March 2011 Grocery Challenge

lauzellen

Did my 1st shop of the month which has come in at £48.83 - could have been better but feeling pretty crappy so didn't really think about it as I went around as wanted to be in and out as fast as possible.

PennyGrabber

Re:bills.

I guess I'm teaching some grannies to suck eggs, or whatever the expression is, but I'm never caught unawares by direct debits any more. I opened a new bills account, and every payday, the amount to cover all of my bills gets transfered over, so I have then effectively paid everything, and all leftover money is usable. If there are bills that are quarterly or annually etc, I just transfer the right proportion each month, eg if I have a £120 bill every Jan, I put £10 into my bills account every month to allow for it, so when it's taken, I know it's covered.

I never used to use this system, and then worried every day about what might or might not be coming out of my account, and if I could afford this or that luxury eg cinema. Now, I know that all the important stuff is paid for straight away, and it doesn't half make me sleep better at nights! If I ever set up a new direct debit, they ask me what day I'd like it to come out on, and when I say it doesn't matter, they can't quite believe me!!

HTH someone, can't remember who said about the direct debit they weren't expecting to come out.

Asd@ delivery just arrived, off to unpack it and update my signature, first shop of the month, still not set foot inside a sm!

PG x

guccigoo

hi everyone must post a bit more often
NickJW well done on being debt free :beer: and hope you have a good holiday

Mrs M them recipes sound fab will def be trying a few of them :T
Ok £5 spent in m&s the other day and £7.74 spent in mr s, have done my online shopping tonight so will update on that tomorrow.
Must start growing my veg again soon as that will save some £££. Won £40 on a scratchcard the other day, i didnt buy it, dh bought 2 and told me to choose one for me, so i picked the winner :rotfl:think he was slightly peeved

XSpender

After my fab F&V spend of £6.50 from the market I posted that I was planning to only spend £16 or so on everything else in Mr S but came in at £30.35:o I am actually really please with this as I have done a weeks shop and got some extra bits for less than £40:D

I got everything on my list but had forgotten to put a few things on it that I had run out of such as custard, musterd and mayo. I also got some half price quiches and whoopsied pasties for lunches/easy dinners when I start work next week and some bits to bulk out DH packed lunch as he is complaining he is starving when he gets in.

I am sticking to the meal plan like glue this week and I think this is really helping me keep my spending down.

pepsi-kins

Hi everyone,
I normally post at the weekend, but we're on holiday this week, so I did a little shopping today when I took mum to do her fortnightly shop. Really pleased with myself, as I only bought what was on my list except for a breakfast cereal that I very rarely have, as its so expensive for a tiny box, but it was on offer for £1, so I treated myself.

Usually when I'm on holiday I spend a fortune buying ingredients to have a big bake up, but I've been really good, and only baked with the ingredients I already have in. I made roast chicken for tea, and i think it was Helen Jelly's apple cake recipe, and it was lovely.

I've been using my remoska a lot more lately which has been helping the leccy bill - hopefully, and I haven't wasted anything, I've also been thinking ahead, even though I meal plan, like today when I was cooking the veg for tea, I boiled up some extra potatoes, to make chorizo hash for tea tomorrow. All in all i'm feeling quite positive ( I need to, I have to find £2000 for September to finish my degree, and I want a new kitchen - which i've been harping on about for years, but DH has promised we can have it in September - so I've got to be soo good!)

Have a good week everyone x

minnie2

quintwins wrote: »

i use the same pastry for both tbh, but you could add some suagr or honey to the mix i supose

ok thank you!! will give it a go

martafdz

muffin_man_7 wrote: »

martafdz ive been taking sumatriptan for a while now and i agree they work not for every migraine but most have you considered asking your gp for some even if you pay for prescripions it would be cheaper i get 6 at a time imagran is just a brand name h t h

Thanks! :jI didn't know they have them also unbranded, I will ask for sure. It has been a life changing experience to find some tablets that actually worked almost 100%. I can't say enough how much they have changed my life and how I wished I knew about them before. I was getting bad reputation at work for sickies lol, but I could not stand up (among other things) because I had no muscle strength when I had migraines. Now I never get to that stage, the most I feel is a pain behind the eye, an upset stomach and a headache... but 90% of it disappears within an hour. Bless whoever found out about that chemical!

muffin_man_7

martafdz wrote: »

Thanks! :jI didn't know they have them also unbranded, I will ask for sure. It has been a life changing experience to find some tablets that actually worked almost 100%. I can't say enough how much they have changed my life and how I wished I knew about them before. I was getting bad reputation at work for sickies lol, but I could not stand up (among other things) because I had no muscle strength when I had migraines. Now I never get to that stage, the most I feel is a pain behind the eye, an upset stomach and a headache... but 90% of it disappears within an hour. Bless whoever found out about that chemical! [/QUOTE

your welcome they gave me that one then changed it twice then tried me with something to stop me getting migraines but that made me feel weird sort of tired but not then they tried beablockers no thanks my head felt like i was on a roundabout now im back on the sumatriptan and so far so good although sometimes i still have to take co-codomol as well just wish i could find all the triggers then i wouldnt need any tabs stress seems to be the main one if things get too much it seems to set them off i also find noise makes it worse the kids know if ive got a very bad head tv goes off im not on laptop and ive usually got an icepack on my head or very near it

~moneysavingnovice~

Been MIA for a little while, but have been reading. Spent £78 of March's budget so far eeep!

Sue14

First spend of the month, of £5.50.

My friend told me today she went shopping in Mr T's yesterday and spent £180, I nearly fell through the floor, lol, and that will probably be for one week, and there's me keeping to £130 for the month! Mind you I do only have 2 adults and a fussy cat to feed, while she has 2 adults and 2 kids, but even when my DS was at home I would have needed oxygen if my shopping bill came to that much, lol!