January 2013 Grocery Challenge

WantToBeSE

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Right ... raring to go & determined this year I will get a grip on my grocery spends!

Quick question ... is there a board that I can ask a question about a gadget? (couldn't see any that would fit)

If it was a SC, food mixer etc, I'd ask on here ... but it's a coffee maker machine so don't think it's really OS!

Rising, i'd ask on the Techie board

trulymadlydeeply_indebt!

XSpender wrote: »

I have a lot of potatoes to eat up and a few onions and I am determined not to throw much away this year. I will have a look at the thread someone mentioned earlier about not throwing stuff away for inspiration.

Do you have any eggs in store? That is saying tortilla to me.
I've also got loads of potatoes and onions in and 5 eggs, so that's going onto my meal plan with baked beans on the side. Thanks for inspiring me .......

TMD xx

Shortie

Evening all, decided to go to Mr T on our way back from a friend's house this afternoon instead of going tomorrow after work. Better all round really as it means I get home at a better time for dinner and it's over and done with now. The planned budget was £31 as we over spent in the early part of our month and had just over £93 left. We scraped this one in just under at £30.89 (sig updated).

We did get in this 2 kg of butter as it was on offer, so that was clearly more than one week's worth, and we also got in some bits to make some more chilli jam as it was a real hit at Christmas and Mr Shortie wanted some more made.

However, though this will last us a week (and a few bit more than that) we didn't need any meat this week as we have lots in from Christmas, but we'll need to start buying meat in again soon, so we're not out of the woods yet...

KolaKube

Evening all!

As much as I hate to admit it, OH and I might need to INCREASE our GC budget after this month (we'll see how this month goes!)...

He needs to lose around 8 stone in weight :eek: and I will need to get rid of my baby weight (approx 2 stone) once mini-Kube arrives so we're going on a strict healthy diet / increased exercise regime. Just did our online shop and despite a meal plan to last 2 weeks, it still came to £47! (Not including meat which we have in the freezer, yikes!)

Despite being very careful, I can't help but notice that healthy food costs so much more! (Sadly, no markets or aldi super6 nearby ) We will be cooking from scratch as we normally do, but with healthy adaptations of recipes. No lunchtime sandwiches, I will be making soups / salads / crustless quiche etc. Lots of F&V, low fat yoghurts etc, no snacking rubbish / bread whatsoever.

Worth it in the long run though, I would much rather have a healthy family than a healthy bank balance... a little compromise would be nice though! :rotfl:

Big pot of chicken broth on simmering at the moment for lunches over the next few days. Mmm barley!

Solstice_3

MummyEm wrote: »

We have tons of potatoes on the way out so I'm thinking maybe some kind of soup we can all have a bowl of but not sure if this is a stretch too far for a buffet?!

Another potato suggestion here - how about potato wedges?

Suzexxx

Today is the first day of the January grocery challenge for me. I almost had a NSD, but caved in and went to Mr T's minutes before their closing time when i realised we didn't have enough oven chips in the freezer.

DP offered to drive me as my car is currently off road and awaiting repair. The only thing about going into a food shop with DP is that he tends to put things in the basket we didnt intend on buying, he really is a nightmare so i prefer to go alone to keep costs down.

Tonight i spent £8.32 on pack of 2 bacon and chicken kievs, egg mayo sandwich filling, 250g cheese, milkshake and large bag of oven chips. Only the chicken kievs that weren't on my list, but we've had them for tea tonight so it wasnt a waste. I really need to start meal planning and i'm going to have a look at the ideas on this thread tonight and make some notes.

My income has been significantly reduced since going on maternity leave a few weeks ago, so i really need to watch the amount i spend on food. It didnt help that i was incorrectly paid wrong from my part time job yesterday .

lynney88

Evening all and a Happy New Year to all!

Ordered my first grocery shop from the blue one yesterday via moneysupermarket.com and they were quite a bit cheaper than the green one I must say!

Will add the amount on here when the order comes but think I did quite well as I wrote out a meal plan and shopping list and WILL be sticking to this and also some of the things will last more than the week i.e carrots and pots but needed them as we have run out!

Good luck all! x

Oh yeh and didn't waste my 3 black bananas today either! Instead me and my DS made a lovely banana cake using only stuff from the cupboard and fridge so am chuffed with that!

PLUS We were invited for a Roast Beef dinner at my Mum's so that saved us some pennies by saving some food in our fridge/cupboards! Yippee!

m155piggy

Just a quick question - please forgive me if it seems a little stupid - does buying birthday presents etc count towards the monthly shop or not? It's DS2's birthday next Tuesday and I just ordered his presents from Sports Direct (£121.00 value - cost £28.97 with free P&P!!!!!)

Really hope I can put that spend elsewhere as not really grocery - otherwise NSD and prob won't need anything else other than milk and bread before the weekend so looking good so far.

Had full turkey dinner with MIL at lunch and remaining cheese and biscuits for tea so no cost and no effort!!!!

MummyEm

hex2 wrote: »

MummyEm - it'll come down to time but cheese straws, bread sticks, garlic mayo dip, potato salad, garlic bread all spring to mind with what you have said. It all sounds a bit brown so veg sticks to go with the dips - even carrots and cucumber would be cheap enough?

ETA cheese n onion sausage rolls - there is a good Delia recipe

Thank you that hex 2. I did have cheese straws in mind but that will be time dependent as I have to do all this with both kids in tow tomorrow. A great idea for garlic mayo dip, I was thinking a dip would be good and we have both garlic and mayo in so that is perfect :j We have half a cucumber and quite a few carrots so those will help (again, may ask mum to pick up extra cucumber on the way over). Just remembered we have half a tub of mini breadsticks in the cupboard too! Potato salad is another great idea as I do have some new pots to use up. I may need to get some chives/ spring onions in for that though unless I can find any chives remaining in the garden - this is getting a bit addictive, I am really trying to find anyway not to go to the shops as I know if I go for one thing I will come out with ten!

blue_eyes_2

Picked up a couple of bits and bobs on New Year's Eve, spent £11.64 so that's it now i am determined it will only be essentials to buy!!!!