March 2014 Grocery Challenge

Mystikia

Morning everyone,
Well I'm not sorry to see March go.... Been a very bad month finance wise declaring at £248.56 / £200 for March, £48.56 over. I've been unwell all month & made a lot of "easy" ( Takeaway ) dinner choices, add that to some very unexpected & unwelcome expenses, & I'd rather just forget March ever existed! Still... Brand new Month, brand new attitude... Ok April, I'm coming to take you on....

cw18

Final figures are £182.46 spent from an official budget of £244.18, though I was hoping to keep to no more than £162.78 as I'm trying to use up a lot of food stocks.

The spends split as follows

Bit disappointed with the 'junk' figures, but over half that was from the food festival on Saturday and wasn't on things I have everyday access too.

I also used up loads of stuff
During March

The following items were/are out of date, and are the things I’ve used in an attempt to reduce my food stockpiles (it would be nice to be able to fit everything into my kitchen, as then not as many things should pass their dates as I’d be able to see exactly what I have in!). For frozen foods I apply the term ‘out of date’ to things lurking in the freezers for which I have no idea when they were put in, or items with dates which show they’ve been in there at least 12 months.

For costing purposes I’ve had to use close alternatives for a few items (no longer made or not showing on websites for stores I shop in). If I bought at a reduced price which I recall, then I’m using that price. For items that were already open I’ve tried to estimate how much of the packet was left and added that percentage of the item cost to my figures. Any already open items that I’ve already included in my totals for this year won’t have a cost against them, but are here to show I’m still using up. For items from the freezer which I’ve made myself I’ve tried to estimate the cost to make.

Started/continued using (still some to use)
1 box mini Shredded Whe@t, £2.49

1 tub Pesto Sauce (already open), £4.99/tub, approx 0.5 tub = £2.50
1 5kg sack Basmati Rice (already open), £5.50, approx 2kg = £2.20
1 pat Baking Spread (already started), £0.55, approx 0.5 pat = £0.28
1 bag Wholemeal Bread Flour (already open), previously hardly started, £0.99

1 box Semolina (already open), £0.98, approx 0.75 box = £0.75

1 jar Options with Ginger (already open), £3.49/jar, approx 0.75 jar = £2.62
1 jar Skinny C0w Mint Hot Chocolate (already open), previously hardly started, £2.39

Section value = 2.49+2.50+2.20+0.28+0.99+0.75+2.62+2.39 = £14.22

Used completely
From cupboards / boxes / fridge
1 carton of Cranberry Juice, £1.59

1 box Shredd!es, £2.49
3 sachets OatS0Simple, £4.00/20 x 3 = £0.60

1 tin Minestrone Soup, £0.60
1 tin Chicken Broth Soup, £0.60
1 tin Pea and Ham Soup, £0.60
2 sachets Sh@pers Green Thia Chicken Noodle Soup, £1.00/10 x 2 = £0.20
1 sachet Sh@pers Rep Pepper & Tomato Soup, £1.00/10 = £0.10
2 sachets 10 cal soup, £0.10/6 x 2 = £0.04
1 packet Tomato Noodle soup, £0.75
1 packet Cream of Veg soup, £0.75
2 bags Qu@vers (from multi pack), £2.50/12 x 2 = £0.42

2 tins Baked Beans, £3.60/6 x 2 = £1.20
1 17g packet dried Shitake mushrooms, £2.99/50 x 17 = £1.02
2 tins sliced mushrooms, £0.41 x 2 = £0.82

2 packets Stuffed Pasta, £1.55x2 = £3.10
2 Chicken Stock P0t, £2.00/8 x 2 = £0.50
1 Beef Stock P0t, £2.00/8 = £0.25
1 Enchillada Kit, £3.22
2 packets Beef Savoury Rice, £0.49 x 2 = £0.98
6 B@bybel, £3.29/22 x 6 = £0.90
1 pack Sheeps Milk Wensleydale, £3.00

6 individual portions Strawberry Jam, £0.99/16 x 6 = £0.38
1 Nutrigr@in Bar, £4.39/28 = 0.16
2 Elevensez Bars, £2.49/6 x 2 = £0.83
1 box 6 packs G0 Ahead plain yoghurt breaks, £2.29
1 box 5 Tropical Fruit & Nut bars (YS), £0.50
1 pack 0aties, 49p
3 packets Jelly (Mr M el-cheapo), 3x £0.10 = £0.30
1 packet jelly (H@rtleys), £0.59
1 packet instant whip, £0.54
2 tins Rhubarb in Syrup, £0.70x2 = £1.40
1 carton Longlife Soya Cream (unopened), £0.79

Section value = 1.59+2.49+0.60+0.60+0.60+0.60+0.20+0.10+0.04+0.75+0.75+0.42+1.20+1.02+0.82+3.10+0.50+0.25+3.22+0.98+0.903.00+0.38+0.16+0.83+2.29+0.50+0.49+0.30+0.59+0.54+1.40+0.79 = £32.00

From Freezers
2 Creamy Peppercorn Kiev, £2.25
2 portions Breaded Chicken Breast, £2.40
3.5 100g bags cooked poultry, £2.00/240 x 350 = £2.92
2 portions Breaded Fish, £4.00/4 x 2 = £2.00
4 Goat Sausages, £3.29/6 x 4 = £2.20
1 packet 6 African style Merguez sausages, £3.19
12 Outdoor Bred Pork Chipolatas, £3.29

4 portions Chilli Con Carne, £4.52/6 x 4 = £3.02

1 tub Creamy Peppercorn Sauce, £4.00
2 tubs Creamy Garlic Sauce, £8.00

2 bags 100g Mature Grated Cheese, £7.kg, £1.40

2 Burger Buns, £0.60/6 x 2 = £0.20

Section value = 2.25+2.40+2.92+2.00+2.20+3.19+3.29+3.02+4.00+8.00+1.40+0.20 = £34.87

Finished off (ood items already open before the start of my use-up challenge)
1 box All Br@n Red Berry Crunch, FREE, approx 80% box = £0.00
1 box Cranberry Wheats, £1.99/box, approx two-thirds box = £1.33
Mini shredded wheat, £2.49/500g, approx 80g = £0.40
11 packs G0 Ahead Strawberry yoghurt breaks (6+100% free, YS), £1.25/12 x 11 = £1.15
1 aerosol cream, £1.10, approx a fifth = £0.22

Section value = 0.00+1.33+0.40+1.15+0.22 = £3.10

Total Value = £14.22 + £32.00 + £34.87 + £3.10 = £84.19


If I add my actual spend of £182.46 to my 'used from stocks' figure of £84.19, then I'm looking at £266.65 which is over budget. But I know I bought more at reduced prices than I've accounted for (can't find receipts and stickers are no longer on packets) and I wouldn't have had most of the puddings / snack bars had they not already been in the house. So I'm still happy enough with this.

redbooties

I was doing so well but then I had an unexpected refund off the bank and so treated myself to a coffee maker

total spent £507.65

physicsgirl

I've totted up all the receipts in can find for food shops in March and they come to £94.98, but I'm sure that's not all, and we spent £100 on dinner for 4 on Saturday, so I'm definitely over, will definitely keep track of things better in April.

K9sandFelines

Spend of £8.77 yesterday in Morrisons, which means I have just managed to come over for March. April'ss GC was meant to start on the 4th which is payday, but having to bring it forward to the 3rd as it's DD2's birthday on Saturday, so having to take advantage of the last cheap delivery slot to get cake making bits. However, if my cooker still isn't fixed by today, then there's no point.

K9sandFelines

Had another spend of about £8 today/ as needed eggs to prebake cake for DD2's birthday, decorating stuff not yet arrived. Same DD also needed them for egg decorating at school. Also sneaked a few other bits as my oven is now repaired after a month and had to buy emergency cat food til zooplus order arrives. Will add to sig as soon as I get a minute;but as Tesc* shopping coming tomorrow, I am declaring at about £16 over as that will be added to April. Better try harder next month, as it needs to come down for May.

mags50_2

I managed another 3 NSD for March and spent £32.67 on various top-up shops so am really pleased

Will move over to April now

Keep safe x