May 2008 Grocery Challenge

mark55man · 1 May 2008 at 11:44PM

Hi - overshot a bit last month - 4 kids off for two weeks increased the snack budget :eek:

Mrs M could you put me in for £595 for 2+4+2 cats - might stand a chance this month as FIL has sent us a case of wine so no spends there :beer:

chardonnay_2 · 1 May 2008 at 11:59PM

re - kids wanting magazines. check out your local library - i remember ours having magazines not sure if you were allowed to take them out or not. you could try using a visit to the library as a treat - might work. i used to love going to the library as a kid.

angelatgraceland · 2 May 2008 at 12:02AM

We cheated for tea tonight as hubby fancied chips from the chipper! As I had also been working I gave in. Five of us here-eldest dd said she didn't want any-hubby only wanted chips but said plenty-I didn't want any(Im fat enough)DS wanted a few and youngest dd wanted a few. Well I decided I would get one whole portion(£1) and 2 half portions(60p each)
You have to ask for half portions-they are not on the list but a lot of shops will oblige-far better than binning them cos there's too many.
So, £2.20. Got them home, Id cooked some sausagss and heated up a tin of tescos 4p curry before I left.
Who wants chips? Hubby gave me some as he didn't want them all-eldest dd changed her mind too!
So the chips were shared between 5 and the curry between 4 and the 4 sausages between 2-now if that doesn't do your head in, nowt will! Total cost of about £1.70
I usually give in to a battered sausage each-but I resisted. If Id bought the curry at the chipper it would have been £1.10 so I made a good saving there.
Did a little shopping in waitrose for more salad and a few bits-cold meats etc-total spend on food today of £10.36. Ive got £13.05 left for tomorrow so Im hoping to only have to buy milk then.Hopefully coming in under target by a tenner this week. Freezer bursting.

lil_me · 2 May 2008 at 12:22AM

angelatgraceland, I call it having a treat without breaking the bank. It's not often we get fish and chips now, previously we'd have bought more of everything 4 chips, 4 fish, 2 peas, 4 bread rolls and a curry sauce

it's nice .....now I buy 3 fish and 2 chips, we share those (because we always had left overs before) I do bread rolls, sauce and peas from home, means a treat costs us much less to have the same treat.

Ok I need to add my target but still working on the budget, due to extra costs this month (inc one car MOT) I need to keep it low, so going to push my luck completely and aim for £180 I am hopeful but cautious, just hoping we have as much in as I think there is. My budget is as always for all food (inc pets), drinks, cleaning stuff, toiletries etc for 2 adults, 2 sons, 2 large dogs, hedgehog and a lizard....my month started on Monday and have a smidge of spending to add when I can find the receipt.

victory · 2 May 2008 at 12:34AM

Just finished emailing sainsburys, went there today and was humiliated....at the till putting my shop into my own 4 wheel trolley when this lady comes over saying someone has stolen her shopping, immediately the cash girl looks at me and says that I must have put it into my trolley:eek: I started ignoring her to begin with and carried on loading my shopping in but she insisted that I empty my trolley to show the lady:eek: I did as I was told because I was red in the face, near to tears and very humiliated as others looked on to watch me empty my shopping....obviously I did not have it , each bag came out I put it infront of the lady and the cash girl looked on, I practically ran out of the shop and the lady shouted after me that she was sorry:rolleyes: the cash girl just went back to her stool and sat down:rolleyes: hum, so sainsburys have been emailed:rolleyes:

boredofbeingathome · 2 May 2008 at 1:00AM

That is disgusting victory, was there no superviser on hand to deal with all of this..I would certainly take my business elsewhere. Hope you are feeling a bit better about it soon.
bob x

Tibbie's_mum · 2 May 2008 at 6:26AM

angelatgraceland wrote: »

We cheated for tea tonight as hubby fancied chips from the chipper! As I had also been working I gave in. Five of us here-eldest dd said she didn't want any-hubby only wanted chips but said plenty-I didn't want any(Im fat enough)DS wanted a few and youngest dd wanted a few. Well I decided I would get one whole portion(£1) and 2 half portions(60p each)
You have to ask for half portions-they are not on the list but a lot of shops will oblige-far better than binning them cos there's too many.
So, £2.20. Got them home, Id cooked some sausagss and heated up a tin of tescos 4p curry before I left.
Who wants chips? Hubby gave me some as he didn't want them all-eldest dd changed her mind too!
So the chips were shared between 5 and the curry between 4 and the 4 sausages between 2-now if that doesn't do your head in, nowt will! Total cost of about £1.70
I usually give in to a battered sausage each-but I resisted. If Id bought the curry at the chipper it would have been £1.10 so I made a good saving there.
Did a little shopping in waitrose for more salad and a few bits-cold meats etc-total spend on food today of £10.36. Ive got £13.05 left for tomorrow so Im hoping to only have to buy milk then.Hopefully coming in under target by a tenner this week. Freezer bursting.

I remember going to the chippy for half a bag of chips when I was small, on my own, I felt so grown up and what a treat. They cost 7½p, granted that was nearly 30 years ago, I have to avoid the chip shop now as I can't resist and it would cost me a fortune.

Well done Angel for not spending too much.

leonlala · 2 May 2008 at 6:54AM

Good Morning all,
hope your feeling better Victory, It's horrid when a shop person is so rude, sympathies.

just made my sandwich(oh's hm bread) for work. so a ns day for me, but oh is at home with kids dd has a day of school, ds at playgroup, so hopefully he'll resist sausage roll from village bakers.
had a chocolate need last night, oh made some choc chip cookies with hm sr flour but forgot to sieve it yuk!! i've made this to the same recipe with no probs.
self raising flour = 100g plain flour + 1 teaspoon bicarb soda =good pinch cream of tar tar. mix well and sieve. His biscuits are usually yummie.

wornoutmumoftwo · 2 May 2008 at 7:57AM

Morning....

Decided to do a big shop, haven't meal planned as such as I never seem to be able to get beyond a couple of days but I bought ingrediants that I know I can use.

Following tips I've seen on this forum I have been busy freezing some cheese and carrots and going to boil up and mash an entire 2.5 kilo bag of spuds rather then it going off. (Special on spuds at the minute).

Spent a total of £67 last night, so total spend for the month is now £70, and I think that apart from bread, milk and fruit/veg I should not have to buy more. :eek:

Today I am going to try AGAIN to make some rolls - failing miserably though, bread and rolls are the only thing I can not make - not even with a Breadmaker

They always seem to be so heavy, I use a soft roll recipe and cover them with a tea towel after but they just do not go soft (trying to make scottish rolls), the birds usually end up eating my bread.

That's all for now.....

Victory - I think what happened to you was terrible and could definately have been handled better, I would be wanting an apology from that member of staff at the very least - but don't let it ruin your day, you've done nothing wrong!

shelley1977 · 2 May 2008 at 8:45AM

hi victory,how awful that must of been for you,i hope your feeling better.

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May 2008 Grocery Challenge

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