July 2017 Grocery Challenge

PennyGrabber

Hi everyone

Nsd today and, although yesterday I bought stuff, I'm not counting it (well, I'll cout £1.70). I bought sweets, crisps which I'm counting and pizzas for dinner. I'm not counting the pizzas, because we were going to McDonald's (which dd still had), but ds and oh had a counter pizza instead, so I'm calling that the entertainment/going out budget.

Need to go to the shop tomorrow for stuff for work, so hopefully won't get anything for me as I'm going straight back to work after. I'm going to fry off some mushrooms and onions, then have them on toast with some tinned tomato. Yum.

Realised when I got home that I hadn't had lunch... That's some chicken, spud and salad wasted...

PG x

armchairexpert

Menu plan out the window this week, now I'm just making it up. With Mr E not here, I've been slack about making a good vegetable-heavy dinner (easier to feed the girls pasta and then snack on my own in the evening), so tonight will be a roast veg tray bake, probably with bacon. Still on budget, though: I have 3 Saturday shops left to do with $570 left of $1100, and I still have two whole chickens, some chicken fillet, sausages and 4 portions of beef mince in the freezer.

simplelivingcottage

Hello, am I OK to join this even though its half way through the month? I'm trying to get my spending down ASAP so I can get some savings and would like to have a go at this with menu planning.

I'm looking at a spend of £100 over the next two weeks, hopefully a lot less but I thought I would just knock £10 a week of our bill to start with

MissLemon

Budgetbabe wrote: »

I have however been very much reminded this week of how much convenience 'costs' us.
My order included packets of microwave rice. Which are obviously much more expensive than the sum of it's parts!!:eek:

Well done on budgeting while on a last minute holiday!

I never really liked cooking rice so just didn't eat it until I got a pressure cooker (instant pot). Now I can set it all up and have perfect rice ready to eat in around 12 minutes without having to watch the pot to make sure it doesn't burn :rotfl:

Worth looking into as you get the convenience at a fraction of the cost. It definitely pays for itself.

Doom_and_Gloom

Skintmama, that is what I usually do with a green pepper to be honest. Chilli or curry as you don't notice the bitter taste as much.

Budgetbabe, MissLemon I have never been able to cook rice. I used to use the 'boat' party of my steamer to cook rice. When that finally broke down despite telling myself I'd get another steamer I haven't. I bought a rice cooker with a steamer tray. Would never be without it. I bought it really cheap (£12 or £13) and it still works perfectly a year later. You can generally get a basic rice cooker for less than £20.

elf06

Reading with interest
I'm going to join in next month - this month sees me using up as much as possible from the cupboards and freezer so although I'm I'll join next month it will be a slightly more expensive one!

pamsdish

£26 between tesco and home bargains, coffee chocolate and a couple of other bits.

Suffolk_lass

My foolproof rice cooking involves a saucepan and the rice - no fancy gadgets. You put a quantity of rice in a large pan (e.g. a cup for 2-3) with one and a half times the amount of water and a pinch of salt. Bring it to the boil then turn the heat down and put the lid on to simmer for five minutes. then turn off the heat and leave the pan on the residual heat and do not remove the lid for 20 minutes. The rice absorbs the water and cooks in the steam. !5 minutes if you like it a tiny bit al-dente. Then take the lid off, fork it through and serve. Perfect separate grains of basmati rice.

Whether you wash it first or not is up to you. I do with cheap supermarket brands but never used to bother with posh brands like Tilda

Merlin's_Beard

There's been a bit too much cake and chocolate so far this month.... £6 tesco shop turned into £17 tesco shop, and fell into a cake shop as I walked past it!

£82.75/100 with over half the month to go!

armchairexpert

Realised yesterday that I wouldn't get home from picking the kids up in time to do tray bake roast veg, so decided to be lazy and give them sausages and chips and baked beans. Pick them up from their Gran's house and they tell me they had sausages and chips and baked beans for lunch. Darn it.

Tuna pasta saved the day, but now I am so off track I haven't the faintest idea what we have in.