January 2011 Grocery Challenge

Long_tall_sally

Grrh! Been to Aldi, Lidl & Co Op today & spent in all 3 but now cannot find ANY receipts. Aldi & lidl I paid on my bank card so check those amounts tomorrow although I also bought teatowels & socks at aldi so I think 39 will have to come off that amount but the Co Op I paid cash 7 am already struggling to remember how much I spent. Think it was £6.40 so shall add that on for now. My head has too much going on in it!

At the Co Op, I bought a half price large Elmwood chicken for £3 & some stir fry pork for £2. In some ways I am glad that I did buy them as I was thinking that I rarely pay full price or at least a price that I do not think is good value, for any meat but on the other hand, I probably didn't need them as the freezer is full of something! Can't quite remember again what is it in it but something is!

Sparklyfairy

What happened to my month?! I went to Lid£ & spent £28.26, then popped to Mr. S & spent a further £47.43..so I'm already £7 over my limit for the month & you know what? I didn't even get anything good! Grr! So, next month I'm going to have to up my budget not just because of all the price increases but also because I've started the Dukan Diet (essentially carb free) as I really need to lose some weight. I might have to up it to £50/wk from £40....then work down again (hopefully?!).

I hope everyone has a lovely day & hugs to those who need them!

SuziQ1962

Had to buy stuff today and spent £15.58 which has taken me way over my budget for this week so a bit bummed off,will have to do better next week and next month as am spending too much-off now to OS thread to give me some inspiration on how to do it all for very little! Not in a good mood!!!:-(
Thanks for hugs from ^ ^ ^ bloomin' need them!

wssla00

Afternoon all Final day of the challenge and a final spend of £8.50 in Lidl. Cat food, snacks and some chicken. So well under for this month. Next month I should have £50 of Sainsburys vouchers from a life insurance deal so that will help!

Have a good day all

wssla00

Long_tall_sally wrote: »

At the Co Op, I bought a half price large Elmwood chicken for £3 & some stir fry pork for £2. In some ways I am glad that I did buy them as I was thinking that I rarely pay full price or at least a price that I do not think is good value, for any meat but on the other hand, I probably didn't need them as the freezer is full of something! Can't quite remember again what is it in it but something is!

The Elmwood chickens- were they YS or were they on special as if they were on special I will pop in and get some!

kippers

jessie18 wrote: »

Yes thats no probs, although im going to sound like a right cheapskate, ha ha :rotfl:

Its just loads of mashed potatoes mixed with margarine & a little milk, mash in lots of mature grated cheese to taste. You can add some chopped onions if you like them too, i would fry them a little first to soften. Then put into a large pyrex dish with sliced tomatoes on top, cook on gas number 6 till lovely and brown on top, about an hour depending on how big. Mom used to cook this when we were kids & they were hard up. She also used corned beef instead of cheese, for a corned beef hash type of dish. My sons love both it and they are now in their twenties, hubby likes the corned beef version. Not very adventurous i know, but a cheap filling meal.

Jessie18 x

I make a cheese potato pie by mashing cooked potato with cheese and a knob of butter then put it in a pre-baked pie dish of shortcrust pastry and then put in the oven or under the grill to brown off a bit..Yum yum..i serve with sausages and beans...very junky but lovely.

Ilona wrote: »

Hello Hippeechiq :hello:
I went a bike ride today to check how long it would take me to cycle the six miles to Tes&co. 40 mins there and 50 mins back. While I was there I checked out the reduced prices, and got some bargains.
2 bags brussel sprouts £1.10
organic leeks 45p
pancakes 14p
2 packets of teacakes 38p
seeded bread 60p
oatcakes 38p
2 bags organic spinach 78p
Total £3.83. Would have been £9.17 so saved £5.34
Didn't cost anything to cycle there and it was good excercise. If I do it more often I will have to get some panniers though, I had a job to get it all in my bag on the back.

Dinner tonight was day 2 of a three day stew. :dance:
Can't find a smilie for windy :rotfl:
Ilona

Wow, 6 miles well don you:T:T

Mothership wrote: »

I'm thinking if I do go over budget I will carry the overspend forward to next month, as once the freezers are full, we wont need any meat purchases.

Sorry If I've let you all down

You haven't let anyone down...infact you are doing brilliantly, like you said you don't waste any food anymore..like i said in a different post, i think January is a really hard month after the lovely time we all had after xmas....Feb is another month, pick yourself up and try again.:)

Tonight we are having whoopsied pork loin chops, potatoes, carrots, curly kale and whoopsied frozen broccoli and cauli florets with gravy.

I'm trying not to eat in between meals as i'm the heaviest i've ever been...but i find it's really hard when you first start being healthy and all i do is think of food. Oh well, only 3 hours until tea time lol

Mothership

Thank you for all your support, this really is a lovely thread to hang out:j:j:j I love reading all the posts and sharing recipes etc.

I forgot to tell you all that I DONT go to the Quick Grabbit as much as I used to (only a wee peek now and then), I think I was addicted to it.
When I bought my 5 month old granddaughter socks for school LOL. I realised I was going a bit too far.
Also I don't NEED ANYTHING, I've even stopped buying on Ebay.

I think I've had more fun NOT spending so much this past month. I've learned a lot since joining the challenge, and remembered the old ways I was taught, I thought they were long forgotten.
My family say I am like a wee hamster with food and all sorts hidden away all over the house, as a child the eldest of 9 I can remember always being hungry, and as a teenager going short on things like soap/shampoo.
I don't think I'll ever stop buying, but at least I've got it under control.
And its all thanks to the help and support I've had on here, thank you all of you for just being there :A

rosieben

Mothership wrote: »

...When I bought my 5 month old granddaughter socks for school LOL. I realised I was going a bit too far. ...

:rotfl: :rotfl::rotfl:

I've tallied up my spends for the last few months and ebay is definitely not my friend!! I was :eek:to see how much I've spent on art and craft supplies in the few months; I've set myself a monthly budget for art/craft now, so hopefully things will improve

like you, I remember hard times when I was growing up and also when my kids were small, I get very edgy if I see my pantry getting too empty

fedupandskint

I spent £11 in Mr T's on Monday on 8pts milk, bottle lemon juice, box of cereal and a calculator for uni

My total so far is £75.95/£150 and have just over 1 week to go with the month ending on 28th Jan

Will be getting a few more bits in at the weekend but otherwise should be ok

loulou0327

Hi I can remember someone saying about a shop/warehouse discount food store in south yorkshire area that specialised in frozen food. But I've forgotten what it was called.

If anyone can remember i would be very grateful. Thanks x