December 2011 - Grocery Challenge

supersally01

Evening all, enjoyed the penny pinching show, and now must update my total. Spent £10 on reduced flowers, reduced nuts for Xmas buffet and low priced wine. Also spent £5 tonight on bread, jam,chocolate for the kids and kitchen items. Also need to add £37 on 12 bottles of wine for Xmas day from M &S.
Have asked people to donate food to Xmas day, as I have ended up hosting another meal. Was really cheeky and printed out shopping lists for my guests, as cannot afford to hold another bash, the last one cost me at least £300!!! I don't mind the cooking and cleaning up afterwards, but food is really pricey and I felt it best to be honest from the start!
Had HM spag bol for tea, also made cottage pie with the other 1/2 pack of mince which will do Saturday lunch.
Hope All are well.

hollieinbloom

have a freezer that is jam packed with food. £100 for me again please.
i'm going to try to only spend £70 but lets be realistic as December will drag out slightly with the excitement to christmas.

Went tesco today and spend £31.05 minus toiletries and little gifts for xmas total is: £18.13 so far.

We are having Christmas day dinner at my OH's parents, boxing day with my grandparents and dad, back to OH's parents in the evening for a party.
Will also be scavenging left overs from the party to take home to eat on the 27th too.
Hopefully i can have LOTS of NSD's this month. Lets see

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

tigerfeet2006

PennyGrabber wrote: »

I have had a NSD today, which I'm pleased with as i thought my addiction had returned with a vengeance! I've shopped the last 5 days in a row...

Must tell you about my bargain in te$co though. I went to the reduced section (of course!!!) and they had the big packs of lean mince down to £2.25. I didn't pick any up, as I have mince in the freezer, and I don't really want to put any more in there. I did keep popping back though, in case they reduced it any more, thinking I'd get some if it went to £1.25 or whatever would be next. Anyway, they never did reduce it again while I was there, but on my third visit, they put three massive pieces of pork on the shelf. I was the only one there at the time, so I had a good look and picked up the best one. Three and a half kilos, £2.07!!!!! I chopped it into three bits when I got home and froze them separately. That means three roast-and-lo-sandwiches, about 70p each!!! That is maths I LOVE!!

:eek: Wish my Tesco would discount like that. We only get pence off our stuff. Most of the time because of their special offers it is cheaper to go get the fresher stuff off the shelf.

Anyway, nothing I need tom, so hoping to make it til Sunday before shopping. Famous last words!!

PG x

ps - Is a panasonic breadmaker really that much better than all others? I have an argos cookworks cheapy one at the moment, and not feeling the love. Is it really worth buying another one? Help please!!

Yes, it really, really is. The Gadget Show did a thing about BM's this year and the Panny came top in it. I have to do Gluten Free stuff in mine and the GF option on my works beautifully. You can also do jams etc. in it as well but I haven't tried that yet, may have to bookmark that as a project for next year. I asked for money a couple of Christmas's ago and bought the Panny with it.

http://fwd.channel5.com/gadget-show/videos/jon-test/breadmakers

666paw

Evening all

Can I please be put down for £250.

This is until 18th Dec when my new month starts. I have been keeping up to date with the spends so will update later with accurate amounts.

Thanks to all.

666

recovering_spendaholic

Tigerfeet - so sorry about your OH not getting the job - sometimes they won't promote someone who they think might be a threat to them. Hope he isn't too down about it.

I made the chicken, bacon and avocado tonight and I used Sainsburys basics avocados which I'd got reduced and I have to say that the salad wasn't as nice as when I used the Haas avocados, so will avoid the basics ones in future!

I have something to post out for ebay tomorrow but other than that I am determined to have a NSD.

On the subject of breadmakers, John lewis have a Panasonic on offer for £101 with £20 cashback (from panasonic) so £81 - bargain I think!

tigerfeet2006

Thank you RS

Unfortunatly he is very down. He has had a cough and cold for the last 2 weeks, it's bordering on flu but he still keeps going. He also has ASD so he takes a lot of things to heart. He is an Ofsted excellent teacher and is meant to be the golden boy atm, who can do no wrong having garnered a lot of praise for the school. So he can't understand it. He is going to wait to see who got the job, which would have meant extra work for him on top of his current workload and go from there. If it is someone who he knows is suitable then he will carry on but if it is not then he says he is doing a work to rule. Doing the work he is meant to do and no more, if other teachers can do it and get away with it and get promotion then why not him. He will also start looking for a job elsewhere.

When it happened last time they soothed his ruffled feathers and he has been supporting the guy who did get it and helping him a lot (doing a lot of the job he didn't get but the other guy did and gets paid extra for). His Dad said they were blowing smoke. DH said they weren't but it seems that Dad was right.

Sorry I know it is off thread but I am so angry on DH's behalf. It was working with the gifted and talented kids, which DH has a lot of experiance with as our DC1 is G&T and has ASD and Dyspraxia and as he said it is surprising how many of the G&T kids have a special need on top of being G&T. He also was in the top 1% of school and uni. when going through it so knows what it is like. I am waffling now so will shut up.

Any way back on thread, it should be a no spend day for me today.. I am going out for a Christmas meal tonight but that is all paid for and includes a half bottle of wine. I may have a small coke but that will be all.

And that is a good deal on the Panny.

tessie_bear

hi...have decidied i cant fit any thing in my freezer so that will have a knock on effect on my bargain hunting...infact i dont think we need anything today which is unusual but good for my purse....got a stew for tea and have prepped some veg to go with it...might make a steamed pudding as there is frost on the ground by the looks of it

have a nice day
tessa

Mortgagenewbie

Spent 12.90 last night on a takeaway instead of going out for tea! OH has just ordered a bacon butty, so theres another 2.50! I've angelically resisted:A! Combo of MSEing and trying to be good before the excesses of christmas begin!!

Gonna do a mega meal plan tonight! Any tips, is it better weekly or monthly, theres 2 of us and our downfall is planning and then changing plans at last minute so the more flexible the better!!

bikelesschick

Tigerfeet2006 - sorry to hear about your hubby. It sounds really unfair and I can understand why you're so angry. I'd be too if I was you! I hope that everything works out though.

A NSD for me yesterday. I need to stock up on a few things today as I won't be able to go sm for the next few days as I'll be working like mad.

I offered to do some overtime at work and they've put me down for loads! I'm not pleased at all as I'd expected them to ask me beforehand, but I'm new there and I don't feel able to say anything at the mo. It was hard enough to get this job and I can't afford to lose it. I'll just have to bite my tongue for now:o

Nimeth

Whew, did my store cupboard shop today, first spend of December! Popped round to Te$cos first and spent £24.76 before going off to A!di and spending a hefty £74.03 for a total of £98.79 this week.

My store cupboard is now full past bursting, I still have things that I can't find room for. Took me ages to put most of it away. I've managed to do my first meal plan, for the whole month, so I'm well equipped now food-wise.:D Most of my meal plan actually came from Hugh FW's River Cottage veg book so if anyone was thinking about picking it up, it's worth it.:cool: