November 2007 Grocery Challenge

nopot2pin

lil_me wrote: »

Oh while I am here, anyone noticed how much their waste has reduced? Since I started this challenge it's got lower and lower, more so after reducing portion sizes even what the dogs get extra has reduced (don't think they are happy about that bit however :rotfl: )

I have :j I know I've not been doing this very long... but yes... food wastage is down in my house.... by quite a bit.

I also am making more stuff... which, is not only saving money, but I find it very theraputic and rewarding. Also my parents are loving it as they just love HM stuff !!:D

But I have also noticed something else.......... I dont eat meat... so I have alway eaten food in bizarre combinations.... But now its on a whole new level !!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

LouiseJ

Quick question everyone.

Yesterday I defrosted some steak as we were going to have steak and chips for dinner but ended up being invited out to friends for a meal instead.
We can't have it today as I have a Mystery Shop at KFC for a family bucket meal and definately wont be re heating that so can I cook the steak today and freeze it cooked? Or am I setting my family up for food poisoning?

Hollysan

Hello moneysavers,

I just typed four paras and when I backspaced it bounced me out! :mad:

Anyway, as I was saying...I did alright this week, spent £57.42 which included a veg box - veg box weeks always seem harder, so I will keep to once a fortnight and no more.

As regards Christmas, I am going to allow £400 for December, but this will include £40 Tesco vouchers and £50 Tesco savings stamps. We are also doing a wholefood wholesale order at the beginning of December. We usually spend around £100 and theres no point cutting it down with food prices going up so much I need to bulk buy things like flour before the new catalogue comes in January with more price rises.

Otherwise, I will only do festive food for the two days. After that we have rellies coming which means four children so we will be back to pizza and pasta! We don't eat a lot of sweet stuff either. Just cake! I'm looking forward to it already..:beer:

And I will feel so much better about Christmas this year knowing that we won't be paying it off until July. I have been budgeting and buying presents for a few months, as well as bits and pieces of food and drink. So I feel organised for once.

Good luck to everyone for the coming week.

Hollysan

JAMIEDODGER

not doing too badly this month....

next week will be expensive as i am going to be adding a meat box to my usual riverford order and some extra fruit and veg, which will bring the order up to 72.95!!! however, i am planning to make the very best of the meat box and stretch it as much as possible!!!

i should still manage to keep in target for the month!!

rosieben

LouiseJ wrote: »

... so can I cook the steak today and freeze it cooked? Or am I setting my family up for food poisoning?

yes, if you cook the steak you can freeze it quite safely

mikeD

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

I just realised that you guys count wine into the groceries bill :eek: dread to think what it would put our monthly spend up to if we did this!

Hope everyone has a good weekend - don't spend too much!

I have a separate budget for alcoholic substances, and it's quite large :eek: (buries head in shame ), however I'm with you Jacks xxx (never mind the length, feel the strength ). Well wine or Crisps, Hmmm, no contest really .

Will update my siggy after the weekend provided the hangover's not too bad .

Oh! by the way Jacks xxx :hello::hello::hello::hello::hello:

Doom_and_Gloom

Got veg box through on Thursday so as usual £15 later this time I have:
Bananas - 900g
Apples (k) - 800g
Oranges - 850g
Pears (k) - 800g
Red pepper - 200g
Sweet potatoes - 450g
Tomatoes - 300g
Red onions (k) - 500g
Leeks (k) - 450g
White cabbage (k) - 500g
Spinich (k) - 300g
Mushrooms - 200g
Cauliflower (k) - 1.3kg
Carrots - 750g
Potatoes (k) - 1.85kg

Total spend so far = £32.50
Left of budget = £2.50

belfastgirl23

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has trouble passing an open bottle of wine It's chucking it down here tonight and I am planning a little bit of comfort drinking once I finish comfort eating

Anyway, hanging head in shame, I went to sainsbury's alone this morning and still managed to spend £25 although no crisps Also bought a nice new polo neck for £6 (25% off all own brand clothes this weekend, yay). I mainly overspent on offers (half price teabags, garlic bread 2 for £2). Can't believe the price of a loaf now, £1.17 for a batch loaf!!! I also spent another £3 at Marks but that's okay, leaving me £20 for the rest of the month.

Finally too I did a cupboard inventory, mainly cos I couldn't get stuff fitted in any more. The really good news is that I'll need very little next month which will hopefully allow for any extra Xmas spends.

I also inventoried my christmas presents and only have a couple left to buy, no mean feat since DH comes from a big family of inveterate gift buyers who resist all secret santa suggestions. 16 presents for them alone plus another 7 for my family plus 8 friends!

And when I was in M&S they had loads of Xmas offers so I bought all the stuff for Christmas hampers for both our parents. Did this with my M&S vouchers from the credit card stoozing I've been doing so pretty happy. Spent £50 and nearly everything was half price. Will just need to add some fresh cheeses and olives and that will be that done too!

So I think I deserve a glass of wine. I'm recording strictly come dancing so I can fast forward through brucie and will get to watch it in peace as DH is off watching football in the pub (finally I am thankful we don't get Sky!). Hope you all have a good evening too...

MRSMCAWBER

Hello all ... just typed a post and it vanished..so i will try again;)

Just updated my signature...checked my receipts nd i have now spent a total or 20euros.... about £15 so far this month - so im happy with that..:T

I have been popping to different supermarkets every day -mainly to burn some cals (im doing the OS weight loss campaign:p ), but i have just been picking up the odd carton of milk, bit of fruit etc.... and picking up some bargains.... 2 packs of reduced braising steak, and 2 packs really lean belly pork..oh and some dried mushrooms..3 different kind.for just 99c a bag :T .

Made hubby some cream of mushroom soup for his flask for work and it was a hit..have 3 portions left in the freezer..have to say that hubby taking HM soups and HM bread to work for lunch is saving a fortune.. plus it keeps him warm and is full of goodness -he normally takes sandwiches but soup works out a lot better value and more filling.
I have been using the portions of Hm food out of the freezer, although it still looks rather full ... tomorrow im going to do a chicken dinner and then turn the rest into a big batch of chicken noodle soup...

We have 2 weeks left and we are expecting hubby to be away for a week of it..so if i don't come in under budget please feel free to form a queue -and kick me :rotfl:

Im looking forward to december..even though we are away from dec 17th-jan 2nd.... I will be getting some stuff whilst home to bring back... just a few items that are much cheaper.. bread flour, nescafe, cheddar, head n shoulders etc... which should make next years budgets even lower :T .. just have to figure out how much to allow and does it all come out of december?, or part dec part jan ....

well i had better get off...and thank you for all the inspiration on here

Jacks_xxx

mikeD wrote: »

I have a separate budget for alcoholic substances, and it's quite large :eek: (buries head in shame ), however I'm with you Jacks xxx (never mind the length, feel the strength ). Well wine or Crisps, Hmmm, no contest really .

Will update my siggy after the weekend provided the hangover's not too bad .

Oh! by the way Jacks xxx :hello::hello::hello::hello::hello:

:wave: :wave: :wave: Hey Mike!

Loving the icons!

and

"never mind the length feel the strength" nearly had me choking on my tea!

*sniggers* :rotfl:

:beer: I've got a bit of a boozey week coming up so I may be even more incoherent and rambly than usual.

Love Jacks xxx

PS Day 20 for me and it's going Ok I think. :dance: