January 2012 Grocery Challenge

clarkey1000 · 4 January 2012 at 3:14PM

Well I'm not sure I'm going to manage my £150 budget, might have been a been optimistic I think!

Tesco order arrived today and was £85.64 in the end as DH got home last night & added a few bits too it! I was also not really with it yesterday when I put most of the shop in the system so I have a few random items I could have done without but they're all freezable so can be used at a later date.

Feel more human today after going to bed at 7.30 last night! (glad I did as the DD (20months) decided to have a bad night & ended up next to me in bed!)

DH has announced that he may well be away for most of the end of January & beginning of February which is obviously not good news in general but could be great for my budget!! :rotfl:

adysmum · 4 January 2012 at 3:16PM

Just done my first shop of the year. £64.75 in Lidl so will update sig. Heading back about 4 pages to try and catch up all the posts I've not read yet!

mrs_mum_3 · 4 January 2012 at 3:18PM

Hi - can I chuck my (considerable) weight in with you again this month.
I can't manage a month so I am going for £150 fortnightly - current fortnight ends on 15th January and I've spent around £15 so far.

I will update as regualrly as I can

Jo

Justamum · 4 January 2012 at 3:19PM

LondonDreamer wrote: »

I can't have soya either, have tried various grain/nut milks and do not like the flavour which I find will come through even in baking. I do have coconut based milk (not like tinned coconut milk) which I use for some things, but it's too expensive to use for baking. And again, can impart a certain flavour that doesn't always work.

I think it's better to find good dairy free options, rather than substituting. Thanks for the thought though.

I posted this recipe on another thread. If you can eat eggs you can put an egg in instead of the milk, otherwise just use water or an extra banana.

I use a Rose Elliott one. It's mega super easy and really tasty. It's vegan if you are interested (well I do the vegan version - she has a recipe with an egg in it but you don't need it)

For a 2lb loaf tin

4oz butter or marg
4oz brown sugar (dark or light whichever you prefer)
6oz syrup
1lb self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
4oz chopped walnuts (leave out if you prefer)
4 bananas, mashed
4 tbs milk

Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin. Melt the marg, sugar and syrup, then leave to cool until you can hold your hand against the pan.

Preheat oven to 160c. Sieve flour and baking powder into a bowl, then add the nuts, bananas and melted mixture. Mix well, then pour into the tin and bake for 1 1/4 hours.

If you want to use eggs then use two eggs and don't use the milk or the extra baking powder.

I usually make this in my 10" x 8" tin and bake it at 180c for 40 minutes.

The original recipe is half these quantities for a 1 lb loaf tin, so with much trial and error I've had to change temperature and timings for different quantities and size of tin, so 160c for 1 1/4 should be right if you do the 2lb loaf.

It's also delicious if you use 8oz chopped dates instead of the banana and extra milk - about 6 tbs.

quintwins · 4 January 2012 at 3:20PM

i don't think i'd wanna eat brown limp carrots personally, given the cost of a bag of carrots i'd tend to chalk that one up to exeperience

been to lidl, i got a few bots like mayo and pepper that i hadnt planned to get but needed, the idea been i won't have to shop for a few weeks if i have bits in, spent £12.86, plus the school sent the kids snack money back again, i'll have to ask the teacher what thats all about, i'll send it next week and see if it comes back again if so i'll nip in and ask

tessie_bear · 4 January 2012 at 3:24PM

hi...just a quickie...if anyone fancies chocolate the coop is selling off the christmas stock really cheap...mine had a box of biscuits £1.50 selection box £1:D

Beccatje · 4 January 2012 at 3:29PM

Spent 22 euro today on shopping. Potato's were on special. 10 kilo's for 1 euro. That is an absolute steal so I got 20 kilo's. LOL! We eat lots of them so they'll go soon enough.
Some other bits and bobs.. bread, meat etc..

It's scary to see how fast the money goes though... wow.. doing this challenge is a real eye opener for me.

ally67_2 · 4 January 2012 at 3:33PM

please can i join the grocery challange...as i really need to budget ...
please put me up for £ 200
..

cw18 · 4 January 2012 at 3:34PM

lemmings1986 wrote: »

..... but not sure what to do with the money left over each week?? what does every1 else do when theyve got money left over ??

I actually have an annual budget, which I split into monthly amounts according to the days in the month. If I have anything left out of a months 'allowance' it stays in my annual pot - which means that if I underspend in the early part of the year I can stock up on bargains later in the year without having to rob other pots to do so.

Outdoorlass · 4 January 2012 at 3:34PM

Hey all

I would like to be put down for £300 please, payday is 28th to 28th but I don't count anything spent Xmas week as that comes from my Xmas money so, only counting spends from 1 Jan Which so far is £12.50. We are a family of 4, 2 adults, 2 teens, OH and I are both on a strict low fat diet due to medical reasons so that complicates things a bit we are trying to eat as much from cupboards and freezer this month in order to spend as little as possible on food, I need to start saving & the only funds I can do this with is food money, as DD1 is off to college this coming year and they want £685 travel money upfront in one payment in August, YIKES:eek:

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January 2012 Grocery Challenge

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