April 2008 Grocery Challenge

ifonlyitwaseasier

well fingers crossed folks, my mince and stuffing meatballs are on and here's hoping they taste nice!

and with a nsd today i'm very happy

Moniker

Kaz2904 wrote: »

If (when) anyone comes under budget what do you do with your extra money? I'm thinking an extra mortgage payment but is it best to keep it in a savings account for a more spendy month or is that destroying the point?

Every week I look at my receipts and where I have BOGOFs I put the money saved in a little black purse. At the end of the month I transfer the money in the purse to my cash ISA. I also put any underspends in there (if there are any). I am amazed how doing this has built up my savings a lot over the last eight months since I've been doing it.

There used to be a separate thread called the Pin Money Savings Challenge but it seems to have died. I am still doing it though and the ISA money is there to pay unexpected big bills and ultimately to fund my retirement! If I overspend though I just take it on the chin and don't move money out of the savings fund - that would be doubly depressing!

Moniker x

savingfortravel

Hi everyone!!
Just caught up with all the posts.

Congratulations to the Frankerooney family!!

Bought some present bits from Tesco today and a couple of bits of food (bread, multipack of crisps and Muesli)-managed to use £2 Sainsburys and £1 Daily Mail coupons money off vouchers, so ended up getting the food for free! Result. Also there was a dodgy packet of crisps in the multibag so I phoned Tesco and they're sending me a money off voucher.

Scotsaver: I buy quorn products from Farm Foods (cheaper than Tesco), bread and milk. There are some good bargains in there.

Kaz2904: You can see what I'm saving my money for. We still draw out of the bank the £200 we used to spend on Groceries per month and put the remainder in a bank account for our Big Trip. Its the only way I'm going to see a Toucan in the wild (as well as other mad ideas for our Central American dream). Very cautious saver in all other areas of life..have saving pots for loads of things..

Keep up the good work everyone!!!!
SFT

jackie_w

Hi Everyone,

Well my spends are going to go out of control this month I think. Had to go to Asda last night and spent £37.65. My sig has already been updated.

I have £96.70 left to last me until 30th April. Ive a funny feeling Im not going to make it especially as this is only the start of the 2 week holiday for the kids.

I will need to be very careful for the next 2 and a bit weeks.

Jackie xx

ifonlyitwaseasier

okay, meatball report!

they were lovely:T , and have some left over for OH to have for lunch tomorrow.

now to defrost some hm rolls for lunches and maybe make some houmous up

Girl_least_likely_to

Just had them for tea and they were delish, DD wolfed them down and meat loving OH asked when could we have them again . Here is the recipe again cut and pasted from the original post if anyone missed it the first time.....

Have a great recipe for homemade bean burgers which my kids love and they are really cheap to make

you need
1 onion finely chopped
1 carrot grated
small pepper finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp mild chilli powder
2 x 425g tins ready cooked beans(I use kidney beans,borlotti beans or pinto beans depending on what is in cupboard)
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Fry onion,pepper,carrot and garlic in olive oil until softened.
Add ground coriander and chilli powder.Stir for a minute.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Mash beans well and mix the cooked mixture in with them.
Shape into 6-8 burgers and bake at gas mark 6 on a baking tray until golden brown.

Thanks Applemella :T

victory

The burgers certainly sound good, I will try them tomorrow:D

sazzledazzle

ok not a great shop tonight.
With Chelsea being on thought I could go shopping without the OH as he would want to watch the footie. Instead he told me he wanted to come but we had to be quick.
so we flew round the store with my list, however OH still adding things we did not need. Have now told him I am going to add up all the things we didnt really need to show him how much we wasted.
However on a good note got a lot of mince etc so can make home made burgers, meatballs etc which I would never normally do. Also got enough food for both our lunches at work this week so that will save a lot.
£88 spend this week, so next week will have to be more of a cut back and another using up what we have left in cupboard and freezer.

Kaz2904

I had houmous sandwiches for lunch today. Absolutely blimmin lovely with my sultana bread as the little sweetness with the sharp tang of the garlic and chilli.
Dead chuffed.
Watching the mums mansion thing- quite interesting really.

boredofbeingathome

Hi everyone, just an update on my slowcooker-am absolutely loving it. I made pork strogonoff, last night with left over pork chops-beautiful!
Recipe will adapt for pan as well
pork-diced-use about 500g, but i used more
onion -chopped fine
two red peppers
tomato puree
1 and a half litres of stock-i use veg
2 tbsp of oregano
paprika-2 tbsp
flour-6 tbsp
2tbsp of olive oil
fry onion in oil-
mix flour,and spices together add further seasoning to taste, roll pork in until covered. Fry in oil and add peppers, tom puree,and top up with 1 and a half litres of stock. cook for a few minutes and transfer to slow cooker. I used four hour setting. I served mine with rice, but can serve with veg or a few potatoes.