January 2012 Grocery Challenge

Cool_Nanna

I feel guilty that I haven't time to read through all the posts and thank everyone as this thread has been an inspiration to me.

DH wages have always been paid weekly up until 3 years ago when he changed jobs and he now gets paid monthly. It was really difficult to get used to the change after over 30 years so I just carried on as though he got paid weekly. I have now realised it is much easier to have a monthly shopping budget as I can bulk buy plus stock up on any offers.
I have started taking my glasses with me as well so I can read what date the offers start and finish, I have lost count of the number of times I have missed out because I couldn't see.

My eldest GD had always told me I am not like other Nanna's and I am really cool but yesterday she said I am turning into an old Nanna because I am now always baking cakes and biscuits.
I made the hob nobs yesterday, my DH who hates anything remotely like flapjack loves them.

I adapted a recipie I found on the back of a tin of Heinz tomato soup yesterday, using the left overs from my bacon joint instead of smoked bacon and I didn't put any cream in it, it was delicious and I will definately make it again.

123budget

Does anyone know if coffee is on offer anywhere?
My DH gets through it at the rate of knots and I have nearly finished my last lot from CoSTCO. I don't need anything else from there at the moment so it's not worth the 40 minute drive.

Ninno820

123budget wrote: »

Does anyone know if coffee is on offer anywhere?
My DH gets through it at the rate of knots and I have nearly finished my last lot from CoSTCO. I don't need anything else from there at the moment so it's not worth the 40 minute drive.

Kenco decaf is £5 instead of just over £7 at Mr T


Aiming for just a small spend today - need some stamps

Good luck to everyone

ETA :- Grrrrr - just gone out to the car to discover a flat tyre - more expense tomorrow!

raphanius

Florenceem wrote: »

MR F thought it was delicious - but then he says that about everything I cook!

my OH is the same so i use other clues such as the time he takes to clear the plate and whether he mops it clean with bread. if he leaves anything on the plate i am mortified and i know that dish is a failure (usually when i've put too much veg in) He drives me nuts sometimes when he covers everything in vinegar or ketchup and i feel quite frustrated if i think he cant taste my cooking underneath all that 'junk'

blackandwhitebunny

I'm happy to declare that I'm £10 under for this month :T:T:T and it was five weekends:T.
I spent £4.90 on Tuesday in MrS as I found 2 packets of organic chicken breasts at half price, technically I didn't need them but as its so rare to find them, I grabbed them for the freezer. Yesterday we had £10 on fruit and veg, £5 on cheese and just under £10 in Mr S but we only needed loo roll, fruit juice and some cereal.
We also spent £40 buying 16 boxes of felix senior while it was still on special but that comes out of another budget and means we should have enough for February so will only need biscuits. Just for pets have the small bags of Royal Canin on 3 for 2 so have been buying there. The offer is on till the 22 Feb so might try to stockpile a bit over the next few weeks.
I need to get DH to help me have a dig around in the freezer later, we have loads of lamb and pork in there from special deals last year but I'm tending to buy YS items which go on top and then we eat whatever's on top I'm sure you all know what I mean. I had been transferring a week's items from the chest to the upright freezer and using it from there for the week but the upright is full of soup, stock and frozen veg at the moment.
Helen could you put me down for £200 for Feb again please, thanks.

mummyyof5

Small spend on Friday of £1.98 in [EMAIL="B@M..just"]B@M..just[/EMAIL] pepsi max to take to a girly night.
Went to HB and Aldi yesterday..spent £17.50 in HB and £7.32 in Aldi...got 2 Soreen malt loaves for 99p...thought this was a great buy...date of use is march 2012 but its like chewing rubber....what a waste:(..I love malt loaf too....

Off to add to sig....not sure about my Feb money yet..NSD today:j...but not declaring just yet xxx

sistercas

Florenceem wrote: »

I had a NSD here.

I made Onion, Walnut & Mushroom Tarte Tatin tonight for the first time. I had this when I stayed with my Son/family. It is a GF Mag recipe. MR F thought it was delicious - but then he says that about everything I cook!

i love that you post pics of your meals , they look fab and its inspirational , i hope you keep posting pics and anyone else too , it would be great to see :T

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

Finally went to Costco and joined. Decided to do the membership that gives you cashback (Executive Membership)which cost £66 for the year. DH and I have just put it all in a spreadsheet and then put in figures for MrT, as that is where I do the bulk of my online shopping and......<drumroll please> we have saved a grand total of £165 :T:j:beer: That is taking out the cost of the memership this month.

We have smashed the budget for this month but some of this stuff is going to last months. Some of the best buys were Finish Dishwasher Tablets 2x84 for £20.15. The best MrT. could do was £12.85 for 52 . The Tork Kitchen Roll 400sheetx6 £13.79. The best MrT could do was Blitz Kitchen Roll 100sheet £2.49. Aquafresh Whitening Toothpaste 12x100ml £8.98. The best MrT could do was 100ml tube £2.55

Out of 38 items bought we lost out on 8 of them, where it would have been cheaper in MrT. So not bad all things considering and we already have £5.06 on our reward card :j

Definatly will be going again next month and will be a bit more organised with a proper list etc. I was trying to explain the second purse thing to DH but he doesn't get it and thinks it sounds daft. Will be patient and see if I can maybe do it quietly later.

Will sort out and post the spends for this month in the next day or so.

do you think you could post up other stuff that worked out cheaper than mr T ? I have already decided to get the toothpaste and kitchen roll when i next go - thanks

helen_jelly

New Thread - the Feb will be up and running from anytime now - Zippy or Pink will do it and one of us will post on here that its up and running

Keeping up with the thread - please, please don't worry if you can't keep up with the thread, no-one is expecting you to and its so long at the start of the year that you'd have to be Superwoman to do so, don't think that you have to answer everyones questions as there is always someone around who will - no-one fails here for ANY reason :]

Budgets done to here and I'll update the main list later

Helen x

cleggie

Declaring Jans budget today as i wont be shopping again until next week:

I went over by £55

So £250/£200

For Feb i am going to stick with £200 though as i am determined i will manage it!!!

I think i am going to just do 1 massive shop at the start of the month, in @sd@ and then i'll just need bread/milk/eggs etc on a weekly basis.

Its so disheartening never managing to stick to the budget

sistercas

cleggie wrote: »

Declaring Jans budget today as i wont be shopping again until next week:

I went over by £55

So £250/£200

For Feb i am going to stick with £200 though as i am determined i will manage it!!!

I think i am going to just do 1 massive shop at the start of the month, in @sd@ and then i'll just need bread/milk/eggs etc on a weekly basis.

Its so disheartening never managing to stick to the budget

dont be disheartened, just think what you may have spent if you wernt working towards the challenge. I think the GC helps to focus the mind towards making better choices / not wasting stuff etc and its a work in progress, its not set in stone. dont be hard on yourself i bet you are doing alot better than before you started the challenge