January 2011 Grocery Challenge

banwa

Hello, please can you add me too? Thanks in advance

I tried this in the first few months of 2010. I don't think I ever hit budget but I learnt so much about my spending habits and how to spend less, and think it has taught me some very valuable lessons so I am thinking it would be good to refocus. My budget is £46 for food and cleaning products, £14 for alcohol and £9 for catfood every Friday so some months it will be £276 and some it will be £345. I tend not to get whoopsies because I mostly shop at Aldi and they don't seem to have them but I like their stuff and it's cheap. About once a month I go to Asda to get the stuff Aldi don't sell (why don't they sell dried pulses and couscous and icing sugar, why?)

I didn't have the time to read all the posts last year, I just couldn't keep up, so apologies in advance if I only end up posting at the beginning and end, but I'll do just that anyway to keep me accountable

So £276 for Banwa for January

vesper

hi could I join too. We aren't too bad with our shopping but at the moment I still seem to find loads of stuff in the fridge that needs throwing out at the end of the month, what a waste of money.
Anyway I would like to put down £150 for January please.

Been doing well so far this month, only done one 'big' shop as hadn't done one for about 2 weeks and only spent £22.97! And even that included a hugh jar of coffee that will last me hopefully a few months.

jems

Could I join too please, I used to do the majority of my shopping at Sainsburys and allowed myself £400 per month for 3 adults & 1 child. This included cleaning products, weekly takeaway & alcohol but not dog food.
I've recently switched to Aldi for the majority of my shopping & I'd like to try for £300 per month.
So far I've spent £81.11 but that's going to give me 10 days worth of main meals.

jintyb

pension-newbie wrote: »

Lola76 wrote: »

Opinion is divided in this house as to whether you should have gravy, whisky, or ketchup (red) to help moisten your haggis.

As a thought save them till 25th Jan which is Burn's night - then you can google Toast to a haggis and really go over the top

I dont use anything on my haggis - if you cook it covered ie in a dish with a lid, it shouldnt dry out too much. Mind you my OH uses HP sauce on his LOL!

Gosh, it's taken me ages to catch up with everyone! Lots of lovely recipes coming through - thanks!
I did a proper stock take and reorganisation of my freezers and discovered I had a bit less than I thought. I used up some bits last night for dinner, and now one of the freezers is empty.
I've decided to renew my Co5tco membership today and stock up on meat. I really rate their meat and I've missed it since letting my membership lapse last year. I know Co5tco isnt the cheapest but I think their quality is very good and it saves me shooping every week.
I hadnt planned to do this before setting my Jan budget, so Im adjusting my target from £100 to £200 to accomodate this. Over the year it will even out;)

mrs-moneypenny

moring all
didnt have time to put puter on yesterday but it was a NSD:T

the floury baps i attempted wednesday night were a sucess so will be doing that again for pack up


had no potatoes yesterday so tea was a veggie pasta bake(quorn mince and veggie with pasta cooked then stirred through a cheese sauce) youngest DS didnt want it so i did him some of the pasta in cheese sauce with veggie dippers and peas. had christmas cake for afters it should be finished off tonight:T
got to go shopping at some point today as i need to visit the cash point and get some eggs as DD is making her dad birthday cake

zebredy

vesper wrote: »

hi could I join too. We aren't too bad with our shopping but at the moment I still seem to find loads of stuff in the fridge that needs throwing out at the end of the month, what a waste of money.

Thats like me, though it was more cupboard stuff that I used to chuck, (even something with a year long sell by date could get hidden in our disorganised cupboards, not again) I have just put everything in some sort of date order and written a list of what's in there so nothing should go unnoticed and unused again (fingers crossed)

Anyway off to pay some bills and do the first shop of the month, hopefully I won't spend more then 30-40 quid plus about £2 in coins I have in my pocket from last month I'm not counting (this includes over £12 on cat food) I have my shopping list to hand but we shall see (again fingers crossed)

Equilibrium

Billie-jo wrote: »

First shop of the year today and spent £ 19.36 of this £3.74 was on over the counter medicines although am including it in the G/C
Tea today was lobby using up some of the veg that was in and some left for lunch tomorrow

Hi Billie-Jo , Im intrigued by Lobby , what is it ?


Going to pick up a Haggis today ready for Burns Night , Thanks everyone for prompting my memory :rotfl: . Does anyone have any favourite way of doing your Neeps and Tatties ?

medsdemon

Hoping for a NSD today again.

but it is Friday and it's so hard to resist the late evening nip to the shop for a relaxing bottle of wine...

Mothership

I was tidying up the freezer last night and I noticed a couple of packs of chicken had a little freezer burn, does anyone know if these will be safe to eat? Or are the wee strays that live in my garden going to have a feast.

Made half quantity of Lemon Curd, I only had golden caster sugar, it was a different colour from the last batch I made using only egg yolks. Delicious all the same.
I need some egg whites so I will make some more using just yolks this time, I will try using the same method as the whole egg recipe, as I remember the last batch I made took ages in a bowl over boiling water.

Made a batch of Butternut squash soup, and stewed some apples. Don't know what I will do with them. Going to tackle a Mango Cake later I've never made one before , I have three mangoes the cake uses 1 1/2 so need to find something to do with the rest.

I've made a shopping list going to Morrisons, this will be a real test for me as I usually just grab whatever takes my fancy. The plan is to only buy what's on my list. I'm only getting things to make the best of what I already have.

My OH has just discovered I've stopped buying crisps lol, he moaned the face off me.

happycrafter_2

Mothership wrote: »

I was tidying up the freezer last night and I noticed a couple of packs of chicken had a little freezer burn, does anyone know if these will be safe to eat? Or are the wee strays that live in my garden going to have a feast.

Made half quantity of Lemon Curd, I only had golden caster sugar, it was a different colour from the last batch I made using only egg yolks. Delicious all the same.
I need some egg whites so I will make some more using just yolks this time, I will try using the same method as the whole egg recipe, as I remember the last batch I made took ages in a bowl over boiling water.

Made a batch of Butternut squash soup, and stewed some apples. Don't know what I will do with them. Going to tackle a Mango Cake later I've never made one before , I have three mangoes the cake uses 1 1/2 so need to find something to do with the rest.

I've made a shopping list going to Morrisons, this will be a real test for me as I usually just grab whatever takes my fancy. The plan is to only buy what's on my list. I'm only getting things to make the best of what I already have.

My OH has just discovered I've stopped buying crisps lol, he moaned the face off me.

How about mango chutney with the ones left over.

I want to be at home cooking and doing things!! unfortunately I have to work but counting down the hours till I go home and crack on with my list of things I want to do.