April 2012 Grocery Challenge

cleggie

Thanks everyone for the answers.
I think what i am going to do is add on an extra section to my signature, entitled 'big shop', and limit it to £100.
That way, i wont feel like i have massively failed to keep within budget

If anyone has any good ideas about things that i coud stock up on, can you let me know please? Thanks!

jpscloud

Well I am already doing very badly! I just haven't got the hang of this budgeting thang. I did a FB shop today, got loads of stuff for storecupboards, very MSE, so pleased with that - however I then did an Aldi shop and bought loads of treats and stuff I didn't really need (along with some other regular storecupboard replacements).

OK so that's £20 in FB, and £26 in Aldi. £46 out of my £75 groceries budget already! I really, really need to make myself use stored food up instead of stashing so much now.

I may need to join the "eating out of the cupboards and freezer" challenge!

Cleggie, I tend to stock up on things I know I will use eventually and that don't go off too quickly so here's my food storecupboard list:

(apologies to purist OS'ers, I know my packet habit is not OS, but it does save me mucho time during term time when I'm out of the house 12 hours out of every 24, and also visit/care for my elderly parents at weekends):

Tins (value/sp/basics):
mushy peas
mushrooms
chopped tomatoes
new potatoes
baked beans & sausages
evaporated milk (to use as cheap cream!)
rice pudding

Packets (always value/sp/basics):
Golden vegetable rice
Instant noodles, various flavours
Couscous

Base ingredients (offers/value etc.)
Golden Syrup
sugar
bread flour (I use that for any recipe calling for flour)
baking powder/bicarb of soda
almonds & hazelnuts (aldi or lidl)
oat bran
wheat bran
fast action yeast

For non food groceries, I use Family Bargains and Aldi - I change what loo roll I buy according to what's on offer, ditto washing powder (I mix any I buy with value/basics/sp stuff, so it goes further). Also good for toothpaste/mouthwash etc. - if you haven't got a FB nearby, poundstretcher do the same sort of prices on branded stuff.

jarvo28

hi spent £15 in Lid* and £14 in B&@ and £13 in icelan$ spent more than i wanted but some of it was wine and beer :beer:

spag bol made by my dh tonight for tea ...

jumblejack

The pork sausage casserole I made this morning was mmmmmm. Used belly pork cubes that were whoopsied at Christmas for 10p. I also used up a few packs of sausages from Lidl this morning in their weekend offer.

Dad had some for dinner and he has another meal dished our in the fridge for tomorrow with mash and veg.

There were a few skanky apples in his fruit bowl so I peeled n cored em and knocked up a quick apple crumble that he can have for tea tonight after he gets back from the hospital and for pud tomorrow.

Mum said that she would be preparing the meal for tomorrow if she was at home so it was nice to say that dad has got everything ready for warming up for his Sunday dinner.

Not cooking at all tomorrow as plenty leftover for us. Will probably make a crumble for ourselves though as I came away fancying some after smelling it baking

Have a great evening all.

cleggie

jpscloud wrote: »

Cleggie, I tend to stock up on things I know I will use eventually and that don't go off too quickly so here's my food storecupboard list:

(apologies to purist OS'ers, I know my packet habit is not OS, but it does save me mucho time during term time when I'm out of the house 12 hours out of every 24, and also visit/care for my elderly parents at weekends):

Tins (value/sp/basics):
mushy peas
mushrooms
chopped tomatoes
new potatoes
baked beans & sausages
evaporated milk (to use as cheap cream!)
rice pudding

Packets (always value/sp/basics):
Golden vegetable rice
Instant noodles, various flavours
Couscous

Base ingredients (offers/value etc.)
Golden Syrup
sugar
bread flour (I use that for any recipe calling for flour)
baking powder/bicarb of soda
almonds & hazelnuts (aldi or lidl)
oat bran
wheat bran
fast action yeast

For non food groceries, I use Family Bargains and Aldi - I change what loo roll I buy according to what's on offer, ditto washing powder (I mix any I buy with value/basics/sp stuff, so it goes further). Also good for toothpaste/mouthwash etc. - if you haven't got a FB nearby, poundstretcher do the same sort of prices on branded stuff.

Thanks for those suggestions jpscloud, i'll add the majority of those to my list!

sistercas

another £3.26 on grapes , strawberries and raspberries from local fruit shop

will add it to my sig

kittywight

hello all

start of a new week for me
2nd week grocery challenge completed successfully £32.34/£35.00

the extra money left over from my grocery challenges have been going into the holiday fund

next month im gonna drop my grocery challenge down to £30

spent today
sainsbobs £2.22
co-0p £2.36

week 3 £4.58/£35.00

rising_from_the_ashes

jpscloud wrote: »

(apologies to purist OS'ers, I know my packet habit is not OS, but it does save me mucho time during term time when I'm out of the house 12 hours out of every 24, and also visit/care for my elderly parents at weekends):

Packets (always value/sp/basics):
Golden vegetable rice
Instant noodles, various flavours
Couscous

I will admit to having a fair few packets of savoury rice & pasta 'n' sauce too.

The savoury rice comes from Li*dl and are really nice and are great if you're feeling under the weather as they're easy:) and it means you still get a decent meal. Really nice on baked potatoes / stuffing for roast peppers etc too!:)

Pasta 'n' sauce I find great for weekend lunches now & then as I tend to forget to eat these don't have much time to do something "proper" - I do have quite a lot atm but they were both on offer ..... probably around a years' supply:rotfl:

See .... my stocking up should hopefully balance things out over the year!!!!

jpscloud

Forgot to mention my pasta stash! I have about a year's supply bought from Aldi when they had pasta with added oat bran (they've not had it in since, so I'm glad I got so much when I could).

I also hoard pumpkin seeds as they've got very expensive so when I find them cheaper I buy them in too.

I think I will try doing a weekly budget rather than a monthly one - I get lost because I'm paid mid-month. I know that's a bit pathetic but I honestly can't seem to get my head around it!

So, for next week I'm going to set a supermarket budget of £10.00 (I hope I won't even spend that). Not sure how to highlight that for the list, so I'll put it in red, hope that's ok:

Weekly budget 15-22nd April: £10

Off to change my sig now.

jpscloud

How could I forget to mention my red lentil stash as well? I buy the big bags in the world food section usually, they're cheaper than the smaller bags. Red lentils are just the business for bulking out slow cooker meals.