October 2011 Grocery Challenge

helen_jelly

Rainy-Days wrote: »

BTW you guys with the big red figures my eyes are nearly popping out it's that big!!

Ah but it makes it so much easier for me to see - I update the front page and when there are lots of people wanting to have their targets entered I have to do a bit of skim reading as the posts come thick and fast lol

Helen x

ragz_2

angelatgraceland wrote: »

Pasta keeps well-why give it away? do a meal plan where you use 1kg a week and in 20 weeks you have no pasta! How is it wrapped at the mo? Is it all in one packet? When I open pasta I tend to close it with a strong bag clip and then put it in a polythene bag-a swingbin liner if they are big bags. Maybe its where to store it? Loft? Garage? If worst happens and you really cannot find anywhere to store it then why not SELL it to your friends at cost or just a little above?:money:

Thanks for the advice. i think I was just in shock, 20kg of pasta in 5kg bags looks a lot more than it sounded when I ordered it! The bags aren't great but the pasta is already a year ood and seems fine. I made macaroni cheese for the kids for dinner which went down better than expected (they never used to like white sauce on pasta, only tomato ones) so I am feeling hopeful. I twill be very useful if we get snowed in as I still have a few sacla sauce jars left.

I shall give a few kgs away to my parents as they are pretty skint and probably a few to friends as I like to share my bargains. But am am pretty sure I can use it before the end of the year if I put my mind to it.

I did get some funny shapes though, macaroni (what else do you use it for apart from the obvious?) and tiny curved macaroni... soups maybe? As well as tomato penne and a funny twisty one. (They had fancy pasta names, I don't recall what!)

Have started menu plan for next week and most nights are organised, will be doing some cooking/baking tomorrow after I've had a look at some recipes on here and in the cook books, feel we've got into a food rut yet again and we're just eating the same stuff week after week.

nmlc Ditto. Just borrowed Jamie's Ministry of Food from the library to add some meals to my regulars. I like my cooking mags for inspiration but most of it isn't things I'd cook every week/for the kids/ on a weeknight etc...

p-pincher

Well had my first NSD on Wednesday, my first of the month. Not that ive had another one since but im really hoping I can get some more under my belt. So far this week ive spent-

Monday-£6.98
Tuesday-£4.54
Wednesday-NSD, yay me
Thursday-£5.89, Sainsburys, fruit and bread
Friday-11.17, Sainsburys, Chorizo (£1.50 on offer), Cheerioes (bogoff), Yoghurts, carrots and peppers. M & S Croissants and wholemeal cobs

Hoping I dont need much more for the weekend. Had another mini breakthrough this week as well. Every single week I do a meal plan then every single week I don't stick to it but so far this week I have 100%. Forgot we've got a 4 day holiday to Euro disney so hopefully that'll make me spend less on groceries. Ive worked out that taking into account the days were on holiday if I average a tenner a day I should be very close to my target. So if I decide I want to do a big shop Ive got to really budget on all the other days.

slowandsteady_2

evening everyone,

just catching up but will need to update sig. Have asked dh to get me some horlicks on his travels and gave him a fiver but i dont know how much it is until he is back.

Tomorrow i'll be going to Mr T as i am getting a few lunchbox bits for dh for when im going into hospital for my induction on tuesday, am planning on making sure he has plenty of sandwiches/snacks/drinks for while im in labour as i despearately dont want him using the hospital canteen/tea bars, its upwards of £3 for a simple sandwich, and £1.80 for a coffee:eek:

I can't actually believe im more worried about what to pack for dh sandwiches for the hospital when im the one going in to have a baby, OS or what lol! Or am i just obsessed?:D

Won't be doing a proper shop this week, as fresh stuff will go to waste, as i am in hospital on Tues and will probably be in for 2-3 days if everything goes ok because of my complications:(, dd1 is staying with grandma from sunday till next saturday and dh can live out of the freezer when he is home. We have enough fresh bits in now to finish off.

Am actually really looking forward to using up the freezer contents as im sick of looking at the same stuff and having no desire to use it/eat it and therefore still buying stuff, its silly i know, so it will be a good chance to have a clear out until i feel able to shop again.

Have a good weekend everyone x

lisakay_2

OH NO!!:o. Hubby decided he needed a couple of bits from asda. I've discovered that those couple of bits have knocked £115 of this months budget!!!! I really thought he was listening when we discussed saving some money:mad:. If I'm careful (and don't let DH near a shop) I should be able to manage to come in on budget still.

angelatgraceland

Penny-pincher-enjoy euro disney-Ive been twice with mine when they were younger. Have you been before? If not-make sure you stay late to see the "light display"-if you want any info PM me and I will tell you more buy you may have been before!
Anyway, back on topic(whilst enjoying a rum and coke)Ive been out spending tonight but wow I am so glad I did! I paid a friend for some cheese £6.33 as she goes to costco, sent DS into Iceland for milk and bread £4.70-that way I didnt buy stuff I don't need.
went to Coop tonight to use my £5 off £50 voucher which expires tomorrow and got some great stuff!
T Rolls 15 for £5, reduced
FR eggs at 50p per box(x4)
Flora cuisine oil for 20p,
Fruit jice reduced from £2.50 down to 63p
Fresh fish(Ive separated them bagged them and popped in freezer)
3 bottles of wine for £12(for Xmas presents-had to top up this shopping list)
3 free range chickens £1.29, £1.38,£1.80(2 in freezer and one in oven)
3 boxes of richmond sausages-normally £4 per box as 4 packets per box) £1 per box
Choc muffins box of 2 for 49p
donuts-3 bags at 19p each(2 in freezer)
3 packs baguettes normally £1 at 39p each(2 in freezer)
a few other bits n bobs of food-and I went around using my calculator and totalled £50.41.
£5 off =£45.51 so I think I saved about £27 on a quick estimate! I am well pleased! Just need to total my spends now and it is £61.35 for food for the week. I took off the wine as that is Xmas presents. Well under budget by £38.65-somehow I think my Asda order will get postponed again!!!:p:rotfl::j
Now I can actually have my "lowcarb" tea -oooh I think that garlic is strong!

jpscloud

£86 tonight in a big tesco shop, also £7 on cat litter in the pet store leaving only £20 left for this month's budget! I did buy a lot of treats (at least two weeks' worth, hopefully), two DVDs and everything else was moneysaving one way or another. I know I should have bought the DVDs cheaper from Amazon, but I'm hopeless at this time of the month and just HAD to have them right now!

Now to see if I can really do the eating-out-of-cupboards-and-freezer challenge this month! £20 should be enough to buy all the fresh veggies I need backed up with the frozen ones I already have, milk is all UHT in the cupboard and I might need a few toiletries but that will be very little as I have good stocks in. I can do this... I hope...

CompBunny

slowandsteady wrote: »

Tomorrow i'll be going to Mr T as i am getting a few lunchbox bits for dh for when im going into hospital for my induction on tuesday, am planning on making sure he has plenty of sandwiches/snacks/drinks for while im in labour as i despearately dont want him using the hospital canteen/tea bars, its upwards of £3 for a simple sandwich, and £1.80 for a coffee:eek:

I am impressed! :rotfl: You are going into hospital to have a baby (no easy feat, or so womankind are told!) and you are worrying about HM sandwiches for your hubby? You must be some kind of OS saint, I feel utterly ashamed of my shortcomings in comparison!:eek:
Can your husband sort his sandwiches/snacks if you ask nicely?


NSD #4 for us this week, really pleased!! Was very tempted to spend £3 at domino's pizza earlier when passing one with my friend (Fridays used to be our junk food guzzling day!) for two garlic pizza breads for £6, going halves. However, I quickly realised I'd be spending £3 on ONE SNACK! I could make my partner two days of very generous lunches including snacks for on the way home from work for that! So glad I was able to say no, or I would have felt awful reporting it on here!

Should have a spend tomorrow though, my partner needs a dressing gown and slippers for his operation and we need milk!

Have a great weekend everyone

brodie1_2

ragz wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. i think I was just in shock, 20kg of pasta in 5kg bags looks a lot more than it sounded when I ordered it! The bags aren't great but the pasta is already a year ood and seems fine. I made macaroni cheese for the kids for dinner which went down better than expected (they never used to like white sauce on pasta, only tomato ones) so I am feeling hopeful. I twill be very useful if we get snowed in as I still have a few sacla sauce jars left.

I shall give a few kgs away to my parents as they are pretty skint and probably a few to friends as I like to share my bargains. But am am pretty sure I can use it before the end of the year if I put my mind to it.

I did get some funny shapes though, macaroni (what else do you use it for apart from the obvious and tiny curved macaroni... soups maybe? As well as tomato penne and a funny twisty one. (They had fancy pasta names, I don't recall what!


Hi,
tried 2 use the quote , thinkl I have it wrong!!

Anyway macaroni and pork bake is loads better than it sounds I got the recipie form Net mums website It is pork mince and macaroni and a few veg, toms ,celery. Hope this helps.
Have just orderd half a pig from my butchers today £90.00, so I expect we will be eating some too:)

Brodie


nmlc Ditto. Just borrowed Jamie's Ministry of Food from the library to add some meals to my regulars. I like my cooking mags for inspiration but most of it isn't things I'd cook every week/for the kids/ on a weeknight etc...[/QUOTE

sproggi

ragz wrote: »

macaroni (what else do you use it for apart from the obvious?) and tiny curved macaroni

Macaroni pudding, YUM, a favorite in my house.
When he was younger, DS1 made this for his friends and teacher when they were on a school canal trip, no-one else had ever tried it before, including the teacher, it went down a treat and everyone was asking for more :rotfl:

I had another NSD today.
I went for physio on my back again yesterday and stupidly spent too long standing in the kitchen baking earlier today, I should know that I need to be careful for a day or two after physio, so have spent the rest of the day in pain. DD1 ended up treating us to take away pizza to save me from cooking
Will need to try and get to the shops tomorrow as we need milk, fresh fruit and veg, but will put my blinkers on to anything that is not on my list.

Sproggi