March 2015 Grocery Challenge

CRANKY40

Thanks to the people who put so much effort into running this thread. March is a 5 week month for me so could I be put down for £300 please?

This months theme here is not wasting things. There is just me and the boy (I'm a widow) and two greedy cats. My biggest worry has always been that my son or myself will be ill and I won't be able to get to the shops. Consequently you could feed half an army with what is in my cupboards and freezer and it's not like the supermarkets don't deliver.

The small person has an operation planned this month, so I am going to stock up on cat food, which has to be right as one cat was ill when she was a kitten and it's left her with a delicate tummy so supermarket substitutions aren't a good idea and then I'm going to try my best to use what we already have as much as possible.

I was using cash for shopping but since Christmas I've been using my Tesco credit card as I want enough vouchers to pay for my family and friends railcard. I do pay whatever I spend straight away via online banking. Cash did work, but any savings from my weekly budget tended to get lost in other weekly spending and of course there is no refund in the form of clubcard things.

lynnejk

Willowx wrote: »

... and am away to Malta for a week...

Hiya - when and where you going Willow ? We will be in Valletta, Malta from 20th to 26th !!


Started the month with a spend in A*di of £43.19. Bought loads of chicken, to cook for freezer, and a lamb joint. Had the lamb cooked slowly in the oven with loads of garlic, thyme, rosemary and olive oil. It was gorgeous


Think will just need milk later in the week fingers xd.


Forget who - sorry - but someone moaning about OH buying sausages and bacon which sometimes get wasted.


If you open freeze it all singly and then put in bags they will keep for months. Sausages take one minute to defrost in micro and bacon minutes in the kitchen on a plate and then cook as normal. Then none of it gets wasted


Hope you all have a great Monday


Lx

rubiesr4eva

NSD day today

ChickenJane

Can I join in with this please? My budget is £220 for the calendar month of March. Last month I did my own personal challenge of £240 and came in just under so £220 seems like a reasonable target for March. There are only 2 of us so it's not a difficult target compared to some of the others but if I manage to achieve it I'll aim for £200 in April.


I'm going to include cleaning supplies, alcohol and takeaways but not toiletries (apart from loo roll) and intend to use stuff I already have in the freezer and cupboards as much as possible.


Last month was a real eye opener, I realised how much my head is turned by supermarket offers and I end up buying stuff that isn't on my list. I think I can make a big saving by tighter meal planning and ignoring offers unless its for stuff already on my list.


Good luck everyone x

savingfortomorrow

hi can i join in

trying to reduce spending on food. this month hoping to spend 120.

i have a stockpile of food in the freezer and dry goods that will be sufficient. Ideally milk, eggs, fish, vegetables and fruit only this month.

today 12.50 spent on heaps of veg and beans

wannalot

Hello all

I did some big shops today.

I went to a local Coop where I often get decent bargains. I spent £5.30, including a YS chicken, down to £3.39 from £5. It made a good dinner, with enough left over for three more big meals. can anyone give me a tip: can I freeze cooked chicken for sandwiches? Will it taste ok when defrosted?

I also did my big shop, which will hopefully last for at least a fortnight! I spent a scary £62.19 in tosco, but it included a big box of soap powder for £5.50 and teabags, which I didn't really need, but they were going cheap and I had a voucher for more money off them.

I got loads of YS, including loads of veg that I wanted to buy anyway. I also got a bit of brie for 25p down from £1.06. I just need to make sure that I actually eat it all. I am planning to make soup, but the freezer is too full at the moment.

I'm dead chuffed to have got two big bargains! I got a kilogram of stewing beef for £2.27, down from £9.08 p and I got seven large plaice fillets, down to £2.47 from £9.86. This has gone into the freezer. I really need to eat out of the freezer this month, both to save money and to make space! Its so full that the door is hard to shut, and I would be gutted to have to throw everything away.

My hope is to use a lot of stuff this month. I have huge amounts of fish (fillets of lemon sole, plaice, salmon and haddock) and loads of meat (turkey beef and lamb). i am going to try to plan meals to use up a lot of this stuff, and hopefully help my budget.

Apart from bread, i won't need any shops this week, and I'll not spend much next weekend. I'll need a bit of fruit and veg, but hopefully it will be for under £20.

amandaatnumber7

Hi Can you put me down for $1000 for this month please

bmma

Hi Catherinemm,welcome and good to have another vegan on board, I have been vegan for 15 years-I will be 66 this year-best decision for me.It does get easier,I used the fake meats a lot when starting out but now only occassionaly-especially the new cheese that is out- I use a lot of lentils peas and beans -there is a coooking section at the beginning of this thread and some of the recipes are vegan and some vegetarian ones you can convert to vegan. A lot of people are not keen on the soya milk-but believe me different brands taste different from each other-I make my own laundry powder-stopped wearing make-up years ago-toileteries use the ones that have the rabbit logo or Dr.Bronner's liquid soaps,expensive but it goes a long way-also Faith in nature-bulk buy the washing up liquid -I think this site is great and the people are very helpful-good luck x ps try A girl called jack and ParsleySoup for recipes

sootypea

Managed to overspend in February, but that was because the cat food was on offer.
I am going to try and only spend £160.00 this month. I really want to get the cupboards a bit more empty.

Solstice_3

Another quick update before I go back and read posts

27/02 £3.96 + £8.25
28/02 £3.69 + £12.77
01/03 £3

Have a good week everyone!