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February 2018 Grocery Challenge

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  • PipneyJane
    PipneyJane Posts: 4,003
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    4 - nil to the sardines at the minute, but I'm hoping to come out victorious in extra time. Glad you liked it!


    How about currying them/throwing them into a curry? Sardines and/or pilchards in tomato sauce take Madras spices well. Like you, I am not a huge fan but I do make a great pilchard Madras, padded out with carrots and mushrooms. It's cheap if you make it from scratch (there's probably a recipe somewhere on my blog).


    If you don't mind the fishy taste - which I do mind - and have some mashed potato left over, you can also try Mexican Pilchard Pudding: combine 1lb cold mashed potato with 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs, a mushed up 400g can of pilchards in tomato sauce (try using 2 cans of sardines in tomato sauce instead) and a beaten egg. Bake at 180C for about 50 minutes. Serve with peas.


    HTH


    - Pip
    "Be the type of woman that when you get out of bed in the morning, the devil says 'Oh crap. She's up.' "

    2024 Fashion on the Ration Challenge 66 coupons,
  • TooClumsy
    TooClumsy Posts: 126
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    Tales17 wrote: »
    I have a spreadsheet with separate sections for different types, for instance in this grocery challenge I have included meat delivery, graze boxes, wine delivery, grocery shopping, fruit and veg boxes and pet stuff. I add up the total of these for the challenge but they are separate on my spreadsheet so I can drill down into the detail further when I want to!

    On top of that I have restaurants & cafes, takeaways and partner lunches sections which for the moment are not included in the challenge. This is because takeaways are a rare treat at home, cafes & restaurants are for treats out with the kids or special occasions and my partner has the occasional lunch out which I can't control in any way so would prefer not to restrict him! :D

    I actually have everything we spend with a monthly budget attached but I am not very strict on keeping it under them which is where this challenge comes in! :D

    I always remember someone at school saying that "Job" stands for "Just Over Broke" which always seems true as no matter how much you earn, your spending just goes up with it!! :)

    So very true, I found a budget from 4 years ago and shocked at the income figures there and how we still survived on that, the higher the income, the higher the expenditure! We always thought we wouldn't be frivolous with it, but I think we fall into the trap of not having to justify why we need to buy it anymore. We need to become better money guardians!

    Currently we have:

    grocery budget £290
    Bulk Buy £40
    Alcohol £10 (this is just built up, we have a separate xmas fund)
    lunch budget me £80
    lunch budget hubbie £80
    Groceries for grandad £20 (we all take it in turns so its all very ad hoc)
    Eating Out £125

    So thats a total of £645 a month! (If we stick to the budget of course)

    :eek:
    GC Challenge 2018:
    Jan £309.44/£290.72
    Feb £204.81/£290
    March £153.60/£300
  • MrsPear
    MrsPear Posts: 55 Forumite
    Mrs Cheshire Hi how about boiled from loaf? I use this one http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/6927/boiled-fruit-loaf---very-quick---easy.aspx although I add a teaspoon of mix spice and I make it in the saucepan to save washing up. It looks a tad awful in the beginning but comes together nicely.

    Update my signature

    Monday - co op had eldest’s favourite juice on special 2 for 3.5 - so £3.50
    Today Aldi - £35.79

    Was going to be it until Monday but the boys have requested very nicely for chocolate chip loaf and as they have had good parent evenings I will up pick chocolate chips tomorrow.
    Gc challenge £363.53/ 500
    Y Feb 317.28 / 350
  • MrsPear
    MrsPear Posts: 55 Forumite
    *tooclumsy* I include food out if I pay as that comes from household budget. The youngest eats for free - universal free school meals in England not sure where else - and eldest pay for school lunch from separate part of household budget. I eat whatever I find in the cupboards. H sometimes comes home for lunch other times he grabs a sandwich out of ‘his’ money. We never intended to be so old fashioned but I had the eldest very early - and the youngest - and well life changed in ways we could not imagine and I stayed at home.
    Gc challenge £363.53/ 500
    Y Feb 317.28 / 350
  • Good evening everyone,
    well after one week I have spent £33.

    I have been reading how others divide spending into various budgets. At the moment I include all food for home and eating out, toiletries and cleaning materials from my budget.

    However I might in the future divide eating out money to try and identify just how much I am spending, Of the £33 I have already spent I would say at least half has been spent in tearooms.
    I am very guilty of saying "I'll get this" when out with friends. Don't ever want to be in a position where I wouldn't treat a friend but perhaps I need to start to monitor exactly what I am spending.
  • thriftwizard
    thriftwizard Posts: 4,652
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    £30 spent on meat at the market this morning; I was expecting to spend £20, but they had a special offer on, 3 decent-sized ducks for £10. As all three omnivores love duck, it was stock-the-freezer time & they will reappear on my menu plans here & there over the next few weeks. I didn't buy any fruit or veg, as we haven't run out of anything vital, and the stuff we didn't already have didn't look top-notch, so we'll manage without until Friday, when I will also stock up on cheese and fish.
    Angie - GC March 24 24 £486.13/£500: 2024 Fashion on the Ration Challenge: 10/68: (Money's just a substitute for time & talent...)
  • Blimey, just realised that I've done 4 NSD in a row:j (Grocery wise..)
    Really pleased with this.
    Made a banana loaf for DS2 to take in for his class tomorrow (as it's the last day before holibobs.) Also made a choc crispy cake (as DS1 made a sad face over no banana cake for him! :rotfl:)
    Used up frozen ys fish cakes and made a tomato pasta for tea, works out at around £3.50 for 3 of us. I'm happy with that.
    Not sure what tea will be tomorrow, boys will sort themselves.
    Have chicken to use up, so will make a curry on Friday.
    Will need to purchase milk and bread tomorrow & perhaps some veggies..
    "There's a little witch in all of us"🥰
    DEBT FREE 06/2018
    MrsSD 2023 Decluttering Campaign:
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  • Mrs_Cheshire
    Mrs_Cheshire Posts: 1,173
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    MrsPear wrote: »
    Mrs Cheshire Hi how about boiled from loaf? I use this one http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/6927/boiled-fruit-loaf---very-quick---easy.aspx although I add a teaspoon of mix spice and I make it in the saucepan to save washing up. It looks a tad awful in the beginning but comes together nicely.

    Update my signature

    Monday - co op had eldest’s favourite juice on special 2 for 3.5 - so £3.50
    Today Aldi - £35.79

    Was going to be it until Monday but the boys have requested very nicely for chocolate chip loaf and as they have had good parent evenings I will up pick chocolate chips tomorrow.

    Thank you for the recipe, looks good. Will try it over the weekend :-)
    Grocery Challenge 2020
    Jan £377.98/£380, Feb £417.83/£370 March /£400
  • Thanks to all the Sardine Professionals out there, I'll let you know how I go on with the recipes.
    A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it
    You're welcome we can spare it, yellow socks
  • Grannymolly
    Grannymolly Posts: 42 Forumite
    edited 8 February 2018 at 8:06AM
    £28.70 on a toiletries, cleaning and loo roll bulk shop!
    Will last into March but I will just include it in this months budget :)

    I still have an absolute ton of dinner stuff, a huge 1.3kg gammon which I may try to slice some up after slow cooking on Sunday for ham sandwiches for the week...
    plenty of fruit and veg and some chicken breasts left too.
    My cupboards also seem pretty full so I think last month I ended up overbuying but luckily stayed under budget.

    Split pea and ham soup again today for lunch and not decided on dinner as DS has a school disco around dinner time, so I may just give him £1 for a slice of pizza and a hot dog!

    Hope everyone!!!8217;s week has been good so far!
    Family of 4 and a cat, trying to reduce outgoings GC JAN £225.94/£250 GC FEB £93.20/£250
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