January 2011 Grocery Challenge

Rebelle · 7 January 2011 at 10:39PM

Hey all

Am just popping in to say still on the wagon - no GC spends since Tues when I got my mega milk bargain! Well, I tell a lie - treated OH to the Kingsize Twix he asked for from the cornershop when I went to top up the gas and leccy earlier, so will add the 62p for that to the total.

Other than that have been doing really well this week, slowly getting through all the choccies from Xmas, eating light at lunchtime (soup, scrambled eggs on toast, bacon sarnies etc) then Thai curry/chilli beef stew and of course the donated pizza for dinner! My Dad treated us to a takeaway yesterday too, very naughty as had D*minos two nights as well, but never mind, am off work this week but back on Mon, so will get back into sensible eating once I'm back in a normal routine. Well, that's my excuse anyway...!

None of it has involved any spending, so no guilt on that score at least. :A

Off to catch up now - I may be some time! :rotfl:

bella121984 · 7 January 2011 at 10:39PM

happycrafter wrote: »

I can send you this spreadsheet if you want to play around with it, it also has my basics shopping list which I tick what I need when I check my cupboards.

That would be great, thank you, I have sent you a PM with my email address!

happycrafter_2 · 7 January 2011 at 10:51PM

bella121984 wrote: »

That would be great, thank you, I have sent you a PM with my email address!

sent it to you

hope it helps
xx

Hippeechiq · 7 January 2011 at 11:22PM

Long_tall_sally wrote: »

One of the things I bought was a bag of sweet potatoes & now I am really not sure what to do with them!

Well done you and all the meals you got out of your gammon joint :T Sweet Potatoes are gorgeous roasted in large chunks with same sized chunks of red, yellow and green pepper, and red onion....they kind of all caramelise and taste yummy. I often chuck a few sausages on top. Roast the whole lot bar the onions for 1hr (onions for 30 mins) and serve with cous cous and sweetcorn. It's one of our favourite meals.

seasalt wrote: »

Might try weezl's bread instead and see how they get on with that.

Blimey - your petrol prices are a bit steep hun. I suppose that comes from living on an island does it? It's a bit harsh, all the same. I've never made bread

but bought the ingredients back in July to give Weezls bread a bash, but I still haven't, as I only want to make one loaf and it would involve messing about with the yeast quantities, but apparently is very easy and very nice. Be interested to hear how you get on with it.

Both my top and bottom ovens are playing up at the moment - regulates 20º below what the dial states, and the LED clock flickers constantly once the rings or oven have been in use for more than 15mins, and it's kind of put me off baking anything at the mo

rosieben wrote: »

someone sort of joked that I was taking over the thread because I post so often; I don't have anything much to offer in terms of original advice but because I'm one of the many volunteer indexers on here, I know my way around the threads quite well and can often come up with a useful link in response to a query. I'm open to suggestions as to whether I should post less or not?

That's ridiculous Rosie. Your posts are valued, welcomed and appreciated hun. You're an integral part of this thread and it wouldn't be as warm and welcoming without you and your posts :kisses3:

Spends of £36.29 today, but that did include 5 tins of $limfast, 4 K3nco Rich Roast Coffee refills at half price and 4L of milk which alone accounts for £29 of it, so I'm not too upset.

I've menu planned for this week and the following 5weeks and I seldom deviate from them, but have accepted that I may have to shift certain meals from one week to the next depending on what meat and veg are on offer. I always plan my menu and then buy my food :think: although it would probably work better to buy what is on offer in any particular week and then plan your meals, but I do like things neat and tidy and enjoy having the satisfaction of knowing what I'm doing in advance....freak that I am

Will need another 2L of skimmed milk tomorrow and a 2.5kg bag of potatoes (if I can face humping them home in my backpack) and when oh when are £idls going to have another offer on their chicken breasts or thighs for goodness sakes?! I'm having to pay full price again for both for the first time in about 6 months, and I'm not impressed! Lol

Moniker · 7 January 2011 at 11:22PM

Evening all! Have not been able to keep up - this thread moves so fast. Apologies to all I have not thanked.

Have just updated my sig having done my 'normal' weekly shop yesterday. Went to W8trose - only because it was nearer to other places that we needed to go to than Sainsbugs - but the damage wasn't too bad as I only needed fresh stuff, and no cleaning/toiletries.

A few days ago I posted a question about using out of date evaporated milk (April 2010) but I haven't spotted a reply. Does anyone know if it will be safe to use?

Off to visit APs tomorrow and taking a lasgane with me and a German apple cake with sour cream for pud. I have not made this before - got the recipe from my DD1 whilst we were in Germany last week. It has turned out a bit like a cooked cheesecake. Will let you know what it tastes like after tomorrow.

DD1 has gone down with swine flu since we left and is really poorly - can't even get out of bed to heat up soup! I wish I could be there to mop the fevered brow - never mind I hope she will improve over the next few days. Big shock for her was the cost of the drugs she has been prescribed by the doctor - over 150 euros, some of which she will be able to claim back through insurance but you need to have it to pay in the first place. Makes you appreciate the NHS!

Better get off now. Catch up with you all later.

Moniker

mandco · 7 January 2011 at 11:25PM

cant believe how quickly this thread is growing this month

spent nearly £80 out of my budget so far but have stocked up on pet supplies and household goods so only food shopping needed for the rest of the month.
hoping for at least 1 nsd over the weekend as dont need anything that cant wait till monday except maybe some spuds

must sort out a meal plan and start doing some batch cooking so I've got some quick heat meals to cut down on cooking times/costs

wssla00 · 7 January 2011 at 11:41PM

Moniker- I would use it if the tin hadn't blown and when you opened it it looked and smelled ok but that's just my opinion. Don't take that as gospel- I'll eat anything :rotfl:

buddiebabe · 8 January 2011 at 12:04AM

Hey

Just popping in to update a few spends:

30p in Superdrug on 3 packs of reduced ready salted crisps
35p in MrT for a pint of milk UB 10.01.11 and 2 apples

Total spend today was 65p :j
OH bought a take away for dinner tonight.... can't believe the money and food wasted on it..... felt so guilty eating it didn't even really enjoy it... all i could think about was how much food i could have bought with the money

OH also asked me to go into MrT to get something for his lunch 2moro that was £3.50 which would have left our shopping purse (oh yeah bought a new purse just for the shopping money tonight it worked out at 99p so nothing to extravagant

) with about £1.20 so he said it wasn't fair using the money for that so reimbursed the purse with the £3.50.... sometimes he is just too good to me :A

Buddiebabe x

Hippeechiq · 8 January 2011 at 12:17AM

minnie2 wrote: »

well im having another NSD woo hoo!!! 7days NSD so far!!! Hoping to do that for a fair few more although we are out of washing up liquid. Anyone know of anything else we can use? dont really want to get £10 out of the bank for less than a £1 buy - otherwise i run the risk of spending it.

Whenever I discover I've run out of washing up liquid I've used either bubble bath or shampoo - never come to any harm yet

Also, Stardrops can be used as washing up liquid if you have any

minnie2 wrote: »

how does everyone do their months? i have been doing this for the month of jan as the challenge follows each month.or am i better off going from pay day to pay day? or does it not matter?

It's really all about finding out what works best for your Minnie to be honest. I'd say most people taking part seem to go from pay day to pay day. For some, that means from say the 15th of one month to the 15th of the next, for others 25th-25th and so on.

I do monthly pay day to pay day, but it just so happens that OHs pay day is always the last day of the month, so mine always runs from the 1st to the last day of whatever month we're in. Others find it easier to do it weekly or yearly. It's just trial and error until you find a system that works for you personally, but you'll get there

Chloris · 8 January 2011 at 12:17AM

MummyEm wrote: »

Rosieben - I completely agree, do not stop posting!!!! I find it very helpful.

I do have a quick question that perhaps one you lovely people can help with.

I am going to try pizza dough in my panny BM for the first time tomorrow. Just been looking recipe up in the recipe book that comes with the BM. Says to prove the bread for about 20mins at 40c how do I do this? Where is warm enough in the house? I'm thinking maybe the oven on plate warming setting but not sure what temp this is, it may be quite a bit hotter than 40. Would love any ideas or suggestions.
Thanks

In the winter our house can be quite cold. I used to prove our pizza/bread dough in the hallway with the bowl butting up against the radiator. This worked well until I found my youngest pushing orange segments into it. Now I replace the dough in the mixing bowl (after kneading, my BM died) and place it into the washing up bowl which I have filled up to a third with hot water. It seems to work well and the LO have not fiddled with this arrangement yet (insert evil Doctor Doom laugh).:rotfl:

Oh, cover the mixing bowl with cling film or a carrier bag.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

January 2011 Grocery Challenge

Comments

Categories

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