Second Purse Challenge 2012

eddi

Went "window" shopping round C0stc0e the other day to compare a few general things like cheese, milk, spuds etc to prices on MySprmrkt. All these items came out far better than any of the main supermarkets, even own brands as far as I could see. Unfortunately I was so busy noting down prices and prices/100g etc on a couple of occasions I forgot to note the brand name. I'll list a few here and when I go back and get ALL the info I'll add them to the offers sheet:

Minstrel Mature Cheddar (in a big block of about 1.2kg ish) £4.49/kg or 44.9p/100g
Semi-skimmed milk £1.49 for 8pts (2x4pts packed together)
Frozen hash browns (in a plastic bag, blue and white packaging) 2kg £2.19 or 10.9p/100g (forgot the brand, they were the only one's ours had in the freezer next to potato wedges and twisty fries of the same brand. They go nice and crispy and are very nice)
Sack of Maris Pipers £3.49 for 7.5kg 44.5p per kg (Says "Inspire" in gold writing at top of black paper sack with Greg Wallace from Masterchef on the front). Bought 2 sacks before Xmas, we're on the second sack now. Kept them in a cool shady corner of the conservatory and these are still nice. Lovely spuds for all sorts of cooking/baking/mash etc.
Horlicks Malt drink light £2.89 for 800g tub or 36p/100g. Cheapest I could find elsewhere was on offer at MrS for £2 for a much smaller 500g tub till 14th Feb.
Kirkland Signature Loo Rolls £16.42 for 48 rolls (34.2p per roll). I have seen some a little cheaper but these are excellent quality and quite large rolls so they last ages. With 4 people in our house we're only just on the last 4pk from the ones I bought a bit before Xmas.
John West tuna £7.29 for 10x 185g tins or 39.4p/100g or 73p tin.


I know there are some things that won't be in all C0stc0es but most should be fairly standard. This one is by St@rCity in Bham.

MunniMuncha

Still waiting for my lightbulb moment :mad:- why oh why do I find this soooooooooo confusing - worked in a bank for 18 years,...... okay say no more - maybe that's why I no longer work for them or my Administrators job in a charity !!!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

elizabunny

Mothership I would be really interested in how you make the sourdough starter:T. I have tried this before but it always ends up in the bin:o Iwould love to know how to make it properly

artypaws

Mothership wrote: »

Got some kitchen towels, they are a bit small, and @ £1.99 for 4 not that good a bargain, but they will do until I get some more.
Got a few rolls of cling film too.
And a whole load of other stuff, passata, tomato puree,(I've just tried them in Bolognese, cant taste any difference from what I usually buy ) Got tomato and brown sauce (to try them).
Also long life bread rolls & bagels. Got 3 of their thick bleach @ 99p ( its just the same as Domestos but costs much less), Brillo pads 79p. 6 Bottles of their diet Lemonade @ 19p ( I got a bottle on my last shop and my OH said it was lovely he DOESNT often remark on anything but I agree its lovely).

I've been growing a sourdough culture for bread making. I've got my baking stone in the bottom of the oven, you can make pittas , nan's etc on it, I will keep you posted on how I get on, if anyone is interested I will post the recipes. I've been making bread for a good while now and Its really exciting, and great fun.

I would love to know more about bread making - a baking stone sounds fab

ModestyB

kerri_dfw wrote: »

You could join in, in a small way, so when you see a bogof put the second ones full price into your second purse :-) this could be done with something as simple as bogof custard tin, you'd still keep thm in the kitchen but the saving goes to one side :-) we'd be happy to have you, your hubby shouldn't be so morbid :-p if something happens to us then think how happy a charity would be when they see our shops ;-)

Thanks Kerry, I do try and get bogofs but they don't normally have them on stuff we use a lot of. I did start getting things in through reading the prepare for winter thread. Got loads of loo roll.

Dh has always been a morbid bu**er but, having survived a heart attack and cancer, I let him off with it. I keep telling him he'll outlive me despite being 7 years older than me. He's indestructable! :rotfl:

Beencounting

A few more spends to report (I need to record it or I won't be able to keep track ).

2nd purse balance: £4.50

Beans (4 for £1) - £1.00
Squash (2 bottles) - £2.00

New 2nd purse balance: £1.50

I've also added 3 x shampoos from my cupboard for free

Stockpile value: £22.41

Been

kerri_dfw

ModestyB wrote: »

Thanks Kerry, I do try and get bogofs but they don't normally have them on stuff we use a lot of. I did start getting things in through reading the prepare for winter thread. Got loads of loo roll.

Dh has always been a morbid bu**er but, having survived a heart attack and cancer, I let him off with it. I keep telling him he'll outlive me despite being 7 years older than me. He's indestructable! :rotfl:

Well your more than welcome to carry on posting with us here

Mothership

Florenceem wrote: »

Did you start a new sour dough starter - after your OH threw out yours - I think I have the right poster here? How do you start one please? I have a Pizza stone - never used it - it has to be baked first - doesn't it?

Yes I had to start from scratch with the Sourdough culture after OH threw it out.
Cover your Pizza stone with salt and put it in the bottom of the oven and leave it there while you cook something , this gets it ready for use it. Mine has had its first baking but I will do it again then take it out when cool and brush off the salt and return it to the oven. Seemingly it should stay in the oven all the time even when not in use. and will go black in time.
Once its seasoned you can make Pizzas, pittas and nan, I will be making all of them, pizzas last though until I get one of those big shovels, but I know my family will fall about laughing when I do. My passion for collecting kitchen equipment old and new is a source of amusement for my family. So too are my experiments. I'm a good cook but don't always get it right LOL.

Sourdough Culture

Kilner Jar or similar, (I'm using a pyrex stackable dish with plastic lid)
This is put in the fridge after 7 days and kept there when not in use, to be woken up and fed the day your going to use it.

75g bread flour & 75 ml of tepid water.
With clean hands mix them together, seemingly this is how they ancient Egyptians made their bread.
Leave it out in the kitchen near the cooker.
Add the same quantity of flour and water every day, same way for 7 days then store in the fridge.

I'm just three days into my new culture, so if anyone wants to start one, I will post the recipe.
You need 300 ml of the culture for each loaf, and you need to keep at least 75 ml in container for next time, then you start feeding it every day for 7 days again and then pop it into the fridge to hibernate until your ready to use it.

I will post the recipes as I do them

Muppet_baby

Okay, update time for yesterday!

Second purse bal: -6.90

Whoopsied curry counter portion from freezer (£0.40): £2.98
Minced beef bought in bulk & frozen (£0.77): 77p

Second purse bal now: -3.15

Just a day or two until I'm back in the black I think!

SueP19

Annie99 that is wonderful, to have support makes life so much easier, you are doing brilliantly :j

MunniMuncha don't worry your LBM will come

For the ones that are having OH problems (ModestyB, tiff and anyone else)

My OH is the most pessimistic person I have ever met, in the past he has always poured scorn on my ideas with the words "nothing will change"
Anyway I was expecting the same with this so I did my usual, carried on without saying a word, last week he commented on all the shopping I was doing :rotfl: I pointed out that that maybe but my groceries were coming in under budget for the first time in 23 years and I had a bit stashed for bargains that we use................he shut up!!!! Last night on one of his usual rants of woa is me, he did point out that at least now I had the food spending under control. OK at this point I have passed out on the floor :eek:

I am not suggesting "007" antics but my mother, who I mentioned in an earlier post is doing all this "under the radar" :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: My Dad is worse than my hubby in the scorn stakes. I made the mistake of asking her in front of him how the 2nd purse was going, I was so disappointed when she told me it wasn't and had fallen by the wayside, I missed the eye movements at this point. Two days later I had to laugh, no it hadn't gone by the wayside but was thriving, she had £28 in her 2nd purse and didn't want my dad to know, as he would want the money and start telling her what to do with it. She wants to save her 3rd purse for treats when they visit family :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Moral of the tale, keep with us, what seems impossible can become possible