March 2014 Grocery Challenge

Kayalana99

lushlifesaver wrote: »

Had a nasty surprise today...the tax credits people have said we've been substantially overpaid so will lose a chunk of our weekly award next year. once baby arrives and the new tax year starts my income drops significantly as I'll only be on SMP our award will go up but so will how much they take each week in line with that ah well it has happened now. I'm just going to plan as well as possible and economise plenty whilst I'm off then save like mad again once I'm back at work so we can get it paid off sooner with as little worry as possible!

Not going to get into it on this thread Lush but pop over to the benefits board and you'll get more advice on this - but you can decline to pay them (i.e if they are taking £100 a month you can say you can only afford £10) Don't leave yourself short and worrying about money with a new baby. :j

smokies

Good Morning folks


Mrs Cautious - so sorry for your loss


Update on spends (yesterday ) only needed bread and milk, but ended up spending £25.74 - working this out it leaves me just under £1.00 per day for the rest of the month.... I can do this - I will do this....


Think a few NSDs are in order for the rest of the month, so off to see what's in the freezer and cupboards


Need to get back to work (week off) get back into a routine, with no more just popping to the shops !!!!!!





have a great day guys.........

kayester

off to see jack whitehall tonight and im paying for the meal before, will update later

lushlifesaver

Thank you Kayalana and just the two of us :-) going with a new notebook (found at my parents) and a pen to make notes of what we will use and prices. There is an Aldi next to our big ASDA and I can get a discounted gift card for ASDA (only a 4% saving but over time that's sure to build up a decent saving)

Popping to tesco this morning too with father to get some flat shoes and Easter eggs (different budget) also need to think about what I might have for lunch as whilst I made bf his usual pre-training wraps I forgot about myself!

recovering_spendaholic

Hoping for a NSD today. Need Petrol but that is a different budget.

Last night I made a lovely vegetable bake which was cheap and really easy and tasted lovely - her is the recipe I used:

Brocolli florets
cabbage and leek mix (I used a YS bag but you could use frozen leeks I guess)
1 tin of mixed beans in water
about a third of a carton of pasata mixed with a bit of tomato ketchup, shake of garlic salt and salt and pepper
a sachet of cheese sauce mix
grated cheddar
about a tbs of breadcrumbs

You just cook the green veg and mix it with the drained pulses in a pyrex dish. Then stir through the pasata mix.

Then you mix up the cheese sauce and add in a bit of extra cheddar for flavour and pour it all over the veg mixture.

Sprinkle the top with the breadcrumbs and some more grated cheese and pop under the grill until brown and bubbly, or, if you have made in advance, put in the oven at 180 for 30 minutes.

It was really delicious and made absolutely LOADS - we had it with a piece of HM crusty bread.

lushlifesaver - I second the advice given by Kayalana99 - ring them up and make them an offer to repay - only pay what you can afford and don't just accept what they say you have to pay. Benefits board has loads of advice.

pinkparrott

Just done a irly big shop which should se us over the weekend.
Actually got carried away and managed to pull myself back and put some stuff back i don't need - which is a first.

Spent £32.31 which brings me up to £239.85 and i'm just over half way through my month, so i migt actually stay witin budget this month which i'm please about as its onlymy 2nd challange and i'm usually weel over the 1/2 way spendng 1/2 way through month. so little steps and all that :j

Nicki_Sue

Morning all!
Thursday is my weekly envelope fill day and £70 went in and £28.12 came back out. This included purchases for the next couple of weeks ie a big bag of porridge oats, toiletries, night pull-ups for the youngest (hoping to ditch these over Easter), a £3.40 bottle of sink and drain unblocker (my shower needs this every 5-6 weeks)....
I did get a fair few things for the freezer and rice / pasta / bulgar wheat etc that last a fortnight too.

bmma

NSD today that is 7- will be spending tomorrow though

Frizzle_2

So didn't end up with a NSD today. Think the milk is on the turn! Had to pop to the local shop, which I never do. I got 2 milk (£2.60), YS mince (500g for £1.25) and a big thorn tons rabbit which was shattered into pieces )90p) going to make make rice crispie cakes with it! So 4.75 to add!!

Frizzle_2

So I need to spend less than £40 a week for the next three weeks. It's going to be tight!

We were supposed to be having spag Bol tonight. Got it out of the freezer this morning, I have just looked at it and realised that it is sausage casserole! Oops! Will have to get better at labelling my batch cooking as it is difficult to work it out when they are frozen!