December 2010 Grocery Challenge

Norman_Bean

debtmess wrote: »

well done xx thats an amazing spend amount wise x i reckon i have done double that (hangs head in shame)

Thanks Debt x I am pleased but it's all relative I have two younger kids who don't eat masses and I have bought hardly any toilettries this year as we are still living off the stash I already had (hangs head in shame too )

E x

Butterfly_Brain

Well done Norman :T
We love being OS because of the sense of achievement being in control of our hard earned money

Norman_Bean

Thanks Butterfly - you've really hit the nail on the head there - we now feel totally in control and know where our money is going - I hate to admit it but before becoming MSE last year we didn't even have a budget know how often bills came in how much we spent on food or anything

Am looking forward to an OS 2011 :beer:

Norman x

[Deleted User]

Very well done Norman Its great isn't it when it all comes together.I think you have hit the nail on the head .Its planning and using everything you can to make something edible and tasty.it doesn't always have to be best steak.I have found that with the addition of a few herbs or even a spoonful of lazy garlic (my one treat that I buy as I am rubbish at chopping garlic)food can taste so much nicer .As I am marooned indoors because of the weather I have been rummaging around the freezer for something different to eat and today I have done liver & bacon casserole in my SC the veg all came from the freezer/fridge
Leeks chopped and frozen about a months ago as they were starting to look a bit limp and uninteresting
Onions (I have a chopping session when I see a bag of whoopsied onions on sale)
Carrots from the bottom of the fridge left over from last week
a handful of dried sage & onion stuffing for extra flavour and two big spoonfuls of laxy garlic .All thrown into my SC with half a lb of smoked streaky from the freezer and all the liver and kidneys I could find in there that I had collected and frozen over the past couple of months (they were also whoopsied) so the whole pot has cost me around £1.40 in total.There is enough there for my dinner tonight with at least four portions left over to be put into the freezer when cold for another time.I reckon that dinner for me tonight with pudding will cost under 50p.I used up the last bit of a M&S swiss roll to line a bowl with and filled with a tin of pineapple and topped up with a pineapple jelly that I made up from the juice from the tin.Topped that with a vanilla blancmange and hey presto an inexpensive pudding that will fill me up for around three nights at least .I love trying to make something tasty out of very little and being stuck indoors has given me more of an incentive this past week to use stuff from my stores.I have a budget of £120.00 per calender month for food and often I can put whats left into my holiday fund.Its all down to planning in advance .So well done as I think you have cracked the best way to get the most out of your food .:):):)
JackieO
P.S. its easier for me as there is only me to cook for ,a bit harder if you have a family to feed but not impossible

Sparklyfairy

Just curious, how much did you tend to spend before?

Norman_Bean

Glad you saw this JackieO I know I sound a bit of a stalker but your posts are soooo inspiring! :rotfl:

x

Norman_Bean

Sparklyfairy wrote: »

Just curious, how much did you tend to spend before?

I'm not really sure to be honest - I'd do a shop once a week which was always around 80 - 100€ and I guess 'top-ups' of about 20-30€ But no idea really Yikes that's sooo bad

Hippeechiq

cooeee everyone :wave:

I know I'm probably pretty much alone in loving the snow, but we finally had some yesterday, and I love it! - where's a cartwheeling smiley when you want one? :j

Went out for a walk in it, and I do believe I smiled the entire time The downside is, we have rain forecast for tomorrow, so no sooner will it have arrived, that it will be gone again *sigh*

Spent £26.27 of my budget so far, but gotta pick up of 5 tins of $limfast for DD tomorrow which will set me back £30 bar a few pence, and then also a delivery from A$da on Sunday which will be about £65, so that's a nice fat chunk out of my budget...I'll be 5 days in and already into treble figures.

Never mind, based on shopping every fortnight (my last shops were 31st October and the 14th November) I really should have shopped last Sunday, but there were no funds left in the budget, so have had to wait until this Sunday, so I think I've managed well.....nothing like giving yourself a pat on the back, lol

By the way, a question for those of you who shop in £idls - I've tried one or two of the wines, and have found 3 really lovely ones at the lower end of the price range (although they appear to no longer stock one of them) and was just wondering if anyone has tried their Sherry or Port at all?

I know it's associated with old dears, but I do and always have, loved Sherry. I only ever have it at Christmas, and I usually have Cr0ft 0riginal, but, even though it's on offer at the mo, £7 is still a bit pricey for 1 bottle of drink. I tried Te$cos own brand at my works Christmas party last year, and that was nice enough, but £idls is even cheaper - and why pay more if you don't have to, eh?

Spigs (I think?) thanks for posting about the $limfast on offer in bottles, but it costs way too much to buy it like that. DD would need 2 per day. I buy the tinned powder and then add milk, and she has 2 of those per day. A tin lasts 6 days and costs £5.96, so roughly a pound per day plus 1 pint of milk (I buy 2 x 4 pinters at a time for £2, so that works out around 25p)

It sounds a lot, but when you think she eats next to nothing else due to her meds it's not really.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

a big well done from me!

Norman_Bean

Shucks thanks Desperate Housewife .... this post is supposed to be a massive thanks to the OS MSE community without whom I know I would never ever have done any of the OS things I have discovered over the past year ...and not me looking for compliments :rotfl: