December 2014 Grocery Challenge

Effyb4

I'd like to join up to the thread please. I didn't do brilliantly in November unfortunately, so I shall try to do better in December.
I would like to try for £350.

Wish me luck.

Bobarella

I am here to declare the enormous sum of 30p spent today! Used a found on the floor Brand Match coupon for 64p plus my roadkill for the last few days to buy a baguette, a basics mozarella & 2 tomatoes, which Im adding to spaghetti I already have, & pesto I already have for a very quick simple dinner for 2. Days like this really help the budget!

Coxy11

Hi,


Sorry I haven't been on for ages! RL taking over LOL


Budgets updated to here


Welcome/welcome back to:
Mr Planky, Roundthebend, CRANKY40 and why not


Good luck all.


Coxy

WantToBeSE

Good Evening Everyone


I did a big shop of £68 in Morrisons today. That did include a bottle of Baileys (£12 for a big bottle in Morrisons) and 2 boxes of mince pies.


Also spent £15 at the butcher yesterday, I got 4 duck legs, 2 lamb shanks and some chicken wings.


I have decided that I am going to switch my youngest son over to school meals from now on.
I spend a fortune buying packed lunch stuff, only for my teenger to eat most of it, and then I have to re-purchase it all. Hollow legs that one!
So, a school meal costs £1.80, so that's £9 a week. I spend that easily on packed lunch food, so I should save a fair bit I hope.


On a Saturday morning, I always drive to a layby which is just down the road to buy my eggs, potatoes, fruit and veg from the local farmer. He has announced that he is no longer parking up at the layby from January, so I'll have to drive out to the farm instead (he is still selling, just not from the layby). No idea where the farm is, but he gave me a map so I'll have to have an explore when I go in January.

scotmumof3

£2.42 spend in Asd* today. Not too bad

Caterina

Delighted to announce NSD 2 today!

peaceandfreedom

Poddly wrote: »

A couple of meals I do with very little meat in, which go down well with my meat-loving teenage boys, are pasta bake with a cheese sauce topped with crispy bacon bits or chorizo, and egg fried rice with a small amount of chicken or pork or beef (I usually use leftover roast meat). Also do stews bulked out with lots of root veg, and sausage casserole where you can get away with fewer sausages if they are cut into chunks!

Thanks, PoddlyI should certainly use less meat and more veggies in stews and the cutting up of sausages is a great idea.

lynnejk wrote: »

I would like to say that for many of us this challenge includes all grocery and household stuff, though up to you what you include and some add alcohol and pet stuff as well.

Thanks Lynne. I include all other household stuff except alcohol because I rarely drink it and put it in the category of luxury item rather than grocery shopping. We don't have any pets.

lynnejk wrote: »

Another suggestion is that you have a look at some of the recipes in the first posts and also see how you can 'cheat' the meat-eaters by adding things like lentils. I also buy all my meat from the butchers apart from chicken, duck and bacon - much cheaper in A*di or other Sms

You don't say where you live but I would suggest you look at A*di and the pound stores for some more bargains. Also another way of saving ££££s is to look in the Sms for reduced (YS) stuff, especially meat and veg. Remember if still in date you can freeze and use later

I definitely don't pick up enough reduced stuff but there doesn't seem to be much around when I go shopping. Our nearest town has every supermarket under the sun, but it's about 7 miles away and I tend to go shopping after work but rarely at weekends. I think I don't pick the best times for reduced stuff. That's something I can definitely do better at.

Happygreen wrote: »

peaceandfreedom, thanks for sharing - for some including myself this thread and MSEforum can be quite therapeutic, lol. Writing about spending habits is the first step to change I agree with the others, take small steps at the start.
I personally find it hard if I don't get cooperation from the family. I buy, so I have to be able to decide what happens with the groceries. People have called me a control freak and worse (although on a different thread) but as long as OH doesn't contribute to the food budget he will ask - as do the teens - if they can have something. This is also because we live in the middle of nowhere and it's a trip of 15 miles to stock up on for example Digestives if I want to make a cheesecake and someone has just had them! If my beloved doesn't fancy what I cook he buys something else and treats himself . Budget management here only works with cooperation and communication. Maybe once you get ideas on weekly meals you can all sit down and have an informal chat if others have plans with the stuff that is already there (like OH and DS)? You could suggest to cook a meal for 4 out of what they thought was just for them? Or they might be happy to go for cheaper cuts of meat occasionally? Possibly the biggest burden on your budget is not the butcher as such but that your family requires lots of different meals to be cooked on the same night.

Interesting thoughts, Happygreen.

We only have lots of different meals if I'm not cooking - if I'm cooking, it is one main meal but I will do without the pasta/bread completely or substitute it with a veggie or two. But it is true that too often there are several meals being prepared.

I will confess that I hide stuff that I don't want people to eat. If I buy a BOGOF I will hide one of the items otherwise both will get eaten in quick succession and I haven't saved any money.

Cheaper cuts of meat are definitely a good idea but DH will not bother much with cooking things like that, so I will have to meal plan and batch cook some meals in advance.

Really need to get my head around meal planning!

Mr_Planky

Already spent £96 this month but we do have enough food stored away for a couple of weeks at least. It does make me feel a bit downbeat though, doing a big shop at the start of the month...feels like a long way to go until January! Expecting a few consecutive NSDs now!

scotmumof3

Mr_Planky wrote: »

Already spent £96 this month but we do have enough food stored away for a couple of weeks at least. It does make me feel a bit downbeat though, doing a big shop at the start of the month...feels like a long way to go until January! Expecting a few consecutive NSDs now!

It will be here before you know it keep positive. I am still finding my feet here too but it will get easier to budget and stick to it ( I hope :eek:)

GettingOrganised

Epic fail when shopping - went straight after work whilst hungry and didn't have any snacks in my bag. So, even though I only had a small list, I was tempted by lots of goodies in both @ldi and @sda. Most will go away for Christmas, but I really didn't need all of it.

Just under £80 spend - terrible first shop of the month.