April 2008 Grocery Challenge

arkonite_babe

I've spent £90.06 of my budget so far and my cupboards are ready to burst, just the butchers to do tomorrow and that should be me bar any fresh milk and veggies I buy through the month. This is my first proper attempt at the GC and I'm aiming to save enough over the next few months to replace my hob and oven as well as buy a new chair for my living room :j
Keep your fingers crossed for me please

mhe

SAVVYMUMMY wrote: »

Just quickly before I go, could people maybe tell me what supermarkets they prefer. I have MrT and MrS about a mile away, MrM about 2 miles away, Asda and a small Aldi about 5 miles away(very busy to get to). I usually do MrT every week because larger store then MrS, so more variety. Never really go into Aldi or Asda although Asda very large)as very busy roads to get to. Just wondering if worth going to Adli and Asda, if they are better value. Imput most welcome.......

Hi - i'm really lucky - have tesco asda sains somerfield, morrisons, aldi and lidl all in easy striking range. I generally shop in ASDA as TBH i do find them much cheaper. LOts of things get rolled back. At the moment a 500g pack of asda own mixed dried fruit is only 20p and they have good WHOOPSIES on things as well.
I also pop into MRts as ASDA dont sell the tins of dried yeast but tesco do.

After reading this thread i went to ALDI for the first time last week and bought F&V - red grapes on offer for 49p a pack:eek: I bet no other store can beat that!!

So I guess cos they are all fairly handy i travel around a bit.

I guess this has been no help to you at all!! But to some it up here in Cheshire I reckon ASDA is the cheapest (for me).

boredofbeingathome

Hi again everyone. Have tried out the slow cooker and made a leek and potato,vegetable herb soup, after all the talk i just had to. I am well chuffed with it!
I went to Tesco's tonight as i had a voucher i wanted to use up in order to stock up on birthday pressies. Whilst i was there i spotted a glich-two pieces of organic rump steak for £2.20. I had a look to see if i could spot any more, as there are 4 of us at home, and all others were priced at £6.20 or more, same packet, weight etc. It went through the till at that price as well!
My dilemma is how to make it stretch for 4 of us? We don't have red meat more than twice a week so is a bit of a treat.
The last time we had any steak was on ds1's birthday, again it was rump steak -peppered. I am thinking along those lines again, but obviously there will not be the same amount. I also got an organic chicken, reduced though-so maybe a combo meal? Would be grateful for any suggestions even though i am just tempted to fry it up and have it on a sandwich, i feel i must share.

arkonite_babe

angelnikki wrote: »

Jacks have you thought about the implant? It goes in your arm and lasts for 3 years. I had this and it was really quick for them to put in and then you don't have to think about it for 3yrs.

Nikki
x

I second that, love it love it love it
Nothing but probs from my previous mirena coil

Sorry for being yet again

Apologies all

arkonite_babe

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Aril..a whoopsie is a reduced item..in asda the stickers used to have "whoops" on them

They still have "whoops" on the stickers........ I did my first ever shop at Asda today on my way home from Ikea ( that's another saga :rotfl: ) and (Usually it's too far away for me to be economical and they don't yet deliver to my area) I have to say I did go a teensy bit over budget but I did buy 3 packs of whoopsied meat and some other bits and bobs that were a really good price.

Will have to start and use Adsa when I'm on my way home from Belfast for work from now on. Only prob is that the job I do and the stuff I have in my van makes it a wee bit dubious about bringing food home with me. What to do?

arkonite_babe

boredofbeingathome wrote: »

Hi again everyone. Have tried out the slow cooker and made a leek and potato,vegetable herb soup, after all the talk i just had to. I am well chuffed with it!

Try this one....... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=450719&postcount=21

It's my Dad's recipe and it's delish

Bargain_Rzl

Jacks :rotfl: I suppose by giving "all the details" (which I stress I DID NOT ASK FOR ) at least you're stopping [strike]my[/strike]our imaginations running wild over why you can't use freebie condoms (was thinking a. OH too humungous for them, or b. they just don't give out the kinky textured/flavoured ones for free )

I had a no spend day today - I have NO idea when I last had one - and am expecting another tomorrow :T

On the other hand my mum will be here on Friday night, and that might be a good opportunity to explore Borough Market on Saturday morning :eek: however one of the fun things you can do at BM is see how may free samples you can get without spending anything

Whoever it was that was asking what to do with leek, there's a fab recipe in the Gordon Ramsay Fast Food book which can be adapted for budgetary reasons - basically you need mushrooms, bacon (GR uses [STRIKE]chorizo[/STRIKE] EDITED TO SAY whoops, sorry, I meant pancetta - what was I thinking? ) leek, pasta and creme fraiche - you cook the pasta and do all the rest in another pan with seasoning, then mix it all in together - it's nomnomnom and v cheap if you use "cooking bacon" for 79p from the supermarket - freezes well too

nopot2pin

mikeD wrote: »

BTW my £129 also includes a 21mg Niquitin BOGOF for £18. I noticed that the 14mg in Boots was £15.99 per pack so a decent saving there. I've just got to give up the fags so as to be able to keep the house warm.

Mike :T I wish you the best of luck in giving up

I am not sure if you will be able to do this in your area.... but it might be worth checking out...

I gave up smoking about 4 and a half years ago.
I went to the doctors and was given a prescription for the patches.
I got a 2 week supply at a time, making the cost of 2 weeks worth of patches the same as a prescription charge.
I dont actually pay for prescriptions anyway, but if I did, it would have been what ever the cost was at the time.

My dad gave up using one of those cessation clinics, and also received patches... I am pretty sure they were free.
He had to go along once a week to the class, and was provided with his supply of patches for the week.

I just thought it would be worth mentioning it, in case you have something similar in your area

boredofbeingathome

arkonite_babe wrote: »

Try this one....... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=450719&postcount=21

It's my Dad's recipe and it's delish

many thanks for that, i have also been looking on rosiebens cooking collection and have found this thread for the steaks.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=561344#post561344
It is terrible feeling this hungry just looking at threads.
Where i live i also have aldi, netto, morrisons, booths, asda and tesco within about three miles of each other. Very easy to shop and compare prices.
Have just been scoffing some red grapes (49p) ones to try and stave off pigging urges to cook up steak, make hobknobs or drop scones.:rotfl:

Bargain_Rzl

boredofbeingathome wrote: »

Where i live i also have aldi, netto, morrisons, booths, asda and tesco within about three miles of each other. Very easy to shop and compare prices.

I totally agree - I've got every major supermarket within 3 miles, and I feel very lucky for that. They come in batches, according to which direction they are in, and I can choose to combine my supermarket shops in order to make the most of special offers. For example, in a single trip I can do Tesco, Asda and Aldi (Old Kent Road) or Lidl, Netto and Morrisons (Peckham) or Somerfield and Iceland (Walworth Road) or Tesco and Iceland (Elephant & Castle). Sainsburys and Waitrose are within similar distances but at an angle from my home which means they are "on their own" as regards other supermarkets.

I think I'm very lucky when it comes to choice of shops... the downside is that being near Central London I also have ready access to the really pricey outlets! I work 5mins from Borough Market :eek: :eek: :eek: