November 06 Grocery Challenge

pigpen

cheerfulness4 ... WELL DONE!!!!

Keep it up it looks like you are doing fantastically well.

My aim this week is to buy NOTHING except some fruit and milk. I have 6 loaves in the freezer and the children are converted to HM bread already.. it took me 3 loaves to achieve that! They are even eating wholemeal bread!!!!!!

We shall see how that goes. I have £10 left to last ALL week!!! .. not including the £25.50 it will cost for dinner money and bus fares for the 2 at high school.

I need to tally up exactly how much we have spent this month and set a sensible budget for next month.. it being December and all!!! I have £93 of tesco vouchers to use for my groceries plus some other coupons so not doing too bad.

cheerfulness4

Thank you, Pigpen. I'm so enjoying these challenges.

I have to ask.. How did you get your children to eat WHOLEMEAL BREAD! Mine are teenagers and yet still I can't get it past their lips. I love it myself and wanted to convert all the family but no go. So how did you manage it?

pigpen

I don't know!!! They refuse to touch the shop bought stuff but I baked my own and they ate it!! The older 2 are 12 and 15 and have NEVER eaten it before!!

I have no idea what I did right!

I asked yesterday about mixing the wholemeal and white flour to see if they would eat that, but they are eating the wholemeal anyway.. I hope it lasts as the wholemeal flour was cheaper than the white lol!!

Could you try mixing it and gradually increasing the wholemeal element.. or just totally refuse to buy anything but wholemeal if they are big enough to comprehend that?

the bizarre thing is.. I hate it.. I would go without rather than eat wholemeal!! I think it tastes like tree bark! (yes I have!!)

They LOVE the porridge oat bread as well.. nice for breakfast and snacks! Quite heavy as well so more filling.

cheerfulness4

LOL perhaps the kiddies are going to have to persuade YOU to eat it.

My 2 are 16 and 13 so they are well old enough to understand its good for them so I'm going to try again. If they really hate it then I will try the half & half thing. Failing that - more for me.

kiwi88_2

Well Done pigpen :T

Congrats on the wholemeal battle or rather the lack of it :rotfl: Tree Bark ????

Well done cheerfulness :T

I too have lost weight doing this challenge it's a great incentive to keep going :rotfl:

I've gone over budget this month already :eek: but I have bought presents, xmas food and booze in the last months shopping. I will pay back the pressie money when I get payed tomorrow which will make it a little better.

I don't have a clothes, shopping, birthday or xmas budget, usually I rely on my monthly wages so guess what will be the first thing to be sorted out next year :rolleyes:

Nov Budget £375
Actual spend £407 :eek:

pigpen

Kiwi.. yes I have eaten tree bark! lol

I've probably gained about 4 stone just in bread the last 2-3 days.. I am so full of bread I may burst! Raisin bread cooking right now.. and I have requests for another porridge oat loaf.. no rest for my wicked little bread maker it seems!

I have just inspired a friend to buy herself one too so.. we are taking over zee vurld!!!

Tomorrow I MUST sort out another bank account to pay all this shrapnel into before my house collapses under the weight of change!

I am thinking maybe the £2 collecting might be worth a go too.. then I shall be left with £1 coins to pay dinner monies with.. nice neat purse!

The £2's can go towards other debts, the change goes off the mortgage (up to £500 as that is all we are allowed to pay off per year!!) and the grocery money should be reduced by at least a third (£200).

Those are my long term plans anyway.. maybe the strict budgetting needs to wait until I have stripped the bank bare before christmas!! We only have one more pay day (30th) before christmas and I have 5 people still to buy for!!

And I have some more stuff to list on ebay.. more money to help clear those nasty debts!

kiwi88_2

Maybe we could start a coin/purse sorting list :rotfl:

£2 for largest interest debts, £1 for the next one, 50p then 20p ect :rotfl:

I'm going to leave the strict budgetting till after xmas when dh and I have the time to really sit down and work out the nitty gritty.

Let's face it we all on this site have made a fantastic start by tackling our debts and expenditures so I think we all deserve a big pat on the back :T :T

pigpen

I totally agree kiwi.. they do say the biggest step is actually admitting there is something you need to do something about.

I am pigpen.. and I am skint!

there you go!

I have a cheque on its way for £9.09 from quidco so there's another little helping hand! and £15 voucher from lightspeed .. happy me!

I don't owe enough people to sort all my change lol.. just the ones I do owe I owe a lot! lol.

I can have most of them paid off by the end of next year I guess.. if I keep on task.

The savings I hope to make here on my shopping will definitley help matters!

jcr16

totally off subject but having 8 children pigpen must be totally amazing. i really envy u. i have 2 at the mo and hubby has agreed to another 2. but when i mentioned a fellow member on o/s had 8 , i think he knew the next questions that was coming. bless.but he has said if we have the room then it is possible. if it happens i;'ll be asking u for lots of tips.

catznine

Blew it big time! We had friends round for dinner and as I wasn't feeling very well oh went to sainsburys and bought all the cheats for a sunday roast, ready cooked chickens, aunt bessies yorkshires, spuds, stuffing balls, (I did the veg though) and some lovely puds. we had a lovely time don't regret it for an instance as it really did give me a lift, been feeling down for a while. So won't have so much to spend at Costco now!:rolleyes: