March grocery challenge

moggins

You could try making your own burgers? my butcher sells mince fr £1.50 for two pounds, I've seen him mince it in front of me and he uses pure stewing steak.

I then mince up an onion, bind it all together with a couple of tablespoons of breadcrumbs and an egg and then shape it into burgers, they shrink a bit more than shop bought ones but at least you know what goes into them.

JULIE

Thats a good idea... funny how these simple things are right in front of your nose... I will investigate for next weeks budget.

System

Hello Julie and welcome to the site. I have a few pointers for you to start with:

1. If its not needed, then dont buy it.

2. Keep a list of birthdays and if you can, try and buy things in the sales when its cheaper.

3. Buy as much as you can, second hand. Second hand doesnt necessarily mean second best. Also, sell your unwanted items either online or in your local rag. I cant begin to count the amount of money i have made over the years selling my childrens clothing and toys.

4. Cloth nappies are far cheaper than disposables. Also if you can do it, breastfeeding is supposed to be best (I say supposed, i didnt breast feed my children as i didnt want to).

5. The likes of Asda, Tesco etc do a basic range of clothing. They are very cheap and serve the purpose. I prefer to spend more on my going out clothes and shoes. You can even scour ebay for clothes, i have never done it myself, but a friend of mine gets stuff for her children from there all the time.

6. Turn down your heating a few degrees and lag your pipes. Subnificant savings can be made that way. If your cold, put on an extra layer!! Use energy efficient bulbs where possible. I also steam my vegetables on my gas cooker using just the one burner. A pressure cooker or a slow cooker, can tenderise cheaper cuts of meat. Turn off appliances, rather than leave them on standby. I also wash our clothes in a cold wash. It may not be suitable for some, but i am sucessful with it. You can also make your own laundry detergents and cleaners a quick search on here should bring up interesting results.

7. Look in your cupboards and menu plan from whats in there. You maybe able to live a week or two without having to buy much. Then when your cupboards are bare, menu plan when you go shopping. Making things from scratch is 9 times out of 10 cheaper than buying the ready made version from the supermarket - if you have the time that is. Limit the amount of nicities you buy. My lot get a bag of Walkers crisps every day and a Kit Kat. You wont find packets of biscuits and chocolate in my cupboards. If we want it, we have to go and buy it!! Make good use of the Value range of products, if you dont like it, just go on to the stores own brand. Take advantage of online vouchers if you shop online, or coupons if you dont. You can save a tidy sum that way.

8. Dont forget to save in advance for large expenses such as christmas etc, theres nothing worse to take you off track than a major bill that hasnt been accounted for.

elona

Julie
If you cook your own joints using cheaper cuts of meat (like ham hocks , brisket etc) in a slow cooker - you can save fuel and money. The slow cookers are also great for making huge pots of home made soup, curries casseroles etc.:):):)

Galtizz

Hi Julie

In addition to Judi and Elonas advise have a look at THIS thread which gives lots of good advise if you are just starting out on the challenge.

JULIE

My parents bought me a slow cooker for xmas... It's probably silly to say but I find it quite awkward. My eldest son is vegetarian and my hubby feels a meal is not complete without meat... so it ends up that I have to use oven as well as slow cooker... hence i've only used slow cooker twice since Dec... once for porridge which was disastrous, all burnt on bottom and watery... (I did use correct amounts of ingredients) and the 2nd time was for a veggie stew.. and ended up lightly frying a couple of sausages for hubby...

I breastfed eldest son for 9 months...2nd son for 3 months but didn't produce enough so had to bottle feed in the end... this time around my heart isn't into the breast feeding.. which does make me feel guilty as I know breast is best etc... I s'pose i'll just have to try and bite the bullet again and do it.

JULIE

By the way guys..... thanks for current advice.... much appreciated.

mum26

Hi Julie, i've just had my 6th baby and my heart wasn't truly in breastfeeding this time either, you may be surprised and take to it but if not, never mind! some clinics sell formula cheaper, not just to people on benfits, some will sell it cheaper if you are on higher rate tax credits, even a couple of pounds cheaper makes a difference doesn;t it?

I use cloth nappies too, no where near the fuss i thought it would be at all, i'm actually going to start selling them soon i like them so much! plus there is a good second hand market in them too so you can recoup some money, they are very different now to the ones our parents used to use xx

calleyw

I am on enforced march grocery challenge. Because we are moving this month and need to run stocks down in the fridge/Freezer as they are coming to take it away on thursday.

So a whole week and a bit with out it :rolleyes: before we will be able to get another one.

So I have been running the stocks down in the cupboards and spent about £30 so far this month and I think we are eating really well. But no stocking on up.

Usually spend about £100 a month on food for two people. That does include fresh fruit and veg from the greengrocers but not much meat as we not keen on it. Also stocking up.

Yours

Calley

Julie14_2

Hello again

After reading all your advise, I have managed to cut this week shopping by £15.00, I know I still have a long way to go (I was spending £90.00 and would like to spend £50 - £60) that does include everything from nappies to bread.

Making a weeks menus has also saved me a lot of time, usually I run around the house trying to think what I can cook that night and usually the thing I want is still frozen, and more often than not I do three different meals for myself, my husband, my 5yr old and the 1yr old. But things are lot easier now I spend some time thinking about the meals before hand.

I have also started to write down every thing I spend (as its not only the grocerys that I need to cut down on), its amazing to see that all the little things I buy really do add up to quite a bit come the end of the week.

I have also tried as suggested own brand nappies which so far I'm quite please with, I used Asda george nappies and sainsbury own washing tablets which work fine on freshing up but not so well on stains (and I get quite a few of them from the baby). I'm going to try switching a few more things to own brands. Any suggestions on the best one to try?.

Thanks again for all the advise :T