February 2011 Grocery Challenge

boysma

Hi all

£45.95 spent over last few days in butchers, Mr Tand I***and. I will be buying more fruit today (currently doing SW) and will add this on later. Also have an online order for £58 (so far:)) for this Friday as it is pay day so hopefully will keep well within budget this month.

Off to update my signature.

ebayqueen_2

freakyogre wrote: »

Lost my receipt from today, but going by Tesco's website I spent £4.08. Got a bag of potatoes, some cherry tomatoes, a bag of watercress and some hairspray.

Hi there
Can we access all our spends on Tesco..how do I do that.
thanks v much

MRSMCAWBER

Afternoon all

Im on my 12th nsd out of 14 -and certainly shouldn't need to shop at all this week :j.... cupboards, fridges and freezers packed to capacity -meal plans sorted -which leaves me with an easy week again

On the home made bread front -Im with rosieben -I never put my dough somewhere warm -I make it by hand, cover with a carrier bag like a tent and leave to prove, then shape, stick in the tins or remoska -prove again and bake. Dough that is left to prove long n slow developes a better taste and texture ...ooh ohh and there is a baguette recipe on the front page that i posted yonks ago -they are a bit more faff the 1st time you make them -but OMG they make the best bread I have ever had -not that I have had any bread for 41 weeks now :A:rotfl:
At the moment I have my 12 speed stew (mine+ hubbies)in the fridge, some chilli and some beef casserole(both hubbies) so thats mine and hubbies lunches sorted for the week :j .... and dinner tonight is jacket potatoes, cottage cheese and salad -even though we had the same last night -we are addicted again
right I will get off again -have a great day everyone....

lizziebabe

rachelww1 wrote: »

Spent £47.95 on online shop at Mr T's which came on Fri. Just made a lamb, potato & spinach curry with the leftover lamb from yesterday. Normally I would have given that leftover meat to the dog (about a large handfull), but instead it has made another meal for 4. Also made a bacon,cheese & leek quiche yesterday, we had it for tea tonight, and I have enough to take to work for the next 2 days, saving me even more money :j Shouldn't need to go shopping again til Friday, but we'll see

Have you got the recipe for the curry - it sounds yummy!

I checked my receipt again for my only shop so far for Feb and I had misread the total - I actually spent £16.68 not £18.62 so £1.94 less than I thought. :j

Well - it is the little things :rotfl:

Anyway - found a few more toilet rolls, so today will be another NSD, but will have to go shopping soon as have run out of a few things now and running short on others.

Tonight I am meeting up with a friend - we both have so many books, so we meet up about once a month to do a bookswap and have a cheapie meal (2 for 1 tonight) and a natter. We return the books to each other but it saves so much dosh as I am a bookaholic and can't pass a Charity shop or CB without lokking at books :eek:

Off to update signature.

Have a good day everyone

happycrafter_2

Spiggle wrote: »

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

Great post very useful!

and I do recommend twinks hobknobs easy and so tasty, OH asked me now to find a homemade gingernut recipe like the hobknobs any one got a recipe???

debtfreewannabe321

Thought i would just say, that i have managed to get away for a month or so now with only doing one shop a week -no top-up shopping- by buying milk & bread (these seem to be what i was running out of most) and freezing them. I take the milk out the night before we will be needing it and leave it in the sink to defrost it tastes exactly the same and works out cheaper as we usually buy the 2 for £3 offers etc...And bread offers too so this works out cheaper. SO if you have extra space in your freezer would def recommend this

quintwins

debtfreewannabe321 wrote: »

Thought i would just say, that i have managed to get away for a month or so now with only doing one shop a week -no top-up shopping- by buying milk & bread (these seem to be what i was running out of most) and freezing them. I take the milk out the night before we will be needing it and leave it in the sink to defrost it tastes exactly the same and works out cheaper as we usually buy the 2 for £3 offers etc...And bread offers too so this works out cheaper. SO if you have extra space in your freezer would def recommend this

how long does your milk keep once you defrost it? i'm thinking of swapping to fortnightly shopping once i run my freezer down so this would help

wssla00

happycrafter wrote: »

Great post very useful!

and I do recommend twinks hobknobs easy and so tasty, OH asked me now to find a homemade gingernut recipe like the hobknobs any one got a recipe???

http://www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/delicious-desserts/ginger-biscuits

ma-ri-ella

not posted for ages,this thread moves quickly :P have spent about £17 of my budget so far this month but that includes a cheap hand blender plus over a months supply of cupasoups etc. back to just needing milk again and prob eggs for rest of month because cupboards are full!!(maybe need veggies aswell if i feel like homemade soup) anyways off to make some bread ,last few loaves have came out with a texture a little like crumpets but i think thats because i keep forgetting to add the milk at room temp instead of chilled !

helen_jelly

quintwins wrote: »

how long does your milk keep once you defrost it? i'm thinking of swapping to fortnightly shopping once i run my freezer down so this would help

Hi

It should last as long as it would if it wasn't frozen, we go through 2 pint bottles like nobodies business and always try to stock up on the milk and bread for the freezer.

DH and I have become the stuff supermarkets dream of!!!!! Life is a bit upside down here at the moment and we've lost all of our routines so shopping is 1 of those things that we seem to have become addicted to :eek: Another £14 to be added to the siggy, hopefully when March is over and done with then we may get our acts together, if not, we'll be bankrupt

Helen x