April 2008 Grocery Challenge

blue_monkey_2

I do not usually post on here but I should as we have just decided to have a budget of £200 pm for a family of 4.

Anyhow, I noticed everyone talking about big soggy jaffa cakes and wanted to say that if you set the jelly on a deepish plate that is slightly greased and a tad smaller than the flan case, once it is set tip the jelly onto the top of the flan case and then put the chocolate over the top. It stops the flan case getting soggy.

Make the jelly up with less water than it usually says to make it firmer and use 'normal jelly' in it to make it taste better too (not sugar free, it will not taste to orangy). You can even eat it with your hands if you are feeling brave, LOL!!

HTH.

boredofbeingathome

Hello everybody, I am just under budget this month by a whopping 2p. I had to give in and spend the last £20, on a variety of stuff for dd2's trip...gutted. saying that i bought a few extra things for freezer, which i may not have spotted otherwise and will help towards next month's challenge.
For next month i am going for £200, for the month.

missyp123

Hi would would really like to join the challenge for May. currently i spend £400 pm and would like to aim for £250 please!

BigMummaF

Hi Folks.

Did I dream a post where Superspam offered to post a couple of recipes? I made a note to ask for them, but unfortunately not the post no it's in or what they're for:doh:

When we've been away for self-catering hols Girl LL, I start taking advantage of any BOGOFs & deals to make up a box of dried stuff to take with us, then buy fresh once there. I've got a set of holiday pots too for taking salt, pepper, smidge of washing powder but then we travel by car...not so easy if you're using public transport. Either way, hope you have a lovely time:D Where are you going?

My budget includes everything for four adults, iggie & pup APART from:-
deodorant type smellies, cuz they all like different stuff
iggie's bedding & heat lamps
offspring's clothes [unless I get them for b'day prezzies:shhh: ]
take-aways cuz the offspring want them more than I do!

If you're looking to join in the Challenge, work out what you want to include in your budget & away you go. Some folk like to do a practise run first, by keeping record of what they spend eg in May, before deciding a total for June while others just jump in with both feet---again, your choice.

Personally, whatever I 'save' from my budget, is going towards birthday & crimbo expenditure. Others take it off the next month's total, or put it into a savings account.
As many others have said, it's not so much a competition that can be won or lost, but more an awareness of how much we use or waste in our homes.

HTH, & Good Luck for May to Oldies & Newbies alike.

gunsandbanjos

:hello: Sharon_1970, good to see you over here:D

I went slightly over budget this month, but i have been including all household spends in this budget which i havent done before. I also did a biiiig shop for staples like flour, rice etc which should do me through May.
Can you put me down for £175 for May please:D

Sunnyday

Afternoon all,
i`m just back from the shops

I didn`t do too badly though, i went to pets at home and bought 2 huge sacks of dogfood one will last about 3 or 4 months as i mix it in with their regular feed and the other one around 3 or 4 weeks, i mix porridge in daily too before i soak it.
I managed to walk past all the other shops except poundland and wilkinsons.
In poundland i bought one of those huge ktchen rolls that i`ve seen in supermarkets for between £2.49 and £3.49 :eek: and 4 bars of white fairy soap so that wasn`t too bad.
I wilco i bought 3 plastic troughs for the garden, this comes out of a seperate budget though so i`ll be using my "spending" money for these.
I also bought some seeds, i`m looking at my packs now and willing them to grow as soon as they`re planted. I have basil & coriander as these are the 2 herbs i use the most and i`m going to plant these on the kitchen windowsill, also i bought radish, chilli pepper, courgette, onions, spring onions and carrots. I wanted broccolli but they only had the really expensive seeds so i gave them a miss this time. They will mostly be grown in the troughs but i need to find big pots for the courgettes onions and carrots i think.
Does anyone know how deep the pots need to be for onions & carrots?

I`m planning on getting a greenhouse this year but it won`t be until the end of the year when they are cheaper and i also need to get the garden re organised to fit it in so i`m hoping that things will grow out there, just rememberedi also have some pepper seeds from a pepper out of the fridge so i`ll give those a go too.

I`ve rambled enough so i`ll hop off and update my siggy with the spends hopefull that i can grow my own and reduce the spending further.
SD

arkonite_babe

I went over budget in April by £26.53, still not bad for my first ever try.

Mrs Mc can you put me down for £300 again for the May challenge please??

Sharon_1970_2

Sunnyday wrote: »

Does anyone know how deep the pots need to be for onions & carrots?

For carrots they need to be 10 litres and about 12 inches deep. It also depends on the variety you grow

For the best yield try Primo. They are good, plump, stump-ended carrots - rinse off the compost and pop them straight into boiling water.

mama67

Girl_least_likely_to wrote: »

Evening All :wave:

I bit the bullet today had went and did my "big" shop at Mr M's which only came to £27.60 and still leaves me with £3.98 to play with :j . I thought it better to come in just under budget than to start next month with a really big shop which will see me struggle with for the rest of May.

We're away for 1 week next month in a self catering cottage and haven't worked out if the grocery shop should come out of the budget or not? I've placed a Tesco.com order to be delivered to the cottage soon after we arrive, it's costing £85 :eek: . I'll be adjusting it nearer the time to take advantage of any offers, so I hoping at least £10 will come off that way. The £85 includes stuff to make packed lunches with, all breakfasts and 3 evening meals (we'll go out or get a takeaway the other evenings). Hubby says to take some stuff with us but it's still got to be paid for whether we take it with us or buy it via Tesco. The 3 evening meals are finest ready meals (I ain't cooking big meals on holiday , there's 2 bottles of wine (only 2 ?:eek: ) and a few nice things like kettle chips, big bag of malteasers but everything else is regular food for a nice week away in sunny Wales. What does everyone else do regarding self catering hols? Would love some suggestions please

Well done to all those in budget and never mind to those who didn't quite make it. Just think of that lovely new May budget to play with

I've not done an order to be there when arrive but have gone to closest main supermarket on the day we arrive and got a few days shopping in, saves taking loads with you . Depending on where we go I would then suss out the local farmers market and farm shops.

mama67

procrastinator wrote: »

Hi
I am a newbie at this so please have patience. I would love to join you for May's grocery challenge. I have a Tesco plus card and we PAY 300 gbp (no sign sorry) per month direct debit, however we keep going over so start the month 100 or so down. I want to set a budget of 250 for May starting today. I have been reading the posts for the last two weeks and have copied some of the recepies into a word doc to give me inspiration.
.

For a £ sign if not available on your keyboard use Alt 0163.