March grocery challenge

LadyMarmalade_2

Only went today for a look and ended up with 22 loaves at 10p each-they are now living in my freezer-I think if you call late in the day you are able to pick up some really cheap items. Also I got 4 x 300gms of turkey mince at 29p each so if anyone has any recipes please let me know. I normally buy the standard mince and make up a big pot with all the usual veg etc so I would need some ideas on a variation.

tiff

Great bargains LM, 22 loaves!

Sarahsaver

with the turkey mince i would make burgers or meatballs, just turkey mince cooked in the same manner as beef mince reminds me too much of hospital dinners and the dreaded beige 'turkey mince' meal...
Or, if you are any good at samosas then make meat samosas. You can buy the pastry ready made, tends to be marked as 'spring roll pastry'

vanoonoo

turkey mince chilli is quite successful in this household (like sarahsaver says though you do need to make sure you have enough colours and flavours to guard against the bleak insipid paleness!) and also it works well fried up with onions and peppers and mushrooms them plonked in tortillas or pitta bread with (or without) salad or things like guacomole and salsa.

its ok in stirfry too - esp special fried rice type stuff if you are any good at making egg fried rice you can turn it into a meal with prawns and chicken or turkey mince and peas and peppers and mushrooms added.

my mum has made sausages with it in the past but I cant remember how she did it - sage and onion stuffing comes to mind for some reason.

Mads13

Hi All

Just an update! I bought some value washing powder and conditioner last week..to try :eek: . My daughter has ezma and have to say, I was very impressed.

Very lightly scented and washed just as well as my normal Ariel/Persil. Although biological, my daughters skin has been no different and has been wearing items including underwear for 3 days now (clean each day though..lol)using the new powder and conditioner. The price comparison is super value and would recomend Tesco Value Powder. I will try the Asda smart price in a couple of weeks to make sure skin hasnt flared.

Thanks All

Mads13

Eliza252

recovering_spendaholic wrote:

Hello - I am new to this site (was referred by a friend at work) and since knowing about it my kids think I've left home!! I am intrigued by this grocery challenge and would love to join in but currently I spend about £120 :eek: a week for me and two kids (14 and 7). I just can't understand (and you are all welcome to think I am a total idiot - I do!) how anyone can spend £20 a week on food. I shop at Tescos and can spend over £20 just in the produce aisle. Do you all buy produce in greengrocers? Sorry but any hints and tips would be really welcome.

Hi,
Have you tried your local markets?
I buy enough veg for me, for two weeks on about £8. I find that not only do they have a much wider and better quality selection of fruit and veg - its 99p for a mangy piece of broccoli in Tesco vs 99p for 3x as much brocolli in much better condition. Plus there are stalls with cheap chocolate (10 bars for a pound!) and other tinned foods.
I make my own bread and butter pudding for dessert - it takes about ten minutes, very cheap and very filling so will keep the kids from complaining.
plan meals in advance, that way you know what your going to buy before you go to the supermarket - stops you from buying those extra frozen pizzas 'just in case'
- from previous experience never take kids to supermarket (if physically possible) always spend twice as much as they suddenly decide expensive reay meals are an essentail part of diet!
Shop online? Reduces ability to aisle cruise and things accidently to fall into cart!

LadyMarmalade_2

Hi all,

Pleased to hear the Tesco Value Washing Powder seems to be ok if you have eczema-will definitely being purchasing it when my old powder runs out and thanks for ideas for using turkey mince.

By the way Iceland are doing a good deal at minute 5 Birds Eye items and a Walls Viennetta for £5. Hope its still on this weeks

Penny-Wise_4

Didn't really think I could join the March challenge as we have only been spending roughly £26 a week on 2 adults & 3 house cats (who refuse to use cheap litter) and i didn't think I could cut down any more.

However, I usually shop online with Tesco for everything to avoid impulse buying but have decided not to buy dried food/fresh veg/meat/fish from them anymore.

So, this saturday i went to a big Asian supermarket and bought enough spices/lentils/chickpeas/popping corn/etc to last me & my mum about 6 months - spent £24 thats £12 each.

then we went to the Market Hall and bought a sack of potatoes (25k) - £3.50 and a sack of onions (10k) £1.30 - again i split this with my mum and they should last us both more than a month.

as we went to the market late (about 4pm) the fish stall and meat stalls were trying to get rid of thier stock -

we bought 3 whole salmon for £10 which were filleted for us and made about 22 portions (and some heads and bones for stock/cats)

and 4 large whole chickens for £5

total spent at market £20

That cost me & my mum about £22 each.

Taking another trip to the market at 3.30pm next saturday to bag more bargins - i need loads of fresh veg and maybe some more meat (i may get bored this month if all i eat is salmon and chicken) but i don't think i'll have to spend more than £10-15.


I'm hoping not to spend more than £70 this month, compared to the usual £112 ish.

Julie14_2

Hello again
After reading about the Grocery challange I decided to take part - well all did not go well! first I wrote a menu for this week using a lot of things I already had and then made a shoping list of the things I needed, I thought I did well and headed off to the supermarket ( I work in a well known supermarket and have a staff discount of 10%) I have budgeted £60.00 for everything, followed my list and also bought few items other items that had slipped my mind, my trolley was not a full as usual so feeling quite pleased with myself headed off for the tills. but disapointment soon hit, my bill even after my discount came to £68.00, and I realised this morning I didn't buy any cereal much to the disgust of my 5 year old and also I forget washing up liquid, so today I have spent another £7.58 as I need bread and chrisps as well.

So my first week was not a success, I have to reduce my shopping bill and
idealy need to reduce everything as we have lived in the overdraft since my daughter was born 11 months ago.

Any advise would be gratefully received - thankyou

fazer6

Julie, post your full shopping list and people will let you know if you could have bought/made a cheaper alternative. There's always a way to shave a bit off each week and sometimes it helps to get an outside point of view to make you question why you're buying something.