January 2008 Grocery Challenge

High_Peak_Lass

oh b*gger!

Spend so far £196.27:eek: :eek:

so I guess till the 25th i'm going for the 'how much will I go over by challenge!!'

Not going to beat myself up about it for the following reasons:-

had a very good NYE in with homemade Lemoncello to drink and a rib of beef on the bone

have a very full freezer, HM canneloni, HM chilli, HM saus cass, HM minestrone soup, whole duck, HM sausage rolls, meatballs etc etc etc:j

have the contents of a hamper to mix and match with - actually, this means i really shouldn't have gone over budget, so how did i manage that?

i have bought proper tupperware for the freezer out of the budget as the cheaper ones split when you pull the lids off!

and most importantly....

i am still spending significantly less than i was spending last year

That said, February will be on budget

JoJoB

Hmmm, OH decided at 9pm last night to go to the offie for a 1/4 bottle of vodka, coke and some beers and stayed up late watching a film. He hasn't had a drink since new years day so not too bad I suppose, but this is the sort of expense that drags us down. I'm not going to include it in my grocery budget, just keep tabs of how much he spends on the alcohol front and present him with the figures at the end of the month in comparison with what we have spent on food. The left-overs should be our treat or savings money, so if alcohol is taking up too much of our "treats" then it might be one way of getting him to think twice. I don't want to be too draconian about it, the occasional drinkup is fine, but I am becoming aware of how much it has eaten into our finances in the past.

Though not as much as when I had a cocaine habit lol.

LouiseJ

Hello everyone:wave:

I have just spent for the first time in 2008 and I should be OK this month.

Bill came to £38.38 and was a mixture of Lidl and Asda. I have found that Asda is definately cheaper for some things such as cat food and litter and bread.

Managed to send off my application for AQA yesterday I have to say I found it really difficult but if I am accepted I will be paid 30p per question answered so if I manage to answer 15 questions a day then I will earn £31.50 per week which will cover half the food budget!

All off to have a day out today as DSs both got money from relatives for Christmas and want to have a look in the sales. I also have booked us into Cafe Rouge for lunch as I have £30 in leisure vouchers from Pigsback.

Back to work tomorrow Boo:mad:

Mollymop5

LouiseJ wrote: »

Hello everyone:wave:

I have just spent for the first time in 2008 and I should be OK this month.

Bill came to £38.38 and was a mixture of Lidl and Asda. I have found that Asda is definately cheaper for some things such as cat food and litter and bread.

Managed to send off my application for AQA yesterday I have to say I found it really difficult but if I am accepted I will be paid 30p per question answered so if I manage to answer 15 questions a day then I will earn £31.50 per week which will cover half the food budget!

All off to have a day out today as DSs both got money from relatives for Christmas and want to have a look in the sales. I also have booked us into Cafe Rouge for lunch as I have £30 in leisure vouchers from Pigsback.

Back to work tomorrow Boo:mad:

What is AQA? is it something anyone can do for extra cash?

jackie_w

Well I was right, Dh went out and spent £34.99 on a set of scales:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: .
I asked him where were the cheaper ones, he said that was the cheaper ones, needless to say, he went to comet for them, and not asda or argos as I asked him too. Oh well, at least he paid, if he asks me for the money, I will give him £3.99 after all this was what I told him they would cost:rotfl: :rotfl:

Anway, made my bread yesterday, and it is delicious even if I do say so myself. Have another loaf baking in the BM as we speak. I also made chocolate bread yesterday too with drinking chocolate and not cocoa, and it tasted okay. Next time in in Lidl, I think I will have a look to see if they have any cocoa, its bound to be cheaper than Asda etc (hopefully).

Will have to venture out to shops today to get cereal. Will also pop back into Lidl to get more of their bread flour. I bought 2 bags yesterday, and one is nearly finished already.

Will update sig with new spend when I get back from shops.

Jackie

charleypink

hi all,
Iv'e just got back from Netto and managed to spend £20.14.
£18.00 of that went on the little ones nappies, they are on offer at the mo, huggies 2 x box of 75 nappies (size5)for £18.00. You even get 2 free packs of wet wipes in each box. This should last little'n well into next month.
charley:o

rosieben

High_Peak_Lass wrote: »

... this means i really shouldn't have gone over budget, so how did i manage that?

i have bought proper tupperware for the freezer out of the budget as the cheaper ones split when you pull the lids off!
...

If you deducted the tupperware from your total, is your real gc spend within budget?

like you, when I look back at how much I used to spend (over £200 most months just for ME :eek: ) it all falls into perspective

you're doing really well with your freezer meals - I'm trying to get there!

azjh77

I have spent some money! I thought I would pop out and get some wet wipes and loo rolls. And then I got to thinking about that new freezer we've been given. It just isn't ecconomical to run it half empty so I thought i'd visit Iceland. So I blew a whole £20 !! Did get lots of lovely food though...

21/12 - £14 - spent £0
28/12 - £14 - spent £0
4/1 - £14... spent £20 !!!

kiwi88_2

Morning all,

Well I have cooking at the mo H/M potatoe and leek soup with added dried beans (duly soaked and boiled) and I have prepared the makings of butternut squash and carrot soup (again with added beans and lentils) for making after lunch. These will provide a good few freezer lunches as well as lunch today for DH and I but the kids don't like my soups, sniff, sniff. Am also going to start using my breadmaker more often, the only trouble is it's small so by the time we've had lunch it's gone!!!

I know someone mentioned bread flour on offer/cheap in one of the shops but I can't remember where? Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks Kiwi

nopot2pin

mikeD wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Box of Frogs comes to mind

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

A compliment... from the Master Frog

So far this month I have spent £38.71.... so a little over budget for the first week..... But I have another 3 weeks to sort it out

I tried to make bread this morning by hand... but my right hand is still somewhat gubbed and I couldn't really knead it properly. Think I am going to dig out my old kenwood gadget thingy and see if it has a bread hook thing, and try that instead.

Apologies to all for all the technical jargon in this post :rolleyes:

Good Luck to all