January 2013 Grocery Challenge

mrsdwhite

Hi all, I have been absent from the boards for a good few months and want back in! So I'm going to start by having a go at the grocery challenge.
Imam going to set my budget as £210 for January, I think it's usually more like £240 so small steps but it all helps!

annem38

ooops nearly forgot today was the start of "my month", not too bad a start, £3.94 at the coop, bit of veg, baguette and some kievs reduced to 99p so todays lunch and tomorrows dinsdins sorted, well pleased with myself :j

been looking at poss joining costco but their website only shows really REALLY expensive stuff (whole suckling pig!!) i take it they do actually sell ordinary stuff like beans and teabags, but how do i find out how much they cost before signing up???

well can't stop as got a loaf to bake and that veg ain't going to prepare itself

have a good day everyone

anne

StressedSteph

Hi all,

Have got to do a meal plan for next week. Have slimmed down my budget so tightly that I scapped my £50 shopping budget for the 1st week of January hoping that I have enough Christmas left overs to get us through.
Kids and hubby are home all next week so no school or work packed lunches to do. I can get away with weirder frugal lunches if they are at home.

What I can't think about what to do with is half a ham we have left in the fridge. I must use that that up before I defrost anymore meat,
Does anyone have any tasty ideas for ham?.

xx

she_who_can_not_cook

annem38 wrote: »

, well pleased with myself :j

been looking at poss joining costco but their website only shows really REALLY expensive stuff (whole suckling pig!!) i take it they do actually sell ordinary stuff like beans and teabags, but how do i find out how much they cost before signing up???


have a good day everyone

anne

i am going to add a bit of negativity re costco i found that i spent too much there yes the meat was good and other food was good and in bulk but it was just too easy to spend and because i had paid for the membership i felt like i HAD TO SPEND to get my monies worth
my yearly membership ran out about five years ago and i did not renew it

lottie3000

Another spend in Mr S's, this GF diet is expensive but the OH seems better impressed with their bread. £16.27.

[Deleted User]

lottie3000 wrote: »

Another spend in Mr S's, this GF diet is expensive but the OH seems better impressed with their bread. £16.27.

My daughter has a wheat intolerance and our food bill climbed rapidly after her diagnosis. Dietician certain it is something she will grow out of though - fingers crossed

njk2125

Well the cheese and bacon pie my OH was initially refusing to eat went on his plate anyway last night with lots of veg, he not only ate it but went back for seconds. Really wasn't worth him kicking up a fuss about in the first place then! :think:

As there is nothing that desperatly needs eating in the fridge I think I'll make a turkey and veg lasangne for tea tonight with salad. Not really planning in advance yet, but I probably will start to meal plan when new years eve is out of the way.

NSD today for us.

JackieRHE

Hi, could i please come in again, with a target of £180 for the month.

I still have food in the small freezer:) and it will need to be emptied and defrosted.

pavlovs_dog

with regards to Costco, you can get a visitor pass to go in and browse before you commit to buying membership. There is also a site called addicted to costco where the monthly offers booklets are posted as pdf files. (I rarely find the offers that exciting TBH).

On generic household groceries you need to know the going rate to see if buying in bulk is actually the value for money you think it is. I share my membership with my mum, so we pay £15 each rather than me paying the full 30. You get a second card on the account so this works for us. You can add additional cards for £12 after that, so may see if MIL wants one when we renew in Feb.

Large purchases on food items we often split between us, as there is no way I'd get through some of the bulk quantities in a month of Sundays!

Quality of their own stuff (kirkland brand) is excellent, just as good as the branded, if not better.

I've never had to take advantage of it, but their returns and customer service is reported to be very good.

ooitsme

Hi! Please may I join in? I've never done it before - I'm guessing a good starting point would be £200. Thanks!

Ps edited to ask if someone wouldn't mind dropping me a quick note to explain how to make a signature? Thank you :0)