November 2007 Grocery Challenge

MRSMCAWBER

Hi kbl

Have you had a go at making your own bread? so much more filling than shop stuff - not to mention tastier and cheaper...lidl do bread flour that is fine... and if you have an asda near by got to the instore bakery and they will give you fresh yeast free :j ... and how would hubby feel about taking a flask of homemade soup to work..mine does and loves it..it also stops him freezing his bits off:p ..a big flask of Hm soup and some bread and my hubby loves it.... you can cram allsorts into the soup i use loads of beans n pulses and then blitz it down to a thick broth...

Scones will be the same as the bread.. much more filling than the airy fairy shop ones and hubby will know just what is in there too

kbl

Thanks, might give it a go, just as long as it's edible! Won't be too good if he could use my bread as blocks instead of eating it! Will def do the soup, even I can do that and it would prob be better for him in this weather anyway.

clairestar86

Hi there everyone

As you can see I've never posted before but I really love the idea of trying to get to grips with my spending, and I thought here would be a really good place to start. Things are far from tight, but I spend on useless things and really annoy myself so I'm going to try and be really good this month. There are 4 of us in my family - myself, DH, DD1 (4) and DD2 (15 weeks). I'm not really too sure what I spend on our food each month so I'm going to go with £200 for everything, including nappies, baby food, toiletries, cleaning stuff etc. My budget's going to run from 30.10 to 27.11.

I'm looking forward to getting some advice and support from everyone, and hopefully giving the same back.

Good luck everyone!

Claire

WelshWoofer

I'll try again this month - was a bit over last month but not too badly considering it was my first month on the wagon again after many months off.
I'll aim for £100 for food, dog food, cleaning stuff and toiletries for me and a little dog (who's more expensive than he sounds!).
I'll start from November 1st and finish on the 30th.
Won't be shopping until Monday at the earliest as I'm away for the weekend so hopefully it'll be a good start!

Good luck to everyone else!

Blairweech

Right, I have just been to the Ginsters factory shop and stocked up on pastys, sausage rolls and puddings. Total cost: £6.50 for...24 sausage rolls, 20 cornish pasties and 20 treacle/sponge puddings - we actually got double this amount and split it with a friend as we couldn't fit it in the freezer

queenpig

I am going to join in this month been meaning to since Feb lol.
I have spent around £300+ :eek: this month

Is that good or my DH, DS,9 DS2.4 and DD, almost 3. and dog and cat?

Confusing is DH gets paid the last FRiday of every month and have done the shop for that week, so five week month for us. (this may go down a bit more as my eldest wanted to go back on school dinners now as well as ds2)

I am going to try hard to tighten the belt buckle this month see how I do, will try to hit the (asuming i actually spent £300) £270, is the reasonable to try?

Thanks Queenpig.

queenpig

jenagain wrote: »

:wave:


We spend £11.72 each week on the babies - 1 pack of DS nappies, 2 packs of DD nappies and 3 bottles of Cravendale for DS. DS refuses nappies and uses the toilet at home so I'm aiming to have him out of daytime nappies when we are out asap.

I'm really looking forward to this and am about to plan this weeks shopping list....

Here goes :T

Jen xx

Really sorry totaly off topic, to get him out of nappys for going out try taking the potty with you, yes you might look daft when you get out or in a car to let him go wee but it comes to to second nature after a while really helped with me, one if forgot to take the pooty and she used the toilet.

tattycath

Well I went to Morrisons today trying to remember all the good advice/opinions of MMS contributors. I only took a small trolley. I managed to overflow it and felt a bit weird racing round all the cut price parts. However, It paid off as, when I got to the checkout I had only spent £25.15. So, because I had been so good (I thought), I bought £5.00 worth of savings stamps. Total spend £30.15 Just got to look through books now to find out how to prepare mange tout and runner beans, and cabbage for freezer!!! Having jacket potatoes tonight (25p for 4-so I got 4 packs)!!!
I read earlier on a previous thread that someone freezes cheese. I didn't know you could freeze cheese, If so how long for and do I have to do anything to it before I freeze it or can I just put the packet in?? All replies gratefully received!!!

rosieben

tattycath wrote: »

...
I read earlier on a previous thread that someone freezes cheese. I didn't know you could freeze cheese, If so how long for and do I have to do anything to it before I freeze it or can I just put the packet in?? All replies gratefully received!!!

I grate cheese before I freeze it, sometimes it will be crumbly when it comes out of the freezer, plus its nice to have it already grated for cooking! You could just put the packet in though if you prefer it.

It never stays long in my freezer - mine is always used within 2 months but I dont know what the recommended freezer time is.

hth

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there tattycath

You can just throw in the blocks of cheese, or grate it first - so you don't have to take a whole block out at a time..

As for the veggies.. get a big pan of boiling water, prepare your veg as usual - throw them in the pan and cook for a couple of mins..fish out and drop them into a sink of cold water until cold.... drain and leave to dry (so they don't freeze together)before bagging up and whacking in the freezer... the mange tout i would drop into the pan and fish straight out again as they take next to no time to cook

and well done on the super shopping trip