October 2013 Grocery Challenge

robberbutton

meg72 wrote: »

I think in an ideal world everyone would like to be caring and go for free range, but at the end of the day when money is tight and the kids must be fed, kids come first chickens second.

Have found a list about the worst offenders for pesticides, so will try and buy organic for just those. They also list fruit and vegetables that you don't need to worry about (anything you peel basically). Have worked out that Mr T is slightly cheaper doing it that way than a veg box. (Although the veg box, A&C, is cheaper for meat!) http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php

We have chickens, so at least don't have to worry about eggs (although one hasn't been laying for ages, grr).

Spent nearly £10 today in Co-op as had a church lunch - made scones, but bought extra jam and clotted cream, bread and butter. Some jam and cream left over, but no scones though, they were a hit :j

Menu plan for this week:
1. Boston baked beans
2. Spinach Pie
3. Falafel
4. Fish Pie
5. Cottage Pie
6. Ikea Meatballs
7. Tuna Pasta

Hmm, lots of pies! Hopefully will last longer than a week as will be leftovers, tea at Grandma's on Thursday, and a wedding on Saturday.

Archer0710

I would like to join in please. I sat and worked out our grocery spend for last month.......it was £498! For two of us :eek:

I am thoroughly ashamed of this and I want to use the money for better things not arguing with my husband over our insane supermarket bill!

So I think £270 would be a reasonable amount....this will exclude dog food as I budget for that separately but include cleaning bits, as I mostly use a steamer as don't like chemicals unless I have to.

I also however am clueless about budgeting food wise. So it may be a very steep learning curve

chocoholic_chick

Could I join please? We have a budget of £280 a month for the 2 of us and our pets which includes all toiletries, wine etc but I'm trying to cut this down so any left over can go towards the mortgage. Going to aim for £220 for September please. Hoping this should be do-able but don't want to cut it too drastically too soon and find I fail. Will try to make sure I meal plan and stick to it! First shop is tomorrow so hoping it will be £40 or less as most of the meat I need for meals next week I have in the freezer already.

zafiro1984

Hi,
Please can you put me down for £185.00 for October. Spent far too much in Sept and totally overstepped the target by £63.27. So must try harder, must try harder, must try harder, must try..................
Thanks

Islandmaid

Hi all,

Can I have £250 for October please.

I must keep tabs better. Xmas is coming and i,m getting worried.

Suziebabe

Count me in for October please!
Unfortunately, a family emergency has already blown my budgeting plans, we now have an extra mouth to feed for part of the month - so my budget for October is £378 - and we've already spent £138 of it as once again I had to let OH loose in the supermarket on his own :eek:

iammumtoone

Hi all

I am hoping for a really cheap shop this week, I have done a meal plan and have most of the stuff in.

Monday - fish / mash / mushy peas
Tuesday - lasagna / wedges / garlic bread - choc sundae
Wednesday - something from the freezer/cupboard (just me)
Thursday - salmon / hollandaise sauce / new pots / peas / beans - rubbard and custard
Friday - sausages / roast pots / yorkshire / veg / onion gravy
Saturday - HM burgers / HM oven chips /
Sunday - pizza

Treats - HM ginger cake, twinks hobnobs

Cambs85

Hi all,

Not quite started October yet (my month runs 1st - 31st) but went to farmshop yesterday and started October's shopping! Chuffed as just worked out I saved £11.25 on what it could have cost in sa1nsburys!

Can you put me down for £200!
That's £50 less than last month but...

We have to eat everything in the freezer the first couple of weeks of October so we can defrost it. So hopefully that will mean that I don't need to buy too much.

We also have a lot of meals out in October due to wedding anniversary and husband's birthday.

We'll see how it goes. If I stay under £250 I will be pleased

islandhoppa

done 2 big shops at ald! this week to make the most of 2 £5 vouchers of £40 spends. Came to £101.92 altogether, but freezer and cupboards are full to bursting, lets see how long it lasts!

Peggybabcot

The most common reason for popping to the shop and therefore overspending is bread and milk. Now I've got bread covered since I started making my own but wanted some advice on freezing milk. I've had a clear out of our freezer and finally we do have some room. Can you freeze semi skimmed or does it have to be full fat? And does anyone have any baking suggestions for savoury snacks such as sausage rolls etc for when the kids get in from school and also to replace crisps as a savoury element to lunch box fillers as we seem to get through too many crisps and the inevitable top up shop/overspend happens. I'm hoping for more NSD and only 1 trip per week to the supermarket in October as this is where our weakness lies. We're not veggie, I love cooking and we're 4 adults (2 teenage kids with hollow legs). Any advice would be much appreciated thanks x