January 2008 Grocery Challenge

honeybe21

for the person (sorry forgot the name) that shops at asda and lidl the price are the same really if u buy asda smart price foods i managed to feed 3 adults (pregnant me) 2 kids 2 cats and a dog including toiltries and cat litter etc for £55 and brought 85 items.

asda is lots cheaper than tesco ive found and its almost the same to netto and lidl on the home brand stuff.
also i would recommend the reduced meats section as eveything is alot cheaper and u can freeze it till u need to use it.

mama67

theamazinggem wrote: »

hey all, just a quickie, i notice reading thru that a lot of you get organic/local produce veg boxes delivered - do you find this a frugal way of going about things? i know there are moral/health reasons, but on strict money saving principles, is it a good way to go? thinking of trying it out but want to get some pros/cons beforehand...

Hi, I started this initially on the health grounds of pesticides etc and having 2 growing boys.

But it actually works out better for us in that the produce is all locally grown (less than 40 miles) and harvested the day before not flown in from whever and sat in plastic sweating.Obviuosly exotic fruits are flown in, but you don't have to have these. Can really taste the difference as well.

Before joining this scheme I would shop on a Monday and then again on a Thursday just to get the freshness, therefore spending more on
a) petrol !!25 mile round trip to s/mkt}
b) extras you just HAVE TO HAVE

I find that my contents last the full week and even into the next week, and delivery is included in the price.

I also think that £/lb I don't spend as much or waste as much as I would have done if buying at supermarket, the contents to a certain extent are a surprise each week although you can specify dislikes if you wanted.


Last weeks box cost £10 delivery inclusive.

2kg potatoes
1½kg carrots
1½kg onions
500g srouts
500g broccoli
medium cauli (this could be white/purple/cathedral)
4/5 leeks
500g jerusalem artichokes
250g mushrooms
2kg bananas
lettuce

mikeD

nopot2pin wrote: »

Mike.......
I never precook lasagne. If your ragu has enough liquid in it, then the pasta will cook within the dish.

One of lifes mysteries... Why are lasagne sheets and dishes different sizes ?

Thanks nopot2pin and also carolt2. Just had a look at the box and it does say that there is no need to pre-cook the product. Also I now realise that I did not put any olive oil in the pan before adding the pasta, Delia does mention this in her recipe. This is probably why the pasta stuck together and was such a sod to get apart again. I guess the result of this is a draw between DW and "DD", plus a smack on the wrist for ME:o, but I think it would have been a bit stronger if I had been working in Gordon's kitchen!!! .
Actually we have got a 7"x9" dish which would have been ideal, but as there was only two of us for dinner it was a bit on the large size and re-heated pasta 'aint particularly nice.

Well done Blushing Rose and everybody else.

I think I will reduce my weekly budget from £55 per week to £52 as from 1st Feb. So Feb's budget will be £52/7*29 = £215 for 3 adults.

Sassamac

with the fruit and veg boxes do you get on ok with having surprise ingredients.
I wouldnt mind so much having surprise veg as you can cater the meal to what you have to an extent, but with fruit we like to have a constant supply of apples, oranges and bananas for snacks / desserts etc. as well as something for a crumble.

Sassamac

well Mr T this morning cost be less than £7 which leaves me with just under a tenner to last til Thu. However of that total budget, about £6.50 is non-food and only £3.50 is for food. I would like to stay under the separate budgets as well as the total if poss. Fingers crossed nothing else arises.

Gemmzie

Our final total is £346.27 from a budget of £400, that includes £24 for a chinese, and £10 for next Christmas saved :j
That's our first month being really careful. I'm quite chuffed with that.

mama67

Sassamac wrote: »

with the fruit and veg boxes do you get on ok with having surprise ingredients.
I wouldnt mind so much having surprise veg as you can cater the meal to what you have to an extent, but with fruit we like to have a constant supply of apples, oranges and bananas for snacks / desserts etc. as well as something for a crumble.

With my delivery company you can tailor the box to suit you precisely.

The only thing in my list that I do order specifically is the bananas; the pots,carrots and onions are standard in every box unless you say different.

Obviously to have the extra fruit you would want would cost more, I get apples when at the s/mkt or market as my 2 only like red apples.

theamazinggem

who do you order from? (sorry if you don't mind i mean) i'm looking at a few and yours seems relatively good value...

theamazinggem

ok, i worked out a (very) rough comparison on mysupermarket.com for those who were interested:

mam67's veg box: £10
best supermarket price for equivalent (cheapo): £8-9
best supermarket price for equivalent (organic): £18

so looks good. thinking may try one out on a fortnightly basis, especially as everybody seems to say it lasts longer, and tbh we don't use that much, there only being 2 of us.

going away next week tho so wont be for a while.

shelovestobuystuff

Overbudget for Jan(payday to payday so up to 28th).Budget was £200,total spend is £267.75.Reasons for overspend are catering for a birthday buffet for 12 people,hubby did shopping for first 2 weeks and spends more than me,dogs eating more than expected they are getting more exercise with us so their food intake is up 50% from 400g to 600g each a day.I am on the lookout for the best buy,good quality dry complete food for the dogs.
Feb budget is still £200.I did it last year so I know I will manage it again.