March 2008 Grocery Challenge

Kaz2904

Couldn't sleep very well last night and was mulling over stuff in my head.
I realised that I have added £2 of christmas presents, £2 of picnic food and £5 of educational books for DS. None of these should come from the grocery budget. So I have an extra £9 to add back on. That makes me feel a little better!

mumzyof2

I might go out to morrisons in a bit to get some bread and some goodies have £13 in my purse so wont spend that much

searching_me

nsd for me i think... although next month is going to go to pooo... the council are gonna be in for the next 7-8 weeks puttin in a new bathroom, new wiring, new kitchen the lot... i'll have no kitchen for at least 2 WEEKS!!!!!!! :eek: :mad: so its gonna be takeaways and buying from shop.... o hell im gonna be so poor... msers give me strenght :rotfl:

BigMummaF

Hi Folks----I'm back!

I can really sympathise with those of you trying to give up smoking cuz I've had terrible withdrawal symptoms over the week-end...5 whole days without mse:eek: Didn't forget your wise teachings tho..went to a garden centre & they had the dry dog food we keep in for training & spares for £1.70 LESS than I normally pay, so snaffled a bag:D I even 'suggested' we broke our journey last week & have lunch at an Asda, just so I could grab a few bags of the dried fruit:rotfl:

Thankfully I've come home to a [relatively] tidy house & strangely clean kitchen so I'm thinking that not a lot of cooking went on in my absence. I'll have to have a good nosy thru the various stores to see what's missing before the next shop, so an excellent opportunity to organise the cupboards & freezer.

Sign me up to the Whoopsies too...all that contemplating with my elbows resting on the table has given them an armour-plating.:p

My month is from 25th-24th, so I can now declare March total at £311:96.
I'll go for £350 for April please, cuz I just know that my secret stash is quickly disappearing.

savingfortravel

Great work Lil-Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like you've had a great month!!!
:j :j :j :j :j :j :j
SFT

lil_me

savingfortravel wrote: »

Great work Lil-Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounds like you've had a great month!!!
:j :j :j :j :j :j :j
SFT

Thank you Quite pleased with my little self aswell, especially now DP seems to have fixed my TD so that means the money saved can go straight in the savings pot

Confession is however that we have had so much in which has saved me the money. I am having to run one freezer down to defrost so they can come and fix it (under warranty when the parts arrive) so stopping spending has been forced on me

savingfortravel

What is a TD???
SFT

gunsandbanjos

Tumble Dryer

jackie_w

Afternoon.

Had a spend of £12.27 in Asda for Milk (S/S & F/F), veg, 12 medium sized freerange eggs & 6 large free range eggs, and cold meat. This brings my grand total up to £153.99.

I really really hope I dont need to go shopping again before the weekend.

My budget for April is going to have to be increased because Ive got no butcher meat in, and I always buy my meat in bulk to last me a few months. I usually spend about £200 - £250 in the one go on butcher meat.
Mrs M can u put me down for £450 for April please

Ive started to write a meal plan for April, but, ive got a few soups, left over stew, some fish and fillet steak leftover, so, if i can be really strict with myself, then hopefully, it will be the middle of next week before I need to go shopping.

I was having a look in the freezer to see what we would be having for tea tonight, so Ive taken out HM fish cakes for the kids, and I had a bowl of frozen left over gravy from a stew that I froze. Im just going to add a little bit of veg to that, a tin of chopped tomatoes, some italian seasoning, and have that with pasta. Before OS, I would never have done this, and I would have thrown the left over gravy away, but, not any more. Just hope it tastes okay.


Jackie xx

MRSMCAWBER

Afternoon all

Wanted to say well done and good luck to mumzyof2 and Rachelmk.. on the stopping smoking...:T just think what you will be able to do with all the money you save :j

Weemissy.. I shove porridge oats in all sorts... mainly as they are good for us.. but its a big bonus that they bulk things out too I started off just
using a couple of spoons to thicken things.. now i throw in handfulls :rotfl: , grated carrot etc bulks out chillies etc brilliantly as it blends in , my hubby loves veg anyway -but grated gives a better consistency

For coleslaw i just shred white cabbage, and onions, grate carrots and use equal amounts of mayo and greek yoghurt oh and seasoning (you can always use just mayo, or part mayo and salad cream-whatever you have really)...mix it all up and leave it in the fridge -i actually like it the day after when its gone a bit softer ...it absorbs the dressing when it stands so you can either add more mayo, or i add a squeeze of lemon to loosen it up- you can chop it as fine as you like but i like it quite chunky... everything in this house is "rustic looking" i also do it with red cabbage and red onions too -just depends what i have to use up ...

PurpleVamp.... i have only got my budget so low at the moment as i am almost working a month in advance if that makes sense .... the freezers are so packed that i really only should be buying fruit, salad, veg n yoghurts... but i always end up taking advantage of the whoopsies which makes the following month cheaper... cutting the portions back has been a big bonus in this house....we certainly don't go hungry... i don't do hungry
But rather than cooking for 4 and 2 of us eating it we have sensible portions...if we want anything more we can always go and get it and we never need to -but if i put it on our plates we WILL eat it regardless - i can't believe how much we used to eat ...
Thanks for the comment on the weight loss still want to shift at least 4st 11lbs but it seems so easy.. now we are eating nearly everything made from scratch i get no cravings at all... had no choc, crisps etc for 13 weeks and really don't fancy it any more :eek:

Girlleastlikelyto..... i tick all the boxes to join your whoopsie club :j

• Hubby reckons im like eagle eye action man... the minute i go in a shop he reckons my eyes start flitting from side to side and then when i lock onto a whoopsie sticker im like a heat seeking missile :rotfl:
• The freezer in the kitchen is like a giant version of kerplunk.. trying to take one item out without causing an avalanche is quite some achievement and the chest one in the basement is like that pop up game where you have to take 1 item out without all the others shooting up in the air
• and for a "well upholstered" person you would be amazed at some of the tiny gaps i can get in if i spot a bargain :rotfl:

Well hubby got back from golf earlier and has been paid early :j so he handed over €450 into my sticky little palm..... off to the bank 1st thing to put most of it in there... im going to keep out €100 for April.... €50 for my shopping budget and the other €50 will go in the tin -only to be used later in the month if i spot any too good to be true whoopsies :whistle: not that i have any freezer space at the moment

Hubby has had chilli n rice for lunch... i made it yesterday with :-

1. 225g minced steak
2. 1 chopped onion
3. 1 green pepper chopped
4. 2 grated carrots
5. 4 dried chillies crushed
6. 2 handfulls oats
7. 2 lamb stock cubes
8. 1 carton passata
9. seasoning
10. 1 tin red kidney beans -rinsed

When he spotted it he reckoned half of it would be right :eek: , i was thinking of that doing him 4 meals (thought i was pushing my luck though)....but if he thought 1/2 was what he wanted okey dokey.. he sat and really struggled to finish it befor declaring...."hmmm perhaps next time i will have a little less".... had great delight in telling him I had only given him 1/3 and so if i take a bit off he would have had 1/4 like i thought :rotfl: had to show him the other 2 portions as he wouldn't believe me .... mind he has declared it as "spot on" in taste ...not bad as it came in at under €2 for the whole pan

right enough waffling i had better get off and get something done....