October 2013 Grocery Challenge

Nelly11

candygirl wrote: »

A NSD for me too, and am being treated to a takeaway tonight:j:j:j:j

How lovely - enjoy x:):)

marris

spent £1,18 on leeks in al*i for leek and potato soup
and £9,70 in Mr Tes*o. got some YS Finest food to go in the freezer.was gonna have a NSD but had a voucher £2 off £20 plus had some other coupons to use up so went.

Shortie

Evening all, right, I'm finally sat down with some space to think!

New budget started yesterday of £250

Went shopping today, walking in saying to Mr Shortie 'we need to aim at around £50' and walked out a very scary £100.43 lighter :eek::eek:

We got the planned shopping plus about £40 of reductions. In hindsight I'm not convinced the bargains were that good for us though.. I mean (hhmm.. struggling to vocalise this..) we got nice bits and we will enjoy them all, but we got quite a few 'easy meal' bits that we don't normally eat - packs of chicken breast in sauces, pies, breaded chicken bits, posh cakes.. it's all in the freezer (cakes too) but thinking about it now, we could have got 2 x 3 for £10 meats with loads of cheap tinned bits to bulk out spag bols, chillis, currys etc...

Hmm...feeling slightly deflated now and annoyed at myself

Off to update sig

craigywv

don't beat yourself up shortie we all have days like that put it down to experience.............you wont do it again.xxx

physicsgirl

Sorry for not posting, I've had a ridiculously hectic last 2 weeks, culminating in me nearly in tears on Friday when I found a mistake in my model which means the theoretical solution doesn't fit the experimental data at all :mad: oh the joys of being a scientist.

Anyway one upside of being so busy is that I've had practically no time to get to any shops at all - I've had 11 NSDs in the last 15 :eek: But a still a total of £101.13 to be added to the spend so far this month.

So starting from Saturday 5th October (apologies in advance for the essay):

NSD Saturday as it was a "lazy day" and most of the day was spent in PJs! Got out the house eventually and played tennis for an hour and a half on the local "free" courts (they're meant to be pay and display, but in the time we were there, none of the other 7 lots of people using them paid either so don't feel too bad... Ok, still feel a bit bad ). Made a tagine kinda-thing with lots of veg and spices, with couscous and homemade falafels following this recipe: http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/08/24/adventures-in-a-meat-free-cottage-perfect-falafels-ive-cracked-it/ which were fab and would def make them again.

Sunday we went into town so my OH could get a bday present for me, but didn't find anything. We then went rockclimbing (actually bouldering) using a Amazon local deals voucher I purchased ages ago as a present for my OH (so not out of grocery budget) - we had a 1 hour beginners lesson, shoe hire and unlimited climbing after the lesson for £10 each. The unlimited climbing didn't really happen as within half an hour of the lesson finishing our arms and fingers were so sore that neither of us could hold on to anything (this continued until Wednesday - lesson leant, don't over-do it at rockclimbing if it's been ages since you've done it). We wanted a snack so got a healthy-ish pack of japanese crackers from Sainsbury's (£1.20) before heading to the pub with my parents (£25) pub, then back to theirs for dinner after

Monday - £3.85 on lunch as I was too lazy to make my own, £10.84 in Tesco (inc 8 cans of chickpeas at 25p/can, and £2 on halloween sweets in case anyone comes trick or treating), and £25.91 in Aldi (on stuff for breakfasts, lunches and store cupboard stuff, inc £1.98 on 2 chocolate santas for Christmas presents)

Tuesday - NSD

Wednesday - meal out, we were planning to go to Jamie's but it was completely full, so went to Wagamamas instead (£23).

Thursday - £1.90 for parking but took lunch with me

Friday - NSD, was going to be £10 but pizza delivery turned up over an hour late (by which time we'd eaten after not being able to get through to the store on the phone) so refused it, had pizza and garlic bread from the freezer instead (worked out as £1.34 for the meal, although I did miss not having the stuffed crust and all the meat on the pizza...)

Saturday though to Friday all NSD

Saturday - £9.43 in Sainsbobs inc £2.17 on Clipper Hot Chocolate - so expensive but definitely the best.

I remember making these meals at some point during the two weeks:
lentil bolognase
leek risotto
curry with homemade onion bhajis (http://agirlcalledjack.com/2013/05/28/reader-recipes-lous-cheap-n-cheerful-n-very-very-tasty-onion-bhajis-recipe/)- yummy bajees but way too much, we had them a couple of days later too and the mix still isn't gone.
But i think most of the other meals were easy bits and bobs from the store cupboards and freezer, can't really remember though

Also cooked the weetabix brownies recipe that's on here - I didn't think they were great, pretty dry, which is odd as other people have raved about them so I'm not sure where I went wrong :S

Anyway big shop needs to be done tomorrow, esp as the OH's parents are coming next weekend (eek, first time they've seen the flat) so need to impress (or at least give the impression I'm not starving their son...)

lynnejk

Popped into Li*l for some milk (and muesli and courgette on offer and Hz beans 6 4 4) so came out £ 5.36 lighter.:rotfl:

Oh well - none of it will go to waste and I'll go update now

Still keeps raining here though not as cold. Hope you all enjoying the weekend.
L

Shortie

craigywv wrote: »

don't beat yourself up shortie we all have days like that put it down to experience.............you wont do it again.xxx

Thanks craigywv there were some true bargaisn in there for what we eat - the chicken breasts in sauce were much cheaper than if we'd bought as part of the offer even.. and the pies were dirt chep.. but other bits which cheap, we could have made other meals cheaper... Next time I'll be lots more sensible xx

MrsCautious

Morning all, I've added £20.50 to my total so far this month and have a request in for what I'd call 'posh' sausage, bacon and eggs for my children's birthday this week, I will be splashing out on some quality meat

Had some decent YS bargains at Sains this week. 2 packs of YS turkey mince for £1.99 each, two loaves of white sliced bread for 24p each.
YS apple pie was £1.05 from the Co-op.
I bought a load of groceries in the week and paid £2.50 as I used up £35 of nectar points off my card and the shop before that I paid 57p after using £12 of points. We've been away for the weekend last week and have had two meals cooked for us, so all of that helps my grocery budget - though my eating out budget has taken a battering! This weekend I am away again

I have a very small freezer and it's pretty full. I'm wondering whether to drop down to £200 next month.



Today I'm going to attempt a version of shepherd's pie with turkey mince. Also going to prepare a beef casserole for tomorrow

K9sandFelines

I have just received a phonecall off Mr T re my email regarding the meal deal; and not only have they refunded the bottle of wine but also another item worth £8.99; so I've actually ended up making money :T. So I can now add £15.98 to the total, plus a £5 e-voucher :j.So it pays to stand your ground.

Today will be a nsd as I am showered and back in pjs and not leaving the house! Currently waiting for Quorn Roast dinner; and then an afternoon of catching up on laundry.

meg72

Great result K9, pleased for you.