January 2008 Grocery Challenge

loopy_lou_6

aaaargh first day failure. went to asda and spent 75 quid! need more training eh! my budget is only 70. oh well im gonna see if i can average it uot over the month.

loopy_lou_6

I hope all the other newbies do better than me btw. Good luck!

CanadaBound

loopy_lou wrote: »

aaaargh first day failure. went to asda and spent 75 quid! need more training eh! my budget is only 70. oh well im gonna see if i can average it uot over the month.

To be honest, having just joined myself, I am putting off my first trip to the supermarket for as long as possible for fear of just this! I will have to go tomorrow though as I am out of washing powder and the dogs beds desperately need washing after all the mud of the last few days so keeping my fingers crossed!

rosieben

loopy_lou wrote: »

aaaargh first day failure. went to asda and spent 75 quid! need more training eh! my budget is only 70. oh well im gonna see if i can average it uot over the month.

I'm sure it will average out. Bear in mind that you wont be buying some things - eg washing powder - every week, so you need to look at the monthly figure to get a true picture of your spending anyway

and its not a failure, its a learning experience

Savvy_sewing

rosieben wrote: »

I used to make my own castor sugar with a coffee grinder (never used it for coffee) and I supppose if I'd gone on long enough I'd have ended up with icing sugar? How do you make yours please?

Make it with the blender, or the baby blender, the longer that you grind, the smaller it becomes, so its cheaper, because its basically the same sugar, and they charge more for the process. Only problem with using the "baby blender" is icing sugar will fly everywhere. Best to use a closed lid blender. There are a lot of things like making butter and other basics I will dig it out and let you know whats there. Its been so long since I made the basics, I am not sure where i get them from.

Savvy_sewing

jpe20 wrote: »

Hi folks,

Thought I would have a go at this grocery challenge lark, I usually spend about 250 a month just on myself!!!! Includes beer and ready meals etc!!! So nice and healthy!

Decided to go easy and set a 180 quid budget for Jan. Spent 31 quid so far. Had a fridge freezer fail over christmas with loads of spoilt food so not much "old food" to use up in first few weeks like most people!

I usually shop at sainsburys cos I like their ready meals mainly!) end quote

Do have a small Tesco amd a large Morrisons (too many pork pies) nearby.

Good luck to everyone for 2008.


Have you claimed on your contents insurance for the freezer breakdown? Most policys cover it, even if its accidentally turned off. Worth checking out.

jpe20

I saw that Hughs Chicken Run program, I do have sympathy for both sides really. If you can afford it then I am of the opinion that you should go free range. THough having said that if I were on a "tight" budget then I would be reluctant to avoid the 2 chcikens for a fiver!!

After seeing the programs I am interested enough to at least try a free range chcicken and compare it like for like taste wise with an intensively farmed chicken. If there is a noticable difference then I will go free range anyway. If not I will sit and have another think about it though I already buy free range eggs so logic dictates I should buy free range chicken as long as it is sensibly priced.

Key on all meat I think is respect the animal by NOT WASTING it. Last year I am guilty of throwing out lots of meat due to poor planning on both meals and purchasing. I certainly will try and get extra meat off the chicken carcass like Hugh did in future .... Sure I could make a cheap chicken curry any receipes any1 or a cheap curry sauce jar?

Jools

jpe20

About my freezer disaster .... Proably around 90quid of damage food wise ..... 50quid excess and losing no claims discount decided was not worth the hassle. At best it would of been around 30quid in the bank!!! Did not have much expensive stuff in it as I had run down the stock to go to my parents place over xmas!!!

Jools

Savvy_sewing

jpe20 wrote: »

I saw that Hughs Chicken Run program, I do have sympathy for both sides really. If you can afford it then I am of the opinion that you should go free range. THough having said that if I were on a "tight" budget then I would be reluctant to avoid the 2 chcikens for a fiver!!

After seeing the programs I am interested enough to at least try a free range chcicken and compare it like for like taste wise with an intensively farmed chicken. If there is a noticable difference then I will go free range anyway. If not I will sit and have another think about it though I already buy free range eggs so logic dictates I should buy free range chicken as long as it is sensibly priced.

Key on all meat I think is respect the animal by NOT WASTING it. Last year I am guilty of throwing out lots of meat due to poor planning on both meals and purchasing. I certainly will try and get extra meat off the chicken carcass like Hugh did in future .... Sure I could make a cheap chicken curry any receipes any1 or a cheap curry sauce jar?

Jools

Tesco has a curry sauce tin that is about 9p now, recently gone up. It tastes like the chip shop curry sauce. However it is easy to make your own curry powder (by way tesco also sell a Value line curry powder now). I use the following:-
1 1/2 tsp ground corriander
1 1/2 tsp ground cummin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 tsp garam masala.

if you want to make garam masala, then its:-
1 cinnamon stick
50g cardomon pods
25gm cloves
40g cumimin seeds
25g coriander seeds
50g black peppercorns.

if you toast the above inovenfor 30 mins, then use a pestal and mortar till powdered then u can store it for a few months in an airtight container.
Hope this helps

Savvy_sewing

jpe20 wrote: »

About my freezer disaster .... Proably around 90quid of damage food wise ..... 50quid excess and losing no claims discount decided was not worth the hassle. At best it would of been around 30quid in the bank!!! Did not have much expensive stuff in it as I had run down the stock to go to my parents place over xmas!!!

Jools

just a thought. we all seem to not claim for things becuase it affects our premiums later. thts how insurance companies work. they rely on people weighing up the costs. Was worth checking. Least stock was run down so every cloud has a silver lining.;)