March 2012 Grocery Challenge

abitofhelp

i made the mistake of asking oh to call in at asd@ on his way home from work last night. i needed him to pick up gravy granules and baps. he managed to spend £5 on three items as he took it upon himself to buy two bisto gravy granules as they were on offer for two for £3.50. doesnt sound like a good offer to me, i normally buy them for a £. going shopping tonight hopefully and i'm going with him if not tonight it will be sunday, i will update sig then, enjoy your weekend.

elsiepac

Hi everyone

I wasn't going to spend anything else from my Week 2 budget, but I saw L1d! had frozen Qu0rn mince for £1.19 (£1.99 in Mr T and usually £1.89 in L1d!) - so that was too good to pass up. So I bought 1 pack from the Week 2 budget. Then I also bought 1 pack from the Week 3 budget and also a jar of sundried tomatoes for £1.19.

So a further spend in Week 2 of £1.19
And starting Week 3 spends at £2.38

I actually have all the ingredients I need for this coming week's meals (my Week 3 begins today), I will just need to get milk, fresh veg and bananas. Possible extras are fruit and potatoes if I run out.

LC

Mar GC: £48.08/£70
Week 1: £14.47/£9 <-- over by £5.47 :eek:
Week 2: £8.40/£9
Week 3: £2.38/£9
Week 4: £0/£9
Week 5: £0/£9
Stores: £22.83/£25

bestill

spent more money again yesterday at Mr S, including £13.50 on razor blades for Mr Bestill. The look he gave me when I suggested he grew a beard was fantastic.
I'm finding it really scary how much I do actually spend on food & I always thought we were quite good (cooking from scratch, not much meat, packed lunches). Still need some bits from Aldi/B&M today & have been promised lunch out at Ikea tomorrow as an early mothers day treat (might try & squeeze that out of another budget).
DD1 has come home with list for fruit salad for school that wants 6 green & 6 red grapes - ha, ha I think not. I don't know anywhere I can buy loose grapes & not splashing out for a full bunch. Perhaphs she'll decide to be home educated again, then I can save some money.

Naomim

Ohh a BAD spend of £4 for me last night in our local shop. Only needed a loaf of bread but ended up buying chocs too for DH and I.

Usually do a weekly shop at Mr. T's on Saturday morning, I've got my list written and need basics like sugar, milk, bread. I've meal planned for the week and going to use up some freezer bits.

Meals for next week are:

Saturday - Burgers (already in freezer)
Sunday - Roast - chicken
Monday - Paella - adding some left over chicken
Tuesday - Shepherds Pie - (mince in freezer)
Wednesday - Chicken Curry - left over chicken from Sunday
Thursday - Toad in The Hole (sausages in freezer)
Friday - Gammon, Egg & Chips - (Gammon in freezer)


so all I have to do is remember to be organised and get the actual stuff out of the freezer to defrost! This is usally my downfall and we end up with a takeaway.:o

Off to update my sig now with the £4

Naomi x

Suffolk_lass

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

I use my reuse-able shopping bags when I go shopping and it always surprises me the number of shoppers who are loaded up with plastic bags, whole shopping trolleys full being pushed out to their cars. It reminded me of a song by Tim Minchin (who I generally don't like but think this is brilliant) and I have been singing it in my head all morning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVh15aUt8-c

Sorry got a bit preachy there

Preaching to the converted on this forum I suspect! I'm so sad; I use the French ones DH bought on the school Paris trip a couple of years ago as they have a slightly more exclusive feel as nobody else has any the same here :rotfl::rotfl:. I used to use the freebie give away ones to line the covered bin next to the cat litter tray for simple scooping but since I have lost the poop-scoop wars in this house (nobody EVER does it) I let it go and make DH and DS change the whole tray every third day (I wash, shop and cook - they do the litter tray).

So now it is all re-usable bags for shopping, including the two nylon ones in my two handbags (work and home) says the resident of smugsville tennesee... - Nearly caught up after three days of no catch up.

NickJW

Hi All. I've had NSD's since my shop on Tuesday, but had an extra spend of £8.32 in Mr S this morning.

Got lunch for today and also needed potatoes, broccoli and gravy for roast chicken on Sunday. Tonight I'm having a prawn stir fry with things already in the fridge/cupboards.

I also bought pesto so I can make a pasta dish - will use the remains of a tub of creme fraiche with finely diced leeks (instead of onions because the leeks need using up), and the remains of a pack of streaky bacon - all in the fridge. I may toast some pine-nuts to go with it since I have some in the cupboard.

That should be it for me this week - I'm on holiday from Wednesday - Sunday next week so I don't really want to buy too many perishables which can't be finished.

tessie_bear

hi...been to lidl this morning and got a nice looking living lettuce for 99p really fresh also got some vine toms which are on special offer then went on to the coop where i got some reduced veg so that was good

might go to costco tomorrow but will see...not got much planned for the weekend but might do a roast on sunday

take care tess

tigerfeet2006

Lovethenight wrote: »

Hey Frugaltastic Folks!

I've been awol for ages and boy does this thread move fast! It's taken me 2 evenings to catch up on it all:eek:

Big hugs to all who need them - my heart goes out to those going through loss and I'm always in awe of the strength of people during tough times:grouphug:

Tigerfeet - your post made me laugh - I knew you were referring to the canvas bag song without looking - love that song!!:rotfl:

Been away due to to most awful flu I've had. I'm nearly 32 but I felt like I was 80 all last week - muscles like lead, constant coughing and headache and so exhausted I kept dozing off halfway through the day:(

As a result, the GC has been a bit of a disater:mad: Was feeling so awful when the flu started and just knew it was going to hit me hard, I decided to make a list and do a 'big shop' to get me through so I didn't have to go out. Result = £114 in Horrorsons:eek: As well as about £20 each in Aldee and A$da!:eek::eek: What did I buy?!!
Even more annoying is that I was so ill that I couldn't cook and we ended up eating takeaway twice this week too:mad:

My fridge is stuffed and my freezer so full that I couldn't fit the chicken I bought into it and had to cook it so that it wouldn't waste!
Meal plan is completely out of the window and once I struggle back from work today I will sit down and calculate the damage caused to the budget and what on earth we should eat for the rest of the month, though I'm sure I'm already waaaaay over budget:(

I think the main issue was panic buying as I was getting ill - can't believe the amount I spent at Horrorsons! I did get the 15p off fuel deal, but that just means I've also spent £40 more on petrol this month to fill the car up, even thought we're not driving anywhere for ages.

Does anyone have any tips for coping when you're under the weather, or is it just a case of stay away from the shops when your head is full of flu?!

Hope everyone has a good day!
LoveTheNight

Glad you like the clip, it always brings a smile to my face.

Sorry to hear you have been ill, flu really does wipe you out. Hope you feel better soon but don't push yourself or you will end up wiped out again.

When I am ill I make full use of my Slow Cooker as I can just chuck the things in and set it going or DH can do it before going to work. I don't have to worry about 'proper' cooking.

Make an inventory of what you have in the fridge/freezer/cupboards and see what you can make with what you have in the house and just get what you need to complete those meals. Just go for damage limitation now.

tigerfeet2006

Had an Appr0ved F00ds delivery this morning so that is another £35 spend but I got loads of boxes of GF cereal as they were selling 2 boxes for £1.50. That is a huge saving as a box can cost between £2.50 and £3. So needless to say I ordered a few. Also got some Special K for me Plus some Redenbackers popcorn, Hi Juice Apple Juice as it is DC2's new favourite and some Elm Farm Dairy Pots for the lunch boxes.

So I am a very happy shopper

FrugalLina

Hi everyone, I have had a busy couple of days at work. I work for a charity and it is the financial year end nearly, so lots of extra jobs to do! (Heh, just thought, I am surrounded by like minds there as we all have to watch our organisation's pennies as well as our own).

No shopping again this week, my only expenditures have been bus fares and postage, but I shall call in at L!dl on my way home for some more fruit and veg and maybe some comfort choc as I am feeling a bit low. My freezer is looking well stocked up with my previous batch cooking, so that will suffice for now. Tuesday, I have an appointment right next to a huge Asd@, so will stock up a little on basics there.

I cut my own hair yesterday using the pony tail technique (my hair is looooong) and I am totally delighted with the result - and the huge saving (not that I get it done all that often anyway).

Well done everyone for sticking to their budgets!