March 2013 Grocery Challenge

tessie_bear

XSpender wrote: »

Hi tess

I am definitely shopping more often than I was as we seem to constantly need more fruit and salad doing SW. I must be going nearly every day:eek: I think it is eating more meat and ham and more fruit that has pushed it up. I buy too much cupboard stuff too.

I will take your advice and try and plan my shops so I go less. We have a lot to use up too:o

Thanks for your post

me again....i will probably be shot down but i think a healthier diet is more expensive but u could try the following to keep costs down;
grow a pot of cut and come again salad leaves have u a sunny
spot on a patio...thats what i do and im no gardener

visit a market and have a look at the f and v bargains

waitrose seem to do good reductions on fruit particularly

ham...think about buying a slicer and boiling up a bit of ham and slice it yourself

i would highly recommend being strong and using stuff up....i took to rooting through my cupboards on a monday and putting a selection of tins/packets on the counter top so i could see them and tried really hard to include them in my plan that week

good luck tess

K9sandFelines

GreenFairy wrote: »

I've yet to find veg meatballs that I like. Either the texture is good but the aftertaste is odd, or the taste is good but the texture is disgusting. It's entirely killing my hopes for an Ik3a style meatball dinner at home

I haven't tried Ikea ones, so nothing to live up to thankfully. Quorn ones are nice,so will stick to them. I daresn't try Asdas own after last night :rotfl:, as the Tesco ones just spoilt the whole dish and i had to force myself to eat them!

sheeppappar

tessie_bear wrote: »

me again....i will probably be shot down but i think a healthier diet is more expensive

definitely agree but the ideas about markets etc are definitely good ones. If you can find a decent greengrocer that will help .. then try and go meat-free a couple of days and/or bulk out your meat dishes with loads of veg so they stretch to more meals.

On a GC note I am much less smug now as just been to asda and spent £61 :-S. £18 was easter eggs and birthday cake which doesn't come out of this budget (yes I know could have home made but sadly that won't wash with mr sheep's 2 who are coming this weekend!)

about £10 is stuff specifically for the mini-sheep to eat and about £10 is store stuff that will last into next month.

Oop just remembered to do priceguarantee on website + got £2.65 back so that helps a bit hurrah

I should still come in under budget I hope but I had forgotten about our visit this weekend.. fingers crossed + good luck all x

TDMum

I don't normally venture onto these boards. After having a finiancial embarassment 3 years ago I usually lurk on the money boards. Anyhoo, in January my husband changed from weekly to monthly pay and we moved house all at the same time. Needless to say our budget went up the swanny in February and hasn't been fantastic this month either. I thought I would have a nosey at some recipes and I am astounded at how inventive everyone is! I thought I was doing well at £450 a month for all groceries, toiletries, cleaning products etc for a family of 5 and a bit (myself, hubby, 6yr old, 4yr old, 2yr old and once a week 13yr old). After reading this board I see I could be doing much better. I normally do meal plan to an extent but to be honest there's usually a couple of nights where we fall off the wagon either due to my laziness or the husbands desires for naughty food. This month I'm cutting down to £400 for the month. I know it's not a huge decrease but let's not run before we can walk (especially when you're a tad porky like me )

After being inspired by this board I've spent the past 3 days meal planning for the next month and have set myself a challenge of buying no puddings at all. I love to cook/bake so every Sunday I'm going to make a batch of cakes and a batch of cookies for puddings/treats. I'll be hiding veg in the cakes to catch out my vegetable dodging 2 year old and making biscuits with less refined sugar and hidden nastyness.

The huge monthly shop is happening tonight whilst my lovely mother in law looks after the kids so I'm hoping for a fair few whoopsies and I have prewarned the hubby that any contraband will be ejected from the trolley

This is my first attempt so it will be a bit hit and miss but I'm actually really looking forward to the challenge and any leftover spends at the end of the month will be going into the "We need a new car that isn't a heap" pot.

I'll post my buys and menu plans later on. Any hints, tips and advice will be gratefully received!

Let's hope i don't poison my beloved kiddos :eek:

Pink.

TDMum wrote: »

I don't normally venture onto these boards. After having a finiancial embarassment 3 years ago I usually lurk on the money boards. Anyhoo, in January my husband changed from weekly to monthly pay and we moved house all at the same time. Needless to say our budget went up the swanny in February and hasn't been fantastic this month either. I thought I would have a nosey at some recipes and I am astounded at how inventive everyone is! I thought I was doing well at £450 a month for all groceries, toiletries, cleaning products etc for a family of 5 and a bit (myself, hubby, 6yr old, 4yr old, 2yr old and once a week 13yr old). After reading this board I see I could be doing much better. I normally do meal plan to an extent but to be honest there's usually a couple of nights where we fall off the wagon either due to my laziness or the husbands desires for naughty food. This month I'm cutting down to £400 for the month. I know it's not a huge decrease but let's not run before we can walk (especially when you're a tad porky like me )

After being inspired by this board I've spent the past 3 days meal planning for the next month and have set myself a challenge of buying no puddings at all. I love to cook/bake so every Sunday I'm going to make a batch of cakes and a batch of cookies for puddings/treats. I'll be hiding veg in the cakes to catch out my vegetable dodging 2 year old and making biscuits with less refined sugar and hidden nastyness.

The huge monthly shop is happening tonight whilst my lovely mother in law looks after the kids so I'm hoping for a fair few whoopsies and I have prewarned the hubby that any contraband will be ejected from the trolley

This is my first attempt so it will be a bit hit and miss but I'm actually really looking forward to the challenge and any leftover spends at the end of the month will be going into the "We need a new car that isn't a heap" pot.

I'll post my buys and menu plans later on. Any hints, tips and advice will be gratefully received!

Let's hope i don't poison my beloved kiddos :eek:

Hi TDMum,

I've added your post to our grocery challenge where others are trying to cut back on their grocery bills and where you'll get lots of help and support from the regulars in that thread.

Pink

[Deleted User]

Hi All. I have had a couple of NSDs this week and my 'March' will end on Friday as OH gets paid then. I am still going to try and use up stuff out of the freezer next week so as not to touch the April Food budget until nearer April!

I am off on holiday for 2 weeks in April (much needed) so I am planning a blitz on the house cleaning and doing lots of batch cooking (well, in theory - the reality may be that I just do a bit of cooking!!).

I will put my name down proper for the April GC and get into the habit of keeping a log of all my spending - this works so why I don't keep it up is a mystery to me.

GreenFairy

€25.48 to add to my total. Veg, dairy free milk/ice cream/desserts, veggie sausages, ground coffee and biscuits.
Satay moving to tomorrow as hubs isn't in the mood for it this evening. Probably burritos tonight then as have wraps and beans that need eating before the weekend. Stew for the gang on Friday night.

Hubs started new job this week and it's paid by the month in arrears. First paycheque won't be til end of April and only for a half month. I see a lot of rice in my future....

brighteyes1987

Evening all,

Few small spends today
£4.46 in home bargains
£2.97 in 99p shop

Will update sig shortly.

Had McDonald's for dinner & we enjoyed every bit just really cba today!!!
I suppose we all have days like this :cool:

Have a lovely evening all

BE x

DanielleNic87

£44.43 spent in the last couple of days. So far this year I have spent £185.02 which I'm really pleased about. Still got quite a lot if food to get through

Florenceem

Aiming for a NSD tomorrow.
Dinner tonight was HM wedges with cheese/onion pastie and asparagus, carrot, leeks, onions and swede. Already got pizza out of the freezer for tomorrow's dinner - I like to be organised.
Made muffins while cooking dinner. It is so routine to me - fill the oven when it is on - been doing it for years now.



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