August 2012 Grocery Challenge

pajama

Hello everyone

Had a big Tesco delivery which came to the scary amount of £126.50 :eek: This is due to stocking up on a lot of stuff. I also get a months worth of loo roll, juice, my uht milk and cereals. Signature updated

PennyGrabber

Thanks for the ideas guys. Don't worry, it won't be wasted! We often have carpet picnics, that's the children's fave lunch!

The rain has just started so I'm glad we didn't go. We'll have fun at home anyway! DD has just finished decorating some fairy cakes as lions, they look really sweet. She chose lions because of the safari park, but never mind, we'll still enjoy them!

Hopefully this weather will stop me going to leedl as I don't need the steak...

PG x

Caterina

Post 338 the bangalore shop reported as spam.

I am reading a lot of comments ont he lines of "DH/OH has sabotaged plan" or "went shopping with DH/OH and ended up spending more" etc...I have the same problem, DH is the earner (I am a homemaker) so I find it difficult to say no, don't get this, no, don't buy that, no, we are on a budget. For example while he was away for his week of martial arts training he ate out a lot! Even though I had given him food, he returned with half of it.

He is much better than he used to be but I am struggling with the GC as I find it difficult to keep pestering him about how much he spent! I need to sit down with him and explain what the GC is all about, I hope he will take it on board.

Unfortunately apart from being on course re. food budget, today we are having a major spend on other stuff, the bill for the garden posts has arrived (£134) and the aerial TV man is coming to replace the old aerial and retune our TV (£189). OUCH. However the garden posts will allow me to dry more laundry in the garden and the new aerial and tuning allow me to drop Virgin and start using the freeview in the TV so in the end they will both pay for themselves (I hope).

I have adjusted my signature to reflect today's grocery spend, it includes all the party food for tomorrow (except for £30 - alreay budgeted but not accounted for yet - for a lovely Indian lady who is making a few trays of pakoras for us).

Have a good day!

Suffolk_lass

Thanks for the recipes NickJW - I really like the sound of the runner beans wih tomatoes and chilli. We've got ribs one night this week so might try them with that. I'm also going to try that rosti recipe but I think our poratoes are too floury so maybe with older ones or the original sweet potatoes. Yum!
SL

WantToBeSE

Hello.
Just updating, as spent £25.28 on this weeks shopping (my lowest spend EVER on a food shop ) and have updated my signature.

Am hoping to spend just £30 next week too, so that i can save a bit of extra money.

Possession

Caterina I have both the same and the opposite problem....DH is way way better than he used to be, but still not as 'in the plan' as me. At the moment he is unemployed after being made redundant, but I don't want to say anything which might imply I resent being the breadwinner at the moment, after all it is in no way his fault and we have been together for 18 years now, during which time he has always earned more than me and never once moaned about what I spend (our money has always been shared). Plus he has drastically cut down on stuff he enjoys, like a glass of wine and a takeaway!
Anyway, a NSD here, in fact should be a NSW (weekend!).

Caterina

Whoah Possession a NSW/end, that's hard core! I shall try to ask my DH if he fancies a NSW/end next weekend, the twins are going to a festival and we can live on very little. It would be fun (for me) and a nice challenge, but not sure how he will see it. Ah, men, can't live with them, can't live without them LOL

Bluegreen143

Caterina wrote: »

Post 338 the bangalore shop reported as spam.

I am reading a lot of comments ont he lines of "DH/OH has sabotaged plan" or "went shopping with DH/OH and ended up spending more" etc...I have the same problem, DH is the earner (I am a homemaker) so I find it difficult to say no, don't get this, no, don't buy that, no, we are on a budget. For example while he was away for his week of martial arts training he ate out a lot! Even though I had given him food, he returned with half of it.

He is much better than he used to be but I am struggling with the GC as I find it difficult to keep pestering him about how much he spent! I need to sit down with him and explain what the GC is all about, I hope he will take it on board.

I totally get what you're saying - it's hard when you don't have the same priorities.

My OH is a great cook, and last year when I had to work evenings, I was so lucky that he did most of the food shopping and cooked during the week. But the truth is that budgeting and making do with what you have is not a strength of his, and since I also love to cook and can make do on much less than him, it makes sense for me to do it now that I work 9-5. But he does feel a bit that he works hard for the money he earns and shouldn't have to "scrimp" on the groceries. He has a variable income and earns anywhere between £1.5-4K more than me a year, but has more expenses and smokes, so I actually have more free cash (for the first time in our relationship as I was a student when we met).

I am learning not to nag when he buys treats or wastes food, but instead set a good example and make the thrifty life look attractive and easier to him - e.g. by making sure there is some home baking in to stop him buying treats, or making sure that if I'll be back late, I meal plan something he likes to cook and have the ingredients ready so he doesn't need to think about it too much. He is slowly getting better, and the fact that I showed him the leftover money in the bills account and agreed we could split it to turn into euros for our holiday is a bit of a motivator for him as well.

KatyReed+5

Hi, quite a few of you talk about bulking food out with lentils, i've never done it, could i ask what kind you get and what exactilly you do with them.

Thanks,

Katy, X

WantToBeSE

Katy- i am no expert, but i buy red lentils (about 90p a bag) and add them to spag bol, chilli, any tomato based sauce.
It makes the sauce thicker and more bulky, therefore much more filling. They are high in protein too, which has been proven to fill you up for longer.
I know that there are green puy lentils too, but i have never tried them before.