November 2012 Grocery Challenge

Taranaman

Oh dear, gone past half way on my budget with two thirds of the month still left. Good news I've got meals planned until the 21st so all is not lost. One big shop and a little one brings the tally to £177.51.

XSpender

Small spend yesterday on organic veg box and milk, organic yogs and some organic salad veg. Total spent £31 odd. DH and I have agreed that this is all we are spending until next Friday at the earliest. If DH wants some beer it will have to come out of a different pot. He has done some extra work this week so he can use that money.

I have £55.44 to last until the 21st. This is the closest I have ever been to achieving my GC in all the years I have been doing it:) With a bit of focus, using up everything fresh we have in and checking what is in the freezer I think we can do it:)

I have meal planned for the next 12 days and apart from some chicken I think I have everything in.

elly2

Morning all spent £11.50 in I**land yesterday and £6 in the fruit shop bringing total this week so far to £32.50. Was supposed to be at work this morning but the office "misunderstood" my phone call and cancelled my last shift !!! so have lost 8 hrs pay :mad:. Hoping to start new job next week but deffo have shifts for the following week. This morning in a moment of madness i paid some more debts off :T so savings have reduced further but i feel so much better and have worked out that i will have recouped the money in just over a year by paying the debt money into my savings:rotfl::rotfl: so marisotta have now gone (£303 they were charging me an average £10 service charge a month) and i*m* have recieved £794 (scary) but that is my bnpl dec +jan payments covered so have saved £200 in intrest payments on them alone and an extra £500 on top of my normal £70 monthly payment they charge an average £30 intrest per month :mad::mad: so that should come down a little, will wait to see total balance when payments go through and will try my hardest to clear the rest off :T asap. Today will be a NSD for the GC but feel that me and the lo's need to celebrate so will be a celebration spend day :beer:.

happy_chick_3

veggie box delivered yesterday plus a couple of mini shops this week so my total is £85.99 so far this month.

Happy to report a successful week of meal planning - plan was followed more or less to the letter, so I'm doing another one for this week too! Nothing will be wasted!

happy_chick_3

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Absolutely YES! - It took me three months to get to grips and you can see from my sig that I have had a generous budget that I have occasionally failed to stay within for most of the year.

After many years of DH earning 4 times my wage he lost his job and completely retrained as a teacher and now earns less than me. I had several years of trying to adjust with no real success and I recognise my own tendencies to hoard, over-shop, buy snobby-brands and so on (I won't go on it's not comfortable to read-back).

I think that round about summer holidays I got to the point where I stopped buying all my "usual" things and now I shop more regularly to my list of just the ingredients I need for my plan.

I think I really am changing but as a F/T worker in a challenging job (which I do enjoy) that takes me out for 12+ hours four days and working from home to top up my hours, I make compromises that I accept.

You say being knackered in the evening and not wanting to cook is your failing so you buy take away. Why not try week of low effort cooking such as:

Monday - a slow-cooked casserole/stew
Tuesday - leftovers in a pie (bought pastry lid) and added frozen veg like peas or mixed veg
Wednesday - a quick pasta dish (some take 3 minutes to cook which is quicker than take-away)
Thursday - a home-made ready-meal from your freezer that you can take out in the morning and nuke when you get home
Then you are only looking at Friday night and for me, because it's the weekend I relax a bit and if it's only Jacket Potato and beans with grated cheese, that is great; nutritious quick (if you nuke the potatoes before baking the last 15 minutes), delicious and cheap.

HTH and good luck in November
SL

Thanks Suffolk Lass for your tips - I've taken them on board and started cooking low effort food in the week as well as restocking the freezer by making large batches when I do cook. I'm determined not to throw anything away this week so meal planning and shopping accordingly.

[Deleted User]

£2.08 in Sainsbob's yesterday - forgot to take a snack to work! x

Suffolk_lass

Our meal plan for this week is smaller as I am away for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and is based on a minimum spend week to get back on track.

Sat - corn on cob starter then a variation on NickJW's Prawn, celery and cashew stir-fry - I may use shallots thinly sliced instead of spring onions and add some chopped savoy cabbage and defrosted runner beans then I have everything in except mirin so will sub white wine and rice wine vinegar mixed

Sun - roast chicken with roast veg (in) and runner beans and carrots (steam extra cabbage in with veg) - just need streaky bacon rashers for the top of the chicken

Mon - corn on cob (bought 2 packs of c-o-c last week and didn't use them) followed by a frittata thing (potato and cabbage ala bubble and squeak, cooked with onion, little chilli and garlic, covered in beaten egg and grated cheese and oven-baked until solid - with salad leaves and maybe some shredded chicken pickings

Tues - DH only - pasta with spoonful of philly garlic and herbs stirred in (it's been lurking for about 3 weeks since I bought it on offer) and some leftover chicken

Wed - DH only will have cold chicken with Jacket Potato, pickles and salad

Thurs - meatballs with penne, topped with half a jar of readymade bol sauce and topped with grated cheese and baked (all store cupboard and easy as I will be knackered)

Fri - might buy fresh fish from the stall in the next town as I will be going for a haircut - if there's any chicken left I will make a chicken and frozen veg pie instead

My shopping list is streaky bacon, milk for the office, fresh fruit and eggs. I actually have everything else in (proof that I am still buying too much since DS moved out).

I need to get a wiggle on now as DH is back from putting the lawn-mower in for service and I'm sitting here in my nightie, furry slippers and garden jacket (no heating you see) - very glamorous! and it's nearly 12.00 - I need to help chop wood and shift paving stones.

Have a great weekend everyone
SL

PS and I can do the washing in between now I've fixed the WM! :j

liz-paul

Anyone else unhappy with Tesco's and their 'price matched' substitutions? They ised to be really good but sometimes they are rubbish e.g. today they substituted 3 packs of value crumpets for 2 packs of kingsmill crumpets and I still paid the same. They also substituted a 750g box of shreddies for a 500g box and again I paid the same price :mad:

In case you're wondering, Hubby opened the door and accepted the substitutions....

Bluegreen143

NickJW wrote: »

Do you mind posting that Salmon recipe? Looks gorgeous (and uses my favourite ingredients!)!!!

No problem. I just invented it as I went along, so there was a lot of tasting and adding more of this and that, so take quantities as a guide rather than gospel. Also put in what I had to use up so it is a very flexible recipe

Asian-style salmon & squash salad
One cooked salmon fillet (I cooked mine the night before in a foil parcel in the oven with a little mirin & soy sauce)
A big handful of roasted butternut squash (I had roasted a whole squash earlier in the week to add to things)
A small handful of chopped skinned peanuts
A couple of big handfuls of salad leaves (I used half iceberg lettuce and half spinach)
One spring onion, sliced thinly into diagonal rounds
Two radishes, thinly sliced

For the dressing:
A tablespoon each of honey, soy sauce and Japanese vinegar
a teaspoon of mirin
one small finely chopped red chilli.

After mixing, I tasted it and added way more honey :rotfl: so I'd add two tbspns to start with and just keep tasting! It was pretty hot so you might only want half a chilli

Layer the salad in a big pasta bowl or similar - I popped the leaves in first, scattered over the radish, arranged the butternut squash in a circle and shredded the salmon over the top. Scatter with the peanuts and spring onions, then pour the dressing over.

If you are allergic to/don't like any of the salad ingredients you could easily swap them for something else e.g. beef, duck, tofu or prawns instead of salmon, skip the peanuts or swap for cashew nuts, use mixed salad leaves from a bag, add cucumber - whatever you want

gien

was out this morning and decided to pop into a shop that I don't often go to but has some nice different foods.

I got some lovely fish and a chicken on offer and picked up a load of stuff that I can't usually get.
Total came to 85 euro, which was a bit of a shock to be honest. On the plus side, my freezer is packed with lovely bargain-a-licious food.

Total so far 540 euros for the month :eek: