Grocery Challenge - February 2012

tjak

ok, I get paid tomorrow so am ready to declare for Feb. I overspent this month, just didn't stay as focused as last month and got carried away spending on re-decorating, so got into the habit of dropping in to local waitrose for a few bits at a time. Live and learn ...
So, I start again for March, aiming for £250. I spent the last few days putting together my shopping list to include all the things I know I would run out of this month, so I could avoid 'dropping into' another supermarket. I have arranged a delivery from MrA for Thursday which will be £92, but will just need fresh top ups after that.
Well done to everyone who is staying on budget, thank you for your support

PennyGrabber

rej-c wrote: »

Hi all, hope everyone's well and doing well.

I've just updated my sig [to Sunday 19th inclusive] with 4 - 4! - NSDs. I did intend to get out for a few bits and pieces, but through a combination of not getting round to it and using stuff that was already in, somehow put off shopping until tomorrow, then tomorrow again, then... :rotfl:

There will definitely be a spend tomorrow, though - out of milk, only two slices of bread left in the freezer, blahblahblah. I'm determined that food shopping until the end of the month should be 'needed ingredients'. No falling for 'any old yellow sticker' this time

The freezer has a bit of a gap in it now, which is on the verge of unnerving me, but I'm working on turning my hoarding habit into sensible stocks, staying strong and not filling the gap with cheap, temptingly non-SW-friendly things like bagels and muffins just for the sake of it. Veg and fruit, if bargainous, will do the job; if none turn up, I'll bide my time, plan properly and restock when I spot things at the right price.

What is definitely unnerving me is the fact that we've nothing left in our toilet roll stash. :eek: So I'm starting to allow myself to think about my next online bulk-stuff order, and hoping I'll be able to leave it until early next month...

I know exactly what you mean about an empty cubic cm of space in the freezer unnerving you!! It does change though - dd had a friend round to play on thurs, and she wanted ice cubes to go in their drinks. Normally, I would be :eek:, but I only had to shuffle one thing over, and there was enough space for the ice cube tray!! Sounds daft, but I was very proud of myself!

I have three toilet rolls left now, and they will easily last until March, so I shall allow for buying those in March's budget. Let's hope noone has tummy problems between now and then!!!

My good thing for the day - I chopped up the last of the ham into chunks for pizzas and froze it near the mozzarella and the pineapple. I'm so glad I did, as every time I go anywhere near the fridge, I've been pulling off bits here and there!! Still enough for three pizzas though. That was a £2.50 bit of ham (half price from £5 in S last summer), which did the three of us for ham and parsley sauce for one meal, ham egg and chips for another, one round of sarnies for me, LOADS of nibbles, and three pizzas. Nice!!

Cleggie (or anyone in the know), how do I set up my own dfd thread thingy?

Night all,

PG x

AlwaysHappy

My month ends today and I am embarrassed to declare my figures at £379.64/£282 which I am trying to persuade myself isn't as bad as it looks because included in this is a meat order of £90 which is getting delivered in March. I am therefore hoping to recoup the overspend in March and I have done an inventory of my freezer and I have the basics in for at least 56 meals - infact its going to be a challenge getting to the position of being able to squeeze the meat order in!! For March I am going to aim for £184.36 MARCH to catch up.

Barbeduk

Hello, blimey that was a lot of posts to catch up with!

Re butternut squash, we are huge fans in our house but always have it mashed, no butter, with roast chicken. Have used it in risotto too, yum yum! After reading all the posts might have to try and be a bit more adventurous!

Had a quick trip to Mr M this morning as back to school/work tomorrow and needed to stock up on rolls, fruit, milk, all those little odds and ends you always seem to be buying. Stuck to my list (ys were really small reductions) and spent £6.61. It's funny, I now come away thinking 'Ha! you didn't get me!' when I don't get any extras.:rotfl:

Will need a lidl trip later in the week for eggs, frozen veg etc but am really hoping I don't blow it, really happy with my spends so far.

Good luck everyone, we're nearly there!:)

lula_moneybaggins

Okay, so I've done fairly well this month grocery-wise. Spent a total of £112.20 out of a budget of £110.

Included in that were 8 salmon fillets from Tesco (reduced from £4.00 for 2 fillets to £1.80) which have, of course, taken pride of place in my freezer. Also 2x 4 tins tuna at £3.49 each, and 2x 9 toilet rolls. Basically, I'm ready for the nuclear attack.

BUT I have also spent a STUPID amount of money on eating out and takeaways!!!!! A friend chose an expensive restaurant for her birthday dinner, where 2 cocktails, a small glass of wine, a main meal and a coffee set me back over £60! Plus there was a hangover cure of pizza...

So, I'm adding the money I spent at the restaurant/takeaway £87.10!) to my food budget, and I'll just have to stomach the budget blowout... :eek:

Bring on March already!

[slinks off to make the embarrassing update to the sig]

Herbyme

NSD today, hurrah! Only 2nd of the month. I feel sure there's work to be done on that, which would cut down our total spend.

NB to bratwurst lovers - Ald1's are half price, under £1 for 6 (I think), 82% pork, yet to try but look good.

I know some will chuckle at this - left DH to take beef joint out while I nipped out - when I got back he'd done that but chucked the meat juices etc out - so no gravy!!!! :eek:

And just found the cat on the worktop busy with the remains of the joint.:eek::eek: Q: do I chuck it, wash it, re-cook it before eating it, or what?!

cleggie

PG, to set up your own Debt Free Diary, just head on over to the DFW boards.
At the top of that board there is a DFD bit, and you just start a new thread as normal.

Hope that made it clear, if not i'll post the link for you.

FrugalLina

I love butternut squash and a friend of mine from Africa gave me a great tip for using them in soups and that is to microwave the whole squash for 5-10 mins (depending on size), then it is easy to scrape out the innards. Remember to pr!ck the squash beforehand and wrap it in a carrier bag.

I love butternut squash and coconut milk soup. No set recipe, but the innards of a squash, some carrots, onions, a bit of cumin, stock and seasoning. Cook for about 15 mins, then add coconut milk to taste. Totally yummy!

PennyGrabber

Cleggie, thanks for the tip. I think I have managed to set up my dfd, link below.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/51182469#Comment_51182469

Don't know how to actually link it, but hey, I guess I'm not as computer literate as I thought!!

I don't know if anyone will remember, but at the start of the year, I set up my little book of positives, which I write in at the end of every day, so I don't end up calling every day a craqqy day and only remembering the bad stuff. Well, I'm going to do the same with my dfd, by listing the positive steps i've taken each day to achieving my goal. Here's hoping!

PG x

Ooh - it links it itself!! Awesome!

tigerfeet2006

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Don't know if anyone else has noticed but you've got to watch the YS items too - saw some blueberry tubs with them on today @ £1.69 but if you bought 2 "normal" tubs they worked out at £1.50 each :mad:. Have seen similar things with meat recently too.

Our local MrT is like that, drives me up the wall and when they do YS something that is not on offer it is usually only 25p or 50p type thing. It is so rare I ever get a decent YS item, I am so jealous of those that get decent ones.