January 2012 Grocery Challenge

belfastgirl23 · 14 January 2012 at 11:04PM

Well to my previous total of £98.04 I need to add £53.90 spent on two weekly M&S shops which does cover all fruit and veg for the two weeks (still using up the £5 off £25 vouchers I got before Christmas

and have done pretty well on whoopsies). I would also estimate £8 on milk in the corner shop which takes me up to £159.94. Feeling ok about it so far.

Hope everyone else is doing well....

tigerfeet2006 · 14 January 2012 at 11:22PM

sproggi wrote: »

Thank you majjak and tigerfeet2006
I will stick the unopened one in the freezer then and rather than waste the half a ball that is left, I think I will make a couple of cheats pizzas and freeze them (just sliced bread lightly toasted with tomato sauce, cheese, boiled bacon/gammon and grated chedder on top, then under the grill for a couple of mins), I usually make these when I have stale bits of bread and want something quick for children. Hopefully they will work frozen.

Sproggi

There is no harm in trying, if they don't freeze well then you haven't really lost much. I am of the thought that if you don't try you don't find out, I bung all sorts in the freezer. I've only had a couple of disasters along the way. If I do I just shrug my shoulders and think 'won't try that one again', well after a little swear perhaps

:rotfl:

Florenceem · 14 January 2012 at 11:36PM

I managed another NSD - so pleased.

Northern_Princess · 14 January 2012 at 11:37PM

I'm really pleased this month :j Now at £289

:D:D All I have spent on the last week or so is fresh fruit and veg as well as loo roll (oversight on the monthly shop) 2 bottles of wine, a pack of crisps and 2 x cough bottles as OH and I ended up with the lurgy

Now I see how much we can save in a few weeks I'm determined not to spend any more than £320 this month. That will be £180 in the savings account. I'm now looking forward to the February challenge

I'm hoping on a budget of £300 for Feb :T

freyasmum · 14 January 2012 at 11:41PM

Sproggi - Mozzarella freezes perfectly in it's little package, but I've also frozen it successfully portioned up into little ziplocks. Your pizzas should be fine

XSpender - I hope your little one is recovering ok

It's probably more traumatic for us as adults, and parents, than it is for them as kids. They just wanna get up and run around again like nothing's happened :rotfl:

PennyGrabber - oh bless your heart, what a rough time you've had of it

My ex was also a first class [email protected] but, like you say, onwards and upwards. His loss is your gain

I hope you're feeling ok now.

I still haven't spent any more yet though I'm planning a little trip tomorrow to get bread and fresh fruit/veg for little one's school lunches and some veg for dinner tomorrow - we're having roast beef.

She's been at her dad's all weekend and will have been filled up with rubbish - pizza, chips, chicken nuggets, ready meals. In fact, he once said to me when he was on the phone while I was cooking dinner (we were having steak) that she had wanted to eat his steak when he'd had it. I said why, what did she have? One of those frozen chicken dinnery type things, he replied. I said well no wonder! I don't buy overly processed foods for her, she's never been used to them (his dad couldn't believe it when she was weaned on braised steak with mash!) and she always eats the same as I do. Once when I dropped her off, he had her 'lunch' ready for her... a cut up processed cheese slice and a halved cherry tomato. Really

Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant, but the point is I like to do a bit of damage limitation when she comes home

pipersky · 14 January 2012 at 11:42PM

Just popping in briefly to report NO SPENDS since Sunday!!! Until today when we were in dire need of nappies (I changed my youngest into her last one while booting OH out of the door to get more *insert evil laugh here!*). So OH spent around £4 (he couldn't give me an exact figure) on some nappies for her. Not the ones I asked for that I had a £4 off coupon for because he 'couldn't find them'. Still, they are the right size so I'm going to stop moaning - at least I didn't have to go out in the cold!

Will be spending tomorrow too but it'll only be a small shop for fresh things and some root veg to puree for the littlie (we are weaning her

)

On a seperate note we decided to potty train our middle daughter just after Christmas and much to our unending surprise she is dry all day. She had about 10 accidents in total but now uses the toilet all the time

Still in pull ups at bedtime though... Will save us lots of pennies on nappies

Sorry for the waffle - I guess I'm trying to make up for the non-posting of the past week. Good to see everyone doing so well, all the new joiners and the old faces

aml1977 · 14 January 2012 at 11:43PM

Evening everyone,

I have just stumbled across this thread and can not believe i have not seen it before !!

Is it too late to join in this month and can someone explain the basics to me please ??

I have 5 yr old twins and a 9 yr old son - one of the twins and my elder son are the Fusiest eaters ever - so any tips or recipes would be grately appreciated
My husband is always on a health kick of some sort, though he usually eats what he wants on a weekend

Thanks in advance

Lori x

Herbyme · 14 January 2012 at 11:46PM

Re loo rolls, I'd buy the brand$ f*r le$$ except for the delivery charge, there's nothing else I really want from them. So I'm stocking up on Co-*p Nouvelle, £5 at the mo for either 16 or 18, can't remember which but much better than the usual £2 for 4.
Today spent £10.50 in A$da on cheap Lurpak spreadable, cheap eye makeup remover (Nivea for £2) and 2 x 4 pints of milk for £2. Ended up eating at friends and left them one of the cartons of milk as they'd run out! Plus Ocado delivery (all 25% off), total £61.40 vs list price of £86.08. Checked most of it on my supermarket to make sure it wasnt too dear to start with.

MASSIVE MrT Extra opening near me in Crewe on Monday, can I expect any bargains? Darn place looks like an aircraft hangar. Heaven help us. Won't be shopping there regularly but if there is likely to be anything good at launch...

mumwithamission · 14 January 2012 at 11:48PM

Hello Everyone!
I haven't posted any figures since joining this month, because I haven't really got it together. I've saved everything though, and have spent this evening going through all the receipts and endless jottings, transferring them to a (sort of) paper spreadsheet. can't quite believe that I'm actually ON TARGET!!!:j
Am absolutely chuffed to bits. I know my spending will horrify some of you skilled moneysavers, but it's real progress for me, and I WILL get better. Wondered if I would be able to do it after a lifetime of over spending but now I know I can - and it's giving me such a buzz!

My Second Purse thingy is going really well too. I have spent more on it than Mothership suggested, because I wanted to speed things up a bit, but am reaping the rewards already.

Added bonus - talking openly with DH about finances which feels really good after feeling very cagey about it for as long as I can remember

Going to bed with a smile on my face and feeling in control

Thanks everyone for your inspiration and advice.

ModestyB · 14 January 2012 at 11:52PM

Good evening all, just adding a food shop of £8.09 from Mr M today. Bought a few loose parsnips and sweet potatoes because they worked out cheaper than in the bags, some Cath Cit mature cheese slices that's on offer at 2 packs for £3.00, a bag of savers sweetcorn and tins of savers peas. Don't really need anything except bread for the rest of the month, cupboard and freezers are full.
Hope everyone is well.
Hugs to all especially xspender's little boy.

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