March 2013 Grocery Challenge

Miroslav

Spent £9.56 today and forgot what I went to Mr T for....Ryvita

Have to go back tomorrow and get a couple of other bits I didn't think of.

£84.53 of £120 now spent.

Need to start learning how to make good meals for cheap.....I can cook, I just don't like the kitchen and also now having to learn to cook new things

cattysmum

Went to Ts and asda today, had lots of coupons so did quite well shop wise, so I now have about £23.00 left till end of month hope I can do it, I have lots of stuff in the freezers, going to do a chicken pie tomorrow leftover chicken from roast today think I will put some leeks in it. Not long to go now till end of month good luck everyone

MrsCautious

Hello everyone, good luck for the rest of the week and towards the end of the month. I have prepared a shopping list based strictly around what main elements I already have and plan to cook from now to the end of the month. I know this is such a basic step for so many here but it's a new one on me. I've estimated it should be about £15 or under.

I have meal planned until the end of March and have around 10 meals in mind for what's in the freezer for April. I'd like to improve on batch cooking so I can be more organised with this. I'm looking forward to adding to basics for a store cupboard but surprised myself that I don't have that big a jump to go with this, I have various herbs and spices, different types of stock, always have onions etc plus Worcester sauce.

My children have welcomed the prospect of hm cake for their lunchboxes for next month and I'm now puzzling over ways to cut down the cost of lunchbox drinks. I think I'd like to reuse and refill a bottle of water rather than buying individual drinks - again, I know this won't be rocket science for most but a fresh approach for me

Thanks all for continued inspiration and I always love to see the pics of meals x

meg72

tessie_bear wrote: »

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

Great advice Tess,I save a small fortune by growing my own in summer and amdrooling at the thought of my first rhubarb,raspberrys and strawberries.

For anyone wanting to try to grow their own salad leaves, Wilkinsons have a 3 for 2 offer, I got 2 packs lettuce ( each 750 seeds) and pack raddish 200 seeds for 1.20.

Deffinitely dont recommend for money saving but has given me a very much needed fit of the giggles is the poundland mushroom kit, it has produced,wait for it, TWO mushrooms,must remember not to eat them all at once:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

NickJW

Hi All

Small spend of 95p on a can of Heinz soup from Mr S today (I stayed at work late last night, because I had too much to do, and didn't have food in the house to prepare anyway). I did bring the last of a tub of Osem chicken stock flavour croutons from home, which had been sitting in the cupboard for a while, to save getting bread and to bulk it up.

Got a £2 off £20 spend till spit, so will definately be using that to get some stocks in!

lizalloareds

NSD today would be better if I stuck to the budget!

Florenceem

MrsCautious wrote: »

Hello everyone, good luck for the rest of the week and towards the end of the month. I have prepared a shopping list based strictly around what main elements I already have and plan to cook from now to the end of the month. I know this is such a basic step for so many here but it's a new one on me. I've estimated it should be about £15 or under.

I have meal planned until the end of March and have around 10 meals in mind for what's in the freezer for April. I'd like to improve on batch cooking so I can be more organised with this. I'm looking forward to adding to basics for a store cupboard but surprised myself that I don't have that big a jump to go with this, I have various herbs and spices, different types of stock, always have onions etc plus Worcester sauce.

My children have welcomed the prospect of hm cake for their lunchboxes for next month and I'm now puzzling over ways to cut down the cost of lunchbox drinks. I think I'd like to reuse and refill a bottle of water rather than buying individual drinks - again, I know this won't be rocket science for most but a fresh approach for me

Thanks all for continued inspiration and I always love to see the pics of meals x

When I did lunchboxes and drinks - put HM squash in bottles. The bottles were brought home and washed - used again and again.

Kitchenbunny

Evening everyone. It's been a busy couple of days here, so I haven't had chance to fully catch up with the thread yet. I'll have a look in a bit, but...

Both today and yesterday have been NSDs for me - this is getting to be a bit of a habit Mum cooked tea for us tonight so that was one less thing to worry about.

I'm going to make an early start on my mealplan this week to try and incorporate some coupons I've got from Mr T. I normally shop at Mr M but if I can get the things I normally buy cheaper elsewhere I'll definitely switch. (Note, these aren't ClubCard coupons but money off or extra points ones - we're saving the big value coupons to turn into bigger value doodahs).

Anyway have a lovely evening everyone. Take care.

KB Xx

meg72

MrsCautious wrote: »

Hello everyone, good luck for the rest of the week and towards the end of the month. I have prepared a shopping list based strictly around what main elements I already have and plan to cook from now to the end of the month. I know this is such a basic step for so many here but it's a new one on me. I've estimated it should be about £15 or under.

I have meal planned until the end of March and have around 10 meals in mind for what's in the freezer for April. I'd like to improve on batch cooking so I can be more organised with this. I'm looking forward to adding to basics for a store cupboard but surprised myself that I don't have that big a jump to go with this, I have various herbs and spices, different types of stock, always have onions etc plus Worcester sauce.

My children have welcomed the prospect of hm cake for their lunchboxes for next month and I'm now puzzling over ways to cut down the cost of lunchbox drinks. I think I'd like to reuse and refill a bottle of water rather than buying individual drinks - again, I know this won't be rocket science for most but a fresh approach for me

Thanks all for continued inspiration and I always love to see the pics of meals x

You are doing so well love. Re the drinks, I didthis for years with my two, but our water was not that nice so I used to add lemon or lime juice to it and a great tip I was given was, in the summer only fill your bottle about half full and freeze, top up in the morning,and you have a nice cold drink,also helps keep the rest of lunch cool.

Guineapigsqueaks

Evening All

Had to buy 4 pints of milk to keep us going until weekly shop at the weekend, £1.00 from Icel*nd.

Leaves me at £262.50/£300. So £37.50 for my final shop, I have a £5 off £40 Mr T voucher, think I will go there, shame not to get £5 of free groceries, so will spend to maximum of £42.50 and will come in on budget. Going to have first go at new self scan as you shop gadget, to be sure of what I'm spending.

Night all, sleep tight x