November 2007 Grocery Challenge

brummiebabe

Just updating this months' spending (so far...:rolleyes: )

Major Tesco shop (all household items for the month, food for DD's 1st birthday party, 1 week's food etc) = £166.79:eek:

Nappies for the month (and maybe a little longer...) on 3 for 2 at Boots = £17.38

Loo rolls forgotten in Tesco delivery:rotfl: = £4.18


Grand total: £188.35:eek: :eek:

However, should be just food to buy for the rest of the month..all toiletries, baby stuff, household cleaners, washing powder etc was included in Tesco shop.

Leaves me £211.65 for the rest of November (£70.55 for each week) - should be achievable!!!!

MRSMCAWBER

Morning all

Well i still haven't spent 1 cent out of this months budget.... its been a week now :j ... i am determined to stick to my menu planner, and use up all the HM goodies i have put into the freezer in the last couple of months .. we are now going back to the UK on the 17th december until the 2nd jan - so i don't even have to do any xmas food shopping :rotfl: ..which in a way i will miss-still im getting my "shopping fix" at the moment from buying stuff to make my xmas hampers for everyone back home.... but thats a different budget ....

will be spending quite a bit when i get to the uk as i want to bring back...

1. nescafe -200g jar here is about £4.50
2. head n shoulders for hubby - here about - £5.25
3. bisto gravy granules - here £1.25 for a 170g pot
4. lamb oxos - can't get
5. bread flour -here £1 a bag... getting it from lidl back home;)

I can't believe that yesterday i went round a huge supermarket, plus several other shops i didn't buy 1 thing that wasn't for xmas pressies :A

lets hope i can get through to the 14th december like this

valk_scot

Can anyone join in?

At the moment I spend about £500 on the four of us (OH and I, kids 11 and 6) plus two cats. However I know I'm horribly wasteful some weeks and just bone idle the rest of the time. I can cook pretty well, have a Lidl and Aldi withn a ten minute walk and even have an allotment, so no excuses!

Last time we had to cut down, I worked 100% in cash for housekeeping money and found that a lot easier than constantly getting out the debit card. So this month I'll kick off with £80 per week (yeah I know it's far more than you seasoned veterans spend, but I'm starting out easy) That's to include packed lunches for OH, school dinners for the kids (they prefer these), cat food, toiletries and cleaning materials.

I've got a freezer packed to the top with cheap meat deals and a very full storecupboard to start with, so that will help with getting me used to the idea. My plan is to use Tesco home delivery once per month for the heavy stuff, like cat food and soya milk (for daughter) and such stuff as I can't get elsewhere, then stick to Lidl (I like Lidl!) for most of the rest. Less expensive temptation!

Solwaykid

I'm going to try and get back on this month. I took my eye off the grocery challenge ball completely last month and paid the price! I'm going to go for £120 for the month. Me, 2 cats and my boyfriend a couple of suppers a week. Going to update my sig once I've worked out how much I've already spent of that.

Good luck all.

tattycath

Well, I have managed not to spend any money today!!!!! That's a first for me!!!! Just trying to decide what to cook for evening meal tonight... Got some minced beef in fridge and if anyone can suggest something to do with it other that lasagne, shepherds/cottage pie, spag bol and beefburgers, I will be very interested please. I have quite alot of minced beef so whatever I make with it I have to be able to freeze half of it.
Another question whilst I am here. If I buy some fresh raw meat can I freeze it in its raw state, then defrost it and cook it, then can I refreeze it in its cooked state please? I seem to think you can but I really don't know whether I heard/read it somewhere or if I've dreamed it up... lol
Thanks in anticipation.

kbl

What about chilli beef n rice? Dead easy, mince, tin chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, bit of grated cheese and rice.(tortilla chips are lovely for 'scooping', but that's optional). Not as unhealthy as it sounds cos you only need a little bit of cheese and the chips are optional, and it's extremely popular in our house!!

Sorry, no idea about your freezing/cooking/refreezing question, will watch in interest for the reply

MRSMCAWBER

Hi tattycath

Yes you can freeze fresh raw meat, take it out defrost and cook and then freeze again..no problem..

tattycath

kbl wrote: »

What about chilli beef n rice? Dead easy, mince, tin chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, bit of grated cheese and rice.(tortilla chips are lovely for 'scooping', but that's optional). Not as unhealthy as it sounds cos you only need a little bit of cheese and the chips are optional, and it's extremely popular in our house!!

Sorry, no idea about your freezing/cooking/refreezing question, will watch in interest for the reply

Hi KBL Thanks for your suggestion. Sounds like a plan, (without the tortilla chips as we don't have any at mo) could substitute with garlic baguette though. :cool:

Cheers

tattycath

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Morning all

Well i still haven't spent 1 cent out of this months budget.... its been a week now :j ... i am determined to stick to my menu planner, and use up all the HM goodies i have put into the freezer in the last couple of months .. we are now going back to the UK on the 17th december until the 2nd jan - so i don't even have to do any xmas food shopping :rotfl: ..which in a way i will miss-still im getting my "shopping fix" at the moment from buying stuff to make my xmas hampers for everyone back home.... but thats a different budget ....

will be spending quite a bit when i get to the uk as i want to bring back...

1. nescafe -200g jar here is about £4.50
2. head n shoulders for hubby - here about - £5.25
3. bisto gravy granules - here £1.25 for a 170g pot
4. lamb oxos - can't get
5. bread flour -here £1 a bag... getting it from lidl back home;)

I can't believe that yesterday i went round a huge supermarket, plus several other shops i didn't buy 1 thing that wasn't for xmas pressies :A

lets hope i can get through to the 14th december like this

Hi MRSMCAWBER .

I have to ask... How do you do it? How do you manage to eat for a month and yet spend so little?? Please don't think me rude, but if I could get my budget down to £100 a month I'd be a very happy woman!!!!! lol!!
Thanks

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

I could spend a fortune, as the variety of stuff here is amazing but i have finally realised "what is the point?"....
cleaning stuff in particular amazes me.. i can get a 10kilo box of wash powder for roughly £7.50 and it lasts for ages

A lot of other food is cheaper here (apart from those few things i mentioned - which i will be bringing back from the UK )

I also cook everything from scratch, and have a hubby who isn't a fuss pot -which is a god send :rotfl:

Now it is cold and hubby works outside, he takes HM bread and soup most days.... they are soooo cheap its silly - but hubby loves them...

Im in the process of losing weight :rolleyes: .... so i have finally got our portion sizes down.... so every time i do a recipe for 4 i now freeze 2 portions-before we would have eaten it ... I have lost 2st 4.5lb in the last 12 weeks eating:-
corned beef hash
cheese, potato n onion flans
liver casserole
savoury meat pie
HM sausages, casseroled or toad in the hole
roast chicken dinners
potatoes n onions done in the oven - just had that and its delicious
pasties
steak n mushroom pie

I don't have exact measurements as im a "make it up as i go along" kinda cook :rotfl: .. but if you want any of the recipes i can give you the basic idea... and if you are looking for any recipe ideas..let me know what sort of stuff you are looking for and i will see what recipes i can unearth.... i have shed loads

I posted my bread recipe on a thread earlier..it is stunning (well we think so ) and as i don't use fat or milk in it... it works out about 50p a loaf - and you can get fresh yeast free and cheaper flour in the uk - so you could make it even cheaper :T a couple of good slices and a flask of soup keeps hubby going all day..

Hope that helps...if i can help with anything just let me know