January 2012 Grocery Challenge

TheThriftyScrumpers

Happy new year :beer: I hope you all had a great time. We celebrated with family which was lovely.

I am all excited about 2012 and shaving £'s of the food budget. I really appreciate all the helpful advice and recipes on this thread, so thanks one and all!

I did a supermarket sweep yesterday evening and managed to get some nice whoopsie's - sausages 33p, individual cheesecakes 20p and covent garden soup 15p etc so that was good.

I also got a dtd refund as I was overcharged on a mr t finest meal deal. Instead of charging me £10 it went through at about £22. The man at cs offered me £12 so I piped up "do I not get dtd?" he apologised and gave me £24 back! Just goes to show how important it is to check everything.

Right, breakfast time. I am going to attempt to make chocolate croissants with puff pastry and squares of dairy milk. Enjoy the day xx

123budget

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone.
Had a fab night out round friends last night - was designated driver so am up early while others sleep off hangovers!!
Have just planned menu up to friday using stuff already in (just did a simple table on word listing meals for breakfast, lunch,evening and a column for ingredients needed. Also put a box at bottom and listed staples to check each week - should help with keeping to a shopping list). Am going to check freezer/cupboard later and then plan a second week.
I think I am going to try and menu plan a fortnight at a time but still shop weekly - if that makes sense!?

PS Have also looked at the fantastic list of recipes on page1 so am going to try out lots of new meals - think I will try a few without meat to see if I can wean dh off expecting meat at every evening meal!

luvabargain

Hi everyone, Please may I join? I'm a newbie to 'OS moneysaving' and have been stuck on the computer for days reading all your advice in OS! Im on a mission this year to cut back all non essential spending and get some savings behind us. Can I budget £450 for the month. I normally budget £90 a week but going to try a monthly budget instead of a big weekly shop. BUT I always spend more out of another pot on food so hoping I come in well under budget. Shopped at Lidl & Wilko's this week despite having a £9 off £90 voucher for tesco, so off to a good start. Happy new year to all

patentgirl

Morning everyone

Happy Frugal New year
we celebrated last night going to friends house last minute inviatation and had a great time often the way didnt go out till gone 10 spent early evening with family and a budgeted supermarket takeaway
Still dont need much food yet might have to pop out as the cat has just eaten his last sachet of food will have to resist anything else while I am out

XSpender

Happy New Year:beer:

After my sucessful shop at aldi on Friday DH came home with a huge half price topside joint from Mr T costing £8! This has been cut up into 10 steaks which will last ages. I am hoping to get hold of a mincer to turn some of it into mince for mince and dumplings and HM burgers.

DH has requested the mince which, being a veggie, I have never cooked and will only do if we have some decent meat to do it with.

Also went to Mr T for some craft mags (out of my christmas money) and some beer and posh chips for NYE dinner. Also gotsome nice bread, some half priced loaves for freezer and DH wanted some stuff to clean the bathroom. My DH is obsessed with cleaning products (always wants the branded ones), pity he isn't obsessed with using them!:rotfl:

£28.54 to add to the total, that's over half what I spent on the weekly shop:mad: DH is on strict instructions not to spend and has been made aware of exactly what is left in the budget, especially as I have noticed this morning that I will need sop powder before the month is out.

One of my aims this year is to ensure that over 80% of our food is HM, not processed,cutting odwn on quorn and veggie frozen stuff and using beans and pulses more and I am aso considering ordering a meat box with my organic veg box once a month. Has anyone else tried Riverford meat boxes?

The magazines I bought have 2 lovely desert recipes in, just have to find an excuse to make them as we don't often eat puddings.

funkydelia

Can you put me down for £300 please. Haven't done this before but always meal plan and batch cook. Family of 4 (2 adults, a 6yr old and a 2yr old)

PennyGrabber

Well, here it starts...!

I saw the new year in by myself - first time ever I've done that. Happy about it though, and long may it continue! Went upstairs and kissed my son happy new year, then went to bed.

One of my new year resolutions is to keep a 'little book of positives', which is just a notebook I write in at the end of the day, listing the good things that have happened that day. I, like so many people, have in the past suffered with depression, so my aim is to keep on the sunny side this year!

Good news about the meal out tonight - my friend is also brassic, but didn't want to say about not going out, so we're now staying at hers, and I'm going to teach her how to make pizza (for Christmas, I gave her a pizza stone, bread flour, yeast, measuring cups, and tom sauce topping from my freezer!). She is a bit scared of doing it herself to start with, so I'm going to show her how to do it, which will save on dinner tom, and hopefully save her some money this year too. Result!!

Already had breakfast (which is another resolution - too often I skip it), and lunch will be hm soup, dinner pizza out, so a lovely frugal day. Won't be shopping, as I have people over tom, so I need to be tidying and cleaning today!!!!

Have a good day all,

PG x

LittleMissHappy_2

Happy 2012 to you all!

Starting as I mean to go on, no spending for me today

I am going to try an annual budget of £3600 please.

Thanks to all those that run the thread and post on it

Abie1

Hi. May I join please?
Im really fed up of financially lurching from month to month and all to often having far more month than money so its time I take control!
I have a vague idea of what I spent at the supermarket but will start this month with a budget of £250 This is for myself DD1 (age 13) and DD2 (age 10).

Happy New Year

123budget

Right..........Leg of Lamb in slow cooker, going to have roast pots, need to use up a bag of sprouts - going to fry half in butter with an odd slice of bacon chopped and some chopped up left over walnuts. The other half of the sprouts I'm going to have a go at making some sort of soup with also using up some left over soft blue cheese.(never done this before so will have to see how it turns out and fingers crossed it is edible) Also in fridge a carton of buttermilk just gone off date so am going to make some muffins to go in freezer ready for packed lunches if kids don't get to them first! Everyone else in house tired and hungover so am happily pottering about the kitchen. Have a good day everyone