November 2007 Grocery Challenge

nopot2pin

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:

I have alcohol in my budget........although just before I started the GC's, I got out the old wine making kit from the loft bought a few kits .... and now I have a couple of demijohns fermenting and bubbling and stuff .

I should have really bottled the white wine today...
But I got side tracked (I always get side tracked) ... made bread.. made cheese and onion quiche... painted the kitchen .. watched the football.
So, will have to bottle the white wine another day.. and open a bottle of red now instead:D

Also did the number crunching...and so far this month I have spent £69.97. I have just over 2 weeks left, with £50 left. I am doing much better this month than last month so far. So I am very happy about that. And have only spent £39 on fuel.
Thanks to all you lot for your continued support :T

PS... I notice loads of peeps keep losing their posts because the site times out or some other techincal issue...
I always copy all of my typing... before I submit reply. Then that way if I do lose my post, I can go back into post reply and "paste" my original words that I lost. Also... if I do get side tracked:o with something, I know I have a wee backup for my memory.

And as if by magic... I got kicked out.... so the above is copy and pasted in. Off to open the red wine now;)

TheBees

Hi all
Managed to last until today to go for a large shop at Tesco. Only wanted to spend £100 but went over and spent £124 but got enough food for two whole weeks if we are careful. :cool: That leaves just £21 after that to last us until the 4th of December when our monthly challenge finishes! Will need milk, fruit and bread so not sure if we are going to make it or not! Have written out the menu plan and put it on the wall along with a blank shopping list. The final few days of the challenge we will have to shop at Lidl I think!

Got another £2 coin today :j

As for the Eggy Potato recipe - it's not really a Devon delicacy but something we throw together sometimes when the cupboards are bare. Just a bit like a spanish ommelette. Parboil some large potatoes and slice into the bottom of a dish. Whisk up 3 eggs, add some milk, dried herbs and pour over the potatoes. You could add bits of bacon, sweetcorn, peppers or anything else you want to use up. Cook at 190-200c until golden on the top and potatoes cooked through.

Need to update signature now.

Hubby and I are running 10k Children in Need run tomorrow - so wish us luck
MBee :T

lil_me

Evening everyone

I'm lucky, I don't drink well ok I tell fibs I've had a couple of drinks in well over 2 years when we were on holiday.....so I don't have to budget or have a seperate budget for it. There is a few bottles of booze left in that have been there over 2 years incase any visitors want one like vodka, tia maria (unsure if that is still drinkable) some archers somewhere aswell.

Spent some more today, mainly on baking stuff for the boys to bake some yummy things today, there was some expensive bits and pieces like some good cocoa etc but they'll last ages, did forget DS1s yoghurts for his lunches which I will have to go and get tomorrow.

Have done next weeks meal plan, I am going to sit and do the last of the shopping list tonight, mainly fruit and veg, going to try to get to a market for F&V as when I was at one last week I was mortified how cheap things were as I'd just bought F&V that morning, eg what I paid £2.40 for of grapes was 80p!!!

Hope everyones still hanging in there, just over 2 weeks to go for me, always get scared at this point but have managed it so far and I WILL DO IT AGAIN!

tattycath

Hi everyone!!!
We're just over half way through the month and well over half way through the budget!! However, in my defence I have stocked up on loo rolls, wash powder and dishwasher tablets so I (hopefully) won't need to buy any next month (unless they're on bogof!!!- or unless there is a sudden outbreak of dyssentry or similar!!!!!):D
I did also have a mild lapse tonight and went to local chippy for evening meal-spent £7.00.
I am surprised to see that I have managed to save over £50 in my pig so far this month:j (very impressive for me!!!lol) Just need to find some spectalularly good bargains for christmas presents.

Continued good luck to everyone for the remainder of this months grocery challenge!!!

lil_me

I was just trying to figure out why I had spent so much at the shop and was about to hunt for the receipt. Dishwasher tablets were £8.25 (oopsed as were £12) thanks for the reminder tattycath...enough to last me past Xmas however aswell

Oh and with the booze thing, not drinking has given me extra drying space, house came with a wine rack fitted which is great for hanging undies etc on

belfastgirl23

Cheers for the eggy potato recipe Thebees - plan to try it out sometime this week And good luck tomorrow, hope the weather stays okay for you...

lil_me I'm a big fan of lidl dishwasher tabs - £1.99 for 30 and they actually work better than most of the others since i normally just do a 30 deg wash. They also work better broken in two What does oopsed mean by the way?? Thought I had all the acronyms worked out.

Mike out of interest what is your wine budget? Ours seems to be 'spend £100 every time Tesco have a 25% off deal' :A so I would guess probably £50 a month on general house wine. Plus the odd 'special' bottle. It's the one place where DH has real trouble with any MS happening...it is an area I should try to get under control a bit I guess *sigh* for waistline as well as money reasons...

tattycath

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

I'm a big fan of lidl dishwasher tabs - £1.99 for 30 and they actually work better than most of the others since i normally just do a 30 deg wash. They also work better broken in two

Hi Belfast girl. Thanks for the tip re. lidl dishwasher tablets-I tend to use the more expensive ones:o Will try the lidl ones next time I need to buy some.

meanmarie

Belfastgirl

Thanks from me also for the tip on the Lidl dishwasher tablets...they are the cheapest ones I've found and seem better than the cheap Dunnes ones I had been using.

Marie

belfastgirl23

No prob. i find the more expensive ones don't dissolve at 30 deg and you end up having to clean them out of the dishwasher when they're all foul and half dissolved - ugh. Still using up Tesco 5 in 1 tablets from 2 years ago since I can only use them in my once a month boil wash.

Lidl do a few different types, sometimes I get a bit confused when i'm standing looking, it's the cheapest ones they have...

BTW just linking the 'what to buy and not buy in lidl aldi etc' thread in case some people on here haven't seen it. Some great advice!
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=110684

lil_me

Ooopsed well I think that is what ASDA call it, yellow stickered, was the massive 70 I think it is box of powerball but the box had a little hole in it so was £8 ish isntead of nearly £12. I was going to buy Lidl's ones but then they had none left when I was last in. I did try £1 shop ones, 16 for £1 but they aren't much use, leave nasty trail on the dishes or don't disolve like tonight where it's splattered over the dishwasher, grr. I have some quantum ones I got free to do a survey on which I use for anything with nasties. Just getting used to the dishwasher as neer had one before

Also belfastgirl sounds like your partners family are much like my partners, I end up buying for the great aunty and uncle, step mother's and father's families as they all buy for our boys. I have reduced it and for those with children I only buy for the children but you get right evil looks if it's a cheap present and can feel yourself being talked about. Ends up being 19 to buy for just his family, usually ends up costing me about £600+ for them, I think it topped over £1000 last year easily, he said about getting his brother a rally day this year, was told at £150 he can find the money for it if he wants to do that!!! Must remember to buy for his boss and his wife this year aswell, I don't mind buying for them, they're lovely and he gets more than we'll spend just in his bonus then they buy for me and the boys too.

With my family we have a deal, I chip in with Mum for Nana's presents (that way can get her something bigger), don't buy for other extended family, only buy for my neice and nephew (me and my sis don't buy for each other or partners) and my parents. This year an addition of my best friend's little boy to buy for but I got his before he was born So much less stressful buying for my side of the family.

Grocery shopping budgetting better is helping with getting some of the money together for Xmas, as after that lot I have my partner and 2 kids to buy for, but this year with the move etc it's going to be a struggle. I'm still clueless what to buy anyone, can say now there won't be any laptops or spa days bought for family this year.

Sorry I went off on one again didn't I, oh I get all stressy just thinking about it