November 2014 Grocery Challenge

mrs-moneypenny

sushistar, to do bulbs for christmas and get them in flower you really need to to use prepared bulbs and start in september. i normally start hyachancs (sp) then for the grandmas from the kids. this year i bought the bulbs and the bulb fibre but wasnt organised enough to actually do it. BUT i did notice the Tesc0 last year was selling pretty little pots of bulbs at christmas cheaper than it had cost me to buy the bulbs pots and fibre. so ill be looking there this year and cheating a bit to make them look hm. slipping the sleeve off the pot and covering it in my own wrapping paper and sticking some trims and deccys on a spike in the pot with them. thats if they have them this year.
IF you already have the bulbs and pots pot them up and see how they go (you need to keep them in a black bag in the dark cool place until they start sprouting if they are forced bulbs) if they dont look like they are doing much exciting at christmas you could always hang on to them till easter and have a head start on next years gifting.

just nipped down the shops and got milk and beer so £5 spend
sains local have rtc spitfire to £1 a bottle down from £2.30ish so got 4 in for christmas

bmma

NSD today x

Caterina

L!dl do very good potted bulbs at excellent prices. If you are not bothered about having them on Christmas day, lots of SMs sell them greatly reduced after Christmas.

Solstice_3

sushistar wrote: »

I just did something clever (I think...)
I had a voucher for £25 off at Gousto - a sort of food delivery box with the ingredients for particular reciepies, apparently.
Anyhow, it's £££ - I would never buy from there normally. But I realised with my voucher, a box would be £8.99. THEN I realised that there's £10 cashback on TopCashBack for your first order, so decided to risk it. IF IT WORKS (and I know the cashback might not track because of the voucher) then I will be 1 box of posh food and £1.01 in credit :T. Otherwise, I think the £8.99 for the box probably works out reasonably priced compared to a supermarket. I've put the £8.99 in my grocery spend total, but will take it off if I get the cashback!

They've sent me another voucher for £25 for a friend (and will give me another £15 if you use it!) so PM me if you're interested... like I said though, I don't know if the cashback will track.

I went through Quidco as they have the same cashback offer and I received an email today saying my cashback had tracked, fingers crossed *EDIT I looked at the T&C on Quidco and they decline cashback if you use a voucher code, which is fair enough, I got a better deal with the voucher code, less than £10 for 3 meals is not to be sniffed at

CH27

NSD for me as i'm waiting for a delivery

FoxFace

Little spend today, £8.52p, will add to total now

Also started Xmas shopping... 10 Kilner jars for some Xmas chutney. Last year we made little hampers for people, HM red onion chutney, some cheese and crackers, a HM mulled wine sachet and a small bottle of red... they worked out really cost effective and people loved them so much that I have had requests to do them again this year! The hampers worked out less than £10 each last year and each hamper serves two people, so very cheap really x

maria3104

Have just had a major break through re MSE control. Had vouchers for E**a Bridg****r china. Long lusted after stuff. Put lots of seconds and reduced in basket, Total £200, -20% voucher, -10% cashback. practially free. Paused, coffee break. Client break and quitted out. Feel really on target.

maria3104

And 5 NSD in a row. Many thanks to son who gave us a fish, enough for last night and tonight. And still eating up weekend surplus. Fridge has never been so empty. This meal planning lark saves a fortune.

Solstice_3

Right so here we go ^_^ I have (for the first time) menu planned to the end of the month.

T Roast Chicken, potatoes, carrots, broccoli and green beans.
W Hotdogs and onions, beans for children to pad out.
T Spaghetti Bolognese

F Sausage Tray Bake
S Chicken Pasta Bake
S Roast Pheasant, potatoes, parsnip, carrots, green veg.
M Pasta with bacon, mushrooms and tomato sauce
T Pork Schnitzel (Recipe Box)
W Coconut Curry (Recipe Box)
T Bean Tortilas (Recipe Box)

F Brown Butter Cod (Recipe Box)
S Burger & Chips (Recipe Box)
S Lamb Leg Steak, potatoes, carrots, green veg.
M Pork Schnitzel (Recipe Box)
T Beef Stir Fry
W Spaghetti Bolognese (FF)
T Chicken Pasta Bake (Leftover chicken FF)

F Fish Pie
S Fish Pie (leftovers)
S Chicken Casserole with mash, carrots and green veg.
M Beef Stir Fry
T Pasta
W Sweet & Sour Pork
T Sausages (either chips and beans or mash and green veg)

Lunches - Soup and cheese toasties/quesadillas, beans on toast, eggs and toast, sandwiches, pasta and pesto sauce, fish fingers and chips. Lots of fruit (fresh and dried), some yogurt and a few biscuits for puddings. Might make a quiche too.

I have 2 recipe boxes coming next week covering 6 out of 7 days, both with vouchers one costing £9.98 the other either £24 or £11 depending on whether my voucher code stacks with my credit. I also have an A&C meat delivery coming with meat to cover the rest of the month at £24.41 and I have just done an online order for tins and household cleaning totalling £62.48 (added baby wipes for month and a few other bits and bobs).

This (hopefully) means all I need to buy later in the month is fresh veg, milk and bread. Going to try and stay under £100 for any extras needed.

I really hope this works, if it does and I can not touch the leftover money until Dec I will have some spare cash for Crimbo!!! *Fingers crossed, feeling positive!!!

Bobarella

Hi All
Clocked in with an £11.30 spend today which will get us 3 more main meals, lunches for son & husband & a nice lemon drizzle cake for sweets.
I had the luck to find 5p, a 19p brand match coupon & a receipt with 20 unclaimed nectar points on it today so all of that has been an extra.
I wanted to mention to anyone shopping at sainsburys that one tip for saving money on milk is, you can get 2 pints of milk for 89p if you buy it in one of the new plastic bags instead of the old style containers. This works out 9p cheaper than buying 2 one pint containers. I will decant mine into a fridge jug as the bags are fiddly otherwise.
Bob