update my siggy later as OH bought a few bits yesterday but I haven't put them on the spreadsheet yet. DD needs to do some printing though so I'll see you in a while.

All the best,
Spigs

Chloris

Thanks Spigs for the info about chickens, I think I will try the covered market in town. We used to get the free range ones from a farm shop but it was costing about £14+. I can stretch a chicken but I didn't like paying that much :eek:.

NSD yesterday and fingers crossed today.

Regarding budgeting, I often wish that people would provide info in their signature eg how many people, food, toiltries, cleaning, alcohol etc. It isn't a competition but it would inspire me! For the record we are a house of 2 adults and 3 children, my GC includes all food including takeaways, cleaning and all toiltries. It doesn't include alcohol, that almost falls into guilt-free money and that is a capped budget. I put by money each month for gifts/christmas, clothes (you know the children will need shoes the month you have no cash!) and household emergencies. I transfer the money into a separate bank account and tap it when I need it. It has worked out nicely. Instead of stressing about a present heavy month I can enjoy buying a gift and thinking about the person instead of the bill. And no more grumpy mother in the shoe shop when we need to buy shoes! We have very little money and precious little luxuries but I feel I am living honestly.

Spiggle

Chloris wrote: »

Thanks Spigs for the info about chickens, I think I will try the covered market in town. We used to get the free range ones from a farm shop but it was costing about £14+. I can stretch a chicken but I didn't like paying that much :eek:.

NSD yesterday and fingers crossed today.

Regarding budgeting, I often wish that people would provide info in their signature eg how many people, food, toiltries, cleaning, alcohol etc. It isn't a competition but it would inspire me! For the record we are a house of 2 adults and 3 children, my GC includes all food including takeaways, cleaning and all toiltries. It doesn't include alcohol, that almost falls into guilt-free money and that is a capped budget. I put by money each month for gifts/christmas, clothes (you know the children will need shoes the month you have no cash!) and household emergencies. I transfer the money into a separate bank account and tap it when I need it. It has worked out nicely. Instead of stressing about a present heavy month I can enjoy buying a gift and thinking about the person instead of the bill. And no more grumpy mother in the shoe shop when we need to buy shoes! We have very little money and precious little luxuries but I feel I am living honestly.

Dear me Chloris,

We never pay that much for a chicken!!! :eek: I think the most I've paid is about £8 but that was a huge bird.

Totally agree about budgetting. It doesn't leave much for luxuries but does keep us honest. Oh, by the way there is only me, OH and two beautiful big black cats in our home. Our beautiful GD1 stays with us once a week. DD has her own home which she shares with her partner and GDs 1 & 2.

Before we started the GC in March we were spending £600+ per month which didn't even provide proper meals. So our budget @ £240 is probably a little high for just the two of us but it is such an improvement on the start of the year, I'm happy with it for the moment. And in reality by bringing the kittens' special diet into the equation I have reduced 'our' (i.e. human) budget by £32 per month.

I noticed that some of you include petrol/diesel in your spends. We don't include it in the GC but it is budgetted for separately at £120 per month though we don't normally spend that much.

If anyone is interested and hasn't visited/used it, there is a fantastic annual budget planner on this site here. I did a mini makeover early in the year and then when on leave in August did a really thorough one which has really helped.

Hope that helps,
Spigs

purplevamp

I'm waaayyyy behind with posting this week.

I spent £56.23 in Mr S last week. DH is off there now to get this weeks. I'll update later. I did spend a few £s in A!di and Te$co this week, so will add those when I find my receipts. I'm so disorganised these days.

Chloris

Before the GC I was budgeting £100 per week and going over it by the odd tenner and then more if I was hosting a family party. I have for years cooked from scratch and kind of batch cooked. I was raised by a very health and food conscious mother and my main expense has always been fruit and veg. Its an aesthetic thing. I don't buy flowers to brighten the house but fruit and pumpkins! They look so pretty. I would take pride in the amount of fresh produce in my trolley. We also run an 'open access' to the fruit bowl in this house. I have a very fussy eating DS1 who will only eat veg in a soup or smooth sauce so I let him eat any fruit. Hence the big shopping bills. I'm re-writing the rules at present. We still have the fruit but trying to be clever. My NSD help me not buy fruit and veg to dispell the gloomy days!:)

cookie9

£4.84 for a top up at c0-*p - fruit juice as I'm ill, milk, apples and jar of sauce on special offer.

Will do main shop tomorrow when I'm feeling better.