January 2014 Grocery Challenge

kalojac

Hi can you put me down for £300 month. We got paid early on 20th Dec not paid again til 30 Jan - it's gonna be a tight month :eek:

Thanks

angelatgraceland

minicooper272 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm in for January. Sticking with a budget of £80 for this month. I start a cookery class, so will need to buy some ingredients for that, and also need to do a big stock-up of the kitchen cupboard after being away for 2 weeks.

I'm trying to work my way through a mince recipe book at the moment. I know extra lean mince is better for keeping fat content down, but wondered if there is a good way to cook cheaper mince to cook off some of the fat?

Yes you can cook it off but when you weigh the fat which you cook off and deduct it from the mince you bought you realise that the mince wasn't such a bargain after all! For instance-500g with fat cooked off probably ends up as 375g-now compare that to the cost of the leaner mince by recalculating the price per kilo!

angelatgraceland

I've just made Chilli con carne with half mince and half vegimince(tesco)
Enough for 1 or 2 days depending what my son and daughter choose. Tomorrow I am making turkey casserolle using a sauce mix for pork casserolle. Also have some sliced beef to make sarnies from. All of this came out of the freezer earlier today.
I also cooked for the dog tonight-some of the thawed out turkey,some of the rice and a little gravy. A change from the dried food and she has eaten it all up. I saved a little raw mince for the cats also-another small meal each. So I think I've cooked enough for 3 days-I am eating at my cousins tomorrow night. After that I will probably make tuna pasta bake as I go cheap tuna in the 99p shop. I need to buy some ham(99p shop)and some onions, tomatoes and salad tomorrow-from Lidl unless I find a coupon to use for elsewhere but I don't want to buy anything I don't need. Determined that January will be a cheap month-it is normally the cheapest month of the year for me.

[Deleted User]

Hi
I would like to join in as DH has been made redundant and we have no income (living off savings)
Could you please put me down for $400 for the month. 2 adults, 1 large dog, 1 cat, 6 chickens and a rooster!

kayester

great start to my new year, 2 NSDs.
I am going to meal plan later today for the rest of the week but today is leftover beef so going to make a beef hotpot. Never done this before but 2014 is a year for me to try new things and save more money nice to be back on this forum after a month or 2 off.

craigywv

morning all! kiwiblue sorry to hear your oh made redundant that happened to my oh last year things were very tight but he ended up getting another job , but keep coming on here and getting good advise from fellow posters helped me immensely! lovesfullshelves hope your recovering well and quickly from your op xxx . tonight we having hawaaian chicken ys its 4 chicken breasts covered in ham and pineapple and cheese looks yum and will do hm chips and broccoli and another veg think I shall boil veg then put garlic butter over them. pudding for son will be slice of ys choc cake heated and custard. none for me or oh ! have a good day all xxx

she_who_can_not_cook

angelatgraceland wrote: »

Ok-well most stuff freezes and reheats ok. I think you are a worrier! Think of recooking it to piping hot rather than warming it up and you will be ok. Plan a couple of dishes then ask on here if you can freeze it and how to reheat as I know someone will help you! Just keep asking!

Thank you I was just going to answer . It's mayo and oh fiddle forgot not much does not freeze

mrs-moneypenny

morning all
happy new year to everyone,

lost my thread and wasnt psoting over christmas and new year so not sure what we ended up spending in december.

id like to go for £400 for january please but we really try to start the new year as frugally as we can and are on a good use up drive - the cupboards and freezer are still rammed full. so should come in under budget

Bluegreen143

I've looked back at receipts since the 25th but OH went to Mr M's for me on NYE and I haven't found that one yet. He must have spent a reasonable amount as he bought loads of c**p (lol he came in and as I was unpacking immediately started defending all the 'nibbles' he bought as a NYE treat as apparently we never have them bless) but here's what I do know and I'll update the rest later.

Mr M's on 27/12 (all YS half price as my Mr M's isn't good for reductions):

YS smoked haddock £1.23 (in freezer)
YS salmon 2 fillets £2 (in freezer)
YS plums 3x punnets £1.50 (made spicy, sweet and sour Chinese plum sauce for freezer and stewed the rest for crumble for a dinner party we're having on Sat)
Free range eggs 6pk 97p
Frozen spinach 1kg £1.25
Lemons 5pk £1.29
YS double cream 600ml x3 £2.52 (made butter and ghee)

Wee Mr T garage on 20/12 (all for a pot-luck dinner party except the bin bags):

Button chestnut mushrooms £1
Natural yoghurt £1.16
Onions 3pk £1.10
Bin bags £1.58
Tomatoes 6pk £1

C*-*p on 29/12:

Higher welfare chicken breasts 3pk + thighs 4pk £7 (destined for the pot-luck dinner party but ended up keeping them)

OH went to another C*-*p and got good YS for the pot-luck:

YS higher welfare chicken breasts 3pk x2 £1
YS artisan bread x2 20p

Total so far - £24.80. When you add in the c**p my OH bought that's quite a lot so far without having done a proper shop lol. We have tons in though so will just need to buy milk and maybe some stir fry veg today.

Ladyluck1

Small £2.26 spent on reduced ham for lunch today, cucumber and washing up liquid.
Big shop day tomorrow so expecting to spend £20-30 there.