February 2011 Grocery Challenge

slbhill

Missus_Aka wrote: »

... while walking past i cut my foot on it, called dh he said he would sort it when he gets home. He got home & just come out of the shower & he did the same thing but so much worse, he had a whole handful of blood seriously ....
....so much blood it must have been serious???? even though it stopped i cant stop thinking about it........

Don't worry too much Missus Aka - as long as it's clean. In one of my first aid classes they used to show us how big a puddle half a pint of blood makes - it's absolutely massive! But blood donors regularly give a pint with no trouble. It sounds like you did absolutely the right thing so well done :T Keep an eye on it and try to make sure it stays clean but within knocking off the scab - if it's starts going yucky colours drag him to the doctor but otherwise you should be ok.

Maybe worth a :mad: letter to Argos? I doubt they'd give you anything but it might be worth a try, for the cost of a letter?

Baileys_Babe

PurpleJay wrote: »

Morning all, cat got me up so although it is the middle of the night here I am!

Hubby spent about £6 last night - 2 x 4lt milk and wraps to make enchilladas which he actually went for, plus 2 x reduced mushrooms (14p per box), 1 reduced chicken fajitas and 1 reduced chicken chilli noodle meal too. He is good at spotting a bargain!

My question is, do I count this spend in my grocery budget. Hubby contributes to a pot and then sometimes does a bit of top up shopping like this but technically his spend had not touched my budget... What do you do (assuming your money is separate - if he spends on groceries would you reimburse him... would you count it)?

Jane x

I wouldn't reimburse him, but I would count it IYSWIM. Then you build up a true picture of what your food is costing and if he is unable to do the top up shops it doesn't through out your budget. You could always put the money aside for bulk buying or saving for a none grocery item.

quintwins

well kids are still sick so another nsd for me, i'm out of eggs and rationing bread incase i'm stuck in for a few more days ( i refuse to pay £1.30 for a loaf of already half off bread in the filling station when i can get 2 for £1.50 in tesco/iceland) really need to stock up on bread flour when i nip to tesco incase this happens again, however we do acually have loads of food in soo won't starve

never_too_old

PennyGrabber wrote: »

You can do it scotsaver!! "Just the eggs, just the egg, just the eggs..." We're all with you!

I wasn't going to spend today, but having read about the toilet roll offer (thanks minnie2!), I will be making a trip to Mr M tonight, possibly. Went there on Saturday for my normal shopping, so shouldn't be lured into their offers as I've already seems them. Let's hope! Just the loo rolls, just the loo rolls...

Have a great MS day all!
PG x

Dont forget to print the 50p voucher off from the velvet site, i went to Mr M this morning (thanks minnie2) cost me £1.79 for the 9 rolls,

Gorgeestwo

Have spent £4.29 on milk, oranges and a sneaky bar of chocolate for me this morning.
Trying to eek things out unitl I do a proper shop on Thurs/Friday, hopefully only going to need to spend £60ish instead of my normal £120ish:eek: thats the plan anyway.

mummyjane

Spent £1.25 on a curry book from the charity shop so will be cooking dh his vindaloo tonight, plus ended up having to buy more spices as I had run out of a couple, so another £5.77 spent on those :eek: . Think I have more or less every spice and herb going now so shouldn't have anymore surprises this month.

ebayqueen_2

Morning all

Spent £26.56 Lidl ...chicken lamb oil, all special offer and a few extra treats for kids.

Sainsbugs yesterday. Total £41.02 ..lots of reductions plus all thats needed for meal plan until the start of next week. Well thats the plan anyways

Spent £1.35 this morn on diet coke

Hope all doing well.

laineyc_2

Waiting on my t*sco shop. Then I plan to have NSD's until Saturday. Going to parent consuoltation this evening so I am making a cottage pie for 2nd ds to bung in the oven so it's ready when we get back.

Spiggle

Hi All,

Sorry I haven't been about - just spent what can only be described as a night of purgatory in A&E which is too long a story to go into I'm afraid. Anyway have now had night of sleep but need more to get back to where I was.

I have been reading through the posts and forgot to do the quote so can't remember who asked for tips but here is something I knocked up before which may or may not help. (Apologies to the stalwarts who will have read it before!)

The important 'tools' we found greatly helped and continue to do so now are:

Stocktake cupboards, fridge, freezer - make lists and ensure that the older products get used up first. You'll be amazed at what you find squirrelled away and it will help with your shopping list as you'll realise that you don't actually need so much.

Before you go shopping check staples - running out of milk, bread, butter, etc often leads to going into a shop for one thing and coming out £20 lighter. Always check these and if they'll run out tomorrow buy them the same time as getting other things.

Always make a shopping list and stick to it - the supermarkets (sm) try every which way to get us to spend so having a list and strong resolve is the only way to beat them.

Keep every receipt - and then note it down on your spreadsheet/spend diary so that you always know where you are.

When tempted ask yourself do you NEED it or just WANT it - now this advice goes with two things. Firstly, the things you see in store when shopping that APPEAR to be bargains - if you hadn't planned spending the money then its not a bargain. Secondly, the sm send us loads of vouchers for £X off a spend of £XX - if you had no NEED to spend £XX then have you SAVED anything???

Use my supermarket to compare prices (limited to four of the biggies) - We didn't start using this until recently and I think it was because I predominantly shopped at MrT but became increasingly peeved by the prices they now charge. The site may be used to actually do an online shop at whichever of the big four offers the best value or, if you have the time and sm availability, to make up lists for visiting each of the stores so that you can purchase all you need at different stores thus getting the best possible value. (I'd add, do a 'shop' virtually on this site and take the list you create on it with you, whichever one you shop at, it will help keep target prices in your head and allow you to spot bargains. MrM is not included but you can do a virtual list on their website so you know what you're going to be spending.)

Always have a list - this is just as important when shopping online as shopping on foot.

Use Approved Foods online (with a list!) - if you don't mind out of date things (ood) or you can search for only in date items. The only drawback is storing the goods as far as I can tell. Oh, and watch the delivery as it's done on a scaled charge for weight so keep an eye on it. You can of course do an AF order with friends, family, colleagues or like minded neighbours. Other GCers use Big Br*nds 4 Less too.

Invest in a breadmaker - we have saved so much by making our own bread. The prices in the shops are extortionate for bread these days. There's loads of advice on this thread and others in the forum on this.

Use the recipe lists - always posted at the front of a new thread. There are fantastic, tasty, healthy and economical recipes to use on them and there are a number of other threads on the forum such as Weezl's that will help you to eat well on a budget.

Shop locally - the local greengrocer (or preferably market but I don't have one ) is usually cheaper as an option for fruit and veg (f&v) than the sm. Often the prices may look the same but when you look at the quantity for the same price the greengrocer will be cheaper. The same goes for the local butcher. Often you will have far more variety of meat available, advice on how to cook a particular meat can be offered and there is (for me at least) no comparison in terms of quality. We buy our huge FR eggs at £1.25 per half dozen there and I'm yet to find an equivalent FR egg in a sm at that price. Obvioulsy if you have your own chicks/know someone who has chicks you can get them even cheaper again.

Grow your own - it's quite simple to grow some f&v at home even if it's only in pots on the patio. There are also supportive threads on the forum for this.

Cook your own - making meals at home from ingredients is far more economical, often tastes better than shop bought and is probably far better healthwise.

Meal Plan - this is something that others can advise on as we don't do it. I have a tremendous capacity for eating the same food over many days but presented in slightly different form. For example, we could buy £7 worth of brisket from the butchers and eat it as pot roast for a couple of days, sliced for sarnies, sliced with a salad, chucked into a casserole or shredded up and fried as crispy beef.

Don't waste food - either only make what you need or use any leftovers for other meals/creations or freeze it for another day.

Withdraw the cash you want to spend - and keep it in a separate purse. This can be particularly effective as you have the money in front of you reducing rather than spending with plastic which is so easy to lose track of. Very useful when you first start out.

Don't go to the shops to browse - this can only lead to pain and hardship!!!

Keep posting and reading the thread - there really is no better supportive, wise and inspirational place to be! I think I saw that somebody mentioned forgetting to read/post. I get around this by using the Advanced button to post, below the window where your text is displayed you will see Additional Options. In the Thread Subscription box use the dropdown to select either instant email notification (this is what I use) or daily email notification before you submit your latest post. Then you will get an email into your inbox from which you can click to the thread to see what others are saying.

Always remember the sm is not your friend - it wants to profit from you and take as much of your money as it can coerce out of you!

Someone asked about making cakes and biscuits. They are very cheap to make at home and are also fun to do with kids if you have any around (I do them with my GD). You will save a lot by making them and they are great to use for work or school packed lunches too. I highly recommend twinks hobnobs (page 1 post #6 of this thread) - very cheap, very simple and taste delicious. Do freeze a proportion once made or you will be tempted to scoff the lot as will anyone else who tries them. Also easy, cheap and tasty muffins, chocolate chip anything, chocolate brownies, pineapple upside down cake (GD loved this when it was turned out and she saw the pattern created!), banana muffins, and I haven't tried it yet but the spiced maramlade cake looks and sounds delicious.

For anyone not used to baking/cooking the recipes listed by rosieben :A on the front page are by and large easy to do and really will help with health and your purse.

Right I gotta go.

Speak with you all later,
Spigs

Baileys_Babe

A friend has just dropped by and given me approximately a years worth of DW detergent. He has been clearing his mothers house and she had been stock piling the stuff, he doesn't have a DW and thought I would find this useful. This will help with my challenge.