January 2011 Grocery Challenge

boysma

16.00 spent this morning in butchers. Still need more milk, butter & some fruit before Monday so will declare by overspent budget then:( Total has been updated.

However for Feb can you put me down for 230 please as i think this may be a little more realistic for us.:)

mummyroysof3

MummyEm wrote: »

Someone mentioned silicone baking bits a few pages back. £land are doing some which are great. Have bought small cupcake ones which work much better than my tin, seem to rise really well every time. Also have a loaf one and those grippy things for grabbing hot trays out of the oven. I was worried that all these may be poor quality or a bit too thin but so far, 2 months in, they are going strong. They also do quite a bit of other bits but have been limiting myself as am including cookware in grocery budget!

I am just catching up on the thread so have yet to read the last 2 pages so apologies if someone else has mentioned this already.

On my GC front. Still have £5 odd in the kitty and not yet planning any spends. Not spending anything on GC today. Have friends over this afternoon. Making banana bread and flapjacks this morning for grown ups. Homemade pizza, wedges and salad bits for the kiddies teatime.

Hope you all have a nice day.

i asked about the silicone backware, thankyou for answering, i have decided to get a muffin tray and a round cake one, just looking online as i down get out shopping much.

majjak

Can I declare at £359.51 please for January, a bit over my budget but lots of stockpiling done of things I use .

Could you put me down for £350 for Feb please Mrs M? Many thanks xxx

Spiggle

Hales wrote: »

Hi,
i'm a newbie to this thread - do you include household products (washing powder etc) and toiletries in the cost of the challenge?
Sorry if ive posted in the wrong place
Hales
x

Hi Hales and welcome, :hello:

Everyone has their own things to include so really it's up to you what you have in your budget. It's your challenge. I don't have any alcohol because OH buys his from his pocket money (£15 per week) and when I want some (rarely) I will do the same. Other people include all alcohol. Otherwise everything I buy for the house food, cleaning products, toiletries, cat food, etc. is included. Others only have food in their budget as they have separate budgets for the other stuff. We don't include tobacco as that is separately budgetted for, as is entertainment. Some include take aways but others regard them as entertainment (which is what I would do if I had them). Hope that helps and please do ask if there's anything else you have a question about. This is the most supportive, friendly, inspirational, original and welcoming thread so just ask!

mummyroysof3 wrote: »

ive decided, that im going to declare my total as £337, as i wont spend anymore today or tomorrow. may need toilet roll monday and milk but im going to start feb budget a day early anyway.

will go post my budget for feb on the new thread now while i remember

Mummyroysof3, if you edit your post to make your declaration red and bold and bigger letters/numbers MrsMcCawber :A will be able to spot you more easily when she comes on.

minnie2 wrote: »

... But this is the first month that i havent had to worry that we havent got enough money to cover all the bills untill next pay day!!!!!!! So i am very happy with that!! Think we still have some things we could do better with, but im sure we will get there!! starting to consolidate everything now too hoping that will start next months - hoping to get rid of 6 agreements and put into one - paying a bit off in each and consolidating the rest.which im sure will help us monthly to budget and keep track.

Minnie2, I love reading about the difference this challenge is making to people's lives. And not having so many money worries in these hard times is a real boon! :T As for things you could do better, we're all learning all the time. It's taken our whole lives to get to the spend-y phase and it will take time to relearn the benefits of save-y ways! It won't all happen over night and baby steps are often the way to go. Well done on your achievements so far and good luck with the rest of your changes. :beer:

Well done to all those who have tried hard to reach their goals this month. :T Congratulations to those who have got under their budgets. :dance: And to those who haven't, think what you would have spent if you hadn't done the challenge. :eek:

No losers or failures here only those who are learning how to say no to those smarmy supermarkets who want to take as much of our money as they can!

Have a great day everyone. I'm off to the butchers and grocers later and have to pick up GD1's birthday presents from Arg*s as she reaches a very beautiful nine years old tomorrow.

See you later,
Spigs

leeds1947

jan G C £172/£200 spent.Thank you for all the help have really enjoyed the challenge and will adjust target a little lower for Feb.

monicaj

I would like to declare £297.25 spend out of £300 monthly budget - was hoping to come in under but DD is moving out today and I bought her loads of storecupboard foodstuff and cleaning/laundry items (about £50 worth) within the spend so I'm well happy :j

£300 for me next month please.

It's been great and I'm grateful to all the contributors on this thread.

sazzledazzle

Whohooo came in just under my budget at £122.85 now off to update my signature with shiny new target.

Catslovelycats

just over budget
needed to get bananas, was craving doritos and dip, got some fruit and veg
never mind
I've defo spent less this month than I would have done without this challenge - so here's to next month!

never_too_old

wannaBrich wrote: »

erm, I can't remember how to change my signature, can anyone help pls? lol


as for breadmakers, I live on my own and don't eat much bread but like the sound of making my own pizza dough and diabetic friendly cakes etc.

is there such a thing as a breadmaker for one?! lol

take care all xxx

Hi havent got to bottom of this thread so apologise if answers already posted, signature if you go to top of page ypu will see heading user cp click on that and then at side it says edit signature, click then change then save, hope that helps,

you can always freeze half a loaf if you made one.
and pizza base, jamie oliver did a cheats pizza base last night which looks really easy
• 1½ mugs of self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• ½ mug of tepid water


water added gradualy then knead and roll out to about half inch thick.
he heated some olive oil in a frying pan and laid dough in that then put toppings on and then under the grill. its last nights prog on 4 on demand.

franby64

Afternoon

Just updating sig as unbelievably I'm still under-budget though I won't quite make it on @£6.50 as I have a veg box coming on Monday.
(The last sad remnant of last week's box is some chicory which I have to admit I don't fancy much - any suggestions welcome).
And I did eat the salsify this week and it was...OK

My oven gave out last week so I've had to rejig the menu a bit as I only have hob and grill and have stopped planning . On the other hand things have lasted quite well somehow. A couple of things I bought I can't cook until the new cooker arrives on Wednesday but this should give me a bit of a start in Feb. So the upshot of all this is that my January has got a bit woolly so I want to get organised for Feb and try to have a really cheap month.

I will have to do a T*sco shop for Weds as I'm trying to do the 3 shops for 1000 points before 15/2. I've already done 1 shop so should be OK. Got very little idea of what I'm going to get though!!

Hope everybody is OK and much more focussed and organised than me!