January 2008 Grocery Challenge

BlushingRose

rosieben wrote: »

Hello BR and welcome!

I'd suggest that you make a note of what you have in cupboards and freezer etc, then use that list to work out a meal plan for the next week.

Yeah, we went through our cupboards, and freezer, the other day and we don't actualy have much stuff in there - almost all stuff in there is eaten int he week, likewise the fridge. let's just say you can tell we go shopping on a friday!

Make your shopping list from this meal plan (dont forget breakfast, lunch, snacks, suppers) and - most importantly! - stick to the list when you go shopping If I go to the shop I take cash with me to the shop and allow myself two ro three pounds extra in case I see an unmissable bargain. I usually shop online though as that keeps me from spending so much

We'd do the 'taking cash' thing (it's what we used to do when we could aford fruit, veg and meat from local shops) but we have no cash!! Atm we've been having to buy groceries in the CC :eek:

Good luck!

Edited to say - keep all your receipts and make a note of small spends when you dont get a receipt (that bar of chocolate or newspaper) and then you'll see where the money goes - its usually a bit of an eye opener

I'll bet!!

Thanks for this post, very helpful!

mikeD

Hiya all. Had to get a carrot and a swede for tonights stew but that's all. DW has a hospital appointed this afternoon for her broken arm. We are keeping our fingers crossed that all is well, it certainly seem to have improved a lot.

Someone asked about a potato beginning with W, could that be Wilya? I have grown then in the past and they are quite versatile.

Gotta go now so good hunting all.

Love the FM

BlushingRose

meanmarie wrote: »

Hi all,

BlushingRose....before you go shopping write a menu plan...

yep, we used to do this - now we tend to think of it out loud while we're going round the shop :eek:


go through your cupboards/fridge/freezer and see what you have to go towards the making of the meals for the week, and write a list of the rest of the things you need....you could do it the other way round...check cupboards first and base menu on what you already have.

We don't have anything in our cupboards and freezer that isn't used by the end of the week.

Dinner to-day is very cheap....half packet of Lidl bacon misshapes, couple onions, 6 carrots, two potatoes, one leek, handful of chopped herbs from garden, couple dried kaffir lime leaves, some dried watercress, all stirred around over medium heat for 10/15 minutes, cover well with water and simmer for 2 or 3 hours...suppose you could do it in slow cooker, I don't have one. Serve with fresh crusty bread.

That sounds lovely! Far more exciting than the spagetti with grated cheese that i was planning to have for lunch!

Thanks for this post!!

rosieben

Hello MikeD Hope the appointment goes well today!

BR, sorry is some of my advice wasnt any help, might have been useful if I'd
read your soa :rolleyes:

Can I suggest you search through the indexed collection, there are several threads there on cheap meals which might help. I'll sort out a link in a mo.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=364086#post364086
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=609706#post609706

I do think that meal planning and shopping lists are the way to go, especially if things are ultra tight;

also check out the cheap cleaning and laundry threads, there are lots of ways to reduce spend there.

indexed collections here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=235198

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=346783

and more recipes here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=46777&page=1

If you want any specific information please ask, someone is always around to point you in the right direction.

mama67

Thanks Nykmedia, for this thread.

Please add me in on this, I'll start 1 Feb.

I currently spend approx £80/fortnight included in this is an organic veg box delivered at the cost of £10/week.

The £80 also includes all cleaning/personal hygiene products as well as food.

There is also another £20/week on school lunches;(during school holidays this amount is used to help refill freezer with meat, fish etc)

I cook most meals from scratch, and bake all my own cakes, pastries and bread, although I do use a bread machine for the dough.

belfastgirl23

Hi BlushingRose, just wondering, it might be worth posting a list of the kinds of things you tend to buy and eat in your grocery budget. £400 a month is a lot if you aren't overbuying so I suppose I'm thinking it might be *what* you're buying that's the issue, not waste etc. There are cheaper and more expensive meals. I know when I was spending way way too much it was all about Marks & Spencer basically, not even ready meals but nice snacks, salads, pastas etc. But I also definitely wasted a lot and binned stuff etc as well. So I suppose what I'm saying is to try to do a grocery SOA type thing and see if people have comments?

Frankerooney the flour thing def works for me with ciabatta so give it a go and see. Also I found bringing the temp of the oven down a bit helped (altho maybe you are baking in the BM).

And welcome Mama67...

Mike, hope it all goes well at the hospital.

Frugaldom

frankerooney wrote: »

I sent DH to buy one potato the other day and it was 43p :eek:, wasn't even huge. I was really surprised, I always thought potatoes were a cheap filler but they're not really are they.

I've just updated signature and spending so far this month is £72.09
My grocery budget includes all foodstuffs, cleaning products and toiletries.(The soap nuts will save me a few pounds extra this year, cheers MSE'ers :beer: ) Just back from local shop having spent £3.30 on 2 bags of sugar, a bag of potatoes and half a dozen local farm eggs. I asked about the potatoes (they're Maris Pipers) and have now ordered a 25kg bag for next week. I reckon this will be enough to keep us going until the homegrowns are ready if I seed some of them and then plant them. I think I have now mastered the art of batch cooking them and freezing the excess as mash or on cottage pie. Does this all make sense? (It's pasta, rice or potatoes every day in our household.)

Oh, I should mention that the 25kg bag is costing a little bit more than I paid last time because it's Maris Pipers but at £6.50 per bag, I think at 26p per kilo that's still a bargain, especially if I can grow some more from them

BigMummaF

YES!!!!! Oh I could kiss you Mike:eek: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: You've saved me another sleepless night! Wilja spuds are great are they not & just as tasty as MP or KE!

I did a quick google the electric sausage mincer thingy & they've got them on Amazon for around £55. Must admit that I never knew such things existed till this week:o I lead a very sheltered life!

Went into a Morrisons this week I]we've not got one too close[/I & spent £9:48 on a few bits, & another trip to Dyas for water filter cartridges that I forgot the other day. My mate's b'day prezzie & some other bits & I've spent another £25:60----I'm sure I've got a leaky washer on my money tap:mad:

Well pay-day tomorrow, but I'll perhaps get some dry doggy grub today & have a look at the fruit & veg he has in....it's not raining :shhh: & we both need to stretch our legs.
See yer later Peeps

rosieben

I just noticed that we're almost up to 1900 posts on this thread :j Think that's because of so many of nykmedia's challengers joining us :T

Glad to see everyone is doing so well, I'm hoping (once again!) to get out tomorrow and do some shopping but dont anticipate needing to spend more than £10. So, I can advise that one good way of keeping under budget is to get yourself one of these flu-buggy things! I've only been out of the house twice since christmas and now getting cabin-crazy!

Welcome mama67 - the February thread will be started towards the end of the month. Meantime, keep a note of what you're spending now so you have an idea of what you might set your budget at.

craftycrofty

Hi all,

I have just done what I hope will be my last shop in January. Spent £31.85 in Tesco and £7 for 25kg sack of spuds at the green grocers. That brings my spend this month to £245.84 against my target of £250.00! I am really pleased about that, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it next month. I had lots of bits in from Christmas to use up which has helped keep the spending down.

Anyway fingers crossed I can keep to £250 this month! and good luck to everyone else!

CC