April 2008 Grocery Challenge

victory

egon wrote: »

It will be interesting, what they will come up with! :j
Please let me know! :j :j :j :j :j :j :j :j

Can't tell you much so far because it goes on for the whole week:eek: today we covered name and address, profile and career history, never realised a tutor could talk about a cv for a whole week oh well back tomorrow:rolleyes:

I went to waitrose today (local shop not through MSE or choice) saw my ab fav salmon crescents soft cheese ones, love 'em, desert island food, love them but never buy them because of the huge price, anyway:rolleyes: half price at waitrose today and he was still there marking things down so I asked him (never done before but thought why not?) if that was his final price;) he took them off me, used his reduced gun and reduced them again to 75%
off, oh was I pleased I asked:D all eaten already, greedy that I am,:D

Bargain_Rzl

Well it's week 4 of my five-week Storecupboard Challenge month, and I haven't bust my original budget yet though I get the impression the ginormous £2.82 I've got left to last me the next 2 weeks will not in fact last beyond tomorrow :rotfl: I still think my overspend was worth it, stocking up on all the coconut milk and other Asian goodies at Lidl last week.

This week I need:
Milk (I normally go for organic, but the Sainsbury's offer on Cravendale seems very good value, so will probably get that and freeze the surplus) = £2.00
Fizzy water (4 bottles at 17p each) = £0.68
Lime cordial = £0.70 (can't remember exact price)
Fresh fruit = £2.00-£3.00 (combination of Lidl 49p bags of apples and reduced/value bananas from Asda)
I would have needed butter for baking, but I picked a couple of pats on Saturday so am OK for that now.

Otherwise I'm still surviving very well on what's in the cupboards. This coming Saturday I'm finally going to get around to making the slow cooker duck recipe I've been planning for weeks. Must put a reminder on my phone to take the duck out of the freezer on Friday morning.

One more thing though, do any of the supermarkets currently have any good deals on "grown-up" soft drinks, i.e. Schloer, Ame, etc? I am trying to get myself out of my wino tendencies and the thing is it isn't the alcohol I'm addicted to, it's the habit of having something to sip throughout the evening. I figured if I could find a non-alcoholic substitute for most nights, I would get out of the habit of polishing off an entire bottle of pinot grigio all by myself on a regular basis

clair2305

egon wrote: »

Totally of topic!

I am writing up my CV. But as I was a SAHM since 2005, I am not sure what to put in for 2005 until present. Housewife doesn't sound right.
Maybe Family business director????:D

Any suggestions very much welcomed/ needed.

Thanks a bunch, Egon

Hi Egon, just say you were a SAHM, but then elaborate on the things you did whilst at home, was there any volunteering (even if it was helping out at your child's school/playgroup/nursery), did you organise any large get togethers (like a surprise or special birthday), then if you regularly met up with other mums then there's that which would be termed as coordinator for local mother and baby group, as well as managing budgets (we all do this, whether we do it badly or brilliantly!)

Just remember to think of transferrable skills, it doesn't have to be from the workplace.....and thinking of another one of those, there's researching information, experienced in email and internet applications - it's what you're do on MSE isn't it and as this is a community, you could say you are experienced in disseminating information and you could add that you are a member of various community forums.

Hope this helps - good luck

Kaz2904

That's why I drink so much coffee!
Well I have to admit to having been a really bad girl over the weekend.
We were out for a 60th party and got absolutely trashed- well not initially because I was driving. We took the kids and BiL's family too. On the way back the tipsy outlaws said why don't you stop at home and get pj's and kip at ours? So we picked up our stuff and a box of wine. We didn't go to bed until 6am yesterday :eek: . Needless to say SiL and I were hanging as it was us who got up with the kids. The dads didn't get up until 2pm :mad: . Then we decided it was time to go home and stopped in at Asda to try and get some whoopsies. We were beaten by most people but got some spring rolls for tea as we couldn't be bothered to cook. Then we piled the trolley with junk food and milk and ham for DD's sandwiches. Bless her she's fed up of cheese- "Mummy, do I have to have cheese? I've got a cheesy belly!"
So we have to admit to having blown £11.50 on sugary junk food.
Payday tomorrow so my month starts then. I've still got a fridge full of stuff. Just put the BM on and got out some soup from the freezer so soup and bread for tea.
We're having quiche again tomorrow and weds so will do it with peas and have to decide what else I'm going to do it with. Don't think I have any potatoes or salad stuff. Will have to have a rummage round the fridge and see what's in but don't wish to break into my new shiny budget for quite some time yet.
So I am declaring my final spend at £234.14 for april. Better luck next month hey?

lilmisskitkat

Afternoon all

As i said on my previous post i'm going to stick to my 4 weekly plan for the time being, it does help me to keep track as when the money comes into the account i take out the £200 and thats it until the next payday. Its a comfortable level for us to stick at and i'm focusing on staying within that budget for a good few months before i try to reduce it iykwim?

I'm currently on £169 ish and my new month starts on Friday. I will need to get a few bits this week like milk and fruit but hopefully it wont go beyond £175.00 in total so thats £25 for the house account By doing it this way i feel like i've really acheived something and the money left is a bonus for us so i'd rather over estimate and stick to the £200 per month.

God i do ramble don't i?! :rolleyes: Many apologies!

Anyway, tonights tea will be sausage and tomato pasta for me and OH when he gets in around 9pm. DD is having a mini shepherds pie that i froze for her the other week, she'll need her tea as soon as we get back from swimming as she'll be starving and will be in bed when we eat later. I found 4 sausages lurking in the freezer, a small portion of pasta sauce which i'll just chuck another tin of tomatoes into and some part baked rolls that i got rtc at asda at some point

Have got 2 bags of carrots in the fridge that my gran gave me so i'm going to chop a few and put in a box in the fridge for me and DD to nibble on and the rest will be made into spicy carrot and lentil soup in the slow cooker which will do for my dinners for the rest of the week. I'm really making an effort not to throw any food away and trying to be as inventive as possible with leftovers, so they're not 'just' leftovers but a meal in their own right iykwim?

Kate xxx

lilmisskitkat

Oh quick Q, whats the best ways to ripen tomatoes? I've got some in the fridge which i want to try making my own ketchup (from lovefoodhatewaste.com - great site!) with but the recipe says for over-ripe ones?

Thanks

Kate xxx

angelnikki

To ripen a tomato fast, put it in a paper bag or a bowl covered with newspaper along with an apple. The apple gives off ethylene gas, which speeds the ripening process.

HTH

Nikki
x

chimp_choker

egon wrote: »

Totally of topic!

I am writing up my CV. But as I was a SAHM since 2005, I am not sure what to put in for 2005 until present. Housewife doesn't sound right.
Maybe Family business director????:D

Any suggestions very much welcomed/ needed.

Thanks a bunch, Egon

Housewife / househusband / home maker
I was a househusband for nearly 16 years ( 1987-2003) so it went down on the CV and I never got asked about it over the last 4 years.

angelatgraceland

clair2305 wrote: »

Hi everyone, just in updating my signature, think I will meet my target, but not happy, fridge looks bear, but then this is my first month of this challenge, so it can only get better as I take all you great people's advice.

Anyway Lamb Casserole this evening from the leftovers of yesterday's dinner.....anyone got any suggestions as to what to add, any yummy additions :idea:

Cheers

Add some dumplings?
A few new potatoes-slice them for speedy cooking
Some carrots

angelatgraceland

lilmisskitkat wrote: »

Oh quick Q, whats the best ways to ripen tomatoes? I've got some in the fridge which i want to try making my own ketchup (from lovefoodhatewaste.com - great site!) with but the recipe says for over-ripe ones?

Thanks

Kate xxx

Sometimes you can get the over-ripe ones a lot cheaper at markets/greengrocers. If they look "on their way out"-why not make them an offer for a load of them?It pays to be cheeky! Keep the nice new ones for your salads?