October 2011 Grocery Challenge

his_missus · 26 October 2011 at 9:05PM

A day off work today so caught up with old friends. Took home made biscuits as my contribution to both get-togethers so a NSD, yippee!

rej-c · 26 October 2011 at 9:10PM

A spend of £4.18 at Mr S on my way home tonight - nothing on the fresh fruit/veg/bread whoopsies front [they're getting a bit thin on the ground at that store], but I did get a couple of packs of pittas with long dates [90p for the two], more half-price Linda M sausages to stock the freezer, and a few packs of the frozen diced onions [now on sale at 25p/500g bag - I think they're clearing that section of the freezers for Christmas stuff! :j]

Hoping for at least another couple of NSDs before the week's out. I was sure we'd crash through the budget this month, but we're so close now I really want to sneak in under the wire!

sls1365 - very best of luck with quitting. It's a great decision that will benefit you and your family in so many ways. One of the best things I ever did for myself, too

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver · 26 October 2011 at 9:16PM

Hope I have some idea of a figure to use in November. Best wishes.:beer::money:

suzybloo · 26 October 2011 at 9:46PM

Evening folks still a couple of days to go, but doing not too badly, should come in just over, but considering how much I would normally spend I am more than delighted ;-) will post a final figure on Saturday. Have bought a couple of wee treats to pass on to others, along with a couple of christmas things that have been put away for christmas.

Will sign up for November too, anything to keep me focussed!

ShrinkingSavingKaren · 26 October 2011 at 10:26PM

Can i please be put down for £300 this month please, going to give it a bash and anything saved is a bonus for xmas ,,,:rotfl:

Twiceblessed · 26 October 2011 at 10:34PM

Spent £32.70 on a nice meal out with my DDs and a good friend
£9.49 on a birthday present

Still on track for this month's target but heading towards some very weird food combinations so really need to stock up soon

Pixie_Fairydust · 26 October 2011 at 11:19PM

Another spend in Mr T this evening - no whoopsies though, think I was a bit late in!

Spent £15.25 but not much to show for it :mad:
I got a few xmas bits, chocs & advent calendars and some mint aero's BOGOF, so I can try making the cookie recipe posted on here a few days ago, they look lush!

Thanks to all who run this forum and post on it, its great, I feel more positive about my budget now I'm part of this. I love all the encouraging comments, thanks :T

Well done to you all for Oct - even if you've gone over a bit its still great - just think how much we were all spending and bumping up Mr T's profits when we weren't keeping a tally of things!

Laters, Pixie

MissOrganised1972 · 27 October 2011 at 6:08AM

Pixie_Fairydust wrote: »

Tell me more, in 'Monica' style detail please :rotfl:

I have never ventured into spreadsheet territory! But would love to give it a whirl, anything to help me get a grip on my grocery budget!

Thanks in advance.

Pixie

Sorry for the delay in responding but I'm usually reading up on MSE on my phone (as I am now) & so responding takes time. I've constantly been woken during the night tonight with 'I can't get back to sleep' by both DDs (overexcitement as today is DD1s Birthday & we're all off to the seaside) that I am now lay wide awake myself! :mad:

Anyway, spreadsheets..........

You are making your own little table in whatever layout you fancy! spreadsheets are great for numbers etc but none needed here, just typing in columns.

I use a spreadsheet for each month. For each month I tend to have 3 columns. Column 1-has the date in. Column 2-has what we're eating in it & column 3 is for notes to remind you of who's in or out etc (eg kids on school dinners, DH away with work, me out on the town :rotfl:). The more familiar you become with spreadsheets the more 'pretty' you can make your table but that is the basics of it!

When I am next on MSE on my computer I will see if I can copy an excerpt from a spreadsheet on here.

Good luck!

Right must pop those matches under the eyelids while DD opens her pressies!

rising_from_the_ashes · 27 October 2011 at 6:56AM

helen_jelly wrote: »

Question

Would everyone like me to add your total spends [when you declare at the end of the month] to the first page, beside your budget i.e Helen jelly £310/£300 - my target was £310 and I spent £300, its no hassle for me to do this, you are able to look back and see what you spent in any given month - MrsM may not want to continue with this when she comes back but I'm happy to do it however it would be easier if it was for everyone rather than for some - up to you!!!! Let me know your thoughts please :]

Helen x

PennyGrabber wrote: »

Hi all,

Helen - I think it would be a great thing, however, it would be really time-consuming for you...

Agree totally with PG here - everyone who helps run the thread does a wonderful job (and I've no idea how you find time) so although I think it would be wonderful, you do so much for us already .....

sproggi wrote: »

I knew that there had to be a quicker way to find posts, and after my long winded reply, I have just worked it out:o

At the top of the thread is the option to 'search this thread'.
Left click it and go to advanced.
Put name into 'user name' and it brings up all the posts that someone had made within this thread.

Soooo much quicker :wall:

Sproggi

Fantastic, thanks Sproggi - I sometimes remember someone saying something a few days back and on the very fast moving threads it can take ages trying to work back through all the pages to find it!

rising_from_the_ashes · 27 October 2011 at 7:16AM

Hope no one minds me sharing a receipe - I've always put off making risotto (even though I love it!) as I thought it was really hard. However, I've now done this one twice and it's easy and very tasty!:D

I couldn't find anything similar on the front pages but apologies if I've missed it!

I've made it with both raw chicken breast and LO from a roast chicken and it worked equally well with both - although obviously you will need to cook the raw chicken for longer at the start of the recipe.

I've used HM chicken stock but it could just as easily be done with a stock cube.

The amounts below will serve 2 but can easily be adapted for families.

Ingredients
1 to 1 1/2 pints chicken stock
Olive oil
1 Chicken breast - chunked
1 Leek - sliced
150g Risotto rice
Mushrooms - approx 100g but can use whatever you've got
Frozen peas - approx 100g
Herbs - I use about 1/2 teaspoon of Sage but Thyme etc would also be fine

Method
Pan 1 - warm chicken stock and keep on a low heat

Pan 2 - heat olive oil
Add the leeks and cook until softened
Add the chunked chicken and cook until heated through (longer if using raw)
Add the rice and a couple ladlefuls of stock
Simmer until stock is almost gone
Add the mushrooms, frozen peas & herbs
Add another ladle of stock & simmer until almost gone
Repeat until the stock is gone / the rice is soft & tender (about 15 mins)
Serve!:)

If you've got some, you could grate a bit of parmesan on the top but I had it without (not great with dairy).

Better mention that I've adapted this from a recipe that was in an Asda magazine a couple of months ago which was used as my starting point.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

October 2011 Grocery Challenge

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free