January 2011 Grocery Challenge
This discussion has been closed.
Latest MSE News and Guides
Has your old furniture become desirable again?
Share your photos in this thread
Join the MSE Forum discussionShare your photos in this thread
Join the MSE Forum discussion
Replies
The results so far - not TOO bad tbh - £312.87 for the month to date
BUT
we used to get a takeaway every Friday and this month I have bought Waitrose's own Indian takeaway - much cheaper and very nice :A:A:A
We do feel a bit guilty about not supporting our local Indian takeaway - but will limit ourselves to once a month instead of once a week.
However - takeaways were not in my budget whereas now they kind of are as I'm counting them in my grocery shop.
I am aware I only have £37.13 left to the end of the month and am a bit tempted to cheat and declare on Saturday before I do the shopping on Sunday :rotfl:
So I may go over for January but I'll be all sorted for Feb... probably
I also do this, but I buy the cheapest food bags I can find, put whatever inside, then I put that bag inside a zipock/sealable bag and put a small piece of paper in between the two bags with (I keep all junk mail I receive that is blank on the back for this purpose, and also for writing shopping lists on) for example, 200g Chicken Breast diced 26.1.01 written on it.
By doing this, I always know what's in the bags, and how long they've been in the freezer. Double bagging them also helps stop them getting freezer burn, although that's not much of a risk for me, as because I put the date on everything I freeze, I rotate my stock by putting the most recently purchased underneath what has already been purchased and frozen. Value/Smart Price food bags are as cheap as chips, but are very thin, so when I've used them once I throw them away when I defrost whatever is inside them, but I reuse the ziplock/sealable bag.
PennyGrabber If you do make the Chicken Bacon Roast, if you remove the skin first from your thighs (and drumsticks if using) before wrapping the bacon round the chicken, it makes it a far healthier meal. I've made it both ways, and whereas, I normally prefer to leave the skin on my chicken, in this instance is nicer without the skin on, although you then have to add a tiny bit of oil to the pan/dish you cook it in for the potatoes.
I did have a NSD today after all, so I'm now up to 13
Oct10 £266.72 /£275 Nov10 £276.71/£275 Dec10 £311.33 / £275 Jan11 £242.25/ £250 Feb11 £243.14/ £250 Mar11 £221.99/ £230 Apr11 £237.39 /£240 May11 £237.71/£240 Jun11 £244.03/ £240 July11 £244.89/ £240
Xmas 2011 Fund £220
I have oodles of space so storage isn't a problem. We have a large house (5beds) and there's only the 2 of us. Also we used to have shop and I can now fill all those shelves with 'my' stuff. My OH says there is more there now than when shop was open!
12 people turn up unexpectedly - No problem! Could probably feed them the a month; only need to buy milk and fruit. How bad is that?
THANK YOU
Inspirational, funny, intelligent, caring are but a few of the words that come to mind when I think of my virtual friends on here
Love Helen x
1st fair on 13/4/14 :j
Oct10 £266.72 /£275 Nov10 £276.71/£275 Dec10 £311.33 / £275 Jan11 £242.25/ £250 Feb11 £243.14/ £250 Mar11 £221.99/ £230 Apr11 £237.39 /£240 May11 £237.71/£240 Jun11 £244.03/ £240 July11 £244.89/ £240
Xmas 2011 Fund £220
See you and my other virtual friends at the weekend then :rotfl:
Weight loss 3 stone
Tomorrow, I will be attempting a NSD. I would like to have at least 18 this month.
June £511.99/£480 July £311.56/£480
have sorted a second purse... written my lists ready for 1st feb.. wish it was here now!
Cant remember who asked about Swede... i like root mash... parnsip, swede, carrot potato whatever youve got all mashed up, its also nice roasted!
Total Debt Sept 2011 £23,708.39
Paid so far £2,383.91 :money:
Current Debt £21,560.56
Thats a great way of packing food for the freezer.
I noticed that the supermarket food packages were the ones that had freezer burn, all my own packages were in perfect condition. There's two packs of chicken in my freezer that I'm not sure about, I might end up feeding them to the cats in the lane. I've stopped buying Chicken from SB's and Mrrsns altogether. I've had this happen too many times over the years. I think the problem is if there is any space in the packaging ice can form.
I like M+S Oakham Chicken I buy these when the 3 for £10 offer is on and cook them all together. Have a roast dinner and portion the rest up, make stock with the bones and freeze it. I've stopped freezing chicken thighs, I cook them fresh. They taste better.
I also brown mince remove the fat then freeze in, it stacks better in the little flat packages. And cooks really quickly, most evenings I need to get the dinner on the table quickly.
Thank you for the tips, I'm always on the lookout for a better way to do things, found some great ones on here.
2nd Purse ££100