March 2012 Grocery Challenge

cashewy

Hi, late updating and overspent due to 'popping in' to a couple of SMs - drat, got tempted by the cakes and sweeties and it's all Mr M's fault for refitting the store and cutting back to make room for more carp.

Two main shops so far - first spent 9.75 in Aldy and 43.77 in Azda, then last Sat we spent 12.08 in Aldy, 4.77 in Mr T (2.59 off a large jar of Douwe Egberts coffee there) and 20.03 in Mr M.

Pop-ins spent 1.20 on cakes we didn't need and 9.65 on stuff Mr M didn't have, plus sweets I definitely didn't need but succumbed to when mr cashewy wanted madeira cake and made me choose something too to make him feel better about that:rotfl:

Will try to update sig now, probably go wrong as hopeless at this computer thing, thanks to all who post so many interesting tips and advice here, and thanks too to whoever recommended Aldy's Gold teabags, tried some this weekend and it's great, can't tell it from Tetleys Strong ones. Cheers! :beer:

meg72

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

Yeah! I am really chuffed about it I've done lentils before when I haven't done it in the SC and carrots as well and it hasn't been that well recieved but doing it in the SC really made a difference. I reckon I have about 3 portions in the freezer as well, possibly 4, which will go great on baked spuds.

I am going to email Rosspa and ask if they have any ideas.

Dinner tonight was sausages in herby gravy and cheesy mash. I ave enough mash left over to go on a cottage pie tomorrow.

DH is away tonight for his interview tomorrow. He has just heard that there is going to be a £350k cut in funding to his present school so there is going to be redundancies and cuts to rescources etc. and on top of hearing that his NQT has been signed off with stress.

Was very impressed with how many portions you made with your ingrediants.

Re the polystrene boxes,I find them very handy for storing my veg in an outside store (meter cupboard) I still have Rosspa carrots and onions in there from January and they are still good.

I am thinking of covering a couple in a pretty fabric to use in
the bathroom

And they make useful planters in the garden,also broken up will
do instead of stones etc in larger plastic pots.

Really got me thinking now, paint and decorate for christmas hampers ? pamper box gifts ?kids craft stuff?

Ohhh need more boxes now,wonder if Rosspa willsellmejust boxes as dont need any meat or veg thanks to my whoopsie haul in Asda yesterday.

tigerfeet2006

So was I Meg Meant to say I also used three tins of tomatoes instead of the usual three.

Thanks for the idea about plant pots. My mum has just given me all her blue and green Planters as she has decided to change from the medeteraen (how do you spell that?) look and go for a deep reddish brown. So I can use them in the bottom of those. I have some lovely compost in the bin and I am sure I can source some nice plants cheap.

meg72 wrote: »

Was very impressed with how many portions you made with your ingrediants.

Re the polystrene boxes,I find them very handy for storing my veg in an outside store (meter cupboard) I still have Rosspa carrots and onions in there from January and they are still good.

I am thinking of covering a couple in a pretty fabric to use in
the bathroom

And they make useful planters in the garden,also broken up will
do instead of stones etc in larger plastic pots.

Really got me thinking now, paint and decorate for christmas hampers ? pamper box gifts ?kids craft stuff?

Ohhh need more boxes now,wonder if Rosspa willsellmejust boxes as dont need any meat or veg thanks to my whoopsie haul in Asda yesterday.

tessie_bear

hi...been in the house today making lemon cake....dundee cake and eating a bit of both....got chicken for tea and i thought i would make a cauliflower cheese to go with it
tomorrow we are having a fish pie and after that im not sure...need to do some meal plans...we have a full freezer again so need to work that down

have a great day
tess

tjak

ok, I have 5 days left in this months GC and have gone over today. My DS has a friend coming round for a sleepover, so I picked up a couple of treats for them.

Next month, I am going to try not to do a 'big monthly shop' and only to buy what I need for the week once I have meal planned. This will be a big change for me, but hopefully will help me to stay on track.

I also used a mileage calculator to work out how much it costs me in petrol to go to the sm. I can get to a small T*sco or Sainsb*bs, with a 8 mile round trip, which works out at £1. A longer trip (40miles round) takes me to Aldi, or a larger T*sco, and costs about £5, so I will bear that in mind when I am planning a shop.

I am not too worried about going over, I know where I have gone wrong (not meal planning properly, not checking freezer or cupboards and making a meal from there) so next month will be better!

Living_proof

I have had a day off today to fit in some appointments and decided to do a shop rather than on Saturday. I have stocked up on pitta breads, tins of salmon, honey (Gales small jars of set honey are just 50p in Asda by the way). Generally bought the good deals in veg. and salad, etc. but haven't worked out the total yet and will update the sig. later. Even purchased a moisturiser with spf and had the car cleaned, so it's going to push up the total quite a bit but then I really won't want anything for a week or two. Got a good sized smoked ham hock reduced in L*dl and will freeze this for around Easter - should make some really good lentil soups. There was a lot of red meat reduced in all the stores I visited - is this a knee-jerk reaction to the study released yesterday? This is the first time I have done a midweek shop in months if not years, and I was surprised how many couples were out, with lists, and very much comparing prices and giving all purchases consideration. Not like the old days of piling it all in and paying for it on the credit card!

Asda's new pricing policy makes me laugh. Everything on promo is either £1 or £1.50, making it easier for the less numerate shopper to work out the total bill in advance. 4 Lemons £1, but only79p for 5 in A*di etc. I think you could easily pay 50% more for fruit and veg in the main SMs. I also find the lack of choice rather better to deal with in the smaller places.

Off to work out the damage now!

Gorgeestwo

£16.70 in Mr S this morning I am NOT going anywhere near a supermarket until Saturday now, I really need to source cheaper fruit and veg as we get through massive amounts these days and that's always what takes me though the SM door's and I'm incapable of not buying anything else while I'm there

Barbeduk

Hi all, did my A!di shop today, £18.68 so I was really pleased as this included saturday night's bottle of wine! Got 2 packs of onions and 2 packs of potatoes and a swede from the super6 too. Managed to get out without buying chocolate but will be in !id! on sat for their weekend meat deals so may have to make up for it then!

Ran out of eggs yesterday due to all the baking and as I had two sick children at home :eek:, dh popped into c0-0p on way home and bought a 12 pack of eggs. How much? I asked. £2.67 he replied! Good grief, I won't be running out again! Will stock up again on sat in !id!.

Going to make a sausage casserole for tonight using leftovers, kids can have some of the bolognaise mountain!:D

:T:T:T Lisakay for 14 NSD! :T:T:T

rising_from_the_ashes

meg72 wrote: »

Re the polystrene boxes,I find them very handy for storing my veg in an outside store (meter cupboard) I still have Rosspa carrots and onions in there from January and they are still good.

meg72 wrote: »

And they make useful planters in the garden,also broken up will do instead of stones etc in larger plastic pots.

This may be a lot of "balloney" but.... I was growing veg in some of these last year and I also had some of the wee bits (that are used as packaging) in the bottom of them and I was advised by one of my colleagues (who has an allotment and seems to know what they're talking about) not to as the chemicals can be taken up by the soil and up into the plants & then into the fruit & veg ..... no idea if it's true or not.

rachbc

Spent £116.31 out of £240. Did an approved food order so we have enough wraps/ kidney beans/ hot choc to last til the next millenium

I've been using the 'second purse' system so be interesting to see how that impacts on my budget.