September 2007 Grocery Challenge

lilmoi1985lm

......spent £62 in asda tonight!!!!!!!!!! cant believe it, did get lots of celeaning bits and bobs in and toiletries cost a whopping amount have the prices gone up or is it just me? We had plenty of food in so no need to shop until tonight (usually go on a monday but we managed ok) hopefully will stay under budget next week. fingers crossed.

irishwexford

Hi. Have spent £106 so far but still lots of food in freezer and storecupboard so will only need fresh veggies, milk and fruit. Every spend goes into spending diary no matter how small so easy way to keep track. Have half lasagne and half spag bol from this week plus chicken breast fillets, chicken quarters, fish, lambs mince, quorn mince, lots of bacon, quiche and chicken sausages, so we should eat well until end of month. Have loads of free apples and blackberries so will get cracking on pies and crumbles.

irishwexford

The_shuffs wrote: »

Hi all joined the challange last month but im finding it really hard to get going and organised has anyone got any tips PLEASE im sure it cant be that hard mybe im over complicating it you all seem to be doing so well Rachael xx

Hi Rachael.
I found meal planning the best way as I did waste a lot of food. There is just the two of us now so that makes it easier, not sure if I could manage if I had children and a job as there would be less time to do all this. Best of luck. Even if you start in a small way you will feel you have made a start.

redmel1621

Hi all looks like it might get even harder to stay on budget if the prices of food rise as expected!!!!!!! Not that I have manage to stay on budget yet...

So far this week I have spent £77.10, Hmmmmm £2.90 for the rest of the week somehow I just don't think i'm gonna make it....

Mel x

teedy23

Hi REDMEL1621, I think your still doing well with so many mouths to feed (poor wee Milton aw) as long s your watching what you spend and keep the blowouts to a minimum you,ll get there I had a biggish shop in Tesco tonight, started ut at (this includes my wee mates shopping so I could get the points) £52.18, after bogofs and deals £39.08 and then coupons, £29.58 take off mates shopping, I end up with £16 29 spent..... Luvlly jubbly

donnajt

Week 2 has gone really well - I feel quite powerful LOL!

The freezer remains full - as I've used stuff, it's been replaced with bolognese, lasagne, pies for later in the month

I've made shortbread and biscuits with dd and even made dh a wonderful kipper pate

I've included all the family in the weekly menu planner - that way no-one complains and I've cooked from scratch every night, and what joy to see 3 empty plates every night!

So week 2 spend breaks down as follows:-
Bread in local shop £1.09
Asda £19.62
Tesco £27.47
Grand total for week 2: £48.18

I am wondering what on earth I used to buy...so hope I can keep this up

teedy23

I,m off work today, so will have a bit of a cook-in. Bought a load of carrots yesterday so will make carrot and corriander soup and freeze it up. Just thinking, I didnt buy a lot of fresh stuff this time, maybe just as well as I,m off on my hols next week and freezer still pretty packed. Think I,ll do an inventory of what exactly is in there today and meal plan for this week. I dont normally do this as my lifes a bit hectic what with working shifts but as I,m off I,ve no excuse. Got a lovely big seeded loaf from Tesco last night for 10p and some pate for 20p so will have that for a decadent brekkie this morning, well cant start letting things go to waste again! Will also do as I told myself and replace some of my cups of tea with the cranberry juice I bought on another shop. I,ll also make some colcannon as I got curly Kale for 20p, is that what you use? I,m not sure now, better look that up, also some cooking bacon so better get my thinking hat on. I think I,m going to have to meal plan then shop in future as I keep buying half the ingredients of lots of things, that just leads to waste for me. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Just searched the old style recipe thread for carrot and coriander soup, found carrot and carrot and lentil, now I know that I should take the recipe for carrot and throw in some corriander but how much? dont want to ruin the soup. Also whats the thread or website where you type in ingrediants and it gives you a recipe? HELP

Bobbykins

Hi Teedy, welcome back :wave:


that website where you put the ingredients in is Cooking by Numbers, I think. Here's the link

http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/frames.html

teedy23

Thanks Bobbykins, your right this is the site. Now to look in the freezer and see what culinary delights I have the ingredients for. Oh and thanks for the spelling lesson lol

Hollysan

Teedy - just add a teaspoon of ground coriander and a tablespoon or two or chopped fresh coriander. It will taste lovely.

I have been at home as well today, but haven't done much. It is the first day I have had without the children since the middle of July! I have been working a lot, so feeling a bit tired. However I have used the time to do some planning, mealplans, shopping list etc, and I have done some admin and housework. (Very little!)

I can't believe I stuck to the budget for the second week. I'm really pleased. Posting on here is the incentive, I think! Thanks to all of you for your posts, it's nice to know you are all out there trying to moneysave like me.

I think next week will be harder to keep to the budget because I am starting to run out of things, even though the next Tesco shop is a long way away. I will do some baking over the weekend to keep the troops happy, and luckily we still have a lot coming from the garden, which helps. Also, OH is away all next week, so I will be able to resort to beans on toast without sour looks!!

Those of you who have done this several times before, do you find that as time goes on, you run out of the basics and it is hard to keep it up? That is what I suspect will happen to me next week...

Hollysan