May Grocery Challenge

moggins

I find Lidls even more tempting as there are so many goodies there like fantastic ice cream, bratwurst, cold meats etc at prices that I can actually afford that I have to be very disciplined to stick to my list and even that doesn't help sometimes.

Bargain_Rzl

Magentasue wrote:

Don't know if these things are true for Nettos. I've found there are some things we don't like from Lidls and some things they just don't do but other thing like parmesan, olive oil, espresso coffee, Christmas goodies and biscuits are excellent.

I haven't really shopped much in Netto, though I do get the impression that it tends to be a lot less chaotic than Lidl.

The main difference between the two is that Lidl sells unfamiliar European brands (so you have to work out which ones are better than things you can buy more expensive elsewhere, and which are worse!) and Netto sells familiar brands at knock-down prices.

Queenie

klare wrote:

hi there..
...... my eldest turns into tazmanian devil on acid if we give him it and also cuz we can't get into any dentist at all, ........ I tried making my own yogurts.. kids wouldn't touch it and they are really good with foods in general. Tried using different types of culture to soften the flavour but it was a no go so have had to go back to fromage frais.

1) Dentists: Dental Access Centre's - we were in your situation, no dentist for our kids; when my youngest was knocked down by a car last December, one of the issues was his eye tooth so we had to go to the DAC - turns out he has broken the actual root (in 30yrs the Dentist had only seen that once before).
The tip I was given by the receptionist is ... you have to phone the morning you need the appointment but turn up instead If asked if you are in pain, say yes
Double luck came when we phoned and they told us that a certain dental practise was now taking NHS patients. Immediately phoned to book/register but still that was weeks away so used the DAC in the meantime. A couple of days later, I told a neighbour that X was taking NHS patients - but, when he called, the list had closed due to being full! You make want to make a weekly habit of calling your local DAC just for that "lucky" moment when they can tell you of a dentist taking NHS patients.
Make some enquiries to find your nearest one. You never know when you may need it.

Info: British Dental Foundation - broken down into various categories, loads of helpful advice, the sort you would be given by a dentist.

2) HM yogurt can taste rather sour; one way I managed to convert my family was to add chopped fresh fruits, then sprinkle on a small tsp of dark brown sugar - leave for a few mins and the brown sugar oozes into the yogurt and gives a yummy topping.

3) Don't know what portion sizes you serve on meat, but that can and does make a difference to your overall food bill.

Good luck, I think you're going to be able to reduce your weekly bill, but as with everything, take it one step at a time.

spendaholic

Blimey! How do you all do it? I can see this may be my first challenge, especially as I go shopping tomorrow. There are two adults in my household plus 1 cat, yet I manage to spend between £65 and £100 per *week*. This is particularly obscene as we end up chucking stuff out on Wednesday and Thursday because the dates are up. We have a terrible habit of buying food in and then getting a takeaway - although we have been Very Good this week on that front. Tonight will be our first takeaway this week. And I too like to replace things as I use them.

Hmm. £40 per fortnight + extra fiver a week? This is going to be tough ... but if it works - WOW!

squeaky

Welcome to Old Style spendaholic.

Here you'll find lots of ways to make best use of the groceries and other things that you buy, and to help keep your diet healthy and varied - not to mention how to avoid paying for expensive cleaning agents!

A good tip is to take a look at all the sticky posts at the top of the board here. Every board has stickies and they are there because they answer common questions or because readers find them to be very useful.

Lillibet_2

Hi Spendaholic, nice to see you here in Old Style:D

Don't be too strict with yourself at first, it's a steep learning curve & you need to get used to the changes gradually. Don't worry about what other people are spending, spend what is reasonable & affordable to yourself & be realisitc or you will fail very quickly & just give up:eek: . The challange isn't (necessarily) to spend as little as possible, it's to spend within your own budget limits.

Maybe plan to have one (or even more!) Takeawys a week & don't buy food for these meals, then at least you won't be wasting it (or money!) & you won't feel deprived. You can work on cutting down your Takeaways later if you want to, start by working on buying food you actually need, a meal plan would be a good way to figure this out. It doesn't need to be too rigid, maybe just something like : Monday : Chicken, Tuesday Takeaway, Wednesday Pasta, Thursday Salad, Friday Takeaway, Saturday Risiotto, Sunday Roast Pork. Then you know that you need to get in the basics for each of these & if your plans change for any reason most of these foods either won't go off & can be switched to another night or popped into the freezer for a later date.

Maybe try having a running shopping list attached to the fridge & as you use something up add it to it for the next trip, that way you won't forget it & hopefully won't feel the need to replace it straight away & thus cut out mid week tempting shopping trips?

A trick I recently learnt with Takeaways was to order them early in the week when they have 2 for one deals etc & put the extra in the freezer for a "free" Takeaway another time, pizza, Chinese & Indian food all freeze well:j



Edit : On re-reading I have realized thatalways use a capital letter for Takeaways, do you think I attach too much importance to them :rotfl:

Penny-Pincher!!

Hello There

My grocery budget started on 25th April and I allocate £60 a week grocery/cleaning/toiletries etc and £20 a week petrol.

I am disabled so go out rarely. There are 2 adults and 1 10yr old who is also disabled. Although I allocate this money in my bank account for food and petrol-all monies left over (surplus dosh) I have been moving to a high interest account. So far in the past 2 months I have saved £188.00 :eek:

I have just had my shopping delivered today, filled the car up with petrol and have 2 more weeks to go before I can move the surplus money to my savings account. I still have £240.00. I have only spent £80.00 these past 2 weeks, have travelled over 450 miles in the car too!!

I really enjoy being so thrifty and seeing my savings grow I have not used the credit card for 5 weeks now :eek: I have sorted my finances and we will be completely debt free by the end of the year :T No loans or credit card debt in 6 months time....Im dead chuffed

Car Insurance is due the end of the month and was going to put it on my 0% CC, but am gonna pay cash from my savings Never thought Id se the day :rotfl:

I love this site!!

Penny-Pincher!!

needmoney

Really good for you, that's the power of this site isn't it and it's all FREE, great stuff and great people too.

Lillibet_2

Well done Penny-Pincher:beer:

Lucie_2

Way to go Penny-Pincher! :j

Last year I managed to pay my car insurance off in one go & boy was it nice not to have it going out of the bank every month. This year I'm back on DD