Grocery Challenge - February 2012

XSpender

NSD yesterday but today I will need to buy some bread and bananas.

My GC runs until 21st Feb and we are really skint now as yesterday I had to spend almost all we had left on 2 tickets for DH bike trip to ensure him and his friend could take their bikes on the train. DH friend will hopefully drop off his £20 this week or I may be walking to walk instead of driving the 12 miles:eek:

We do have a lot of food in and only need milk for toddler DS, bread, dog food, lunch bits and fruit but it all adds up so quickly. Ideally I would like to spend a tenner.

I am off work today and have already been for a swim I have to get some college paperwork sorted next, quick nip into Aldi (even though Mr T is round the corner from college) and then I am going to bake mufins, 2 quiches and some veggie bacon, cheese and bean pasties (these are an experiment to use up some mash from Sunday and half a tin of beans).

LittleMissHappy_2

sistercas wrote: »

off to c0stc0 soon run out of toilet roll , i honestly dont know what they do with it, they must eat it or something the rate it disappears :cool: i am also going to pick up some haloumi , its my favourite cheese and i dont know anywhere else that does it

this afternoon i am going to put my feet up and read the new book that DH bought me for valentines day

Mr T sell haloumi I love it too

Another Mr T order on it's way today, mainly valentines day meal stuff with a few bits we needed to see us through the next week or so. I am doing a special dinner for the littlies (whatever they want so 2 x pizza, 1 x fish fingers/chicken nuggets and chips and 3 x ice cream in cones for dessert!) and then putting them to bed with a DVD so me and DH can have a candlelit dinner at home It had cost wayyyyyyyyyyy less than it would going out and DH has no idea as we agreed that we wouldn't bother with it this year Anyway, the point is that I will class the valentines food as a different budget (entertainment) and will adjust my signature acccordingly once I have worked my receipt out

elly2

Morning all, i have cancelled the mr t order as soap powder was not available and coffe had gone back to full price :eek::eek: need to change my meal plan about again as ex has decided he will now have the kids on sat :mad::mad: (still have not recieved the letter from his solicitor telling me he is refusing to have them i do wish he would make his mind up !!!!!!).
Am considering going shopping at mr t's to see if i can get rid of these vouchers (they are driving me mad after placing the order yesterday i threw them in the bin but then had to rummage in the bin to save them ) but i am feeling quite low atm (kids situation) and dont think shopping would be wise as i tend to over spend when i am like this. I dont need any essentials but i have no snacky things in for the kids.

camNolliesMUMMY

Just waiting for my order to come from Mr A, ive got to stop thinking il run low on things but im worrying because im pregnant i panick about everything not being ready for when he arrives and no food being in.......i have 6 weeks left so i shouldnt panick, but this is my downfall with shopping.

i run out of milk n bread and i order the next fortnightly shop 3 days early, its not a bad thing but then again i need to just nip to the corner shop instead to keep us going.

quintwins

hi all few spends here but can't remeber exackly how much £2.20ish in MR'S on fruit and £11ish in MR't on whoopsies,milk and yogurts, having nice steak dinner tonight with oh, kids will have something quick like fishfingers , gonna make cheese and egg mayo for lunch and have it with a cupa soup, yummy i'm starving just thinking about it

tigerfeet2006

MissOrganised1972 wrote: »

Ooh, I made those for the first time, last week, too. They were lovely. Everyone has enjoyed them but DD2 (age 5) found them a little hard and so was taking ages eating her 'quick breakfast'! Need to think how to make them a bit 'goo-eeer'!

I would either use some more condensed milk,maybe 1 1/2 tins per batch, save the rest of the tin for the next batch. Might take some experimentation to get the right consistency. Or reduce the seeds etc. slightly so there is more condensed milk, if you see what I mean.

carolinerunner wrote: »

To those who've made Nigella's breakfast bars, I would like to make these but we don't like shredded coconut, could you suggest a substitute? Maybe just a bit more oats, or a different dried fruit? Also did you actually use cranberries? I've found they can be both sour and pricey!

I followed the recipe step by step but my next batch I have some dried apricots and dates that need using up so I will try those and then I will just put in mixed fruit or sultanas as I usually have thse in for baking. I reckon they would work just fine.

Another Q: bought 2 cartons of YS extra thick double cream yesterday cos I needed single cream for a pie filling and thought I could 'let down' the superthick stuff with milk. It did kind of work but was lumpy and hard to mix, and I thought if I whisked it too much it would end up as whipped cream. Any ideas for using the rest of it? Apart from with pud!

I know that quite a few make butter and buttermilk in the food processor from double cream. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/129491

A glimmer of good news, have now got 'new' freezer up and running so now have space to store lots more whoopsied stuff when I can find it, and batch cook more.:j On the downside, just decided not to go away for our planned (and paid for) nights this week due to a blend of teen apathy, alleged exam work (which is not evident at the moment...) and grim weather.:( On balance not great but at least it gives me time to work on generating some income. It's all well and good trying to work to a budget but when your income doesn't even meet your bills, it can feel a bit pointless and certainly DH sees it that way

sistercas wrote: »

off to c0stc0 soon run out of toilet roll , i honestly dont know what they do with it, they must eat it or something the rate it disappears :cool: i am also going to pick up some haloumi , its my favourite cheese and i dont know anywhere else that does it

this afternoon i am going to put my feet up and read the new book that DH bought me for valentines day

When you put the roll on the holder give it a squash so that it does not roll smoothly on the holder so it is not so easy to to pull off reams.

valerie57

I seem to have been run ragged this last fortnight. I have been keeping track but not posting. I will catch up with as many of the posts as I can. I think I will settle down with a nice cup of tea and read away. Have updated signature but so far have spent 146.29 without a wine order that OH made. I don't know the price of that but it was 12 bottles. I will have to wrestle the receipt from him. He is using naked wines at the moment as he thinks it is good value but I can't really validate that as I don't know the comparison prices. He looks after wine though it comes from the GC budget. The spends do include a big trip to Costco. I buy Dorset Cereal there at 3.89 for two big boxes. Also got coffee, braising steak, bread, parmesan cheese (which I cut up into small portions and freeze), tinned tomatoes. My freezer seems to be on its last legs so I think we will have to get a new one. Frustrating but necessary. On the other hand it is a good reason to eat up as much as we can from it. Good luck all. I am looking forward to catching up.

meg72

cleggie wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the advice.
Although i have blown this months food budget, i am going to try not to spend much more before March. I know i will have to get bread/milk/eggs etc, but i shoudnt really need anything to make a proper meal.

I am going to have a look through the first couple of posts on this thread and pick up as much advice as possible and also have a think about why i feel the need to spend.

Thanks again.

i think the hardest part is sorting out why you feel the need to dothis.I my case it was years and years of very little money and a real fear of not having enough food in for my family.

I suffered terribly from anxiety depression and would go shopping daily.Ihave found it very difficult to break this habit
Even now when I have much more than I need I still tend to over stock.Since I joined the challenge last August I am much
better at using up what I have in before going shopping.Still have loads to go through though.Good Luck.

coldcazzie

meg72 wrote: »

I my case it was years and years of very little money and a real fear of not having enough food in for my family.

I suffered terribly from anxiety depression and would go shopping daily.Ihave found it very difficult to break this habit
Even now when I have much more than I need I still tend to over stock.

I also suffer from feeling compelled to overstock, although I admit not to the extreme. Having spent a long time having an incredibly small food budget and having to walk around with a calculator each week to make sure I didn't over spend, I now find it difficult to not buy extra just to make sure we don't run out.
I always make sure I've got a new packet of things in stock - flour, sugar, pasta, teabags.
I find it very difficult to run what we have right down to nothingness, it makes me feel supremely uncomfortable to open the freezer for example and see it empty (eta: my perception of empty = not full to bursting), even if I know in my head that there's at least a week's worth of meals in there.

Anyway, I'm reporting a grocery shop today of £48.76, which is great as I allow myself a max of £60 pw. My running total is: £193.28/£420. My spreadsheet tells me I'm on target, which is really great! :T:T:T:T

XSpender

Went to ALd1 as planned for milk, bread and bananas and spent £3.37. Bought a bottle of wine for DSD belated birthday (haven't seen him to give him his gift) but this comes out of a different budget. None of the Merlot at £2.99 left so had to get something else at £3.19.

Just eating my lunch of pizza and a huge pile of salad. I love salad and would eat it more often but it doesn't last and I don't want to be shopping every other day to keep me stocked up.

I have some granny smith apples that are getting a bit past it in the fridge and was wondering if they would work in an apple pie if I used some sugar to combat the sharpness.

My current total stands at £405.44 out of a budget of £400 with 7 days to go. I have lots in for dinners it is lunches, especially mine, I struggle with.