March 2012 Grocery Challenge

abitofhelp

well shop at tesc0 is over and instead of £27 i spent £36, however for the first time i nearly stuck to my list and i know where the extra amount came from, the gammon joint wasnt in stock so i got two for £10 (£4extra) the 3 packs of sausages selected looked awfull so got 3 packs of butchers choice sausages on offer for £5 (£2extra), then popped ina bottle of pepsi and stocked up on value mixed herbs & stock cubes & a bag of yellow sticker roosters ( may fav for roasties).

ixia

Today's spends were £16.09 in amongst that was some pear cider for myself and crisps etc, have friends coming up tomorrow for drinks. I am going to include it in this budget as I am not planning to spend much on shopping this week as I need to get spends together for NY.

My plan is to use up what's in and just buy bits I need to go with it.

I will update totals tomorrow.

PennyGrabber

Lovethenight wrote: »

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?!

What about having some ready meals in the freezer, hm or shop-bought? I also have things like pot noodles/supernoodles, and 'meals' where you just have to add water. If you have a few of these things knocking around the house, you'll be able to feed yourself and not stress about it. I can't do anything when I'm ill other than open packets, so when I'm ill I have noodles, frozen (but cooked!) pizza, crisps, chocolate and fruit juice, as none of this requires me to really do anything. I always know when I'm feeling better, as I want something that requires a bit more effort. Ooh, also beans on toast or beans on waffles.

LavenderBees wrote: »

Next Sat - I might be inviting neighbours in for a hm pizza and film night (only the pizza will be hm :rotfl:). I'll provide the pizza dough from the bm, and invite them all to do their own toppings. Should be a fugal but fun night.

Keep up the good work everyone. I enjoy reading all your posts :T

LB xx

I was :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:when I read this!!!

ixia wrote: »

Today's spends were £16.09 in amongst that was some pear cider for myself and crisps etc, have friends coming up tomorrow for drinks. I am going to include it in this budget as I am not planning to spend much on shopping this week as I need to get spends together for NY.

My plan is to use up what's in and just buy bits I need to go with it.

I will update totals tomorrow.

It's essential to treat ourselves now and then. I find that my worst months are when I try and be too frugal, and that makes me go crazy at the end of the month, and overspend, thus making all my previous hard work go to waste! By treating myself regularly, and maybe only £1 or £2, I find it's easier to keep on the train to frugal-town.

NSD today. I thought I would be tempted to go shopping once I dropped the children at their dad's for the weekend, so I've just had a glass of wine to make sure I won't go out later!!!!!!

sistercas

small spend of £1.99 on a grout / tile brush from [EMAIL="l@keland"]l@keland[/EMAIL] i normally use a tooth brush but found they are not stiff enough. this seems fab

Suffolk_lass

For anyone interested, The Snail on Sunday will have a £5 off £25 M%S voucher this Sunday. It's on the discount vouchers page but we are all so busy we sometimes miss these.

Have a good weekend everyone
SL

rising_from_the_ashes

Lovethenight wrote: »

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:(

Awwww poor you, I think many of us have thought we've had the flu many times and it's only when you "really" have it that you realise you've never had it before! (been there!)

PennyGrabber wrote: »

What about having some ready meals in the freezer, hm or shop-bought? I also have things like pot noodles/supernoodles, and 'meals' where you just have to add water. If you have a few of these things knocking around the house, you'll be able to feed yourself and not stress about it. I can't do anything when I'm ill other than open packets, so when I'm ill I have noodles

Yup, I tend to keep a lot of HM ready-meals in the freezer as standard - I have Crohn's and one of the big downsides is that I'm often totally exhausted when I get in from work and could rarely manage to make a "proper" meal - so these are great and mean I eat properly during the week (which is much better to manage the disease with as well:)) and back up for if I'm ill.

I also have instant noodles as these require no effort at all - but usually also have a stock of packet pasta-n-sauce (wait until they're on offer and buy a load as they're usually pretty long dated) and savoury rices (L*dl do some really nice ones and a packet will do 2 servings) - both of which really only need water added:)

Hope you're on the mend soon.

Will be heading off to bed very soon - was up at 4:40 am this morning:eek: as had to be at the hosp really early for my 2nd attempt at the MRI scan.

I'm really claustrophic and the 1st attempt was a disaster:o - they sent me to the kids hosp this time as the scanner is bigger and shorter (can see out the end which makes a huge difference) and, although I did cry throughout the whole thing and howled when I got out .... I did it:j (and hope I never need another!)

Suffolk_lass

sistercas wrote: »

small spend of £1.99 on a grout / tile brush from l@keland i normally use a tooth brush but found they are not stiff enough. this seems fab

sistercas - Mine's brilliant but they are almost as brutal as a wire brush so be very careful on any silicone sealant where if there is any hint of weakness, it will seek out and destroy the seals :eek: like an exocet missile (I am keeping quiet :shhh: about this in our house as the total plumbing fiasco cost almost £3000 and nobody needs to know it was probably me :whistle:). On the up side; if I can cause that much chaos and destruction with little more than a toothbrush it's probably better that someone else does the nasty cleaning bits - I'll have to think through my strategy on that one for a while :think::idea:. It's a constant war of non-cleaning strategies here:rotfl:.

Lovethenight

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Awwww poor you, I think many of us have thought we've had the flu many times and it's only when you "really" have it that you realise you've never had it before! (been there!)

You're so right - I thought I'd had 'flu' before but now I know my previous ones must have been 'man flu':rotfl::rotfl:

I'm really claustrophic and the 1st attempt was a disaster:o - they sent me to the kids hosp this time as the scanner is bigger and shorter (can see out the end which makes a huge difference) and, although I did cry throughout the whole thing and howled when I got out .... I did it:j (and hope I never need another!)

The MRI sounds a bit scary - well done for getting through it and hope you don't need another one too.:grouphug:

=PennyGrabber;51669545]What about having some ready meals in the freezer, hm or shop-bought? I also have things like pot noodles/supernoodles, and 'meals' where you just have to add water. If you have a few of these things knocking around the house, you'll be able to feed yourself and not stress about it. I can't do anything when I'm ill other than open packets, so when I'm ill I have noodles, frozen (but cooked!) pizza, crisps, chocolate and fruit juice, as none of this requires me to really do anything. I always know when I'm feeling better, as I want something that requires a bit more effort. Ooh, also beans on toast or beans on waffles.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll get batch cooking when I'm up to it and stock up on a few long life shortcuts such as the rice and pasta.Tonight we're having a very naughty chinese (DH is paying lol !:))

NSD today. I thought I would be tempted to go shopping once I dropped the children at their dad's for the weekend, so I've just had a glass of wine to make sure I won't go out later!!!!!!

Love the tactics!!:rotfl:

Suffolk_lass

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Will be heading off to bed very soon - was up at 4:40 am this morning:eek: as had to be at the hosp really early for my 2nd attempt at the MRI scan.

I'm really claustrophic and the 1st attempt was a disaster:o - they sent me to the kids hosp this time as the scanner is bigger and shorter (can see out the end which makes a huge difference) and, although I did cry throughout the whole thing and howled when I got out .... I did it:j (and hope I never need another!)

rfta - well done. It's the horrible banging that got me - I've had three and for the last one I was given noise exclusion headphones and a choice of music and I sang along with my eyes shut (so I know the radiographer suffered too :rotfl:) - this was much better and if you ever have another and it wasn't offered, you should check beforehand what they can do.

I hope the results are what you hope for

miffy257

Originally Posted by tigerfeet2006
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.
Although I actually live in England I'm right on the border and nearest shops are in Wales. We have to pay for carrier bags and everybody is being really good, you see loads of people carrying their re-usable bags to the shop. I usually remember to take one in but on the odd occasion I've forgotten I have been very glad that I carry a very large handbag.
Spent a little bit in L**l this week need to get a few more bits at the weekend so will update my signature later. making a big difference taking out cash instead of using card makes you much more aware of what you are spending.:)