January 2014 Grocery Challenge

Soworried

redbooties wrote: »

I'm going to join in with the next challenge in February. This month I've kept every receipt and logged every spend, also I've been working out how much I'm spending on pets, toiletries and food. I'm very very shocked at 1. How much I actually spend on grocerys a month, this is a lot higher than my estimate as I never really counted all the small shops for pints of milk etc
2. How much I spend on pets and toiletries, I always assumed that my food shop was where I could save the most money but I think I need to address how much I spend on pet food first.

The February thread is up and you can post your target now even if you are not on to your February budget yet

samtoby

Hello everyone - just had a tasty roast cooked by Mum which costs us nothing.

I will join the new month after 21/01/2014 as that is my payday

spookybuffy

katkin wrote: »

Hi and welcome. I'm a newb to the Grocery Challange too and get the impression you can sign up anytime.

My month starts mid-month but I'm joining in to reduce my spend.

meg72 - I'd enjoy that challenge of making the most out of the tins through Feb, you should go for it and put by the money you'd have spent on groceries. Some folks are funny about these things but I'd ignore them and get on with planning some interesting and experimental meals with those tins.

physicsgirl - it really annoys me too that I have to spend so much time and effort investigating supermarket pricing information so I can get enough info to be able to make a simple purchase decision gggrrr.....they don't make it easy do they!

thank for the reply, just started on the February thread. :beer:

2childmum

Just done my meal plan for the week. I've worked out that by buying stuff on special offer/YS/in cheaper places and freezing it, and then planning based on what is in the freezer I save quite a lot of money - or I would if i could work out when to stop buying the bargains 'cos I've got enough in the freezer to keep us going. As things stand I have more stashed away than I used to have but am spending only a bit less - I need to think of a plan!

Meal plan -

Mon - quorn chilli - already made up in the freezer from when I was feeding 12 of us and went a bit over the top!
Tues - roast gammon and roast pots - I've discovered I've got 2 half bags of spuds so I'll roast all of them and freeze some.
Weds - Lamb curry in the slow cooker ( just realised I need some peppers - must update my order)
Thurs - paprika and thyme salmon - new recipe
Fri - scampi and chips - nice and easy end of the week dinner
Sat - son's 16 birthday party - he has chosen frozen pizzas from Mr T website and worked out the cheapest way to get the toppings he wanted based on the different offers - bless him! DH and I will have beef casserole from the freezer
Sun - ginger and lime chicken - another new recipe.

I've just done an online order as I had a voucher to £15. It's up at about £70 but we needed lots of bits we had run out of, 7 16years old boys eat a huge amount of pizza, and I needed quite a bit of stuff for the gerbils. Jan runs up to the 31st for me, but next week I will only buy the things we need for that week rather than any offers to stash away so I think I should come in on budget.

bmma

Hi will be over budget for January, but will still log what I spend-January now a learning curve -February's budget will be more realistic x

Sweetie83

Thought last week as it is so much cheaper I would give thighs a go and use my slow cooker. Decided to try a casserole to start with

Slow cooker chicken casserole
I cut up 2 carrots, 2 potatoes, 1 onion and browned with some olive oil. browned the thighs and then added to SC. Then I added 1 pint of chicken stock (with 3 oxo cubes) and added some peas and 1 tbsp of thyme and then put on for 8 hours on low and was so good. Did with some yorkshires, mash and dumplings. All the family enjoyed but did add some seasoning to mine as I LOVE salt!! I was able to reheat when got home so verdict is chicken thighs are fab in my eyes now:)

Did last shop today which was a tight one £40. I work for defence so have a defence forces discount card which gets me £10 off iceland so I go there and Tesco's (which is going to be Lidl's next month). Still £7 over limit but what you going to do hey!!

Loving this idea Spendinglikemad. May just have to borrow it!!

spendinglikemad wrote: »

I just went onto t3sco to do an online shop and put all the list in - then decided to print the list and go to a*di over the weekend to see how much I can save - so my resolve is doing well!!!

SLM

minicooper272

Doing quite well this month, taking a cookery course, which means I'm having to buy a handful of one-off things that are driving my food costs up at the moment, but despite that, I still have £21 of my £80 budget left, and just need one more shop next weekend.

My cupboard is absolutely full to bursting point at the moment, I just can't fit another thing in there! I really need to focus on running it down, which is my target over the next few weeks. I hope this means I will come in under budget, although I know I'll need some fresh chicken and veggies for my course.

Florenceem

Yet another NSD here. I have meals planned for the next two weeks.
Used the LO casserole to make a LO Shepherd's Pie. I mixed in a tin of baked beans plus some mixed veggies. Flavoured it with garlic granules + jerk seasoning. Plenty of potatoes in stock for topping - some mash left over too. Two helpings of Shepherd's Pie going in the freezer.
So we had the LO Shepherd's Pie with carrots and cabbage + gravy for dinner.

Billie-jo

Having a few problems with photo bucket tonight but think its sorted now.
Another NSD for Jan.
Did the Old Fashioned Chicken & Vegetable casserole out of the Hairy Dieters book today but made it in the slow cooker and omitted the wine but added extra stock and also added some chopped red pepper to it. Was delicious and mum took a dish home with her for tomorrow. 2-3 portions left to go in the freezer tomorrow. Served it with some boiled potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli.

K9sandFelines

NSD for me, just caught up on the thread.

Made the apple plait off the front page today. Dough was lovely but none of us liked my filling, of two apples (Granny Smiths) , a bit of mincemeat and custard mixed together. So think will use the rest of the apples and make muffins as they never go wrong. (Seem to keep getting lots of bruised apples from L*dl)!
I also made a massive pan of soup to last DD1 the week for school in her flask, and Gizzi Erskine sheperd's pie with Quorn meat. Added lentils so it stretched out loads. Have froze a portion of the pie, and the Quorn mixture. On a mission to meal plan better this week. Off work tomorrow and Tuesday so will get on top of my 'to do' list!