August 2016 Grocery Challenge

lynnejk

Afternoon all

Soworried wrote: »

..... I need to buy some beef and spinach but other than that I shouldn't need anything for the week now........

L*dl have spinach on their weekly offers this week at 59p


Spent £14.72 in Al*i yesterday and today's an NSD :j


Hope you having a super weekend
Lx

t14cy_t

nsd yesterday. YS rampage tonight, should be interesting!x

pamsdish

My teenager eats SO MUCH though! He costs a fortune. But it's not just him though- i sometimes dont fancy anything that i have in the cupboards so end up going to Morrisons to buy more food
That`s why you need to meal plan, bulking out with cheaper goods, lerntils pasta etc.

tumptyteapot

Tesco today, the plan is to get soya milk, tofu and mushrooms. I allow myself £3 for deviations from the plan!

WantToBeSE

pamsdish wrote: »

My teenager eats SO MUCH though! He costs a fortune. But it's not just him though- i sometimes dont fancy anything that i have in the cupboards so end up going to Morrisons to buy more food
That`s why you need to meal plan, bulking out with cheaper goods, lerntils pasta etc.

Yes, i am going to start meal planning again. I used to do it and know it saved me a fortune.

So i am in 'damage control mode' which basically means that I've spent my entire months grocery budget, and my aim now is to spend as little as possible until September.

I'll write a meal plan now. Thanks Pamdish

tumptyteapot

Do you know of any good menu planning resources? I really struggle with it

WantToBeSE

tumptyteapot wrote: »

Do you know of any good menu planning resources? I really struggle with it

I struggle with it too tumpty.

I am going to start doing what i used to do- write down a list of meals that i can make from what i already have in the kitchen. For example, i know i have a burger mix, some salad and some potatoes. So 1 night will be veggie burgers and chips, with salad.

I also know i have some tins of lentils and a spag bol mix, so another night i'll make veggie spag bol.

I have some sweet potatoes and some beans, so a 3rd night will be sweet potato and bean casserole.

Then I will just carry on as long as I can, using nothing but what I already have.

Once i am running out of food to make meals with, i will start coming up with ideas that use just 1 or 2 extra ingredients that i dont have, and add those to a shopping list.

Thats my plan anyway. And writing it out had just made me realise that i have at least 3 meals that i can make :rotfl:

mrs_Badger

£10 spent in co-op on meat, salad and yogurt.

Running total
Pet food £38
House / toiletries £10.80
Food £67.10

£115.90 / £300

tumptyteapot

Thank you WantToBeSE, that sounds like a really sensible approach. I was brought up by my war time granny so there is never a time when we don't have stocks of pulses, beans, tins of tomatos etc.

Shopping was £37 (so I could use the £4 off £40 voucher). I know this is way more than I was expecting to spend but I did buy things we need in bulks - 24 cartons of soya milk, 10 tins of tomatos.......so other than meat if we fancy it I shouldn't need to shop until next week now.

Wysiwyg49

tumptyteapot wrote: »

Do you know of any good menu planning resources? I really struggle with it

I found a few online - there's a monthly one on netmums, a weekly one by SkintDad, and a £9 per person per week (!!) on Jack Monroe's blog (cooking on a bootstrap). But quite often they only cover evening meals and I use them for ideas rather than following to the letter...so I think the other reply is more useful - start with what you've got, then add minimum stuff to make more meals that you know your family will like.

I ALWAYS find I spend more on additions than on main ingredients though. Fruit juice, biscuits, brands we like.

This week I did a plan then ordered via click and collect from Sainsbobs. Worked well as no in-shop temptation .