November 2012 Grocery Challenge

Hurdler

Target: £47.26 - Actual: £53.84

Hmm well that was a teensy bit more than I expected, because I fancy doing a mince beef hotpot in my Remoska some time this week... will do the mix, and freeze half ... but that was £2.19 ...
I had to put bag clips in as I forgot to get them from Lakeland - £3.05
Sometimes the staff in Mr T are right miseries. I like Linda McCartney Veggie pies as an occasional Sunday dinner... so I asked a guy where they were... and he looked in my trolley (with mince, bacon etc) and asked me why I wanted something Vegetarian!!! I ask you! That was £1.98 more to the normal shop.

I have taken out all the veggebubbles and put them in the Lakeland bags and it does make a lot more room in the crisper.

My next budgeted shop is planned for: 2nd December

I allow myself a cash allowance of £70 a week, the surplus of which goes into a "treat" account so any purchases that need to be made (I predict an ickle loaf of bread and at least a pint of milk before the next shop) will come out of that and not the grocery savings.
There is actually a Mr T Express up the road, but it is expensive and the clubcard savings card seems to confuse the hell out of them, so I actually find it easier to pop to the corner shop, or Mr S in the morning, after the gym if I need extras!

Balance: £93.42

Make-it-3

Finally getting round to adding those pesky baby wipes to my total, which now stands at £151.08/£200

angelatgraceland

In my bid to be efficient and orgainsed I baked 6 large potatoes last night-3 for supper and 3 to keep as snacks. Ive never had success with these before-always got the temp wrong. I looked up how to do them(sad to admit)and washed them, leaving them damp, sprinkled with sea salt and popped in the oven at gas 7 but later turned it down to 6 to make sure skins didnt burn with an uncooked spud. Recipe stated 220c but thats gas 7 which was a bit high I thought. I took them out when they were crisp but "squishy" to the feel. About an hour,
Cooked my chicken also so that is ready for whenever we have dinner.
Small spend in Morrisons of £6.58 mainly on bread and fruit. Bagged up the bread and froze it.That will last the week!
Used one of my App foods Polish sour soups last night(about 5p)with some bread for tea-followed by the baked potato with tuna mayo for supper. A cheap night! DS and his mate had a spud too and enjoyed it.
I "invested" in a 2nd dehumidifier yesterday while Argos had their vouchers on offer! Last voucher day today!!! It has dried out my conservatory a lot overnight and the water collected will be used in my steam iron so it doesnt rock up. Could also be used in car washer bottle.
So I don't have to lug my larger dehumidifier up and down the stairs anymore. This was a purchase myself and hubby had talked about before I lost him so no guilt there. House felt warmer with them on all night even tho temp dropped and no heating on-the drier air makes a huge difference.

donnajt

£189.37 - £13 = £176.37...omg that's only for rest of month - panic over there's only 3 weeks and 2 days until December, so that's £9.28 per day or £70.54 for 2 weeks and £35.28 for 4 days...this is do-able

I am feeling quietly confident that I can do this!


ok...spent £90 in Tesco on Friday - but I did get loads of extra meat that I hadn't planned on but were at good prices: (actually spent £99 but that was on hubby's beer so he pays for that separately)

Lamb Shoulder (large)
Pork Belly (large)
Side of Salmon
Turkey
Rump Steak x3
Chorizo

Should never have gone shopping without list or with hubby ... shan't be doing them again!

I CAN AND WILL DO THIS!!!

£176.37 - £98 = £78.37 remaining for 11 days

Hurdler

angelatgraceland wrote: »

In my bid to be efficient and orgainsed I baked 6 large potatoes last night-3 for supper and 3 to keep as snacks. Ive never had success with these before-always got the temp wrong. I looked up how to do them(sad to admit)and washed them, leaving them damp, sprinkled with sea salt and popped in the oven at gas 7 but later turned it down to 6 to make sure skins didnt burn with an uncooked spud. Recipe stated 220c but thats gas 7 which was a bit high I thought. I took them out when they were crisp but "squishy" to the feel. About an hour,
Cooked my chicken also so that is ready for whenever we have dinner.
Small spend in Morrisons of £6.58 mainly on bread and fruit. Bagged up the bread and froze it.That will last the week!
Used one of my App foods Polish sour soups last night(about 5p)with some bread for tea-followed by the baked potato with tuna mayo for supper. A cheap night! DS and his mate had a spud too and enjoyed it.
I "invested" in a 2nd dehumidifier yesterday while Argos had their vouchers on offer! Last voucher day today!!! It has dried out my conservatory a lot overnight and the water collected will be used in my steam iron so it doesnt rock up. Could also be used in car washer bottle.
So I don't have to lug my larger dehumidifier up and down the stairs anymore. This was a purchase myself and hubby had talked about before I lost him so no guilt there. House felt warmer with them on all night even tho temp dropped and no heating on-the drier air makes a huge difference.

That is an amazing idea... I am contemplating potentially having to let my spare room out and was wondering about moving the heated airer back to the conservatory but stuff never dries unless I have it on all the time, and even though it supposed to be uber cheap to run... I just don't feel comfortable with running it continually.
But in the spring/summer, I use my dehumidifier with the rack in the conservatory with no issues.

Maybe I should just use the combination of the two and see whether it dries off in a couple of days as normal.
And I LOVE the idea of re-using the water like that!

RevolvingDoor

I am going to be keeping an eye on these threads as I realised I have been spending approx £550 a month on groceries. I was really shocked when I sat down and worked it out. There are only two of us!:eek: But we do have 8 animals.:D

I am aiming to shave off money every week as I do my shopping weekly online. I had some vouchers for Mr T for next week and I managed to get a weekly shop for £90.:T
I've been looking at the tips on here and some people bulk buy each month so I'm thinking about buying loo roll, cat litter in bulk as we go through loads every month.:p

[Deleted User]

Flat Eric re the brandy poll - ts probably too late now. I would keep the Tesco one as you will get 28 points, which is worth 28p and could in effect be worth 4 x that if traded in, plus i never buy alcohol from anywhere unless i know that its not fake as there is so much of it about in these local stores and some of it is so dangerous, but if you trust the store, then that helps.
Today is to be spent on doing a food inventory (i have a large pantry) and meal planning - as far ahead as i can. have a nice whats left of the weekend

flubberyzing

I think it's Delia's "recipe" for jacket potatoes that I follow... 190 for 2 hours. Never let me down! A just-crispy skin starting to come away from the potato, and fluffy innards. Lovely.

GreenFairy

Last day of L1dl butter special offer (€1.45 instead of €2.20 per 1lb block) so picked up three blocks. Was going to freeze them but not entirely sure now as BBD is February. Will prob leave one in fridge and freeze others to stop the stinky Christmas cheese from invading them!
Also got two packs of YS organic mince (burgers for dinner) and a can of beans (beans on toast for lunch). Can't believe that the same beans with a ringpull are 6c more expensive than those without!

€10.22 added to total.

Flat_Eric

Save_Dosh wrote: »

Flat Eric re the brandy poll - ts probably too late now. I would keep the Tesco one as you will get 28 points, which is worth 28p and could in effect be worth 4 x that if traded in, plus i never buy alcohol from anywhere unless i know that its not fake as there is so much of it about in these local stores and some of it is so dangerous, but if you trust the store, then that helps.
Today is to be spent on doing a food inventory (i have a large pantry) and meal planning - as far ahead as i can. have a nice whats left of the weekend

I did stick with the Mr T option - hadn't appreciated the clubcard points nor the comment you make about the high amount of fake alcohol about - I remember seeing something on the tv the other week. I decided to stick with Mr T (1) because I'm lazy and having it delivered means I don't have to get it myself! and (2) when I considered all the food I've wasted over the last month, the extra pennies I'm paying are neglible. I have been very wasteful recently. It must change!