March 2012 Grocery Challenge

MunniMuncha

Morning all - why is that when the weekend comes I'm up bright as a button?:mad:

Well I am well over-budget this month, but as this is my first proper month of doing the challenge all with cash will give myself some grace:cool:. 9 days to go til new month and only need a couple of things so not too bad (still less than what I would have spent):D

Just to let you know that in Mr A they have Nesc*fe Alta Rica/cafe parisienne/columbian coffee on offer at £2.50 instead of £3.98 (mind you they do sometimes do an offer on this particular coffee at 2 for £6) but it is still a good saving.

Have a great weekend everyone:)

tessie_bear

hi....happy weekend....im off to lidl in a while to have a look at the bargains...might get some plums and make a crumble
we were going out for lunch but ds has just down loaded mine ccraft so we are staying in so he can get to grips with that...might do hot dogs for lunch not sure what for tea

have a nice day tess

Islandmaid

Sorry my lovelies - very late this month, please put me down for £350 for March.

I,ve spent about half that so far, but frezzer and cupboards are bursting, so apart from fresh stuff we should be ok till the end of the month.

Hope your all okay, been having a busy couple of weeks, hence the lack of posts

Thanks crunchie its the weekend - hope you all have a fab one xx

tigerfeet2006

Morning folks!

Kitty, welcome to the board. Please feel free to post and chat to us, we don't bite, honest

I meal plan but I don't have specific days assigned. I choose each day what I am going to have from the plan. I also always make sure I have eggs, chickpeas, hotdogs and frozen veg and chips in (omlette and chips, falafel and chips, hotdogs and chips all with veg) so if all goes to pot I have those to fall back on. I also use my slow cooker 3-4 times a week and make sure I have at least one portion extra to bung in the freezer for a HM ready meal for those can't be assed days or for DH to take to work for lunch.

Rising, glad you survived the MRI. DH has to have one on his knee on the 19th which we hope will find what is wrong and then they can get it sorted.

DH has just been offered a job interview on Wedsnesday in the area that we want to move to. So that is going to mean 300 miles of petrol and a B&B to pay for. So my grocery budget is going to be squeezed as we are going to have to find the money from somewhere. If he gets it then that is going to bring another set of problems as we live in HA and to do a swap will not be instant so I could be here on my own for a year or more and have to pay for DH to live down there.

Last nights dinner was some salmon that I bought as a whoopsie ages ago and I forgot about it as it got pushed to the back of the freezer. I griddled it and put some garlic and herb Philly on the top. I also heated up the potato, leek and egg bake that I had left from yesterday and did some brocolli to go with it. So all in all a cheap meal.

NickJW

As is always the case - I 'spoke too soon'. I forgot milk yesterday so had to pop to the corner shop to get some - £1.35 to be added to the total.

It could have been worse though - at least I didn't spend anything for lunch, despite having a slight hangover . Today will be a 'fridge surprise' for myself - ie see what needs using up, throw them together with some spices or herbs and hope for the best! Need to get some chores out of the way first then I'll start cooking at around 1.

Dinner will still be pasta and roast is still on for tomorrow.

Hope everybody has a good weekend.

rising_from_the_ashes

ModestyB wrote: »

Rising, I'm glad you survived the torture chamber. Hope you're feeling a lot better now it's behind you.

abitofhelp wrote: »

Morning all, Rising i had an mri about 4 years back i'm not clausterphobic in any way at all but it is a daunting experience, my partner was invited into the room with me so that was a comfort & i kept my eyes closed the entire time & was also given headphones to wear for the radio to drown out some of the noise, when they lye you down and explain that you must be still i was as rigid as a board, until the radio came on and that made me jump, arms & legs flying everywhere, my partner still laughs about it now, awful man. just thought it might help should you need to have further mri's.

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

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

Thanks all ...... it was a huge amount better than the last attempt - they apparently send claustrophobic adults to the sick kids hosp as it's a larger scanner which is much better than the "normal" one (don't know why they didn't send me there in the first place tbh as I did say I was really claustrophobic). One of the staff sat with me the whole time & held my hand - she was absolutely fantastic :T and it again made a huge difference knowing there was someone there.

Funnily enough, the noise doesn't bother me ..... I did have the big headphones which drowned out a lot of it and the put something on with Morgan Free*man speaking in (that man has such a lovely soothing voice!).

Not sure what the results will show but just hoping I can finally get a proper diagnosis as I've been having problems with my back for years - have a sneaky suspicion though it will come down to the Crohn's as that can unfortunately cause arthritis / joint pain ....

kittywight wrote: »

hello everyone,

i hope im allowed to post here.

Hi Kitty, welcome:D


Anyway, have been awake since 3am:eek: as just couldn't keep my eyes open last night & went to bed at 8pm:o and zonked out straight away - in fact 7 hours is fab for me but I'm a bit washed out now and think I may head off for a nap or I'll be in the same position tonight/tomorrow!

[Deleted User]

Hi Chums Have been doing the seven day fiscal challenge and yesterday was my first shop this month with lots of whoopsied bits and special offers I got my bill with the help of 10.00 pound of nectar points down to £8.61 I totted up what it should have cost and it was a whopping £37.27 so I am one very happy bunny today and have no need to go shopping for at least another week if not more.Using up lots of odds and ends as I go along and hopefully by Easter my cupboards will look a bit less like a storage depot for dried goods
Well done on those who are streeetching their food out to make ends meet I noticed yesterday late afternoon in Sainsbobs how empty it seemed to be and the assistant on the counter said it had been like this for several weeks I think the lack of cash is begining to hit home to a lot of folk Looking in their trolleys (yes I know I'm a bit of a nosey sad old dear ) I noticed that there seemed to be less convenience food and more basic stuff.Perhaps the OS message is hitting home.Only shopping once a week if possible I have seen how the prices are starting to creep up again.obviously the cost of fuel to deliver stuff is filtering though to the consumer.My local Sainsbobs is quite a big one in a presinct and if they are half empty it says a lot for the state of the country.I have four grandchildren that I still buy an Easter egg for (the others are too grown up) and last year I bought them all a small egg (about 50p) and wrapped a fiver in cling film and tucked it inside the egg They were so pleased as they don't get pocket money as such so a fiver is a lot and with the cost of the egg I probably saved a few bob as well as their teeth:)

Ninno820

:(Sorry guys and girls - I have been seduced by the double whammy of lidl and scandanavian week! I spent a stupid £47 but much is in the freezer / cupboards for next month when my parents are coming to stay so i am declaring £20 for this month and will reduce next month by the remaining £27. My excuse? Some of the foodstuffs are the same as in a famous swedish furniture store - and our nearest one is two hours away - so I have saved on the petrol at least!

Off for a nap now - I was up at the work time of 6am and I am flagging! The temperature in the conservatory is warm enough to have a 30 minute power nap:T

elsiepac

angelatgraceland wrote: »

I will try to get some of the Quorn that someone said is on offer.

That was me! It's the mince or the chicken style pieces.

I thought it would be a massively popular offer, but my L1d! had a whole freezer full! I wish I had more space on my freezer shelf so I could have stocked up, I don't usually buy it as I'm too stingy!!! :rotfl:

LC

FrugalLina

Oooh, quorn at reduced prices in L!dl? Hmmm, might just have to pop over there for a look.

Thanks Elsiepac and Angelatgraceland!