August 2011 Grocery Challenge

ButterflyBee

Fridays are always expensive days at MrT but I did buy the spot on for my 3 cats and a mandolin(50%off) which I have always wanted.
Nevermind! when it's one it's gone!
Happy weekend to every one.

mandco

ok so i'm shockingling bad at this lol spent nearly £70 this wk and quite a lot of it wasnt neccessary :mad:

started off well and popped to the local shop for bread/juice as planned but then got sucked into popping to mr t for the 3 for 2 offer on tinned fruit as we were nearly out and did buy a fair bit of that which will last, only they also had 3 for 2 on ice lollies which prob wouldnt have been so bad but it included the 8 for £4 boxes of magnums(which we all love but i'll only buy rarely & if on offer) so 24 for £8 or 33.3p each which seemed rude not too take advantage of but def not needed or good for the budget. Also includes almost £10 :eek: on cake mixes and decorations ok i know its better/usually cheaper to make from scratch but they were all on offer and they're easier for the kids to make with minimal supervison & mess. did a lot better in mr s went in coz had some vouchers that were due to expire but could find anything I really needed that warrented the extra spend so didnt use them but did buy a few bottle of they're own brand pops at 66p for 2litres and pretty much as good as more well known brands so while i'm still overspending i'm def thinking twice and reducing the amount of buying for the sake of it which a step in the right direction:).actual shopping we really needed only came to about £40 which is a much better figure and one I can hopefully stay closer too in future.

really need to avoid the big shops next wk if i've any hope of coming in somewhere near budget this month. congrats to all who've managed a low spend/on budget week

jeff_jared

Second time to Mr Al Di. Getting used to the German efficiency at the tills, boy are they quick. Has anyone else noticed how the big 4 supermarkets are ripping off customers when it comes to fresh fruit and veg?

Fresh grapes at mr. Al di's: £ 1.35
the same at Mr. As da's: £2.47

Shallots: £.76 at Al di
Shallots: £1.37 at As da?!!?

Also, I checked today, all the vegetable are class A. So there isn't any compromise on quality.

Tin of kidney beans: 0.16. In as da, it is 0.42.

Total shopping came to £38.17. Estimated savings this week compared to similar shopping in As da, perhaps around £14-£16 easy.

Winged_one

We're back from our hols, so I bought bread, milk and creme fraiche today. Dinner was a chicken (from freezer) curry (from jar) - very bold but jet lag intervened. (And as to why I am posting at stupid o'clock am? DD has jet lag too on a different timescale so the third night in a row I have been turned into an insomniac).

We spent a lot on hols though, so I need to stick to a low budget for at least the rest of this month. I am heading to the plot tomorrow and hope to get some beans, cabbage, potatoes, maybe some brocolli and salads. And see if the onions are ready to lift. I know I have 3 days worth of salmon in the freezer, and a steak (whoopsied), but I need to check the cupboards properly tomorrow to see what I need for the week. Mostly cleaning stuff I think, and restocking fruit and veg supplies.

emmad5689

Went to Mr T yesterday with a £6 off £40 voucher but knowing I didn't ned £40 of groceries and would get sucked in before I looked at food I went upstairs and got DD tights and vests fir school and a reduced baseball cap as she needed one that fit properly for the holidays (still hoping we may have a bit of sun!!) I then went to the toys as my grandma has said could I get something for her for my youngests first birthday in a few weeks so I found the Fisherprice gumball machine toy was reduced from £30 to £15 so got that. I was very good then and bought what I actually needed and my groceries only came to £15.99 and should last until we go away apart from bread and milk.

At the till got another voucher £6 off £40 for next week so going to get youngest an outfit for her birthday still of my grandma as she wanted to spend around £30 and then get cakes, biscuits and pop etc all treat tyoe food we are taking away with us to use for picnics and keep food costs down (staying in a travel lodge so won't have a fridge)

Hope everyone happy with how this is going, have a good weekend

looie

£15.72 to add to the total from yesterday

£7.00 in A
£8.72 in T

Put my asda receipt in their price checker and got a voucher for 35p woop woop. First time I've done that - every little helps

Have a good day all

quintwins

morningall another nsd today and this is the last day i'll be on until weds i'm just making us a wee fry again very cheap with 29p reduced sausages half a packet of 75p cooking bacon and a few eggs and whats left of the bread

calleyw

All I can say I have blown this month.

After setting myself the usual £100. I decided that I wanted to stock up big time.

I have just been to lidl and bought 48 cartons of apple juice at 49p each :eek: and I stocked up on 20 packets of porridge from there as well. Can you get wevils in porridge oats?

From now until christmas I am going to stock up and then it will allow me to concentrate on over paying my mortgage next year.

Mr T's has tinned fruit on 3 for the price of 2 finshes 16/08/11. So have stocked up on a bit and will go back again and before the offer finishes get some more to last me. Tinned rhubarb is now 70p a tin :eek:last time I bought some early this year it was only 35p tin. And I also like pear and chocolate crumble during the winter as the prices are all about the same. Would rather get the 3 for 2 not a huge save but takes each of rhubarb down from 70p a can down to 50p a can.

Also this month included is household cleaning items. They normally don't feature. So I reckon before the end of the month I am going to have spent between £150 and £200 this month :eek:

Husband has just given me the figures so far and it is £137.86 so reckon it is going to be closer to £200 rather than a £150 as I want to aldi and get a couple of trays of ravioli to put away.

Husband thinks I am mad but never mind :rotfl:

Yours

Calley

WelshWoofer

Well, I changed my mind about the shopping and have just been to Mr T.
I've done the weekly shop and also got a few treats for the weekend - the total was £19.61 (there is only me and the dog), £5 of which was shampoo, conditioner and deodorant which isn't needed yet but was on offer (would have bought it next week anyway). So add that to the £4 from the week and the grand total is £23.61, not too bad.

Just looking at the bill and the fruit came to almost £5 for raspberries, strawberries, apples and satsumas - all on offer so not too bad. Treats were £2.50 and not strictly necessary but necessary for sanity!

slbhill

debbiedeejay wrote: »

Bought two packs of decent looking cooking bacon at 75p each instead of "normal"bacon - in date till 2nd sept so time to think of how to use it - plenty of bacon sarnies and maybe a quiche or two (but again kids hate quiche only me that loves it:o)

I buy that type of bacon quite often. It's generally not much good for normal bacon sandwiches as it's all scraps and occasionally a huge thick "steak". But it's great as part of a sandwich filling - chop it up small & mix it with chopped hard boiled egg, a bit of salad cream & bulk it out with salad for instance. I use a lot of it in pasta dishes like carbonara and suchlike. Also goes well with grated cheese on a baked potato.

I discovered it's a bit of a pain to grill so now I generally chop the entire packet into bits, shove it on a baking tray and stick it in the oven with whatever else I happen to be cooking. Then I have a bag of ready-cooked bacon bits to add to whatever I fancy. Recently I've tried putting the bag in the freezer & using it from frozen - that works well too.