May 2012 Grocery Challenge

xxlouisexx56

Spent another £11 pounds in M today. Got the 1/2 price coco pops and crispies. We go through so much cereal in this house so it will get used up. Pork loin was also on offer 1/2 price so I bought 4 steaks. Which will do the 4 of us for a dinner next week.
Also got milk and salad bits.

Going to asda to do the big monthly shop tomorrow. It always ends in me being overly stressed, both the kids being told off repeatedly, DP not wanting to buy anymore as he has to carry upstairs when we get home. I just want to buy enough to not have to step foot in a sm for another 2 weeks!lol!

Aldahbra

Bonglecat wrote: »

Hi there everyone. I'd like to join in if I may.

Good luck Bonglecat. Hope your first month goes well.

angelatgraceland wrote: »

One "Laundry Gloop" recipe: Grate one bar of soap. F@iry or Sunl!ght is best and I noticed the Mr M has a pack of two own-brand "household soaps" for fifty-odd pence which smells suspiciously like F@iry.

Add your grated soap to a pan of 1 1/2 litres of boiling water on the stove. Mix it with a wooden spoon to dissolve it. Add 1/2 cup of washing-soda and 1/2 cup of borax or borax substitute. The borax isn't absolutely necessary but is a very good stain-remover. Give it a good old stir and ensure they are both COMPLETELY dissolved or the mixture will separate when it cools.

Remove from the heat and pour it into a plastic bucket. Fill the bucket with about another 8 1/2 litres of hand-hot water from the tap. Add some essential oil if you like. Tea-tree oil gives a good, fresh scent. Stir it and leave to cool.

Decant into containers. Those 4-pint milk containers are handy for this. This makes 10 litres of laundry soap, so that's about 100 washes at the cost of about a quid max plus leccy for the lot.

Use about 100ml/3 fl oz per washing-load. This mixture won't make suds but will clean very effectively. Cheap as chips! And will only take you half ab hour or so. You may never go back to expensive laundry detergents ever again. I most certainly won't.

Sounds really interesting I would like to give it a try but I have not idea what borax or borax substitute is. Where would I get it?

meg72 wrote: »

Yah my heel pain has gone and I can walk properly again. Will be shopping later, dont need much so hoping to only spend 10 pound or so (my new, to me computer does not have a pound sign, strange)

I'm glad the pain has gone from your foot. That is good news isn't it? or does it mean you'll be out spending?

Have you tried checking the regional settings on your computer to check that the are set to the UK. You can change the regional settings in Control panel.

[Deleted User]

Meg72 -speedy recovery with your foot
xxlouisexx58 - im not a big fan of big supermarket shops, have you tried shopping online, it really can help to keep costs down
Newbies - welcome

Just a quickie hello really, as not been spending, i have had 4 spend days since 27th April. Well, after having a wobbly start and near meltdown, ive now settled into this months budget. Not saying i will make it (lol), but i am in with a chance. Im noticing a slight bit of space in some of the cupboards and even slighter space in the freezer, but am hoping to use stores as much as i can.

debbym

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

While you are looking, don't forget you can copy and paste
£ This one I used my word porcessor to insert symbol and then copy pasted it into my post.

Not as straightforward as a key. You can also configure your keyboard and the computer maker's forums will explain how, depending on the make and model, version of the operating system, it is actually quite straightforward once you know what kit you are working with.

HTH
SL

If the computer thinks it is working in UK English it will accept shift+3 as a pound sign no matter what is actually printed on the keys. If it thinks it is working in American English it is the shift + the key immediately to the right of the semi-colon (on English keyboards this is the @ symbol as mentioned by someone else too ) have a play round with different combinations and see how you get on.:)

Aldahbra wrote: »

Sounds really interesting I would like to give it a try but I have not idea what borax or borax substitute is. Where would I get it?

Borax can be bought at Boots or other chemists - it can be used as a laundry additive or for cleaning drains but it is a real OS style thing so they may have to order it for you.

fozziebeartoo

Yesterday was a NSD.

Today spent £2.89 in Savers for 300 Typhoo teabags which is cheaper than I*celand where I usually get them, 85p in Greggs for DGS, £12.29 in Sainsbugs and they gave me 29p back in Wilk*s as I returned a curtain rail I didnt need so the freezer bits and bobs I needed were "free" :T

Since I have been freezing so many things in my new frugality, I have started to take more care how I wrap things and I grudgingly have to say, stuff does keep better and look nicer when wrapped properly.

No time for brekkie but will have granola and greek yog for lunch.

Have DGS here late today, so we will share a pizza and maybe some chips, because I will be too tired to be more
inventive.:rotfl:

I cannot believe its the weekend already.....what happened to this week???

mumofthetwins

Well i am back from holiday and am just about to head off for my first shop from Mays pay.
I cant belive how much i saved last month, i did have a couple of trips away but i am so over the moon :j
Well i now have to save as much as possible for my next holiday spends so hoping i can have another month like last

I just want to say a big thanks to everyone for keeping me motivated and giving up there time to do this thread as i have found it makes a massive differance as to what is actually going in my trolley :T:T:T ..... i have even started telling people at work about it
Lisa

Money_mayhem

:hello: just spent £8.75 for packed lunch essentials...really looking forward to starting this challenge afresh in June :T. Still 3 weeks left before payday :doh:

debbym

£48.89 spend today BUT this did include a present, card and wrapping paper for a kids bday tomorrow plus £10 to replace the veggie seedlings that were lost when our plastic tent style greenhouse took off in the wind a week or so back (my imfamous black thumb strikes again:rotfl:)
Bargain of the day was Vintage Cheddar from the deli counter in Yeovil T*sco Extra at £1.99 a pound , someone obviously over-ordered since they were selling big chunks so I now have a 1 3/4 kg block waiting to be split before it goes in the freezer.:j
£14.59 from MusicMagpie.co.uk for a pile of old CD's and £179 from a car boot sale at the weekend means I'm not pumping up the overdraft either; happy bunny today:D

angelatgraceland

Aldahbra wrote: »

Sounds really interesting I would like to give it a try but I have not idea what borax or borax substitute is. Where would I get it?

Borax is the stain removing element-it also cleans and disinfects. Take a look at this:http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingsworkfaqs/a/howboraxworks.htm
Not easy to find locally-I was recommended to an old fashioned DIY/hardware shop and managed to get borax substitute(no idea on the difference to original borax). Its on ebay also but the price doubles due to postage.
The "recipe"used about 1/4 of a box about 35p plus the soda about 10p and the soap 28p.Its the first time Ive used it but have done 4 washes with it and two lots in the dishwasher also.
The borax is optional though so you could try it without.

angelatgraceland

debbym wrote: »

Borax can be bought at Boots or other chemists - it can be used as a laundry additive or for cleaning drains but it is a real OS style thing so they may have to order it for you.

I went to Boots and nobody knew what I was on about! There is a conspiracy to make us buy readymade products!
Just made a victoria sandwich and a flask of yogurt-I am trying to beat the system I think!