February 2014 Grocery Challenge

ikesmummy

Drat and double drat just went to make the Yorkshire puddings and am out of eggs :mad::mad: Hubby will get his sugar after all as cant have roast pork without Yorkshire puddings.

forever_saving

Could i be put down for £300 for February please.
My month runs from the first day of the month to the last day of the month. I have been shopping and spent £57.12. I forgot some bits so will probably get them during the week. I really must start writing a list and sticking to it. I think that is half my problem, i do pop other bits in the trolley.
Good luck to everyone.
FS

Upsy_Staffordshire

Tried using lentils in cottage pie on Thursday night to bulk it out after seeing someone else mention they do this on here. I only used a small portion of mince but by filling it up with lots of veg and lentils there was enough for my dinner that night and for me and OH on Friday, so will definitely use lentils in it again. We got invited round to my parents for dinner last night so a free meal there, shame they made us cottage pie :rotfl:

I had a voucher from T3sco for £15 off a £50 online spend, which I thought I may as well make use of. The order came to £38.74 overall, which is more than I would normally spend on our weekly shop at Ald! but I stocked up on toiletries that were on offer, as well as the usual items, and I also managed to stock up on a few items that are running low that aren't weekly purchases, like tissues, yeast, bread flour. I can't wait for it to be delivered tomorrow - our fridge is empty!

I'm hoping that we will now only need a very small weekly shop at Ald! on Friday, as we also have lots of sausages and veg in the freezer, plus pasta sauce I batch cooked yesterday. As I went over budget in Jan, I will be very happy if we can come in under budget this month. I'm going to try to continue batch cooking, making as many things from scratch as I can, and bulking meat-based dishes out with lentils and veg - this thread is really helping me to do all of this so thank you :j

Leah-Ray

Hi all, I've hardly had the time to post this week but I have a quick question I hope you can answer. We received some vouchers for a local wholesale health food shop. If we spend these do we count it as budgeted or not?

Tiffany_Aching

Leah-Ray wrote: »

Hi all, I've hardly had the time to post this week but I have a quick question I hope you can answer. We received some vouchers for a local wholesale health food shop. If we spend these do we count it as budgeted or not?

I guess it is down to the individual. I personally would as I would see it still as money spent on groceries. I'm keeping the budget really low at the moment to get out of debt so, for me, I would count it and then the equivalent cash would be thrown at the credit card.

Upsy_Staffordshire

Leah-Ray wrote: »

Hi all, I've hardly had the time to post this week but I have a quick question I hope you can answer. We received some vouchers for a local wholesale health food shop. If we spend these do we count it as budgeted or not?

It's totally up to you. I personally wouldn't count it towards my budget because I wouldn't be spending money, but Tiffany Aching has a good point that if you are trying to clear any debts, you could use the money you have saved towards paying them off :j

CountingPennies

Afternoon all!

Well, i didn't take part December and January due to not having enough time to take part, but i'm back this month if you will all have me!

I have 2 birthday celebrations this month so need to be VERY thrifty moneywise! So for 5 of us, to include EVERYTHING like toiletries, food, ect (including birthday cakes and takeaways) i'm gonna say £250.

Yep that is tight for us. However, i have quite a bit of shopping in already. So aiming for lots of NSD's.

Anyway, starting the month with quite a chunk out of the budget. £19.20 at McD's yesterday. Yep i know, a complete waste! However we had been promising the kids since December they could have one when I got paid after christmas and it is a rare treat i must admit. Then today £24.55 after VAT spent at a wholesale type shop. Got massive bag of sugar, 100 washes of Daz liquid, 48 branded toilet rolls and some screenwash for the car. Followed by £2 at Ic*land on milk and pepsi and then a further £10.21 at Home B's spent on tooth brushed, hair pins, hair bobbles, oxo cubes, a pack of chocolate, some hair dye and some bottles of water.

So thats is £55.96/£250 ..... wow, thats higher than I thought! Note to self.... Some MAJOR no spend days need to be happening!!

Hope everyone is well again! Off to raid the cupboards to see what I can bake tomorrow!

CP xx

WelshWoofer

Whizzed round Mr T's this morning with the dog sat waiting in the car so I couldn't be long. Managed to spend £33 but that included just over £10 of household things like laundry detergent and cleaning stuff, a very expensive spotlight light bulb, dog food and enough cans of coke to last me for the week at work (Pepsi 8 packs are £1.99, half price at the moment).
So all in all it was about a £20 spend on food and toiletries for me, much of which will last about 2 weeks or are store cupboard items that last longer.

I'm up to £36 altogether now and determined to stay within budget this month.;)

Rachiedabbler70

Afternoon All - sorry for the long post - hopefully someone will find useful re meal plans.


I struggle to keep up with the posts on the GC thread as I work long hours, however I am staying within budget and reading when I can, so for February I plan to spend no more than £280 on food, petrol, toiletries, going out and clothes/ shoes etc.:) (3 people and 1 rabbit)


I have ordered around £100 of food/ toiletries from Asd@ to arrive mid-week - should cover all staples for the month (includes 3 large packs of beef mince and 3 full chickens). I might even have some items to cover part of March eg pasta, tinned toms etc.:D


My plan is to get fresh items from FF@@ds (bread, milk, eggs) and veggies/ fruit from the local market if I can leave work early once per week.:)


Meal plan for next 9 days:


Sunday - Chinese chicken and egg fried rice
Monday - pasta bolognaise
Tuesday - chicken chow mein
Wednesday - chilli with rice
Thursday - Chicken curry and naan
Friday - pizza and garlic bread
Saturday - salmon and broccoli stir fry with egg fu yung
Sunday - Chicken, pea and mushroom risotto
Monday - Chicken fried rice


Lunches - kids - sandwiches, flapjacks, cheese n onion rolls and soup in a flask for me
Breakfasts - scrambled eggs and toast or porridge.


Everything we eat is homemade from fresh ingredients and it definitely works out much cheaper than anything ready made. I used to spend £500 a month.:D it does take me longer in the kitchen, but I am financially better off and have lost 5lbs in weight in just one month.:j

fingersxed

Been out for lunch. Called in at B&M n a quick whiz round tesco n managed to spend £39.98!