February 2015 Grocery Challenge

miss_try_to_save

£8 spend today in lid* but got a lot for my money onions were 32p 3 jars of curry sauce 60 odd pence each trying dd2 on a soya milk from there lemonade well you get the idea so this takes me down to £292/360 so far so good wont need anything till about Tuesday now so aiming for 2 nsds

zafiro1984

1st shop of February £23.91 spent,
I have a personal mini challenge going on where I don't buy anything not on the list but allow myself £5 per shop for 'bargains.'

The extras bought this time were 2 pks of leeks, 2 x flora oil instead of 1 as they were on managers special, and the potatoes I wanted were 'sold out' so I went for a larger pack. All in all I'm quite pleased. I just need to make it last until next weekend.

Fortunately, there's still plenty in the freezers and cupboards

lynnejk

Bobarella wrote: »

The tips I've got from here that have helped the most are
1. Shop your cupboards first so you know what's in there before you meal plan for the week.
2. Make a plan of all the meals you can make with what you have already.
3. Write a shopping list of what you need to supplement what you have in already.
4. Try to go shopping at a time when the marked down items are available. People call them yellow sticker on here (YS)
5. Try and have days that you don't go into the shops at all.
6. Use your vouchers to the best advantage.
7. Keep a good track on your budget however that works for you. I keep a note in my sig below and update after every shop.

Think that's it. There is also batch cooking and making a stock pile of foods when they are on offer which some people swear by.
Bob

^^^^^^^Exactly

Daisychain1 wrote: »

If you've tried going for own brand stuff what is good and what is best avoided?
DC1

Baked beans,
sliced h*vis
processed peas for DH,
sardines,
pickle,
vinegar,
'mymate',
Worcester sauce,
gravy cubes/powder.
I have tried down branding but not liked so back on brands


Everything else I buy generally in A*di, home bags and the £shops and just whatever they have on best price.
HTH


Lx

Flat_Eric

I've been "crunching numbers" this afternoon and now have a spreadsheet of sorts to help (hopefully) keep me on track.

I've been spending too much on groceries and really need to rein in.

I would like to set a budget of £250 for this month. :T

I have plenty of supplies to use up so really I shouldn't need to buy much!!!

Tomorrow hopefully I can meal plan

BrassicWoman

£3 - bananas and a drink down the pub

superrhinos

Hello to all newbies. Daisychain1 as others have said most own brand products I have tried have been as good as the branded ones. One of the last branded products I still used was HP sauce. The current bottle is nearly empty and then I will be trying Aldi's own :undecided.

Several little shops this week which have added £11.90 on to my total spend. More than I would have liked to have spend but it has been my son's birthday. I am also trying to significantly reduce the amount of refined sugar I am eating so have brought some bits and pieces for snacks to try and beat the mid afternoon sugar cravings.

skintmum2012

Another nsd here very proud of myself today as it was blooming hard work wanted to go on a spending spree must stay away from Amazon today. We had pancakes today or breakfast and had some left over sweet corn and tomatoes so did them in little cake cases for the children's dinner so l\o used yay. Lunch today was amazing e had the aldi bread that was on offer with caramelised onion and mushrooms mmm.
All the talk about own brand vs branded I shop at aldi but whenever I am in a big supermarket I always get their own brand its cheaper and from getting branded when in sales tastes the same.

Bobarella

Well I got lucky tonight. Had £2.50 in tips from my shift today so went to Mr T's on the way home to look for bargains. I was rewarded with 5 packs of honey roast ham which are priced at £2 reduced to 20p so £10 worth of food for £1. I also picked up 2 packs of the cocktail sausages I mentioned before. They are 76p in the frozen section.
Have put all the ham in the freezer till I need it.

wealthygirl

Good evening everyone.

Well today I went to Lidl as I wanted the half price turkey breast steaks, unfortunately I couldn't get them, so I bought a pack of chicken legs for tomorrow, the 1/2 price onions, a mango and as a treat some microwave popcorn. Came to £5.10, so not too bad, but other than milk later in the week I shouldn't need to buy anything else.

Since our move last year, we have mainly shopped in Aldi and have been very pleased with our shopping. For the things I can't get in there I usually go to Asda or Tesco. I have to say that I don't really get to the supermarket for the YS bargains, or they are not reduced enough for my liking:rotfl:

So really meal planning and cooking from scratch seems to work for us, as luckily I love cooking and baking so love to try new things. DD has also said she wants to eat more veggie food, so we will be trying more veggie dishes now. I have been looking through the recipe collection and am going to try some of the recipes.

Thank you and sorry for waffling on:rotfl:

lynnejk

Hiya everyone :hello:


Good luck to all for February and a warm welcome to the new peoples.


Have made my menu plan for the week


Sun..........Pork tenderloin, roasts and veggies
Mon..........Mince beef, potatoes, peas and sweetcorn
Tues.........Sausages with potato/veggies/cheese pie and baked beans
Wed.........Chicken curry with side of veggie curry and banana
Thurs.......French cheese omelettes, chips and coleslaw
Fri...........Mini seafood cassoulets then beef and bean soup
Sat.........Tuna pasta bake, salad and garlic bread


All HM except sausages and cassoulets. I have plenty of things like sardines/baked beans/eggs/cheese together with fruit and yoghurt for lunches. DH takes packed lunch so he also has cold cuts.


Hope you all have a super Sunday


Lx