November 2010 Grocery Challenge

Long_tall_sally

I spent nearly £40 this morning & don't seem to have a lot to show for it. All I can think that was included was milk, bread, chocolate bars, crisps, soap, toothpaste, chips, sugar, toilet rolls, yogurts, cheese, sausages & a bit of F & v although will probably get more tomorrow at Aldi or Lidl.

Might try & find out where I was at spends wise this time last month as I still feel that I am doing ok although certainly not great.

missfit_2

Spent another £7 last night - loo roll (9 pack), carrots, hummus and some apples to go on my porridge. Hopefully I won't have to buy any food until Friday/Saturday. Also, I will go through freezer and cupboards to see what I can come up with from the foods I already have. Would really like to come in under budget this month as December is going to be so expensive.

triticale

losingpatience wrote: »

Managed to get beef skirt but it was more expensive then I thought it would be @£8.80 per kilo! Is this the going rate? Anyways I ended up spending £3.70 on it so these pasties are becoming more expensive!

losingpatience, it's funny you should mention that as the skirt I got was a few pence per kilo more (can't remember exactly) than the 'braising steak'. I hummed and harred but went for the skirt as it was a more 'chunky' cut than the slices of braising steak and I know it will be full of flavour with virtually no gristle, whereas the 'braising steak' is an unknown.

I like to know the cut of my meat and tend to avoid generic 'diced' meat, unnamed 'steak' etc.

It may be the case that the increased popularity of a particular cut leads to the supermarkets increasing it's price, such as what happened with lamb breast (have you seen the price of that lately! :eek:)

losingpatience

triticale wrote: »

losingpatience, it's funny you should mention that as the skirt I got was a few pence per kilo more (can't remember exactly) than the 'braising steak'. I hummed and harred but went for the skirt as it was a more 'chunky' cut than the slices of braising steak and I know it will be full of flavour with virtually no gristle, whereas the 'braising steak' is an unknown.

I like to know the cut of my meat and tend to avoid generic 'diced' meat, unnamed 'steak' etc.

It may be the case that the increased popularity of a particular cut leads to the supermarkets increasing it's price, such as what happened with lamb breast (have you seen the price of that lately! :eek:)

I actually got this from a butcher, he had none on display so went and cut some for me which I saw him doing ( he trimmed off any excess fat as well ) and the meat looked nice. He asked me whether I wanted it diced or just left whole so I asked him to dice it for me as well. I just expected it to be a bit cheaper thats all

Rebekah24

I was bad... a confession! Spent £3 ... at.... Mr T ... the pricey version!! ugh..

Got some whoopsie loaves (for the fiance)
Cheese
Fig rolls

.. Will try and last a bit longer now!!

hex2

de1amo wrote: »

something needs to be addressed in my wife's shopping habits!!

I do all of our shopping as it is the only way to keep it under control. My lovely DH just chucks 'stuff' in and we spend double.

Have you sat down and discussed how much money is available, and what it means if you can't stick to it? Can you agree a realistic meal plan together, and shop together with a list and a set amount of money in an envelope? Perhaps ask the cook the best place for the things you want to buy? If it isn't on the list, it doesn't go in and so on. What is cheap and seasonal for you at the moment and so on.

You sound very frustrated, I hope you can find a way to make this work for both your sakes.

I had a rare visit to Mr T today, £1.99 for three boxes of frosties (buy1 get 2 free) makes them cheaper than Aldi own brand. I resisted the mr kipling mince pies on the same deal and have been regretting it all afternoon .

Rowan9

After going to A$da this morning and thinking that was me finished, I found I'd forgotten dogfood and had none of the younger dog's left for her tea. Walked to T$sco this afternoon and got some along with whoopsied sprouts, 3 tins of bean salad (the 3 for 99p offer) and 2 packs of Oxo.
Added to total.
Bought 2 bottles of Samuel Smith stout from an independent off licence on my way home (good to give them business ha ha)- this doesn't come out of the grocery budget as it's medicinal - yikes I've just noticed it's 7%:eek:
W

adelight

~moneysavingnovice~ wrote: »

Just spent £8 in Mr S on: my lunch (don't seem to be able to manage preparing it at home for more than 2-3 days a week!), diet coke, paracetemol, and 800g of extra mature cheese for £5.. no idea if that's a good deal or not really, but we did need some for tonight's tea!

Sounds like a good deal if it wasn't on offer.
What sort of things to you make for your lunches? If you made a batch of pasta salad you could leave it in the fridge and each morning just chuck some into a tupperware to take to work. Or if you have a microwave at work, freeze portions in tupperware and on busy days just grab one on your way out.

xnatalie81x

10 days into my official first ever grocery challenge and i have spent nothing extra apart from spends already reported (and in signature) - we had pasta bake with LO chicken in and HM bread for dinner and i have a 900g pack lean mince in fridge defrosting for mass cook tomorrow - cottage pie, bolognese and mince and potato puff pastry pie - so thu, fri and sat dinners are sorted.

I have plenty of stuff in and although i know i will need to do a small 'top-up' shop at some point this month, i am guessing it will be around the 22nd at this rate and be just milk, eggs etc.

Hope everyone else feeling positive

charleybabes

hi there

weve had some bills go out and have a few to pay that has left us pretty short until next week
i would say we have about 40 to feed us up to about tuesday... thats two adults and two children.. one of school age ... so need to include pack lunches into the shopping budget aswell

has anyone got any tips on healthy family meals that are pretty cheap,
luckily i dont have to buy nappys this week as i bought in bulk the other week..
i have some chicken thighs in freezer and a beef joint..
pantry mainly has baked beans and a couple of tins of toms. not much else..