February 2011 Grocery Challenge

Missus_Aka

Spent £315.28 today, well ok £299.99 was a new laptop which i was going to buy tomorrow from work but found a better deal in tescos today, really strange though same laptop had paper tickets to give in to the electrical desk there were copies of both, both same price, one was 250gb 2gb ram no dvd writer the other which i got was 320gb 3gb ram with a dvd writer for the same price and the 250gb tickets were all in front of the 320gb ticket, good thing i had looked. Of the other £15.29, £14.61 was groceries so added to my total for the month is so far £131.94 cant think of anything i need at the moment. I am on NSD 11 so far so will beat my target for the month.
Quick question: have a voucher for £7 of a £50 spend but only lasts till the 27th is it ok to use it on the 27th and count it as next months grocery challenge as i wont need to use anything from it till beginning of march? it will just come in handy for a few extra bits for the freezer

Long_tall_sally

Missus_Aka wrote: »

Quick question: have a voucher for £7 of a £50 spend but only lasts till the 27th is it ok to use it on the 27th and count it as next months grocery challenge as i wont need to use anything from it till beginning of march? it will just come in handy for a few extra bits for the freezer

Well its your challenge, so you make your own rules iyswim but I would say that would be fine!

gdyr1945

Going away this weekend to stay with friends. Food will be super and company better! Really looking forward to it.

Have done check on freezer and DEFINITELY DO NOT NEED ANY MORE MEAT FOR A MONTH AT LEAST NO MATTER HOW GOOD AN OFFER IT IS!

Do you think this message will actually 'sink in' to my brain? I did wonder if I shouted it at myself (not you lovely people) I just might remember it. Switched off 2nd freezer yesterday so everything MUST fit into main one.

I make meal plans but rarely stick to them. I use the same ingredients, more or less, but find that on the night I fancy something else. For me, it is having an up to date list of the 'stuff' in the freezer that makes a really big difference to how much I waste. I used to find portions of meals somewhere in the depths of my chest freezer that fallen/slipped to the bottom that really were only fit for the bin.

I hope you all have as nice a weekend as me,

hugs and kisses xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Missus_Aka

I make 4 week meal plans and mostly stick to them, i may change meals around to another day if we dont fancy it/not that hungry but i do it mainly because it helps me work out what i need to buy for the month and i can budget accordingly also i dont have to worry about whether we have ingredients for the meal/ have i taken the mince out etc.

6 weeks without duplicating a meal? thats amazing i could probably stretch to 3 without replicating, am trying to learn at least one recipe a month though, this month i learnt how to make prawn stirfry and pilau it was so so so yummy...and i have enough for a few more meals at least out of it...feel like going back to the fridge now, will restrain myself just about.lol

eveie189

Good morning,

I was hoping someone could explain to me the multiple purse idea that keeps being mentioned. I have looked for clues in the posts ands tried to figure out "the rules" for this but can't woek it out although I think it is something I would like to use as part of my GC.

As for how it's going for me at the moment, it's not too bad, I must admit that the next couple of months are more about staying within a realistic target (and getting some self control back), than cutting the budget but I seem to be sticking to plan. On Thursday we would usually have ordered a SM shop but as I have been ill we are just going to use whats still in the freezer and go to the corner shop for essentials.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Eveie

blue_cat_4

Well just sat and worked out my spends for Feb- where does the money go , i thought I was being so careful! I've had to spend money on the car which I hadn't budgeted for( £250). GC has lost it's way but have lots of tinned stuff after a trip to Costco, so lots of pasta and tomato sauce i think. I'm off work this week so will work out meal plans and budget for March. I also want to take kids out somewhere- any suggestions for cheap days out for 15yr old DS and 11yr old DD around NW - Manchester, Liverpool , Chester area?
DH still desperately looking for a job- not much look so far though- lots of pressure on me to bring home the money. I'm trying very hard to keep debts and budget under control but still enjoy life.
Thanks to everyone on the OS board -lots of good advice and inspiration.

esmer

eveie189 wrote: »

Good morning,

I was hoping someone could explain to me the multiple purse idea that keeps being mentioned. I have looked for clues in the posts ands tried to figure out "the rules" for this but can't woek it out although I think it is something I would like to use as part of my GC.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Eveie

I use a different purse for work, i think everyone has different rules to suit them selves.

I have a small purse, I put 20.00 in it at the start of my working week, I use it for coffees and anything I might need during the week. On Friday night, I empty it into my sealed pot. So the less I spend out of that money, the more goes into my pot. The reason I do it, is I was just spending money on my switch card for no reason whatsoever.

hope this helps

boysma

Morning all

Another 13.54 to butchers for me please. Signature updated now, getting very close to my target again and have to go to the end of the month. I'm getting better though, was making a stir fry for tea last night and was all set to go out and buy a sauce for it when i realised that i could use the garlic, ginger and soy sauce that i had in doh. Also used sweet chilli sauce when it was cooked and it was lovely. Must try harder.

dingdongavon

Baileys_Babe wrote: »

Thank you dingdongavon :A, I was not aware pre payment certificates were available for 3 months. OH's prescription are normally for 2 months, I have just had a look and discussed this with OH and we are both very grateful for the information. OH is hoping to stop needing to use one of his drugs by the next time he will need a repeat. If he can manage with out this drug he can also stop a second as he only takes that to protect against some of the side effects of the first. We will review this when he next orders his prescriptions, thankfully the oxygen he uses is meaning he needs to use less drugs and he finds he is more able to manage the pain. OH will hopefully be going into remission in the near future(we have been thinking this since July), unfortunately he will relapse at a later date as the is the nature of his condition, we will buy a pre payment certificate on day one next time as we know he will need medication for at least a year.

Thank you everyone on this thread as many other have said recently the support we offer is fabulous, whether direct like this or distracting whilst we all mention our latest bargains and temptation, it is a comfort to come and have a chat with friends.

You are welcome, I used to spend a lot on prescriptions while they were trying to get my medication sorted so the 3 month one was a god send. Hope OH does go into remission soon x

cat_smith

eveie189 the main 2 purse idea was Motherships. It's about keeping a purse for bulk buying, but I can't remember the details. If she's lurking I'm sure she'll elaborate.