January 2012 Grocery Challenge

tigerfeet2006

XSpender wrote: »

I had to leave work today to take DS to A&E after he had an accident at nursery....he is absoloutley fine but we ended up going to Mr M with DH in tow. £71 spent but only £22.13 of this was on stuff that's added in to the GC, £24 was on stuff for my version of the 2nd purse (scampi, beans, coffee) that I have just started, using £40 from my recent tax rebate to start me off, and the rest was a DVD for DS, a card magazine for me (out of my christmas money), 4 new pillows, 2 wine glasses, 2 lovely gifts for 2 little girls with birthayd this month reduced to £1.28 each, 2 thermos flasks so we can take HM soup to work and some stationary for work/college.

Because DH was there 2 pizzas, some findus pancakes and beer fell into the trolley. Can't blame him for the choclate eclairs that I needed after the stress of watching them superglue my toddler's ear together:eek: Also bought cheese, toothpaste, couple of tins and some skinny sausages for DS, stain remover, orange juice, face wash and milk.

Picked up the free Mr M mag in store and there is a lovely recipe for parsnip and parmesan muffins which I have all the ingredients for and will make tomorrow. They are freezeable and will be a good lunch box filler for DH who has a savoury tooth.

Still need to to pop to Aldi tomorrow or Sunday for a small amount of fruit, dog food and more milk.

OMG! I hope our little one is ok. What a frightening call to have. I hope he is OK. You definatly deserve the cream cakes.

scotmumof3

Hi everyone I'd like to join you all but I get paid weekly so my food budget is done this way is that ok ?

PennyGrabber

Meant to say earlier, I managed a NSD today! My children are at their dad's this weekend, so I'm having a use up weekend. For dinner tonight, I had hm pizza - ood flour, ood mozarella, slightly jaded-looking tomatoes. It was lovely! I've no doubt tomorrow will be something equally as ood, and I'm sure that will be lovely too!

For anyone who's new and doesn't know me, I had a bit of mental illness, and one way of coping was to buy food. I used to think that I wouldn't be able to feed my children. Now, of course, I realise that I get more money at the end of each month, and if i was that badly off, people would help, but then I didn't really know that! It's still hard sometimes to resist, as I got into such a mindset. Of course now, everything needs eating up! I'm getting there slowly but surely, and feeling better about the whole thing. I even saw one of the shelves in my pantry the other day - it was white, don't think I knew that before!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I quite fancy freezer roulette for dinner tomorrow, and will prob be feeding a friend too.

Chat up soon,

PG x

Florenceem

I agree about the market prices for fruit/veg - also not such good quality. We have a market here today as well.

angelatgraceland

scotmumof3 wrote: »

Hi everyone I'd like to join you all but I get paid weekly so my food budget is done this way is that ok ?

Hello and welcome! A few other people do theirs weekly too so you are not alone! Whatever works for you is what we all say!
State your weekly budget in large red letters/numbers by changing the font colour and the size on your text.
We are a friendly bunch on here with a lot of newbies this month-it does quieten down as the year rolls on but we are all a bit excited with our new budgets!:rotfl:
Just make sure that you note all of your spends and you will be amazed at how different you feel about your budget later in the year. Good luck!;)

tigerfeet2006

scotmumof3 wrote: »

Hi everyone I'd like to join you all but I get paid weekly so my food budget is done this way is that ok ?

No problem at all. You set your budget to suit your individual circumstances. Just pop it up in red on the thread and Helen will add it to the roll of honour. Welcome aboard the Good Ship GC :T

Linz4383

just a small spend to declare... couple of whoopsies from work.. cheesecake 20p and a spag carbonara 22p

jus a quick question can you freeze creme fraiche there was some for 11p and i want some for a recipe but dnt need it jus yet

also for those who have kids and use nappies and bits mr ts and mr a's baby events start soon (next week i believe)

hamish222

Thanks for advise re Donald Russell. Going to use up all the stuff lurking in my freezer this month and will place an order at end of month when have made some space.

KazLA

Hoping someone can confirm if my toilet rolls are a bargin! Regina 12 rolls (3 free) from Family Bargins for £2.49. It says 170 sheets per roll, but I don't hv an old packet of Mr A or T own brand which we normally use to see how this compares. The sheets are really thick (and embossed with a pretty pattern which makes them seem v luxurious!). I noticed smart price are nearly £2 for only 6 tiny looking rolls.

I only manage to read about 1/2 the new posts or less each day, but they're so motivational. I have added the price of all the items off our last couple of receipts from Mr A to a spreadsheet (love them!) and took details & list to Lidl to compare, eggs 40p cheaper,mozzarella 10p cheaper & made me realise its 25p cheaper per 6 pints to buy 4 pints of milk at £1, than a 6 pint bottle, I'm normally quite good at comparing prices, but hadn't ever thought to actually write it all down so I can check properly.

I always do top ups at Lidl as its our closest sm, but don't do a full shop ad they don't hv everything, but am going to try to get more from there as I work out what is cheaper.

Where is the best place to great cheap risotto rice? We use about 400g a week. We hv most sm available & a Makro.

Kept under budget for 1st time in weeks - 15p left

franby64

Morning

Bought a few bits yesterday including milk, eggs and a few bits for DD1 & friends to make a cheesecake - should be interesting!

We're quite well stocked up but I'm on another planning go-slow. It's like I used to be about homework! I don't know how to make it into a fun task!

I'll try to do it today for at least two weeks because (as you know) it will make all the difference. I'm up to £183.89/£380 - halfwayish at halfwayish through the month so I'm quite optimistic if I make the best use of what I've got!