September 2016 Grocery Challenge

[Deleted User]

Everyone seems to be doing great. I haven't shopped for over a week, except for a bottle of coke, which was 50p ish, so added 60p to signature. Managed to pull the budget more or less back on track. Am hoping not to shop until Sunday, as I can get by on what I have in, though fridge is looking low, but I do have lots of salad stuff, so its good. Would like to go through to Tuesday without shopping, we shall see.

dumpling

I have just updated my signature and I am now up to £331. The fridge is bursting with fruit and veg and cheese for some reason. My teenagers must have stopped eating it for some reason, oh well I will have to incorporate it into some evening meals.

I've just made chinese braised beef and the house smells amazing. I bought a joint of beef from Tesco and chopped it up myself as it worked out a lot cheaper than buying diced beef and the meat looks nicer too. I have enough beef left to make a stew next week so hopefully the temperature will drop a bit by then .

thriftwizard

£80 spent at the market this morning, which should see us through most of the week. There'll be a couple of top-ups, on Sunday and at some point during the week; the trick will be to ONLY buy what we need!

curiouscrafter

I am over budget, gone over by £24. I though we would easily come in under £350 per month. This is the first time I have taken this challenge seriously and I am really disappointed. It is amazing how much all those little shops amount to, that is where I need to really consider all purchases I think.

My budget will be increased from £350 to £400, I will NOT go over £400 for the month of September!

I have £26 left in my purse. I do have well stocked cupboards, freezer and fridge. Meal plan tonight for the weekend and the week ahead.

FurryBeastOz

tumptyteapot wrote: »

I work from home and I'm having to train myself out of bargain hunting as a form of relaxation or excape from it during the day.

That's a lot of my problem.

BUT today :D:T.NSD.

t14cy_t

No spends again yesterday. I have spent £5.11 this month, so have £54.89 in my purse at the moment. Have a good Saturday everyone. X

sharronej

Can anyone give me a few ideas? Last week I did the rubber chicken which worked brilliantly except that dh moaned at only having chicken lol. Are there any other meats that I can stretch? Obviously I know about the mince and bulking it out etc but I'm wondering about joints. Thanks x

thriftwizard

Sharronej, you can make more or less any decent-size joint stretch. One of my favourites just now is ham/gammon; done in the slow cooker, eaten as a joint, then the remains used in omelettes, carbonara, pasta milanese, sandwiches - one joint can "work" for a week! Leftover beef can reappear in any number of disguises - bourguinon, stroganoff, straightforward casseroles, anything you'd use mince for (given a mincer, and add a little extra oil) etc. etc. Lamb makes a wonderful shepherd's pie, moussaka, tagine, curry - basically any recipe that uses a meat raw can be adapted to using it pre-cooked; just cut to shape or mince and adjust your cooking times/temps downwards, so that all the ingredients are cooked & the flavour has had time to develop, but the meat doesn't go to shreds.

PS - a mincer is a good investment. An old metal screw-on one from a boot sale or charity shop shouldn't cost more than a tenner & will last a lifetime, and genuinely minces the meat rather than smashing it to pieces like a food processor. There's a big difference in the texture.

sharronej

Thank you Thrift Wizard - great ideas for me there!

Lauralozzle

Big shop done - there's another receipt to add to this so will need updating again but for now I'm at £172.27/£250

Aldi - £52.20
Pets at Home - £30.98 (this should last a while!!)