March 2013 Grocery Challenge

Islandmaid

Hi all,

First spend of March and it was a BIG one.....:mad:

£9 in Mr S for cat food - will last 2 weeks

£60 in butchers - 2kg sausages, 1 kg mince, 1kg chicken thighs, huge lump of pork, 1kg beef skirt, 1kg lamb breast, 1kg belly pork - will last us a month

£60 in Mr L,s included 5 packs of chicken kievs for freezer, will last 2 months, so £55 for weeks shop, but did buy a load of baking stuff, and 2 pots of face cream 'because I,m worth it'

So £129, out of my £300 budget - ouch.....

Will be making faggots for freezer this weekend, at least 2 dozen (thanks froogs) and will SC stew the skirt for stew and pies

Hope your all well x

pinkypig

Hi everyone. Will be having a NSD today and tomorrow as we are having a free family weekend:j
I am having a baking morning while the kids are watching TV in there PJs (we have had a long, tough week so they deserve it!). Mr PP is tidying out the garage. This afternoon we are all going to have a garden tidy up before their friends arrive for tea and a sleep over. Tomorrow we are going for a long hill walk and taking a picnic and the in laws are coming for tea.

I think it was Tessie Bear that asked about our budgets and what they cover. I have to say I am really impressed with how much people produce for such a small budget. Amazing what a bit of effort and forward planning can achieve:T I'm not quite there yet but I am getting better:)

We are a family of four with a cat that will not eat dried food. Our budget covers tinned catfood, cleaning products and toiletries. Foodwise it needs to cover 7 evening meals including a meal with friends or family which we try and do every weekend and packed lunches for all four of us five days a week and two lunches which we eat at home during the weekend. The kids tend to have sandwiches, fruit, yogurt and some HM cake. Mr PP and i have access to a fridge and a microwave so we tend to have leftovers or HM soup. Lunch at the weekend is usually baked potatoes or something on toast. We all eat breakfast and this is usually cereal,toast, HM pancakes or YS bakery treats like crumpets or croissants. We set off aiming for £50 a week. We have got this down to £40 and are aiming for £35. Never thought this would be possible but I do now. Thank you all for your endless, brilliant ideas and tips:A

Have a good day

PP xx

[Deleted User]

Just popped in to update. Spent another £3.65. Half price moisturiser, half price, shampoo and conditioner, YS cress and YS sausage pasta. The bread i made a boob on, i had 2 coupons to use and the loaves were 400g, reduced, and with another 30p off but i realised ide paid 93p for two of these, which was about 46p each. Looking at my receipts i could have got an 800g loaf for around 50p to 80p so i should have waited and thrown the coupons out (they were going out of date on the 28th). Just goes to show, sometimes using coupons doesnt work out cheaper.

lbnblbnb

Just meal planned and made my list. I am going to Aldi and Sainsbury's so that I can use nectar points etc.
Sat: Dragon noodles
Su: lunch tabbouleh and beet root salad
Dinner- takeaway! First one for months. OH offered, guilt I think as he has four gigs this weekend and I won't see him.
Mon: bean and spinach enchiladas in the slow cooker
Tues: swede and Parmesan layer bake and leeks in some form
Wed: veggie chilli

As I type it i realised there is a lot of spicy food, must be the mood I am in, but the ingredients are cheap. Being vegetarian helps with the food budget.

My focus at the moment is the kids packed lunches. I hate all the packaged expensive bits and bobs they want. I am going to make some of these no bake bars later
http://http://www.plantoeat.com/recipes/1037951
And some Mary Berry scones to help fill their hollow legs. I want to try trail mix with them but not sure they will go for it.
Any ideas?

mossy

Spent £5.98 in sainsbugs and waitrose.

Have some spanish pork casserole cooking in the oven at the moment, enough for tea tonight and one to freeze.

Then going to cook some DR mince to make three lots of bolognaise mince which I can use with pasta or make a lasagne with. I'll freeze all of those I think.

Still suffering from food poisoning from over the half term so don't have much appetite to eat or meal plan. Completely out of batch cooked foods in the freezer though so glad I am replenishing the stock even though I can't face eating most of it at present!!

Suzexxx

Hi all

Bit late but just stopping by to post my budget for March. This month i'll aim to spend £300. I had my baby son last Saturday, so didnt complete the February challenge as i lost track of my reciepts. My budget has gone up again this month due to have a new edition to the family and he is currently being bottle fed which is costing me an extra £10 per week. I'm hoping to remain at a £300 budget each month for the rest of the year though.

Had a NSD yesterday so will add that to my total. I'm off shopping today, going to Morrisons as i have my £10 off voucher to use by Monday and a couple of vouchers for baby items to use.

Will try and catch up on the thread in the meantime and update my signature.

Suze

[Deleted User]

Good afternoon chums 2nd NSD today I was going to get some Burgen bread from the local Iceland's but I found some at the bottom of the freezer, so it can wait until next weekI know if I go to the shops I will spend so I am making do with what's indoors.
Every penny is going to be accounted for this month as I have a few large bills to pay out so its going to be a pretty frugal month,but I do have a lot of freezer bits and at the moment nothing is urgently needed.I'm just going to make some cakes for the tins as they are looking a bit empty at the moment Shopping as much as possible from my stocks this month,so I still have my £60.00 food purse intact Roll on the end of the month :) Well done to all who are doing the GC by the way its well worth the effort when you have cash left over at the end of the month :)

Coxy11

Suzexxx wrote: »

Hi all

I had my baby son last Saturday, so didnt complete the February challenge as i lost track of my reciepts.
Suze

Congratulations :beer:

Spent £17.27 at Sainsbugs this morning. Chicken, pep$i max, fresh loaf for lunch, packed lunch bits and women's essentials DS2 was asking in a VERY loud voice "what's that you're putting in the trolley - max protection???" He is only 9, bless him.....

Off to update sig and the budget list.
Coxy

Florenceem

Suzexxx wrote: »

Hi all

Bit late but just stopping by to post my budget for March. This month i'll aim to spend £300. I had my baby son last Saturday, so didnt complete the February challenge as i lost track of my reciepts. My budget has gone up again this month due to have a new edition to the family and he is currently being bottle fed which is costing me an extra £10 per week. I'm hoping to remain at a £300 budget each month for the rest of the year though.

Had a NSD yesterday so will add that to my total. I'm off shopping today, going to Morrisons as i have my £10 off voucher to use by Monday and a couple of vouchers for baby items to use.

Will try and catch up on the thread in the meantime and update my signature.

Suze

Congratulations!!!!!

Florenceem

Coxy11 wrote: »

Congratulations :beer:

Spent £17.27 at Sainsbugs this morning. Chicken, pep$i max, fresh loaf for lunch, packed lunch bits and women's essentials DS2 was asking in a VERY loud voice "what's that you're putting in the trolley - max protection???" He is only 9, bless him.....

Off to update sig and the budget list.
Coxy

I was shopping with Mr F and two young DGC. Mr F sent DGC to ask if I wanted - anything for Nannie's knickers. Why he didn't say - panti liners - I don't know. I didn't hear what she said first time - so she raised her voice - I was in a queue at the checkout.
I suppose panti liners would have been as embarrassing said loudly.