Anyone got a nice spaghetti and meatballs recipe?

Rowan9

hurray I've found you
After being well over budget in Jan due to lovely events - sis and DD staying, I'm in again for Feb. DD will still be here for part of it, OH will be home a lot more and step sons (2) will be over at weekends. Having said all that, I've loads in the freezer including a turkey crown (aaaah wonderful tesco bargain) and a gammon as well as other stuff. Loads of toiletries so won't need to buy any this month. Will need dog food but have decided it doesn't come out of grocery fund but out of 'pot' along with money for their jabs etc.
So.....I'm in for £220. This is £100 more than last month but at the time of setting last month's i thought I'd be on my own for most of it. the month starts on Feb 1st for me and I'm not going to cheat and buy stuff before then just because this month's budget is blown
wen

bananakinz

Right grocery challenge again starting today, target is £220, hold on, febs got a half term in it, so better make it £230 as kids like to eat me out of house and home lol

Lizzieanne

I'm in again for February. I blew it in January, but only by £1.73 so not too much of a disaster!

Shelley84

I'd like to join the Feb Grocery Challenge. I currently spend around £300 a month for 2 adults and 1 toddler (includes nappie and wipes)

I aim to spend no more than £250 for February.

mama67

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

Hi everyone :hello:

Can I join in please? I read the thread and I'm impressed by everyone's efforts. I am trying to feed the family organically and ethically if I can too so quite hard especially after Hugh Fearnley whitsisface sending me on a chicken guilt trip last week...anyone watch it?

Anyway, there are 4 of us (2 kids, 2 adults but we all eat like adults) also little doggie but I have enough for her till the end on feb anyway. So I reckon £250 this month (already bought a veg box for this week) and have lots of staples stocked up, tins etc.

Look forward to this and making new friends on this boards..:)

see ya from desperate housewife

This is what I try to do as well, as you say it gets difficult, especially with high meat prices. Do use the local farm shop alot for meat as they state which farm locally the meat comes from.
I compromise on certain things but especially not fruit & veg have had an organic box delivered now for nearly 2 years.


I also try as well to use environmentally cleaners if at all possible and cost viable. Any paper products that I buy are also recycled so that I can close the loop witn my recycling efforts.

mrs-moneypenny

I'm in again for February please

Lil_me can you put me down for £400

i know i went over budget in January but looking through my spends book for the month £56 went on non food items like birthday pressies, so in the grand scheme of things i didnt really do that bad.

There are 6 of us at home me DH, 3 teens and youngest DS plus the cat.
2 are vegan the others pretty much veggie but eldest DS still eats meat so he gets that occasionally. middle DD has the habit of inviting BF to tea so usually have to have an extra mouth at the table
just remembered 1/2 term falls in this month, DD is going away with BF so that week should be a bit cheaper

mhe

Hi Lil_Me
Im in for the girst time for the February grocery challenge.
PLease put me down for £200 - thats half my normal spend for 2 adults and 3 children :eek: and fingers crossed that i can achieve it. PLease keep your meal ideas coming as inspiration for a busy working mum!!
My month started 26/1/ spend for week 1 £58.02 :T

tryingnottospend_2

Hello everyone,

I'm a long time lurker and decided to take the plunge.

I have in the past spent upwards of £120.00 a week (and sometimes more) on a "supermarket shop" this has included things like clothes or dvd's. I now have a separate budget for these items.

Last month i tried out the grocery challenge in the privacy of my own home. I allowed myself £100 per week and come under budget at £331 for the whole month. I did have lots of food in from Christmas though.

There is myself, dh (eats anything) , dd (used to be quite fussy but getting better), ds (physically disabled, diet limited to mainly processed food due to muscle weaknes and tendency to choke) and ds ( like his dad eats almost anything)

I also am disabled, so dh is at home fulltime to care for us all. dh and i shop together however our weakness for eating out ( no where posh) while shopping means we spend extra on food when we don't need to.

So I have decided that any meals bought while shopping (not family meals out for special occasions) have to come out of the grocery challenge. That way I have think twice about spending the money.

So for Febuary I would like a budget of £330 (a) because i haven't as much food stocked up and (b) because of half term and dh birthday. This is to cover food, toiletries and cleaning.

Sorry for the long post, I got carried away LOL

mrs-moneypenny

hi mhe, i hope this doesnt sound too negative but you might find trying to half your monthly spend straight off a really tall order i really wish you luck with it but if you make sure you keep all your reciepts and note what you spend at markets etc at the end of the month you'll see where the money is going.

I came in over budget for january but when i looked back through my spends id brought 3 birthday pressies and a pack of razor blades so that accounted for most of my overspend.

I've found by downbranding im saving and shopping around i can get my usual product cheaper. Now im writing a shopping list im conscious of what im buying once ive done the fruit and veggies on the market at the weekend and done a grocery shop im finding i dont NEED to visit the local shop each day, I was popping in for something i needed because i hadnt done a list at the weekend and ended up buying things i didnt need as well so my spending was spiraling. Also i now make a point of NOT using my card to shop i draw the money out each week work out what i need and if the money runs out before the week does i make a meal from what is already in the house. I have a seperate purse i put school money (clubs music milk swimming etc) so i can take that out each day and know its still there on friday.

money saving is a learning curve so even if you go over bdget dont feel like youve failed every penny saved or spent wisely is a step in the right direction

shelovestobuystuff

Count me in again for the Feb challenge please at £200 for the month.:D
Lets see if I can do better this month.I have done my inventory and have enough supplies left over from buying too much last month to last about 2 weeks so should be well under target for Feb.
I asked my teenage son to do the freezer inventory for me and discovered that I really need to label things:o .His extensive and mainly very thorough list included,"3 tubs of stuff,something wrapped in tinfoil,3 cuts of some sort of meat,another tub of something".Well I knew what was in them:rolleyes: .
Just realised there were also "4 tubs of icecream" on his freezer inventory but I am pretty sure I used old ice cream tubs to store extra bolognese and soup so best have a peek inside later.:D