Hi Everyone!
WEEK1-TOTAL SPEND £21.33
WEEK 2-TOTAL SPEND £13.87
WEEK 3-TOTAL SPEND £11.98
WEEK 4-TOTAL SPEND £5.82 So Far
MONTHLY TOTAL: £53
WEEK 3-TOTAL SPEND £11.98
WEEK 4-TOTAL SPEND £5.82 So Far
MONTHLY TOTAL: £53
STOCKPILE TOTAL: £36.26 out of £240
WEEK 2-GROCERY SPENDING UPDATE
Our Weekly Budget is £20. Our Annual Stockpiling Budget is £240 or £20 per month
Here is Week 4's stash of shopping and gifts!
We bought
3 oranges
Organic Milk
Toilet Paper
Reduced Price:
Raspberries-65p
Le Roule-Garlic and Herb cheese-19p
Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese sandwiches 65p -We shared these for our tea.
Cheddar Cheese 80p
Cheddar Cheese £2
2 Steak Pies 90p each=1.80
Gifted Food
Red Wine/Biscuits/Cheese Sticks - present from my Auntie and Uncle
Christmas Pudding/Crisps and Cabbage - present from my parents
Oh, the other sandwiches are for Mr Sft's lunch.
We have used up the organic leeks we bought for 33p to make Leek and Potato Soup-we've made about 12 portions.
We've used up reduced price fish pie mix and salmon to make pies. One for now and one for the freezer.
Here are the photos from our Approved Foods Order.
I wish we'd bought more of these breakfast pots!
MY MENU THIS WEEK IS:
Lunch at school
Cream cheese and cucumber sandwich/Orange
TUESDAY: Muesli
Lunch at school
Cream cheese and cucumber sandwich/Orange
WEDNESDAY: Muesli
Lunch at school
Home Made Leek and Potato Soup
THURSDAY: Muesli
Lunch at school
Home Made Leek and Potato Soup
FRIDAY: Muesli
Lunch at school
Dinner with Friends
SATURDAY: Muesli
Baked Beans on Toast
Fish Pie
SUNDAY: Muesli
Baked Beans on Toast
Fish cakes with mash and veggies
What have you been using up?
What have you been cooking?
What have been your best reduced price buys?
Have you used Approved Foods?
Sft x
You have some really great bargains there. Are you snowed in? Is your school open today? After staying at work last week for an absolutely manic week (meetings with Essex County Council re funding, lunch with the High Sheriff of Essex as well as teaching a literacy class and PTLLs course side by side!!!) I am staying in bed today! Be safe if you are driving x
ReplyDeleteThanks Fran, We were really pleased with the bargains-must have been because of the snow.
DeleteNo we're not snowed in.
Our school is ALWAYS OPEN. Never known it to shut. We had a good day and only 3 children were absent from my class.
Your lunch with the High Sheriff sounds very posh!
Enjoy your day in bed!
Sft x
I amazed at some of the bargains. We found some organic meat reduced by more than 50%. I managed to stick pretty much to last weeks plan. So here is another attempt at a weekly menu.
ReplyDeleteMonday Roast lamb with vegetables and a baked custard because those eggs needed to be used.
Tuesday Lasagne with salad
Wednesday Shepherds pie from the leftovers
Thursday Some thing chicken
Friday Fish cakes
Saturday Homemade meat pie for Australia Day
Sunday Your guess is as good as mine.
Hi Suze,
DeleteWe did very well with our bargains.
Your reduced price organic meat was a great find! Well done for sticking to last week's plan.
What a delicious menu.
Are you planning a special celebration for Australia Day?
Sft x
I don't think there will be a celebration as such. My eldest girl will be working as will my son. My youngest girl is going on youth camp. I think there will be great appreciation of quietness.
DeleteThat's a celebration in itself :)
DeleteSft x
I have used Approved Foods once and will use them again definitely. Last time my best buys were mega bags of tea bags and a stash of creme eggs (a great hit with the kids) both at silly prices. Your grocery spending is very inspiring - I must work harder to get mine down xo
ReplyDeleteHi Dolly Mixtures
DeleteI might buy from Approved Foods again. Got to be careful to make sure we get our money's worth. I'm looking out for items such as teabags that we can stockpile for the year. I can't even look at the chocolate.
My Grocery Spending is made easier because there are just 2 of us and I eat 5 meals a week at school. I'm sure you are doing just fine.
Sft x
You've got some great bargains there and your menu looks very tasty :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Nic. We were very pleased, especially with the pies and raspberries.
DeleteSft x
You have some brilliant bargains there and I am totally impressed at how low you're keeping your spending.
ReplyDeleteWhat's going on at school that you have to be there Saturday AND Sunday?
Sue xx
We are delighted with our bargains.
DeleteThanks for your praise, but I think you are doing AMAZINGLY well.
Oh, I'm not at school then, I was having a dozy moment. I've updated it now.
Sft x
You picked up some great bargains and you're managing really well on your budget. Pasta bolognese here for tea tonight.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo,
DeleteWe are very pleased with the bargains!
And we might have some money left over at the end of the month for the sealed pot :)
I love Veggie Pasta Bolognaise! Yum.
Sft x
I am already at the end of the month budget and have several days to go. We have tons of chicken in the fridge but I shall have to get creative. Tonight a tuna casserole. Do you have to pay for lunch at school or is it part of your compensation package? Just wondering.
ReplyDeleteHi CC,
DeleteI'm sure you'll rise to the challenge! Chicken something.
Love the sound of Tuna Casserole. Yum.
No I don't pay for lunch at school. What a perk!
So today we had Cheesy Pasta with white fish.
And I took a banana for my morning snack tomorrow.
We do save money from me eating there for sure.
And we don't pay for coffee, tea or biscuits (not that I'm eating any) either.
I'm very lucky.
Sft x
As I read your blog I think that a big bulk of our cost of living goes in food!!
ReplyDeleteThis week I made home made Weiss bars,3 flavours,Mango,Wild Berry and Coconut and Pineapple.This means there is always something yummy and special in the freezer on hot days when we come in from work.
I also made our hoem made Tomato relish,this gives us 8 large jars and also made Worster sauce,this gives us about 12 bottles.I make all of these items from the mark down fruit and veg section.It is not all for us,whenever family visit they raid our pantry and I forgot I made Nectrine jam out of some that had not been eaten at Christmas.Not too much going in the pot at the moment as I have not been anywhere to get money or change.We are going away for the Australia day weeken and I may scrounge some then lol.I have not blogge for ages as there have been so many family dramas ,reading your blog just gives me a feeling of normality..thank you.I have just managed to follow my favourites and nothing more,I just wanted to comment today to let you know I am still alive and kicking,just very frazzled and stressed.
Hi Carole,
DeleteLovely to hear from you. You have made some delicious home made goodies for your pantry.
Food is so expensive and those Weiss bars sound gorgeous, but the ingredients don't come cheap!
It's great when you find marked down veg or fruit. We were so pleased with the organic leeks and the raspberries.
Thanks for the update about the sealed pot. I've missed you on Sealed Pot Sundays. Have a wonderful Australia day weekend-hope you pick up some change then.
Sorry to hear about your family. Big Hugs. Glad my little blog helps.
Don't worry about blogging, you can pick that up when you feel better. Just keep strong and in the words of my dad Henry: Take it easy. xxx
Sft x
You are doing so well with your food! Silly thing - I feel like I have been economising but my bill last week was $75 over! That was because I bought a piece of rump steak for $63 which covered two group BBQ's at the weekend & I used the last of it into a yummy Lime & Sesame Beef Stir Fry last night. It also included a couple of items for stock pile that were on special.
ReplyDeleteOver the last week I have been using vegetables from the garden which feels thrifty and I used some left over potatoes in a bacon & egg pie for the weekend. That's all I can remember, but I am constantly consulting the fridge to see what is in there to be converted into something else.
Sx
Hi Sandra,
DeleteSounds like your rump steak was an excellent buy! And went far.
Great news about the veggies from the garden, thrifty and organic.
You sound very creative about your meals.
Sft x
You are doing so well with your monthly budget, what a great haul of yellow stickers these will go a long way to stretching the pennies. Some great basics bought from AF too, its good to have a stock pile of everyday items. Luxury Dorset cereals at such low cost makes that breakfast taste even sweeter. Your soup and fish pies look gorgeous, you can't beat homemade.
ReplyDeleteI managed a good haul of bargains at the weekend too and a few treats :-)
Karen x
Yes we are very pleased with how the month is going. We still have plenty of food left, just need the basics each week.
DeleteWe've done really well with buying reductions recently.
Hope to buy a little more from AF when it adds up.
No, you can't beat home made and that soup was made for pence.
Well done on your bargain shopping too.
Sft x
Wow, SFT! You are doing amazingly with your food budget this month! We've averaged ~£25 a week so far. How did you find cheese for 80p?? :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a reduction in the Co-op. We usually eat mature but this was mild. 400g for 80p we snapped it up.
DeleteSft x
I've still not been for a proper shop, I had my veg box delivered last week, I got some sandwich fillings in the coop today whilst filling up but they weren't reduced.
ReplyDeleteI ordered my first approved food order yesterday as I keep hearing about it from bloggers I follow so thought I would give it a go. I am amazed at how much I have ordered for the £22 spent! I can't wait for it to arrive.
Hi Sarah,
DeleteWow! You have done so well. Good luck with your approved foods order. What did you buy? I am so nosey!
I might look into veg boxes.
Sft x
My approved food order arrived yesterday I'm so pleased I did blog about it! lol
DeleteI got loads, noodles, curry paste, salsa, washing up liquid, naan breads (more than I realised I ordered whoops lol, nevermind they padded the freezer out nicely)
I like the veg box I get from a local farmer, I can choose exactly what goews into it, or I can opt for a pre chosen box depending on how I feel. I love the fleixibility I get from it unlike some of the bigger named schemes I have tried in the past
Oh, how I wish we had Approved Foods here. I live in Alberta, Canada. We get very little in the way of reduced Yellow sticker type bargains here. We can sometimes get 50% off bakery items. 50% off fruit and veg, but most of the time you wouldn't want to buy it-moldy, brown and disgusting. We do have a couple of stores such as Liquidation World and Last Chance Liquidators. But you really have to now your prices. Most of the time they are the same price, or even more than the prices at the supermarket. They are usually out of date, sometimes bashed, dented and rusty and not good prices. I don't know what happens to all the stuff like what you get at Approved Foods. If anyone out there knows please let me and lots of others living here now.
ReplyDeleteI retired from the school board after 25 years and in all that time we never got a free lunch, coffee, tea or biscuit. If you want it, you had to pay for it. You're very fortunate.
Just started reading your blog and I'm loving it.
Hi Janice
DeleteI've only placed one order with Approved Foods but I was very happy with what I got. I'm monitoring what they have for offer and once I can stockpile some non-perishables for a great price I will order again.
It's a shame you don't have yellow sticker items like we do. It makes you wonder where such food goes where you live?
I am so lucky having perks at school, especially food. I ate a delicious veggie chilli today and took a banana for my break tomorrow.
Glad you're enjoying my blog. Feel free to join our sealed pot challenge. We'd love it!
Sft x
Oooo Dorset cereals feel so decadent don't they. Our local £land have boxes in at the moment so I stocked up for decadent enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteYes they are! Will keep looking out for them on Approved foods and Poundland.
DeleteI've bought a box at full price recently and am really enjoying them for breakfast as it's full of good stuff.
Sft x
Sounds as if you get good deals from Approved Foods, wish we had something similar to that here. Some food is reduced at the grocery store, however, it does not look very fresh, all brown and dried out.
ReplyDeleteThe picture of the hawk I posted earlier--- it is a Cooper's Hawk.
Bitter cold, no snow here.
Patricia