January 2008 Grocery Challenge

meanmarie

Evening all,

We have only had 'tub' butter for the last couple of days, I deliberately didn't buy any as there were two tubs in the fridge....both open of course, so I wanted to use them up. This morning OH went for the paper as usual and came back with a pound of Kerrygold.....for which he had paid €2.92! He had also bought half a kilo of sirloin steak for €8 so we had that for dinner...gave him a piece and sliced and stir fried the rest with veg for the rest of us (3 adults). It turned out well and we didn't eat it all so the rest is going in the freezer for the next time steak is the only thing that will rest on OH's stomach! I am giving him €5 towards the lot, as I wouldn't have bought butter at that price and he usually pays for anything he fancies, but tbh, I will use the butter now that we have it! Will be on a serious butter hunt from now on and buy when I see it for less than that.

Good luck to all for the rest of the month

Marie

tranquil_2

rosieben wrote: »

Tranquil, please dont give up. It is hard at first, but I'm sure you will get there in the end. We've all been through something you like this

Have you seen the weekly meal planning thread? you may get some ideas from that.

Please dont stop visiting the thread, it really helps to keep us motivated

Thanks Rosieben,

I'm still going to plod on. Hopefully this will be a temporary lapse. I think I'll have to chalk this month up to being more realistic and more aware of how I shop.

I've tried meal planning in the past. We either don't stick to plan as don't fancy it on the night or, more likely, I sit down on Sunday night and can't think of a single meal! I will keep more of an eye on the meal planning thread and see if taking inspiration from other's menu's proves more successful!

I'll try posting daily, good or bad, and see if that helps!

JoJoB

Am feeling all worried cos I have given OH my bank card so he can pay bills etc while I am at work tomorrow. He also wants to have a quick look round Aldi and pick up some Parmesan and a couple of other things. I feel all fidgety and scared he will get carried away in there and blow my budget.

I am becoming a control freak!

tranquil_2

Following on from above. Today I've managed to feed us all out of the cupboard and not go to the supermarket at all. Cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for everyone for lunch. For tea, girls had pasta with veg and yesterday's left over sausages; me and DH had leftovers from 2 days ago. DH did buy his lunch though, but one step at a time.

Tomorrow I will have to buy milk, and then will need to be strong not to snap up bargains (always tempted by offers/ reduced items).

My new motto will be "one day at a time!".

Bobbykins

JoJoB wrote: »

I feel all fidgety and scared he will get carried away in there and blow my budget.

I am becoming a control freak!

.......you say this as if it was a BAD thing??? :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Bobbykins

Hi Tranquil....I don't know if this will work for you or not BUT....
when I first started on the challenge, a few months ago, I found it really difficult to resist the "bargains" and ended up struggling to meet my budget.

One of the other users (is might have been Rosieben, god bless her) suggested the idea of having a separate "shopping" purse and keeping just enough in it for the grocery budget (either the weekly or monthly amount, whichever suits) plus maybe just a couple of pounds for any really "too good to miss" offers.

That really helped me to keep my spending under control. It might be worth a try for you?

HTH

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there JoJoB

I like to account for every cent too.... hubby has an allergy to receipts :mad: so if he is picking anything up for me i give him as near to the price it should be as possible :rotfl:
So i will join you in being a control freak

Meanmarie

I think butter prices may be on the way down... here it has gone down to 95c a block, and when i mentioned it to my mum - she took a look in ASDA and said there butter had come down a bit..so fingers crossed it continues

Tranquil..
I don't know if it helps but when i meal plan - i generally list 7 meals for the week and then just pick 1 of them at a time-rather than thinking its "such n such" on monday -as you can bet i won't fancy it then or something will happen to mess it up... might be a half way solution between the two ways for you......
Im sure it will become a little easier... as you say just aim for 1 day at a time...and in no time you will a whizz:D

Bobbykins.. i now do that too.. 1 weeks money in my purse and the rest at home to stop me getting carried away..it really does help

lil_me

We tried the Goulash, yak, don't think I will be doing that again, but at least I tried something new. No spending here today

Mollymop5

bails wrote: »

. We do now have 8 months of hay, 3 months of juice, 6 months of nuts, seeds and pulses (we're veggie - well, OH is and I'm 99%) etc, etc.... you see where I'm coming from?! Anyone would think there was a war on! Now if I can just get my hands on a 10kg bag of rice FFM...;)

Hay????? I know yu say you're veggie but surely you don't eat hay?

jackiegibbo

Many thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions and links for freezing things:T :T :T :T