October 2011 Grocery Challenge

PennyGrabber

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

A quick question ..... if I do need DM to get me a few bits on Mon, which will be for November use - can I count this as November budget even though it's the 31st?

It seems a bit silly to pass up the opportunity when she's here.

This is your challenge, so your decision. I personally would put it into the Nov budget, as that's when it's going to be used. Like you said, you can't get out, so you wouldn't be going if it weren't for the fact your dm was coming. HTH.

Spend day for me today, but only a bit of milk and bread, and some reduced fruit. £6.07 in total. Gawd only knows how much I've spent now this month - a crazy (personal) couple of weeks at the start of the month didn't help too much, but I'm living happily ever after now!!

My budget for next month will be £100, with the aim of using up as much of my store as possible. OH is moving up at the end of March, and at this rate, I'll still be eating stuff from the black hole that I refer to as the cupboard under the stairs!!!

I'm really enjoying half term - i love spending time with my children, finding new things to do, and just being together. They're at an age now (5 and 6) where they understand we can't play all the time too, so we've been mixing house jobs and playing for the last few days. Today's job was clearing up the wallpaper bits from the floor in DD's room. Tomorrow's job is putting away the clothes that I'm in the middle of washing. Oh, sad news... the bottle of washing liquid I bought last summer (2010) has finally been finished. It was on a ridiculous offer, and I paid £4 for it. Not bad for about 15 months' worth of washing!!!

PG x

adelight

Did my top up f&v shop a few days early but got some brilliant bargains in the reduced section at a$da! Must fish my receipt out to update but spent £6 something and got cheddar, 3 coconuts, 3 packs of seasoned spuds for freezer, noodles, loads of veg & tropical fruit- enough to make 3 litres of green fruit smoothies (in the freezer now) :j

rosieben

ZoeGirl, I've added your Couscous Salad to the recipe index :beer:

prettypaula

hi all

i have £2 left in my "food purse" for this month....

may only need milk if i'm honest, i was too late for the challenge this month but i'd like to declare £260 for November. Thats alot for me, DH and 5 cats...but...

this is to include a big pet food stock up/litter stock up and i am wheat free low carb at mo so plenty of meat...

i may well come in way under, but plan to buy up some xmas goodies also...:A

rej-c

Another NSD for us today; I'll try for the same again tomorrow [trying to stick to store-cupboard meals as far as poss], but bread's running low and some more milk may be needed, so we'll see.

Between our ever-expanding waistlines and Him Indoors' ever-decreasing p/t work [it's not official yet, but looks like the end is probably nigh], the writing's turning up all over the walls here.

So there's some serious fine-tuning to be done and self-discipline to be found, one way or another. But from reading some of your stories, I know it's possible, and I'm confident that we can make it work out. :cool:

sproggi

Just popping in to record another NSD for me:)

Was annoyed yesterday morning, made DD2 and I a bowl of fresh fruit salad for breakfast topped with vanilla yoghurt.
Well we both took one mouthful and nearly spat it out again! For some reason the yoghurt had a strange taste, not off, more a strange woody taste that was foul. I tried washing the yoghurt off (not easy trying to wash slippery sliced strawberries and bananas!) , but, with it still tasting, I had to admit defeat and throw both bowls away :mad:

On the plus side, my out of date (by 3 and half years) yeast is still going strong with another batch of hm rolls made and all eaten yesterday.

Sproggi

ZoeGirl_3

CompBunny wrote: »

I'm interested in experimenting with dried chick peas and lentils...do you really have to soak them?!

PS ZoeGirl what sort of couscous do you use? I never knew you could just shove boiling water on it and leave it to cook itself!!! Would the Tesco Wholefoods cheapy one work OK?

Hey, yeah should work well with all couscous, I buy the cheapest one I can find and it is fine. Just make sure you use equal parts couscous and boiling water (ie, just boiled not sitting for a while), cover it and then most importantly fluff with a FORK. Honestly took me about 3 goes to get it right and it was because I was using a SPOON! My friends thought it was hilarious...still tasted fine but was lumpy! :eek:

TheThriftyScrumpers

Morning!
I finally caught up with all the posts. Well I am pretty sure I will come in on or even under budget but we have been away or out a lot this month (diff budget). Freezer full so aim (again when will I learn) is to eat from freezer instead of adding to it. Got to dash. Spent two hours sorting Dd's room while she slept last night. She has just woken so I want to show her my hard work. Hope everyone has a fun and frugal day. X x

franby64

Hi

Just updating while I can get on the pooter (have to fight for it during the holidays). Total is now £351.14. I'm getting an A*da delivery this afternoon which will take me over but not too bad.

I wrote two annoyed emails to T*sco and the C*op yesterday about shrinkage.
In Tesco the bread rolls were about 2/3 of their normal size, same price, and in the C*op the packets of 6 tomatoes were 5p more and much, much smaller.
I know this, you know this and they know this but it does get up my nose so I had to vent my spleen.
It's sneaky and I don't like being treated like an idiot. I'd just like to see what they say - b****r-all probably.
Was it Spiggle who said supermarkets are not your friend!

Hope everybody is managing to get somewhere near their targets!

quintwins

morning all, nsd today toasted muffins for breakfast, sausage rolls for ds for lunch and cauliflower and brocolli cheese for me, dinners gonna be chips, fishfingers and beans. i'll need a few bits tomorrow that will take me over but a comftable over