January 2013 Grocery Challenge

new_leaf_88

Hi there. Hope I am still able to join please. I did this earlier last year but went of the rails. I am determined to get back on track.

My targets for January is £150

My aim for the year is therefore £1800

Thank you so much for running this post:T:T

flyingmamma

Can I join pls aiming for £200 pcm to include all cleaning nappies etc.myself 2 toddlers and hubby who works away from home 3 wks a month! Have decided to try 2 online shops a month for £80 each and have £10 a wk for milk extras ... Not sure it will work but dragging kids to sm is hectic and I always overspend on things we don't need!

FBG85

curiouscrafter wrote: »

i spend a fortune on cheese each week around £10 - £12, my dd has it for her lunch in wraps and hubby for his lunch too, and for hm pizza, topping for cottage pie, cauliflower cheese etc, if I could get this down it would be a great saving each week.

Have you tried substituting cottage cheese, on the cottage pie or cauliflower cheese, I've used it on lasagne and it browns quite nicely. I find grating cheese makes it go further aswell. HTH

xx_Jo_xx

Good morning ladies and gents... I fell off the GC wagon in the run up to xmas, but I do hope youve all had a lovely christmas and new year!

Id like to get back on board now, if youll have me and put myself down for £150 for me and DS for Jan... Thats to include all shopping

And if its all the same, Ill continue to post my spends as I go - which I appreciate some may find inane, but it helps me to keep on track and I enjoy the pointless comments - it reminds me that Im not in it alone...

Heres to lots of money saving throughout 2013 and with your support will enable me to eat well and pay off my debts

xx

Mamjak

DPJames wrote: »

I'll be doing the grocery challenge this year. But reading through this thread is far too time consuming. And once you've waded through all the inane comments, there's not very much advice at all really, and what there is is common sense. I've honestly nodded off twice just reading the last 5 pages.

I'll go it alone and save you all from even more pointless comments about how I spent £2.17 on milk and butter in Tescos today. Or about how many kids, dogs, fish, sponging brother in laws I have.

And to those sticking around, before you hit 'Post Reply', just have a think and see if what you're posting is actually relevant to anyone else.

Dont give up on it as its the usual 'New Year' blitz thats making it extra long at moment, just like how the gyms etc are absolutely packed this time of year. Give it a few weeks and it will die down and honestly you will get some brilliant advice from the regulars. I started reading in June last year and actually joined in this month but have already made some excellent progress and got many REALLY USEFUL tips from here, not just all common sense.

I do agree with you though about nodding off, especially yesterday when its just seemed to go mad with pages of posts!! :eek:

But PLEASE PLEASE give it another go later in the month!!!!!!

jumblejack

Morning all.
Been neglecting to post on the grocery challenge thread recently but still very much sticking to the budget.

I bought a diary yesterday for spends and have sorted out a special pocket for it in my brand new crochet handbag so I can keeps tight watch on ALL spends now, not just supermarket spends. O:)

Don't forget that diaries are dirt cheap now if you want to get one for recording spends!
I am going to record No Spend Days as red entries to motivate myself to refrain.
I'm really really eager to go out to the market today for....... A button!!! Yes, a button
The final touch for my new bag but because I want a big red NSD on today's entry, I am forcing myself to stay in!!!

Glad to see everyone is still working hard and that there are a few new names here too.

Got a ham bone to boil later for a lentil soup.
Unsure whether to make my herby breads to go with it or just serve with some leftover carved ham sandwiches?

I meant to use up some very overripe bananas yesterday but didn't so the kids will be helping to make banana muffins and smoothies later for snacks.

Hope you all have a frugaltastic start to the year to keep you motivated.

JJ

Mrs_T_M

£1 on 4 pts skim milk this morning, and DH will be picking up a block of Cookeen tonight, so £0.69 for that. I'll update my signature shortly.

Since I've already gotten the exercise out of the way for the day (and didn't re-stress my shoulder/arm), I'm going to make a complete inventory of what we have in stock today. I'll also be writing down what we are nearly out of. After I make the inventory, I'll be making a few batches of freeze/toast breakfasts.

I'm a big fan of freezer cooking, and it definitely makes life easier. Even though I'm a house-wife and supposedly have infinite time to cook, it still saves me time to have meals and treats ready to go in the freezer. Work hard one day per week or month (depending on the size of your freezer) and you'll have a week or months worth of meals ready to cook.

For today, I'll be making buckwheat pancakes, cinnamon applesauce oatmeal muffins, pizza dough, cookie dough, and possibly some cinnamon rolls. The last three will be placed in the freezer in portions, but uncooked. Tomorrow, since I'll have the shortening, I'll be making pasties and homemade 'poptarts.' Since I'll have the shortening out tomorrow, we will probably have chicken and dumplings for dinner. Shortening, self raising flour (gluten free self raising flour works well too), a chicken breast (or leg quarter, thigh, whatever you have on hand), and some chicken stock. The chicken stock will be made from a stock cube.

I'm from the US originally, so I'm slowly reworking all of my volumetric recipes into weight recipes to make things easier for my blog readers.

KatyReed+5

I too find it helpfull to read other peoples spends and i loke to post my own.

First spend of Jan yesterday.
- 39p - New pots reduced from £1.50.
- £1.50 - 4 x Fizzy water on offer.
- £1.25 - Grapes reduced from £2.50.
- £2.99 - Large mixed salad pot.
- 85p - Large bottle of water.

Total spend of £6.98.

Bit annoyed as i spent £3 on a salad pot but we were off to the beach with the family and i didn't want to be tempted by chips, plan worked though and i didn't have any

X

Gracie_1827

No spends so far in Jan. Last time I "spent" money on food was £2.50's worth of Nectar points on 4 pints of milk and a large bag of carrots. That was on the 29th Dec. :j I haven't been tempted by sales, yellow stickered foods. I have enough in my freezer & cupboards to last...I think. But my DS unexpectedly came home New Years eve....bit of a domestic:o. so we'll have to see how long that lasts

Mamjak

Mrs_T_M wrote: »

I'm a big fan of freezer cooking, and it definitely makes life easier. Even though I'm a house-wife and supposedly have infinite time to cook, it still saves me time to have meals and treats ready to go in the freezer. Work hard one day per week or month (depending on the size of your freezer) and you'll have a week or months worth of meals ready to cook.

For today, I'll be making buckwheat pancakes, cinnamon applesauce oatmeal muffins, pizza dough, cookie dough, and possibly some cinnamon rolls. The last three will be placed in the freezer in portions, but uncooked. Tomorrow, since I'll have the shortening, I'll be making pasties and homemade 'poptarts.'

This is a good idea and I am trying to do that as prefer spending day baking in quantity rather than little bits here and there. Also find days when I'm feeling bit rough is when I fancy good home cooking the most and its frustrating when have to put up with convenience meals as not got enough energy.

Intrigued by the pop tarts - how do you make them?