March 2018 Grocery Challenge

indigowarrior

£2.10 spend on food in Tesco. Have to admit to not needing two of the items. This brings my monthly spend to £28.83

Suffolk_lass

private_helen wrote: »

Oh- almost forgot. I'm looking for some ideas- I'm having a small get together for my mother-in-law's 80th birthday later this month (12 adults, 3 children aged 2, 6, 11). I'm aiming to do mainly cold buffet food (on a budget). I do have a few ideas but would love to hear from anyone that has some ideas of what has worked well for them.

Mrs_Cheshire wrote: »

Is it a daytime thing? Could you do an afternoon tea? Sandwiches, few crisps, scone with jam and cream and a slice of cake!

I would add a savoury pie and a quiche to this list so that those travelling a distance have had a bit more of a meal - A large chicken pie with some sweetcorn or carrots and frozen peas to pad it out works well for me

supersaver1000

I'm doing better than last month, but still not great. With about £50 cash left for the month. Good news is that I will probably only need to do two shops and that I have lots of food in the cupboard.

Bought a lovely joint of beef yesterday for about £10 and had a delicious meal last night. Sliced the rest up and have a huge box of beef that will last all week for sandwiches and another evening meal. I also bought some casserole beef to make a slow cooker curry for MrSS - that will keep him very happy and away from the take away shop. I was going to buy some chicken breast to go with a jar of sweet and sour sauce - decided to opt for the birds eye crispy chicken breast at £1 for a box of two. Thought it was worth a try.

So at the moment I am planning around a £60 over spend, not too shabby for my second month.

Need2bthrifty

After getting off to such a good start with 5 NSD’s I now seem to be spending left right and centre. It all started with doing a favour for someone on Wed, going into a store I don’t normally shop in and spotting my preferred washing powder on offer = spend of £4.51, top up shop yesterday for bread, yoghurt and more F&V = spend of £9.63.

After adding this to previous spends I’m only left with £19.12 for the rest of the month :eek:, so I will be eating mostly out of my stores & freezer. I know I will need to get toilet roll and bleach, but there’s 1½ rolls left so hopefully that will last the week or I may just go out a lot

private_helen

Thankyou Mrs Cheshire and Suffolk Lass- it is a late afternoon get together. I have to admit I hadn't really thought of sandwiches! Doh- I think I was trying to over complicate things with 'fancy' bits, but sandwiches will make it less stressful and it means I can put a little effort into making a couple of quiches. I do make pies for family dinner but I'm not sure they're really upto mother-in-law level, so I'll just stick with the quiches and perhaps a homemade cake. All of which I can do quite cheaply- thanks for the ideas

Wysiwyg49

private_helen wrote: »

Oh- almost forgot. I'm looking for some ideas- I'm having a small get together for my mother-in-law's 80th birthday later this month (12 adults, 3 children aged 2, 6, 11). I'm aiming to do mainly cold buffet food (on a budget). I do have a few ideas but would love to hear from anyone that has some ideas of what has worked well for them.

I'd vote for a quiche as well. I've also made 'cheat' samosas with filo pastry filled with chickpea and potato curry, with mango chutney and HM raita they went down very well! You cut the filo sheets in half lengthways and fold over the filling to make a sort of triangular shape. Can't remember where I got that recipe/idea, may have been Thrifty Lesley?

thriftwizard

Ooh, I do like the idea of HM cheat samosas! But have spent another £14 on food at the market between yesterday & today, so won't be buying filo pastry just yet - mind you, I'll probably find out that the DDs can make it, as they can do all sorts of pastries that I've never wanted to tangle with, like hot water crust and choux.

There are only two weekends left in this pay month, so coming in under target is still feasible, but a little - tighter - than I'd like.

ScotinLondon

Afternoon all...Haven't posted for a while. Have had an exam this, which was an interesting experience to say the least.

However, since 25/2, as that is when my month started - we have spent £67.38, balance left £62.62. More than enough left until 24/3.

We spend a little a bit every day and shop when we need to, as I was off last week - we did a big shop. Everything, one way or another will be eaten (hopefully).

We definitely need to do better with our wastage. We are better than we used to be, but we can do better.

Hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend.

SIL x

Mrs_Cheshire

Popped to Mr T's this afternoon to get some ice creams for a treat after being out all day. The cafe where we were wanted £1.80 for an ice cream, so I got 8 from Mr T's for £2.25. Also picked up 2 bottles of non-alcoholic kopperburg, some milk and broccoli, total spend £6.83 after staff discount.
Hoping that should tide us over till Thursday when I do the main shop again. Will need to check the menu plan though.

indigowarrior

£2.65 spend in Tesco.
Total Spend £31.48