October 2011 Grocery Challenge

totallybored

Spent £45.98 today out of my £250 budget so feeling quite impressed with myself. Not leaving the house tomorrow and it's easy to avoid spending during the week while at work.

Went to Aldi first and spent £3.17 on milk and some fruit. I only used to buy organic milk from Waitrose but as I don't actually like milk myself and is only for hubby I decided this was something we could save on. Only prob is you need to get here early as it sells out quickly. Then £1.34 in Morrisons (wanted the Flora that was on offer but none left but then found it for 3p more in Asda). £5.59 in Wilkos on more anti bacterial wipes as normally buy from Sainsburys but they have got more expensive there recently. This was followed by £35.88 at Asda but this included a huge 32 pack of loo roll for £10 and £6 on 2 scented air freshener things which I didn't need at all.

Tomorrow I intend to go through all cupboards and the freezer and make a list of everything we have. So far I have found over 100 dishwasher tablets ( we use 2 - 3 a week) and washing machine liquid for 190 washes and we only use the machine twice a week at the most so have several years worth!

ChasingButterflies

CompBunny wrote: »

I think this meat thing could be a real problem :eek: I want to support my partner, but don't want to abandon my personal morals. A good compromise would be free range/organic/hand reared pampered meat but we just can't afford it right now!

Hi - I hope you don't mind me butting in... someone posted (I think in this thread) about thermos pots - how about soup? I am slightly biased - but soup made with veggie stock is just as yummy as chicken...

I completely understand where you are coming from I was veggie for 11 years - it turned out to be a pregnancy craving that broke my hard and fast rules... I am now not veggie anymore - I am just really fussy - as my kids put it I never considered bringing the kids up on an entirely veggie diet ( although it is possible) Working with most meat makes me feel quite ill (to the point where I need to go outside for a few deep breaths of fresh air ) but it is for the kids so I just tend to get on with it (although if DH is around he will slice chicken or whatever it is)

If we aren't having a veggie main meal here then I tend to make the meal in blocks. i.e stir fry - all veggies cooked in wok. In a separate pan (at the other side of the hob!) I will fry chicken/pork strips. Then I can plate up (with separate utensils!) Noodles, veg, meat. Doing it this way means that anyone can go back for seconds - finally managed get DS into the habit of doing it in the right order with the right utensil :rotfl:

I can post more ideas for dinners if you like but feel like I might be taking the thread O/T and don't want to get into trouble

Will go see if I can find the post about thermos pots... ETA post #202 of this thread go back to page 11.

meanmarie

Now I know why I had €45 at the end of last month....needed all the things I don't buy very often and so ended up spending €106.88 to-day....so less than €80 left for 5 weeks...do have lots of meat, veggies plus those in garden, tinned fish, pasta and tomatoes, cheese and bread making stuff....bought a ginger cake mix too, did it in breadmaker and it smells wooonnnddderfuull...will taste it to-morrow, although at €1.79 for a loaf will probably not buy it again....might try to make something like although have never had much success with hm ginger cake.

Good luck in October everyone.

Marie

JIL

I have been missing in action, I really need to stick to my £200
budget this month, I thought I was doing really well last month, but the freezer is as full as ever, this is due to me taking out a pack of mince making a chilli, and putting 3 portions back in the freezer. Same with chicken portions, took a pack out made a spanish chicken dish and put 3 portions of spanish chicken back into the freezer. I also did the same with steak making Steak and kidney and beef stew.

So I have taken £200 out of the bank in cash and this is in a separate purse. I did a shop today, spent £23.70 but this included a Tapas 6 for £10. It was cheaper than a takeaway and was nice with a bottle of wine out on the patio. (wine was from store cupboard). I got milk and bread and some cooked meat for sandwiches amongst other things.
I need to go to Lid1 tomorrow and stock up on some salad, fruit and veg. I would also get their pork but have noticed just lately that if you are not there at the crack of dawn, then you miss the weekend half price offers.
I went to visit my mother and father and came back with a sack of potatoes they had bought me, which I will share with my mother in law as there are loads. I also went for a walk in the woods and foraged a huge bag of apples which i will prepare and try and squeeze into the freezer. Good luck to everyone and thank you to the people that manage the thread.

Miss_Purple_Hat

Used some of my vouchers I saved up, so only spent 64p on my shopping. That's for 2 tins of chocolate (one for me for this month and one for my uni society) a load of fresh fruit and vegetables and some value strawberry jam, which did come to over £16. But I'm only taking money spent out of my budget for this month, not vouchers, which is why it's so low.

lisakay_2

So...I can't believe a week has passed already. The last 3 days have been nsd except for paying the window cleaner his £2.50. so that's a total of £15.34 for the week and absolutely none of that was on grocery shopping. :j
OH has put petrol in the car, but I'm keeping that separate and that should last us for the next 3-4 weeks now.

I will need to shop tomorrow for packed lunch stuff for the girls and some F&V, but I'm taking £15 with me and a calculator, aiming to spend only £10 of it if I can get away with it.

I have decided to keep all other budgets separate and to just see how low I can go on food and essentials. Having already stocked up on a lot knowing things were going to be tight this month I 'think' I should be able to smash my target. even OH is on board and has drastically cut his beer consumption:cool:
so with the change of goalposts I have had a nsw:beer: (well, that smiley's for payday really, i suppose!)

[Deleted User]

NSD yesterday and definitely another NSD today and at the moment nothing urgently needed on my list for tomorrow so I am hoping for three in a row .I still have my £100. firmly in my food purse for this month and am going to do my utmost to hang on to it.I have been doing a bit more baking and utilising what I have in my fridge and freezer so that stops me being tempted to go to the shops .If I feel the need of some fresh air I will turn right instead of left outside my gate and go to the library which is right by the park instead of the prescinct across the road . Better for me as there are no shops that way.A bottle of cold water and a book is far better than looking around in Tesco's (a lot cheaper to)

rachbc

£37 at aldi Inc £8 on drinks to take to a BBQ today and a few treats for lunch boxes.

Got a 25% off voucher for ocado so stocked up on fruit juice and stuff for freezer - got £72 worth of shopping for £50 Inc delivery so pretty pleased

esmf73

Hi - CAN I JOIN IN? not really done this (and stuck to it) before - please could you put me down for £300 (4 of us and two dogs and two cats). Have freezer and cupboards full, so after I've done my veg shop at the market today hopefully we'll manage - with a bit of forward planning.

Thanks x

Mrs_Good_Life

Hello all,

Can I join in please? new to all this. Please could you put me down for £250 for October, for 2 adults,1 teenager and 1 dog.

Need to go out later as we have no washing-up-liquid:eek:,will report back with spend.

Thanks.x