November 06 Grocery Challenge

Pandora123_2

pigpen wrote:

Sorry.. I always miss off something relevant.. It feeds 2 adults 2 cats, 2 rabbits and 8 children aged, 15, 12, 11, 9, 7, 6, 4 and 2. And they eat a LOT!!

There's another thread in OS about feeding an adult on £12/week, and the consensus was that it's very do-able.

Let's say your eight kids eat the equivalent of... I dunno... five adults, then you're feeding the equivalent of seven adults total. Seven times £12 is £84 per week, which is quite bit less than £600 per month, even considering that you have two rabbits and two cats.

Hmmm, let's see...

If your family is currently eating white bread, pasta, rice and processed cereal, that could be one of the reasons they are eating a lot. Processed grains do not tend to fill you up as much as whole-grain ones. You may want to try using more whole-grain products and see if that makes any difference to how hungry they must always seem to be!

Also, I would switch them over to porridge oats or homemade granola if they are currently having processed and/or overly sweetened cereals. Could be they'll feel full with less food and not be hungry again so soon afterwards.

Take a page from hubby's book and cook veggie meals for the whole family (not just him!) Lentils and beans are cheap, filling and very nutritious.

How about growing some of your own veg (an idea for next year!). But now might be the time to put your name down for an allotment if you don't have the space in your own garden.

It's also late for most of the "free" food that's around (blackberries, apples, etc), but something you might want to consider and plan for next year.

Tonight we had tacos, and stretched the veggie mince (we're vegan) with some diced sauteed potatoes. DH liked it better than the usual way I make it (without potato). That would be another way to stretch the meat, by bulking it out with potato, or as others have suggested elsewhere, TVP.

If you think you might be able too convert your family to soyamilk instead of dairy milk, you can make soyamilk for around 10p per litre with a soyamilk maker.

Don't know where you live, but if you can shop at Indian markets, they can be a source of super-cheap fruit and veg. Today we went to Birmingham and were gobsmacked at how cheap the fruit was in the Indian grocery stores. Huge mangoes - three for £1, custard apples - four for £1 (1/4 the price of Tescos!), huge bunch of coriander for 29p, etc etc.

You can make excellent ice cream with an ice cream maker (can you tell I like kitchen gadgets? :rotfl: ). We make ice cream with fruit, soyamilk, sugar, etc and it's fabulous. Healthy to boot! You may want to consider that too.

HTH...

kiwi88_2

Pandora123 some great advice there so will use the breakfast one myself :T

OMG Pigpen how do you do it :eek: Kudos to you I struggle with 2 :beer:

To add to Pandora's advice I would say see if you can get a slow cooker if you haven't already and do lots of stews. You can prepare them the night before or in the morning and bulk them out with beans, lentils, split peas, potatoes and dumplings but do those in the evening otherwise you could use them as golf balls :rotfl: It works out very cheap and easy to do.

Also look on the old style recipe forums on this site like Pandora mentioned they have great recipes for slow cookers and loads of ideas for saving money in general.

EDIT Pigpen have also PM'd you. One I missed http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=212256

Hope that helps

pigpen

We actually have an Indian supermarket round the corner and another small one I walk past 6 times a day on the school run. I can't go in the first one.. it smells awful, stomach churningly awful.. like.. rotting meat.. the other one just smells spicy and makes me sneeze but I can go in there. lol.

I do have a slowcooker and make loads of stews and soups, even though the children hate them!! They are fed them anyway.

Are breadmakers actually worth the money? Roughly how much is it to make a loaf in these?? I'll be asking on freecycle before I even think about buying!!!

I'll check out those recipes in a moment.. thank you Kiwi.

I will admit, I am not the most culinary adventurous.. lol.. I can cook, I just avoid anything that makes extra work for myself.

I am trying to be better!!

xx

janeym8

im totally amazed at you all-as a rough estimate my food bill for 2 adults and 3 teenagers must be round £500-600 and that doesnt include meals out,takeaways or petrol money.think i have just realised why me and my OH have mega weight probs.
i did an asda online food order tonight-will go back tomorrow and amend same.my problem is i love food shopping my ex used to say i should belong to Tescos annonymous as i was there every day-im not like that now but would still prefer food shopping to clothes shopping.my huisband now hates food shopping with me as i look at absolutely everything in the store my usual weekly shop takes me about 2 hours.now i have read this thread i will sit and have a serious think about my food shoping and maybe join in with you all after xmas

thanks for making me think

janey xxx

BusyGirl

Oh dear I managed to spend around £50 today at HB, Aldi and Asda, too many bargains! That only leaves £10 but if I only go to Aldi next week then I'll try to spend no more than £20. I don't think I'll stay in my monthly budget but I'm spending a lot less than usual as I often spent over £300 per month.

kiwi88_2

Beginning of week three for me and I've almost spent the months budget :eek:

I did an instore shop for school food bits for monday and bought the fruit, some veg and some xmas stocking fillers £51.07

Also did an online shop to be delivered tomorrow to restock cupboards and get some xmas party food, snacks, chocs and booze £88.33 :eek:

Nov Budget £375

Wk 1 £114.78
Wk 2 £104.44
Wk 3 £139.40

Total left £16.38 :eek: Still 11 Days to go but I have meal planned :rotfl:

JillD_2

Because of the planning and freezing ahead I've been doing I've realised I can feed us all next week from the freezer and store cupboard easily.
All I need to shop for is dairy and fruit and a few bits of veg.
I've been making my own bread for about 6 weeks now.

We have in the freezer:
- quorn supreme from a couple of weeks ago
- beanfeast chilli from last week
- spag bol from this week
- veggie bacon and sweetcorn to do with pasta
- sausages to have with mash and froz peas
- froz quorn pieces to have with tin tomatoes, veg and curry powder to make curry

We also have:
- jacket potatoes to have with beans and cheese

The weekly shop should be about £25 I hope and that includes nappies:j

Thanks for all the great tips on OS - you have saved me over £100 a month on groceries
A few months ago I would neve have done this, I would have gone out and spent the usual and probably eaten more to boot

catznine

Week 2 nearly over and we are still living mainly out of the freezer and larder. Found 2 opened packs of soya chunks that needed using up in the larder and have turned them into a very large pot of curry, so some for todays spicy shepherds pie and some for the freezer. Yesterday we had some chicken pieces from the freezer - leftovers from my birthday barbecue with some hm roasties that I popped in the freezer a month ago. The veg and fruit are fresh though as I am still getting an organic box delivered.

Spent another £5 in Aldi yesterday on Catfood, bacon and some bleach, so must update signature.

loren83

my ex used to say i should belong to Tescos annonymous

Hehe. Made me think of me. I have a Tesco's on the way home and I always have an excuse to go in! I spend ages in there too!

Tescoholic!

pigpen

I've spent the usual £50 a week on extras (bread/milk/fruit/veg) and desserts.. Half the shops don't give receipts so I am struggling to keep a tally on what has been spent.

I have taken £100 out of the bank today and it has to last until the 30th. We have more in the bank but I just don't want to break into that I need it to pay the bills so whatever I have left at the end of the month will be added to the mortgage pig and paid off another debt.. I've not had the money before so I doubt I'll miss it..

I like the meal planning though.. it actually motivates me to get up off my bum and cook tea earlier as I don't have to decide what to cook.. I just do what it says on my list!

Yesterday I spent £4.75 on fruit and veg and £9.45 on bread and milk and salad and other bits for my baking. Today I spent £7.25 on frozen peas, bread, yoghurts and sausages. Tomorrow I need to buy chicken dippers, so I may as well get the sausages and mushrooms and loaf for Fridays dinner.. and bread and more milk!! That'll be about £6.

I think I need a spreadsheet thing that I can put in my minor spendings like this.. one job for the husband!!