March 2008 Grocery Challenge

jtb2412

Back from Mr T's and only spent £102.02:T . I think i've got just about enough until next payday so hopefully i'll be well under what I estimated (£300)! May need a few bits and bobs to keep me going (bread, milk) but I shouldn't imagine it will be more than £20 so fingers crossed, £80 will be going into the savings account at the end of the month.:beer:

UKroseblue

Hi,

Joined in a MSE challenge for the first time yesterday (this one!) and can't believe how many posts you have all written since yesterday - something like another 6 pages worth! Not sure if i can keep up.....:rotfl:

It really makes you think about what you spend and for the first time ever i went into Morrsions this evening and bought only what i wanted before i went in - a miracle! I wasn't seduced by the offers and even got some bread that was reduced. I spent £11.83 - most of which was ingredients for HM cakes as it's my birthday wednesday and we always bring cakes in for our friends at work. I probably spent about £7.00 on ingredients but i needed everything - flour, sugar, eggs, butter, coco powder and lemons but i figured it's cheaper and much tastier than buying shop bought cakes and i still have some ingredients left.

Anyway, as my budget is £160.00 this month i still have £148.17 so hopefully i can stick with it.

Another bonus i just realised from reading the threads are the great recipes - i've copied Mrs M's tortilla's and Twinks' Hobnobs onto a word doc to use later - hope you both don't mind. Bit fed up of baking now after the cakes but maybe later in the week....:D

All the best!

skintscotslass

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

I know it sounds strange but i now realy do believe that all the artifical stuff they ram into lower fat/cal stuff messes your system up and makes you crave more..
I don't think joining Rosemary connolley is un :money: ... she encourages you to cook your own things etc... So i hope you find it works for you..will keep my fingers crossed for you
right i will go away now as im rambling...again :rotfl:

Totally agree with you :T :T :T . I'm 38, been dieting since I was 16, so I guess thats about the same amount of time as you. I was thinking about joining you all on the OS thread, but I need the discipline of a weekly w/i. So I'm joining RC this week. I've also started exercising as well. Thanks for the encouraging words

Atalanta

Hello everyone,
I'm keeping my budget at £350 for the month again, as I went a bit over budget last month. That's for 4 of us - all food and drink and cleaning stuff. I've spent £97.30 in Sainsbury's already but am now pretty stocked up on food and wine:D plus there's the month's fruit and veg boxes already accounted for and a trip to my local shops...
Thanks for doing the list Mrs M.

skintscotslass

iRememberSleep wrote: »

So here is my info.... myself ... Hubby... oldest is 12 and Older d is 6
younger s is 2 and baby girl is 3 months. 12 year old eats everything
6 year old eats only veggies and 2 year old eats only starch and I am
breastfeeding the baby. ( that makes soooo much of a difference than if
you buy formula.) So as my other reply I restock on all of my spices dry grains beans lentils flour yeast .... anything dry.... and house goods....
(right now I am breastfeeding so I have desided not to buy sanitary pads)
but I might regret that latter... if I start my period I will have to add it to
my regular $100 a month money. The $500 has to go really far.... and
I have to watch for the dates so it will last till next year.... and storage.
So nothing goes bad or bugs...shudder at the thought. I live in Chicago so
prices are actually very high... it is a buisness town so it is costly. And
all of the moms at the kids school seem to not care how they spend...
So I have to bite my tounge... I cant talk about money. I am soooooo
happy have found this thread. I need all the support I can get. Even if it is
across the ocean. (*^_^*) I claime you all as my new therapy and support.
I love you Guys and Gals all ready!:happyhear

Hi, just wanted to say welcome and your name made me smile. I was visiting my best friend yesterday who has a DD aged 3 and a DS aged 6 months. She would love some sleep! xx

Moniker

Well I had to pop to the Co-op on the way home as we were running low on milk and bananas - so that's another £2.47 on my total (have updated my sig). DH managed to mend my cooker today so I was able to do the jacket potatoes and a quiche (bought in Sainsbury's I'm afraid) with salad tonight. Very glad to have it back and the repair only cost £28 for the new element (better than replacing the whole cooker eh?)

I manged to cook two meals this evening for later in the week. I split 250g mince into 2/3 and 1/3 and used the larger portion with half an onion 2oz breadcrumbs, 1 tbsp of tomato puree and about 2 tbsp of frozen parlsey to make 4 yummy hm burgers. The rest I used to make savoury mince which was bulked out with a handful of lentils some carrot and tomatoes. There was enough to make two shepherd's pies so I shall freeze one lot for later in the month. Feeling very pleased with myself! (But I need to be a bit more careful this month as DH's car needs an MOT and mine needs new brakes _ not the same budget but overall...every bit helps.) Good luck everyone and welcome to the newbies.

Moniker

JayneC

Have been to Mr Ts this eve ( Ikeep meaning to do it online to get the ipoints but always leave it too late:()

I spent £65.75 but bought nappies and some other bits for DD and used lots of points coupons from baby club, actually made a 'profit' as I always exchange for deals. Got 1300 points (worth £52 in deals) and spent around £20 on baby stuff! And DD should be paying me back £10 for the nappies too.

Also got 8 Easter eggs (the 99p ones:D ) and some cleaning stuff as I was running low.

And got 4 pks of Hot X buns whoops to 10p each and 3 pks of bread rolls also whoops to 10p each - BARGAIN:D

I did forget to use the pampers vouchers that I had tho which would've saved a few quid, Must remember next time.

Thanks Mrs Mc for the stuffing recipe, sounds yummy. I do throw away a lot of bread as kids won't eat the ends and we get thro a loaf every couple of days so adds up! I have made some breadcrumbs but didn't know what to do with them (apart from coat my fishcakes, lol) So any other recipe idea that can use the crust ends of a loaf would be welcome. We always use wholemeal btw which isn't great for sweet dishes like bread and butter pud. Ta x

miecherox

Hello, welcome to all those that are joining this month - it really will change your life. Well I have a bit of news - I have a job - hooray, hooray!! I've been looking since July so it's been a long time coming.

When I joined the grocery challenge in January and adopted other money saving ways it was a way of surviving on Dh's wage however we've done so well that we actually manage to "live" on DH's wage (as opposed to survive ifswim) So the irony is I actually don't even need to go back to work now because of the huge change in our spending habits and lifestyle!!

Anyway the point is i'll be sticking around - if you don't mind!! Although will be lurking for a while as I have a bit of organising to do before I start the new job (batch baking and all the other things i've learnt to do on here!!)


Good luck all for march

M x

JayneC

I've just checked my receipt and I actually spent £60.33 after my multi buy savings! I also just remembered that I got 79p at customers service too as a half price voucher i had didn't work at the till.
Will update sig....

skintscotslass

miecherox wrote: »

Well I have a bit of news - I have a job - hooray, hooray!

Yay!!! :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer:

Wello done M xx