Making a Start on the 2013 Grocery Challenge
The bread is now baking, (Hovis bread mix is on offer at 50p per 1.5kg from *Approved Food and I stocked up before Christmas) so I thought I'd make a start on this year's frugal grocery budget.
As all true frugalers may know, dried goods are our best friends; they are among the most economical foodstuffs to have in stock for snacks and meal making. Pasta and noodles are no exceptions - kept dry and sealed, they'll last for years. It's only Government legislation that forces labelling to include 'Best Before...' dates on such things. These, however, should NOT be confused with 'Use Before...' dates, as the latter are for health and safety reasons, indicating food that cannot be stored longterm.
My budget challenge has been set at £1,000 for 2013. I've cut myself some slack this year to allow for extras needed to sustain energy levels when cycling extra miles, feeding guests, feeding workmen and generally allowing our frugal household a few luxuries now and again. We're down to a household of two but quite often have 3 or more.
Buying groceries isn't a simple case of popping to the local shop or supermarket when you live in a rural location. For a start, there are no shops and there are no supermarkets. There are two local stores about 7 miles round trip from here, but the nearest supermarkets are of the smaller variety, the closest being a little Co-op about 10 miles from here. For anything bigger, it's a 40 mile round trip and none of the stores deliver. This year, we have given up the car, so going by bike, lift-sharing or home deliveries are our three options. Making the most of free vouchers, coupons and referral fees is what allows for the occasional slurge on extras.
APPROVED FOODS*
This has been my first port of call in 2013. It's one of a couple of places that frugalers can make the most of bulk discounts on dried foods that are close to or just past BBE dates. Better still, once you register with the site, you can invite all your friends to join, which earns you a few pounds in referral fees. Today, I discovered that my referral fees had reached £15 over the festive period - enough to place an order! After including the packaging and delivery charge, the total amount came to £20.66, so there wasn't much left to pay after deducting the free £15.
Here's what I ordered:
9kg of dried chop suey noodles £3.99
5kg of cappuccino mix £4.98
Case (32 packs) of cat food £3.99
Toilet rolls £1.49
Washing powder 99p
Delivery £5.25
I don't normally buy washing powder, as I make my own laundry liquid - the instructions can be found HERE - but at 99p, I thought I'd have a bit of luxury to see me through to getting the 2013 batch made. Maybe the stove will be fitted soon and I won't even need to use the electric cooker to make the laundry liquid!
'Chop suey' literally means assorted pieces, and that's what we usually have left in the fridge of a waste not, want not household. The addition of some noodles to stir fried leftovers can turn almost anything into a lovely chow mein. We eat this quite often and although I do have a pasta maker and hens/ducks/quail that lay eggs, this box of chop suey noodles will be excellent for quick meals. It will also last me throughout the year and free up extra eggs for selling.
We're coffee drinkers in this house, although I am trying to drink more tea so I can cut down on my sugar intake. But when a kilo of instant cappuccino mix shows up at 99p when it currently costs me £1.29 for 100g of instant coffee, I'd be mad to miss the deal. 5kg should see us throughout the year and it will be cappuccino all the way! (The powdered coffee whitener is currently 99p for 3kg, so I stocked up on that before Christmas.)
Cat food - the frugal mouser doesn't often get foil-topped servings, she normally gets about a quarter of a can of Kitekat (12.5p) so she is in for a treat for the next month. One per day is sufficient for her, as she has ad lib dried food and water. (I'd normally buy a tray of Kitekat from Amazon using my free vouchers.).
Opening balance - £1,000.00
Today's spend, less referral fees - £5.66
Balance remaining for 2013 - £994.34
Happy shopping in 2013, everybody!
* Approved Foods 'recommend a friend' link
Regular updates on our great new frugal living and working challenge. Keep up to date at http://www.microholding.co.uk
