June 2014 Grocery Challenge

gien

I was rubbish at keeping track last month - but I think we were quite reasonable overall - My DH will do the accounts next week and we can see how much we spent on our debit card (but there was also some cash spent:o).

So this month I am making much more of an effort to keep track, mainly because my DH handed in his resignation at work so we need to be super frugal.
I am aiming for 500€ for a family of 5.
It'll be super tight as the fridge is completely bare and the cupboards are looking a bit sad, but we have some stuff coming from the garden now to supplement a bit.

superrhinos

Just a quick update on my spends over the last couple of weeks. Have amended my signature accordingly.

laura_hoggle

Had our HUUGE home delivery today, have stocked up the chest freezer, got some booze & more cat food! After offers & vouchers the total came to £104.75 - so that's over half our budget for the month now gone! Although TECHNICALLY all we should need to buy now is milk and fresh stuff, and lunch things.

I have been trying to meal plan for the rest of the month, it's not going too badly, just need to make sure we stick to it.

Today I made a big chick pea & chorizo stew, used up veggies in the fridge, had some for dinner and still have 2 dinner & 4 lunch portions, so they've gone in the freezer. Tomorrow I'm hoping to make a beef stroganoff, never made it before so fingers crossed it goes ok!!

JennyBee_2

Just updated my total with a couple more shops - it looks bad but I start mid month when the credit card statement comes out (don't worry it's a cashback one and we pay it off every month!) so the remainder needs to last us until 19th June which is entirely possible We had very lovely YS sausages from a local butcher on the BBQ tonight (they were cheaper that supermarket ones!) with salad and homemade bread. Yum. I'll need to get some milk tomorrow and some more bread flour but that's about it. Unless some chocolate jumps into the basket...

JennyBee_2

laura_hoggle wrote: »

Tomorrow I'm hoping to make a beef stroganoff, never made it before so fingers crossed it goes ok!!

How are you going to make it? Mine is fillet tails (the offcuts from fillet steaks from the butcher), fried in butter with a sauce of double cream and black pepper. It's so easy and tastes amazing!

laura_hoggle

JennyBee wrote: »

How are you going to make it? Mine is fillet tails (the offcuts from fillet steaks from the butcher), fried in butter with a sauce of double cream and black pepper. It's so easy and tastes amazing!

Sounds good! I'm still not 100% sure how I'm going to make it! I have Creme fraiche and natural yoghurt so was going to use either of those and probably a mixture of a few recipes online-one uses Dijon mustard, another uses brandy, so I'll probably see how I feel! The only thing I'm worried about is I normally like to bulk things out, making 4 portions and freezing two-not sure how well crememfraiche or yoghurt would freeze!

x_raphael_xx

OH came home with some bits, so another £1 off budget

LindMa

My budget is £76 for the month.


So far I've spent £16.90 but I've also gone through the cupboards and freezer and could have enough here to feed us without having to buy anything except milk the rest of the month!!

MrsCautious

Managed a NSD today.
Hoping for lots more this month.
Meal plan for this week goes soup/salad, bacon and beans on toast, YS posh sausages with Yorkshires, YS smoked salmon with prawns, pasta and hm sauce then chilli on Friday, chorizo omelette Sat and meal with family on Sunday.

That should keep me on the straight and narrow -- this is needed!

lynnejk

A warm welcome to all the new people :hello: and good luck with your grocery challenge

recoveringspendaholic - I feel the same about most cereal but I found a good kind of muesli in Li*l in a purple plastic bag. It's full of fruit and nuts and I have 2/3 times a week.


laurahoggle - sometimes gravy or sauce splits when you freeze it but if, after warming, you whisk it then it comes back together.

Treadingwater84 wrote: »

Does anyone buy a large joint and use it throughout the week?
All ideas welcome!

I always buy large joints as they cook better. When I cook them I portion them when cold and freeze in gravy, or liquor if gammon, to stop them drying out and then have as roast dinners later. Saves time and money :money:

PennyGrabber wrote: »

I know it's not gc related completely, but can I weigh in on the bills thing? I get paid on the 23rd of the month, and used to try and work from then, but always got stressed. Then I had a brainwave! I opened a separate bills account. After payday, I put a set amount into that account, and that's my bills paid for the month. As for those awkward quarterly or yearly bills, I put the right percentage each month into the bills account, so every month my bills cost me the same, and I never have any expensive months that way. It also doesn't matter when in the month the bills come out, as they're already paid for. I work things like the gc and pocket money by the calendar month, as I've had a week to sort out the main money. Thought I'd share that, as it has relieved a huge amount of stress, and it's actually a really simple, manageable system. PG x

I do the same, putting away all my monies monthly on the 1st even if paid yearly such as car tax etc. just put in 1/12th.


I now put it into a TSB account so it's earning 5% interest as well
As all my DDs come out of my 123 Santander account (to earn cashback) I move money over as necessary and buy everything I can on my 123 credit card to get cashback and move monies over monthly to pay it off.

Aldahbra wrote: »

I did really well yesterday I made left over veg soup

We call it 'bottom of the fridge soup' in our house :rotfl: very useful.

Declared for May as £209/240

Well - I've looked at what I've spent on GC so far this year and it's worked out at £205 a month so I'm going to cut :eek: my GC budget down to £200 a month from this month please and see how we get on.


This is for two adults (trouble is we are both foodies), all meals, packed lunches, household stuff, cleaning stuff and shared toiletries. We have a separate budget for wine (£60 a month) and a small personal budget.


We had roast lamb, roasties, steamed carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and gravy for lunch. Pitta breads with taramasalata and fruit with plain yogurt for tea.


Hope you all have a magnificent Monday
Lx