May 2012 Grocery Challenge

[Deleted User]

Carmilla wrote: »

My month starts tomorrow and I think I've really underestimated what I will need as I've got a completely empty fridge and freezer and a box of tins, pulses and herbs, as we have just moved out of a shared house. Do you think I should up my budget now or try to stick to it but accept I will be way over it by the end of the month? Going shopping today before the month starts feels like cheating, what do you think?

Personally, i think you should set it at something you can achieve, then try to stick within that. You can always up or down it the next month. If you set it too low, you are just setting yourself up to fail. Good luck with your new place, it might be easier when you can be the once deciding what to cook. This is a great thread - i normally fling in a few cheapo meals in a week - just to build up stocks https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/326929

Barbeduk

Hi Everyone, can't believe it's the May thread already! I'm trying for £260 again, although looking at the calendar it looks like a long month. But got to try! That's food, cleaning stuff and toiletries for 2 adults and 2 kids. Oh, and alcohol but sadly that is now limited to saturday nights to keep the cost down!!

Did a big spend at A!di on fri, so all stocked up on the essentials. Only go there if I'm passing so bought next sat night's bottle of wine and have hidden it as if I can see it I will drink it. Then got chips, fish fingers and some ice cream at Mr M. £52.39 spent in total.

DH and DD both asked for some meat today, oh dear we are meat free this weekend! So made them some scones to make up for it which went down very well! Thank you to everyone who posts their recipes, I don't even bother getting a recipe book out any more, just turn to the 1st page of this challenge. :T

Sonastin, if I were you I would split the total into what will be used now, and what won't be used until after Tuesday iyswim. That way you won't go so far over for April.

Good luck for May everyone.:D

[Deleted User]

Tessie Bear - that sounds about normal price to me

Bikeless chick - congratulations

FlatEric - I go through the freezer on Sunday (hopefully) and write up meals based on what we have in. I usuallly cook a big batch of mince and make spag bol, then i add loads of lentils and this does a few more meals, like shepherds pie, pasta bake or tortillas, maybe jacket potatoes with spicy mince, but don't necessarily have them that week (mince overload)

Fozziebeartoo - i also use frozen mushrooms, only if i find a bag that i cant walk past, and put them in stews etc. I find they are best par fried and frozen whole

kc26

Hi everyone, I joined in the Jan and Feb challenge but fell of the wagon for March and April and my did I notice a difference. Sign me up for £300 this month please, by keeping a track I definately spend less.

Living_proof

I managed just £14 spend today and was quite pleased with myself until I realised that I have already spent 10% of May's budget and it's still April!

My spends were £12-odd on food which included some reduced chicken legs in L*dl. They are now skinned, de-fatted and flavoured with onion, pepper, celery, garlic, balsamic vinegar, herbs and a tin of tomatoes. This made five portions at 56p each, so quite pleased. Most of the other items were fresh f&f although I did treat myself to a £1.45 bottle of Merlot for my goulash this evening and a couple of packs of chewing gum. I also dropped in at the car boot sale and found a double-boiler still boxed. I have seen them in Lakeland in the past at just under £30, so if I don't use it for more than candle making the £2 will be well spent.

I was amazed to be approached by a lil ol man in his seventies, at least, in L*dl. He was telling me how shocking the Rooster potato price was in there - Morries only £1, L*dl £1.79. How I must watch where I buy, etc. If only he knew! What surprised me was how many packs of chicken legs there were with 30% off and this was at 11am, so a lot of folk had passed them by and yet they were well within date. I thought the fruit and veg in both L & A had risen a lot in price, with nothing at all at a 39p price point. Still, a great deal cheaper than the competition, particularly as I only want one item or pack of each thing. BOGOFs are great for big families but hopeless for the millions of us who just buy for 1. You would have thought that the SMs would have twigged the demographics by now, wouldn't you?

Florenceem

craigywv wrote: »

me too u, butterly and wet mustard in a jar , maybe thats why mine was wet too, added more flour and it turned out lovely..............thanks for the pics dins looks lovely is that a hm steak slice?:)

No - Mr F found it - last one thank goodness - too thrifty to throw it away but much prefer HM. I was SO thirsty in the night - always notice that when I have non HM stuff!

Florenceem

craigywv wrote: »

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm choccy fudge pudding.............MUST HAVE RECIPE PLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! since i joined this forum i must have put on at least a stone i cant help myself between pasties hm cheesy bread 2 min micro puds i cant control the urge to make and it , telling myself its cheap and os excuses excuses !!! oh and ds love it perpetual aromas drifting around the house, ds even went into school the other morn and teacher kept smelling him saying he smelt like her grannies house when she baked. so son runnin around smellin like cupcakes(buns as we call them cc so U.S.A.) better than spag bol which we all reeked of the other day as i was on a cook to freeze crusade. away to boot sale now have a good day all. p.s. FLORENCEEM ,hope you enjoyed your programmes last night:D

Yes I enjoyed the TV progs - we only have 4 channels still - not big TV watchers.

Florenceem

tessie_bear wrote: »

morning....hope everyone is well and dry...difficult in there drought conditions....we are having chicken fried rice for lumch then out for tea....the rice is the 3rd meal from a chicken i got in the m and s meal deal....we have had a roast dinner fajitas and fried rice to come
need to sort out some bits for tomorrows pack ups i have done a weeks meal plan for next week

what do peeps think of frozen veg ? for 99p a bag i got kg bags of
peas
fine beans
broccoli/cauliflower/carrot
i thought i would use them this week and see how we go....seems cheap

take care tess

I keep some frozen veg in stock for when we are short/out of fresh. Frozen are meant to be as good for you as fresh - just miss the crunch!

Florenceem

fozziebeartoo wrote: »

Now I am on my own, I am finding frozen veg brillant value!!

When I was cooking for the famiy, I always tried to use fresh veg, mainly because I prefer the taste......but there is so much waste when you peel, chop, forget to use it (not that anyone on THIS thread would waste veg ).

My best buys have been frozen diced onion and mixed peppers - added them to alost every dish I make and lasted ages.

I also find frozen mixed veg useful for bulking out casseroles, stews etc with very little effort and gets me eating peas and sweetcorn, neither of which I would probably have otherwise.

Has anyone had good experiences with frozen mushrooms? I would like to have them to hand at all times but find them a bit "smelly and slimey"......maybe some brands are better than others????

Any opinions please???

I currently always use fresh......but when I go out to buy 85p's worth of fresh mushrooms from Lidl, I come back with £10 or £20's worth of other stuff too :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I don't peel veg apart from swede/turnip - carrots and potatoes are just scrubbed. Swede/turnips peels plus carrot tops are given to the dog - she loves them! When we have a butternut squash - peel and ends are put in MW - Mr F has them for a snack. No one could survive on what we throw out!
MR F eats the skin of a Kiwi as well.
If you only take with you - the money for what is on your shopping list - NO CARDS! - you won't be able to succumb to temptation.

[Deleted User]

sonastin wrote: »

I've got a real dilemma now. Ended up about £40 overspent for April. May's budget doesn't start till Tuesday but we ran out of teabags yesterday and I can't leave OH with emergency looseleaf tea while I'm out at work tomorrow - can't bear the sulking and whingeing I'll have to listen to if I try. So went to MrA to get tea bags, and bought the rest of the stuff on the shopping list while I was there. Rest of it could have waited till Tuesday so can't decide whether to put the ~£30 spend on May's budget or be honest and accept that it was more spending in April. Should help with bringing May in under budget so perhaps best to put it in April where it belongs, but reduce the budget for May.

What do you reckon? What would you guys do?

I had a similar situation. I bought £10 worth of meat that is mainly going to be used for May. I do not really start my May challenge 'till end of month, but decided to split it between April & May, even though i have set a stupidly low budget for the month. If you think you might not come in on budget for May, maybe you have set it too low, or you could do what i do, throw in a couple of really cheap meals, which can help bring you on track - i have posted a link below your original post of a really good forum for this - 2 meals for 50p. I suppose at the end of the day, its just a bit of fun and at least we are all trying to be more moneywise. Good luck.