December 2010 Grocery Challenge

Dee5565

Morning All Hope everyone is safe and well.

I am making 2 shepherds pie today and one for tea and one to freeze.
There is enough for two meals so that is today and tomorrow taken care of.I cant believe i have not been to the shops since Friday and i do not need to go today or tomorrow I have been looking over a lot of old posts to get ideas and have printed them off.

Over the next few days i am going to take a complete inventory of my cupboards, fridge,freezer and also my toiletries as i have lots. I have decided not to buy any more toiletries until this lot is used up which should take nearly all year.

Once again Thank you all for all the great ideas and tips.
Take care please.

Dee:o

Chloris

Updated signature with weekly shop at Mr M and 2 top ups at the C**p. I am going to avoid too many top ups because that is where it all goes wrong for me!

NickJW My mum is a clever shopper but she counts the full amount rather than the discounted amount as the amount the present costs (IYSWIM). She feels that presents look uneven otherwise. If you get a great discount for one person but not another the presents may be taken as favoritism rather than jolly good luck!

Good luck everyone!

Linda32

Hiya,

Joining in again. I'm going for £330.00 for the month of December
Will finish 31st December so that equals £66.00 per week

So this week finishes on 09th December, my total shouldn't be more than £66.00

Total £67.30 :rotfl:

I'm sure my November month was 5 weeks and I spent around £330.00, baby steps yet though.

ifonlyitwaseasier

spent £47.52 in mrT's, and that includes a Mahoooossive gammon joint which will be used over the festive period (which might not get included in my total, am trying to figure out if we can do xmas separately iykwim)

so have several bits frozen and hidden, and a few fresh bits stashed away in preparation, and yes i sucumbed to frozen sprouts after watching the news this morning

so hopefully we'll not need much else to get us thro the next couple of weeks except for bread/milk

ioiwe x

hitatotatus

First spend for this month - £61 at MrA.

Started a food diary this month to try and cut out the carbs. Since this cold weather have been craving carbs and must have put on several kilos. Can't have crisps in the house - multipack gets eaten in one day. :eek:
Diary for food and for spending should make me think before I eat more - here's hoping.

franby64

Afternoon

boultdj - thankyou for the advice re salsify - very timely as I've got some more today! - at least I know what to do with it (not bin it:o).

Just bought a few things today. DD1 is going to the clothes show tomorrow so needs a packed lunch. She wanted a chicken wrap - £2.30!! - I got one but it's definitely a one-off.
hitatotatus - I also bought her a single pack of crisps (42p) after putting a multipack in my basket (18 pks for £1.99) then putting it back on the shelf because you're right, it would only have got pigged. But why can't I have the one pack at a mulitpack price? Spiggle is right - supermarkets are not our friends!

Have a good week!

missfit_2

Hi All. Can't remember when I last posted but I am not up to £81.84 for this month. Did a £55 shop this weekend. Had friends up to stay so brought a lot more food than usual but did spend a bit on foods and groceries that will last the month (frozen veg, fruit and loo roll etc). Am a bit gutted that I'm 40% into my budget and it's only 6th December with Christmas still to come. Going to try extra hard to keep food spend down so I stay in budget as I have to get my laptop and car fixed. Feel very stretched financially already. Still it could be worse ... stay warm!

LolaLemon

hitatotatus wrote: »

First spend for this month - £61 at MrA.

Started a food diary this month to try and cut out the carbs. Since this cold weather have been craving carbs and must have put on several kilos. Can't have crisps in the house - multipack gets eaten in one day. :eek:
Diary for food and for spending should make me think before I eat more - here's hoping.

Make your own crisps, granted you might not have the exact same flavour, but im sure an internet search will give u a good recipe.
i make mine with carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes
slice to desired thickness, pop in a sandwich bag, add flavour, add 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of oil, give bag a good shake to coat all the slices in falvour, pour onto a baking tray, bake for 10-15 mins.

flavours i like are:
paprika, salt and peper, rosemary and thyme, lemon (tablespoon lemon juice), chilli flakes.


Today was a good day, - snowed in means no shops at all
so i browned my mince - unsure what to make with it, 1/2 n 1/4 n 1/4 of spag bol, mince n tatties and mini shepards pies probably...
cooked my mini chicken fillets, so quart went in the remaining honey and mustard sauce (jar that im using up) and 3/4 in a sharw00ds szechuan sweet chilli jar.
Can i freeze food thats been cooked in packaged sauce jars? i ate the honey and mustard chicken for my lunch (son wanted porridge) and after letting him try some of the sweet chilli, he tells me he doesnt like it, so looks like im best putting it into 2 or 3 tubs to freeze, but unsure if i can.

We have a thomas the tank fairy cake box to make (50p as box bashed!) and im thinking of making some meringue's, ive never made them before so im a bit excited

Would you use wholemeal bread flour that is past the best before?


oh, last night i made a spreadsheet so i can see everything that im spending my non-existing money on, picked a bad month to start,but hopefully i stick with it,as i fully intend to spend as little as possible in 2011


Edit: 50p for icing! my dearest ever! someone had taken the cake mix and edable paper out the box, box was selotaped back up when i bought it, bit gutted, just as well i know how to make fairy cakes or i would have one grumpy boy otherwise

booskyeboo

Hi
Does anyone know what are Ald*s super six fruit and veg?
I am trying to save a bit for the festive season.
Thanks

NickJW

Well I think I'm going to count the discounted present price for the presents, but I might bring back some little gifts (shortbread probably) from Edinburgh (so it's like a gift from my holiday as well) as extra ones...
Everyones gifts were discounted, and if I didn't buy them this weekend I would have bought them full price another day...so I've just saved myself money in the process:D

Anyway - I started my Xmas food shopping today and have spent £24.82 - that included a couple of bottles of wine, some party food, and crackers. Also got a whoopsied microwave meal for lunch today, and tonight I'll use the rest of the pate in the fridge with some toast.
The next 2 weekends I'll use to get the rest of the stuff. Think I'll do Pork for the meat this year - I'll be having Turkey when I go back to my parents, so I fancy a bit of a variety.

I'll pop round for tea and cakes when I arrive jintyb :rotfl: Joking aside, I'm getting my clothes packed now, and am looking forward to some relaxation. I'll see you all (and no doubt spend an hour catching up on posts), when I get back.