July 2011 Grocery Challenge

zpr1c3

Hi,

I never did manage to post as much as I had hoped this month, due to finally moving house. Which left me with no internet for 2 weeks!!

I am now back and have gone over budget already However, I have gone through my freezer and found that through taking advantage of some offers on my big shop this month I have enough meat to last another 8 weeks. So, I should save money next month

Will definitely be spending as little as possible in the next week, to try and not go over budget by much more.

rej-c

cutiepieabf wrote: »

i bought a butternut squash the other day and i have no idea what to do with it!! any suggestions??

What Mothership said! I also like to just drizzle or spray chunks of squash with oil and roast on a tray [along with chunks of other veg, if you have anything appropriate] - great as a serving of veg on its own or thrown in with cooked pasta or risotto

Sorry for the delay in replying - it's been a weird old week. I've been a bit rubbush - haven't been on the forum much, and have wanted to think about shopping receipts even less. But I've gone through them tonight, and need to update my total by £18.39 to £97.25/£250. A couple of NSDs in there too [although I was hoping there'd be more].

TBH, that's very good going compared with what I was spending, and I have to thank everyone on this thread for being such a good influence [especially the mighty JackieO :wave:] - but what it doesn't show is the junk I've been spending my 'pocket money' on - including 'comfort' stuff like sweets, flapjacks and biccies that I couldn't justify from the proper grocery budget, but just really wanted [I was going to say 'needed', but that's far from true, of course :rotfl:]. Anyway, I have to get a grip on this - it's not good for my bank balance - or my mood, or my already vast waistline...

medsdemon

Good morning all. Got treated by my OH to an impulsive meal out last night which was a welcome break from cooking, even though I love it, and a good chance to spend time with OH ( he paid with his winnings from a bowls tournament, well done him:T). Must do it more often:D.

Spent £3.45 late last night after the meal on a jar of coffee and 2 chocolate bars and had our coffees and sweet at home whilst watching Kingdom Of Heaven.

So will add that to my sig.

Need to get a pack of Taco shells today for our dinner but that's all and they're £1 in our local shop so I'll pop down there unless I serve with plain tortilla chips instead and then it'll be a pack of Basics 51p ones. Dinner will be Smoky Chicken wraps with spiced rice salad ( and taco for my GF hubby). Probably do a healthy fruit salad for pud as have plenty of fruit in for a change.

Tomorrow will be yesterdays planned cauliflower & Lentil pilau, tuesday will be mushroom risotto and wednesday will be batch cooking spaghetti bol in SC so some for that night the rest in freezer as a chilli and a spag bol for when I'm away. I have everything in for those meals and it's payday on wednesday so will be off to the shop on thursday or friday as my sis is cycling 400 miles to visit us:eek: so had better get some healthy food and plenty of good red wine in to rejuvanate her:rotfl:. Might try A$di for my bigger shop and then visit A$da for anything I couldn't get and see how I get on. Must do a meal plan for the next couple of weeks till I go away so am off to do that now and trawl the recipe threads for some cheap ideas and get my list written. I plan on cutting our bill slightly more in August since I'm away for a week and OH will be working, if I get plenty of meals frozen etc no-one should need to spend much( except my teenage DD will be in the house alone so she's bound to hit the cupboards) !!!

Sorry for the huge post, I use this thread to go over all my thoughts:rotfl:.

Hope you all have a nice day

[Deleted User]

Had a phone call last night from my DDs ma-in-law and she said she had been given 20 tins of Baxters soup and she was sending half down to me with my DD last night when she visits.and did I want them they are bacon & lentil and a couple of carrot and coriander plus 6 tins of sardines in brine she had been given and her OH doesn't like them in brine So more stores for my cupboard I must admit I do prefer my own home made soup but I will never turn free food away.:):):)

highland_fling_2

Good morning everyone,

Pipersky: congratulations on the new arrival

Beautifuld morning here. Great day for pottering around in the garden.
Dinner is sorted, brother gave me potatoes and cabbage from his allotment and I have pork loins which were whoopsies from M$S.

Hope the sun shines on everyone today:)

rosieben

Welcome to the GC andyslinz

Pink will start the August thread around the 28th, she'll post on here to let us know when it's up and running. Good luck!

annelouise, I've added your quesadilla recipe to the index :beer:

Jackie, well done on your soup and sardine haul, it all helps doesn't it? my dsis gave me 8 tins of corned beef and 6 tins of salmon last week, so hash, pasties, fish cakes and quiche added to my meal plan for the next few months :T

[Deleted User]

I find it brilliant to be given tins that no one wants In fact yesterday I had used a tin of pilchards up from my stores I put them into a bowl and mushed them up and half I spread on two small slices of brown bread and sprinkled chees on top then covered with another slice of bread and made two pilchard and cheese toasties for lunch, and the rest of the pilchards I mixed with some mayo and had with salad for dinner.vey tasty and filling and cost very little

franby64

Morning

Best wishes Mrs Moneypenny and your family.

Congratulations to pipersky! Wonderful!

Just a few spends and an A*da shop so new total is £399.22.
A*da didn't have a few vital things so I've had to put another small order in for tomorrow for about £30. So this leaves me with about £20 to spend this month :eek: It's not going to happen but let's see how near I can get!

Have a good weekend:)!

Rowan9

JackieO wrote: »

Had a phone call last night from my DDs ma-in-law and she said she had been given 20 tins of Baxters soup and she was sending half down to me with my DD last night when she visits.and did I want them they are bacon & lentil and a couple of carrot and coriander plus 6 tins of sardines in brine she had been given and her OH doesn't like them in brine So more stores for my cupboard I must admit I do prefer my own home made soup but I will never turn free food away.:):):)

I prefer HM soup too JackieO (although I do like tinned tomato:p) but the Baxters bacon and lentil is actually really good.
Doing ok this month. Need to go for some shopping today - I'll wait until the afternoon as it is hot here so hopefully most people will not be wanting to go to a supermarket! Low on fruit, salad stuff, milk and other bits. Think I'll get a chicken or something to roast and that will make a few meals. Determined to stay under budget this month as next month will be higher with DSS x2 coming to stay, along with older DSS's girlfriend. We are away for a week after that as well and that will be spendy. Soooo, every penny counts :money:.
Good luck for the rest of the month folks - we are nearly there!

QOTD

Ok this is the end of the month for me I guess. I don't need anything else food wise and since the next planned shop will be after payday (well OH's payday since I don't currently have one) it will part of the August challenge.

Therefore I'm finishing this July challenge on £100.31 versus a budget of £100 :j:j

For the want of 31p I am considering this month a success since I treated myself to some nice Radox bubblebath as a reward for getting a job which was about £2 and hence took me over budget.

ps - I enjoyed the bath