May 2011 Grocery Challenge

espresso21

SavingJane wrote: »

Hi all

I've got lost for this month, OH crushed his fingers at work (his own silly fault) 2 broken fingers and damaged tendens

Ouch! Poor man - that sounds painful. How on earth did he do that!?

I spent today when I shouldn't have so am over my monthly allowance now - will update my signature in a moment. I spent £8.60 in Morrisons; mind you £7 of that was hayfever medication and I did quite well as it was only £1.50 and bogof. The named brand was £4.99 for 7 while the Morrisons own brand was £1.50 for 14. I checked the ingredients and they are exactly the same - so why would anyone pay full price...unless I am missing something here!

Had a bit of a shock today. Soon my salary is going to be cut drastically (which I already knew about) - what I only found out today is that my train fare is going to go up by inflation + 3%!!! How can they justify that when it's gone up twice already this year. I won't be able to afford to go to work soon! I was already stressing about how I was going to cope on a lower salary, now I have to factor that in as well. Blimey!

123budget

Pixie_Fairydust wrote: »

Should I buy a bread maker? Please advise, having been umming and ahhing for ages now. All advice gratefully received. Any makes and models that are good too, thanks.

Pixie

I lost mine in a house move and really miss it. Have asked if anyone on freecycle has one but no luck. I had a Panasonic one with the programme that automatically adds dried fruit during the cycle. Would love to get one of those again will have to keep my eyes open for a good deal.

Sunnyday

123budget wrote: »

I lost mine in a house move and really miss it. Have asked if anyone on freecycle has one but no luck. I had a Panasonic one with the programme that automatically adds dried fruit during the cycle. Would love to get one of those again will have to keep my eyes open for a good deal.

My ageing Panny is being replaced soon (if i ever manage to get the delivery from the dreaded City L!nk :mad:)

I found a decent deal here http://www.letsgodigital.co.uk/index.n/search/normal?search=BREAD+MAKER with free delivery I wanted the SD255 with the dispenser but it was OOS when i ordered so i went for the SD256, my current one is the SD254.

The price is far better than the £119 that Mum has just paid for hers :eek:

TBH my old one despite being used three times a day some days still has plenty of life in it yet but the bread pan has seen better days and i do blame DH for this. If i ever find a reasonably priced replacement pan then i shall buy one and use both BM`s

HTH

SD

XSpender

NSD for me today:D I even managed not to spend a single penny in the staff canteen, first time since I started working there I think:o:j

I forgot DH was away overnight with work so saved a meal on the meal plan and just made myself a bowl of soup.

Pasties (not HM:o), HM wedges and mushy peas tomorrow and we really must eat up the apple pie we got at the weekend.

I also need to sort out my freezers to squeeze a couple of bits in that won't get used while I am away this weekend. I will also sort out the easy bits like sausages and put them at the front of the drawer to make it simple for DH. Although he will probably live on sandwiches while I am away;)

I have a 2nd round job interview to go to on Thursday afternoon so will get the extra bits DH and DS will need over the weekend after that.

M0neysav3r

As you can see OVER budget again this month and still over a week to go til the end of the month!!

Biggest problem is that I really don't have many pennies left either this month, I do NOT want to dig into savings so i'm planning on eating from the freezer until the end of the month - Only problem is lack of fruit and veg so will have to use some spare cash in the house for that

On a positive, off to parents tomorrow so free dinner

CupOfChai

I'm over budget too. Naturally. Grrr.

Any ideas on how I can save more? I've started looking at whether there's anywhere else I can bring myself to downshift brand, though this was not exactly successful the other night while placing my online Asda order. After excessive amounts of dithering over cheese, it turns out that the own-brand medium cheddar was the same price (per kilo) as the "cheapest" Smartprice mild cheddar! Pfft! I'll stick with what I had been getting already then!

Pixie_Fairydust

Thanks Sunnyday for the link, would you recommend one of these then?

I would love to be able to do pizza dough, bagels, fruit bread etc.

Do you find it works out cheaper per loaf? and is it easy to use?

123budget - I lost my wellies in a house move!

Had jacket potatoes for tea with Stagg veg chilli (in a tin) on offer in Mr T, 2 for £2.50, I know its cheating but DS is ill and just wanted something quick, it was lovely, nice to have in the cupboard for emergencies. He had a pot noodle, all he fancied , but has had lots of fresh orange juice and cold water too.

Pixie

Sunnyday

Pixie_Fairydust wrote: »

Thanks Sunnyday for the link, would you recommend one of these then?

I would love to be able to do pizza dough, bagels, fruit bread etc.

Do you find it works out cheaper per loaf? and is it easy to use?


Pixie

Yes i can recommend the pannys, i would be lost without mine, i did try making bread without one and found it too messy, time consuming and very hard on my poor old wrists lol

Far easier to shove all the ingredients in and set the timer overnight and wake up to the smell of fresh bread Some peeps don`t get on with the paddle that sits in the bottom of the pan as it sometimes gets stuck in the bottom of the loaf but it doesn`t bother me.

I`ve had a couple of different breadmakers over the years and can`t fault the panny. I tend to use it for loaves, dough for breadcakes, pizza dough, cinnamon and fruit breads for toast and also sundried tomato & parmesan bread which we love toasted.

It takes 14oz flour for a medium loaf which is the size that we bake the most and i buy mostly Asd@ strong white bread flour so not a bad saving at all considering the price of shop bought bread these days :eek:

No preservatives in hm either so much better for you. My bm is on the timer atm and when the alarm goes off in the morning the smell of freshly baked bread helps me prise my back off the mattress

SD

Brassic

Well, so far so good.

I've got all this weeks food up until Friday. Bad news is we've got friends coming round on Saturday (2 adults, 4 children) which will cost more, and the dad is pretty much guaranteed to polish off nearly all my alcohol

However, on the bright side, I've spent 454.85 of my 500 budget so it is doable. I have 5 more days to buy for, including dinner for the friends, and I'm determined to stay under. I've got enough mince to do a spag bol and lasagne, so that will be Friday and Sat sorted. Monday will be store cupboard pasta, which just leaves tuesday and Sunday to sort out. I WILL do it!!

Cheers,
Brassic

scotsaver

Morning everyone - a NSD yesterday but I'm not sure about today, need to double check menu plan for the rest of the week, probably need some more veg, spuds etc.

Dinner tonight is :- http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/quickspicedchickenth_92025

I'ts from Economy Gastronomy that was on the TV a long time ago, I was sorting through some Recipes that I'd printed out and not got around to doing and thought I'd give this one a try - I'd printed it off in August 2009 so better late than never.:o

I've got the Chicken marinading in the Fridge at the moment, smells delicious.;)

Have a good day everyone.:D