July 2013 Grocery Challenge

pixiedust09

NSD on grocerys today, but did spend £15 to get my hair cut, and can now see again . Been trying to get some cleaning done as neighbour coming in the weekend to feed the cat :eek:. A very MSE dinner of beans and egg on toast, too hot to cook.

MrsCautious

I was going to start a money saving blog but didn't get round to it as ther aren't enough hours in the day, I wondered if the following that I was going to write could be helpful? The thing is, since I have been back at work it is so much harder as I don't have as much time and I am more knackered so this list reminds me of what more I could be doing.

I feel like the lovely people here are already doing these things and this is where I learned so much -- thank you so very much, I may not hit a target of £200 each month now but even without doing that I know that you have helped me give my grocery shopping habits a complete overhaul xx

60 ways I have cut my shopping bill by half:

1. Started shopping at Aldi while also...

2. not assuming Aldi is always cheaper and also continuing to shop at Sainsbury's but

3. using the MySupermarket website to let me know how much something costs in Sainsbury's so I can compare with Aldi, where I discover

4. Sainsbury's Basics range is often cheaper

5. That said, I make good use of the Aldi Super Six but

6. still buy smaller portions/individual helpings of fresh fruit and veg at Sainsbury's.

7. I've signed up the Grocery Challenge at Moneysaving Expert and

8. also participated in the NSD (No Spend Day challenge)

9. I've stopped buying pasta sauces

10 I've stopped buying any potato products, including oven chips to make my own

11. I've stopped buying any cook-in sauces or marinades for meat to make my own

12. I've sought out YS bargains

13. Downgraded to 'Basics' range

14. Use Brand Match

15. Use my Nectar card in the supermarket

16. Use my nectar card on petrol

17. Boost my nectar points with Nectar search

18. Boost my nectar points with Nectar adpoints

19. Boost my nectar points with e-shops

20. Used money rewarded through Top Cashback on a Love2shop voucher

21. Every time I reach £10 in points, I take it off my shopping

22. Smaller portions

23. Cheaper cuts of meat

24. Make my own sauces

25. Inventory of cupboard

26. Making greater use of store cupboard ingredients

27. Inventory of freezer

28. Meal plan

29. Always take bags to Aldi, where they charge

30. Always take bags to Sainsbury's where they give you Nectar points for using them

31. Experimenting with new recipes

32. having one night a week where omelette or toast is the main meal

33. Saving more expensive/substantial ingredients for children

34. Inventory of bathroom supplies then. . .

35. Not buying toiletries until used up

36. Not buying smoothies

37. Not buying fizzy drinks

38. Planning and making packed lunches

39. Freezing bread

40. Making soup

41. Batch cooking

42 Shopping at NISA

43 Checking out offers in local paper

44 Not buying expensive bread (nice crusty rolls etc)

45 Never buying full price tuna

46 Never buying full price margarine

47 Putting stuff back before going through checkout

48 Using up left overs

49 Buying cheaper dog food and treats

50 Shopping at 99p Store

51 Got Nectar credit card

52 Got cashback credit card

53 Using slow cooker

54 Stopped buying clingfilm

55 Shopping later in the day and not on Saturday mornings

56 Going by myself

57 Grabbing the chance of freebies

58 Buying absolutely the cheapest I can find -- loo paper and other household essentials

59 Using money off vouchers where I can

60 Keeping better eye on milk and bread

Florenceem

Just 32p spent today - I was out of fruit so got bananas in Asd.
I am going away for a long weekend on Thursday - telling Mr F - don't spend any money. :eek:
Mr F is staying home with the dog.
For dinner we had YS Smoked Cod with HM wedges + Cauli/Peas/Swede.

sugarpuss27

MrsC - great ideas, I have pretty much done the same as you over the past year or so. Also do Valued Opinions and have them paid out in Sainsbobs gift cards. Have had £40 worth since February and another tenner on the way. Very handy used 30 of it on a months supply of cat food that was on offer.
£2.00 spent today on lovely eggs from down the lane.
Calling into the road side stall to pick up some new tats, carrots and strawberries tomorrow, then weeekly shop on Thursday at Mr A.

mumofthetwins

hollieinbloom wrote: »

Caramelised onions: I just cut 2 onions in half and slice thinly. Fry until they are just starting to brown, add a few tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of salt and wait til it's dissolved and browned more . Then add a few table spoons of balsamic vinegar and turn it up high until it becomes sticky. I can give exact measurements because I never measure anything! lol. I do it all by taste.

Onion relish: 8 onions chopped into 1/4s and sliced thinly, 150ml of vinegar (any sort will do, i prefer to do 100ml of malt vinegar and 50ml of balsamic), 200g sugar, 2 tablespoons of wholegrain mustard. Fry onions until slightly brown, add sugar and let the sugar dissolve and brown. Mix the vinegar and mustard in a jug and add to the onions and keep on a medium heat and keep cooking until the vinegar is evaporating and you have the right consistancy. There isn't really a time that you should stop as it's all on eye. When you think it is ready to come off, put it in a sterilized jar. (to sterilize a jar, just clean it and dry it, put it in a low oven GM1 for 20mins. Don't put hot food into a cold jar or it will crack!. Hope that helps! x

Thanks Hollie ... I'm gonna have a go at the relish tomorrow ... I'm planning a baking day so gonna try to do loads of cooking

meanmarie

Spends so far are €135.55, need to rein in, lots of stuff in fridge, freezer and cupboards, so hopefully will not be spending for a week at least.

Marie

Smoosh

Went to look for the 2p wet wipes today, as expected we didn't find any. But of course ending up with YS items - a pineapple, 6 eggs, 6 wholemeal rolls and a bag of swede. I believe we spent 87p, but I'll check tomorrow.

The pineapple was very squishy, so I was worried it might be ruined on the inside, but it was actually deliciously ripe! And easy to cut too. I ate almost half of it this evening, made some into a crumble and I have a bit left that I'll probably make into a smoothie.

We'll need to do an actual proper shop tomorrow. And I need to stop buying so many little bits :mad:

dylan2011

Main shop done yesterday - didn't get many YS bargains unfortunately, got in Tes. at 6.30 and the entire reduced shelf empty other than a few slices of deli beef, which I got OH as a treat for dinner last night which he had with some salad, sains. only had some veg and some beef mince, which I did buy (1kg@£2 and parsnips@24p,broccoli@24p,carrots@18p)
So, total spends:
£3.54 in Sains
£16.20 in Tes (Included baby milk @ £9.50)
£41.78 Ald (Included 2 weeks nappies for both my LB's)
So total £61.52 - will update sig in a mo.
Got loads of stuff in, today I need to nip to local shop and get weetabix which is on offer at £1.89 and cheese on offer at £1.79 and some coffee if they have it on offer, if not will go without for now. (I dont like paying full price for anything. lol)
Then I should be sorted until the end of weekend when I might need some more milk.
Hoping to have some meat leftover this week for next as well, so hoping next week will cost a bit less.
Going to do a bit of batch cooking today - 1kg mince = Lasagne (4 portions), Spag Bol (2 portions) and the rest as Chilli (Hoping another 2 portions).
Will also cook up chicken legs for the next few days lunches - have some with salad and some shredded in wraps as HM Coronation Chicken - delish!
Off to update sig now.

NickJW

Hello all!

Had some rather large spends since my last post

£1 in M+S
£1.89 in Co-op
£1.40 in Mr S
then....£78.49 on a HUGE Mr T delivery, making use of coupons.

Should be sorted with meat until the end of August now!

Had a mish-mash sort of pasta dish on Monday - jalapeno peppers , basil, leftover cooked chicken, the end of a jar of sundried tomatoes, the last few cherry tomatoes roasted. Was actually very nice.

At the weekend my housemates mum came over, and brought some goats cheese back from France. My housemate doesn't eat cheese normally due to cholesterol, but there was a small bit left which she didn't use. Result is me having goats cheese and caramelized onion chutney sandwiches today. All other lunches will be leftovers/using what's in this week.

Can now tick off jalapeno peppers, sundried tomato and caramelized onion chutney from 'things used up finally' in the fridge.

Looking at my current total though I do wonder if I will manage to come under this week!

Hope everyone is well

tessie_bear

mrs c excellent post...i find it interesting to think where i am going well and where i am falling by the wayside...i dont agree with all the points but very clever way to think it over

i am spending too much but trying to stay positive and hope it will even out...we are having curry for tea with naan if i have the energy to delve to the depths of the freezer

have a nice day tessa