February 2017 Grocery Challenge

snowfox

Small spend of £3.45 yesterday on some butter and sweet potato fries.

Today should be a NSD as I'm at a work event with lunch and dinner included.

thriftwizard

I'm probably also going to have to pull out for a while. It's becoming increasingly apparent that OH's dietary problems are fairly major; he had several tests in hospital yesterday, which don't seem to have uncovered anything nasty, which obviously is good, but now the finger is pointing at multiple food sensitivity problems. So we're going to have to stick with things that don't trigger the pains, i.e. tuna in olive oil rather than sunflower (sunflower oil being one of the main suspects) and long-fermentation bread instead of fluffy supermarket stuff; luckily DD1 works in an "artisan" bakery so we get a fair discount, but it's still quite a bit more than a supermarket loaf. I do make bread at least once a week but demand is very variable and my "starter" culture can't cope with that.

So until we've settled on a diet that keeps him functioning and on an even keel, the budget has to come second and, whilst I can't exactly let go of the reins, sticking to rigid limits isn't possible, especially with food prices going up & down like yo-yos! (Anyone else noticed that L!DL's butter has gone up by about 10p in the last few weeks? Probably not the Spanish weather's fault...) Belts will just have to be tightened in other ways.

I will at least continue to keep track of what we're spending, so I'm not bowing out altogether. But on doctor's orders, quite literally, and my own observations when it comes to DD2, we're just not in a position to cut to the bone for now.

Fruittea

Sorry to hear about your OH Thriftwizard - made me feel guilty as I'd popped into SBs for a loaf and was tempted by the frozen langoustines £7. It can be so difficult when you have special diets to cope with. So that's another £9.29 spent but I really should be fine with what I've got now and I've cancelled this weeks veg box. So will try to rely on the freezer more.
I have a neighbour comming to lunch this weekend who really enjoys a roast beef dinner - I don't eat meat myself but I'm happy to cook for him and I have a joint of topside in the freezer - so I should only have to add a cabbage to make the meal - will need to start buying potatoes from then though but on the plus side the chickens have started to lay the odd egg now - so I'll save on those.
Reading back about the washing up stuff etc. I should say I'm not including that in my totals - as I buy in bulk when things are cheaper and stock pile. I think some of my stuff must be a couple of years old. Thank goodness for a loft room!

elsiepac

It's terrifying how quickly and easily money can be spent when you aren't looking.

I'm not using the F word, but I am saying I ACKNOWLEDGE that I need to stop doing this and that I can't afford to. It's no wonder I'm always broke looking at the way I'm breezing through money already this month!

So.

Line in the sand.

I have £22.14 grocery money left for the month (17 days!), and that WILL be all. My fridge is stuffed full. My freezer I was supposed to be running down but somehow there is extra STUFF in there! As my fridge has fresh veg in it, I am going to do my best to live from it. Until it's all, or virtually all, gone.
Tonight I will INVENTORY my fridge and freezer. I will PLAN better. Don't wish me luck, it's not luck, it's winding my neck in and stopping being silly.

I can do this!



Date.......Shop......Amount.....Remaining form £160 Budget
26 Jan.....T35c0.....£33.49.....£126.51 (Main Grocery Shop - some stuff wasn't there)
28 Jan.....T35c0.....£22.75.....£103.76 (Extra Shop - off plan. REGAIN CONTROL!)
28 Jan.....H&B.......£23.53.....£80.23 (Fake Meat things - frozen - not really necessary!)
30 Jan.....T35c0.....£10.20.....£70.03 (Things that weren't there on grocery shop)
1 Feb......T35c0.....£01.65.....£68.38 (Crisps and choc - sigh)
3 Feb......T35c0.....£20.48.....£47.90 (Main grocery shop)
4 Feb......T35c0.....£24.07.....£23.83 (NOT NEEDED stuff - got my cold and felt sorry for myself)
5 Feb......T35c0.....£01.69.....£22.14 (Loaf of bread and a cucumber!)

[Deleted User]

elsiepac wrote: »

LOL I got it wrong, it's Ecozone I use!! Absolutely right Save Dosh that's why I don't use Ecover! Got mixed up - I blame my cold!). That's also why I stopped using Method (which I switched to after Ecover) because they do test on those little pond animals which for some reason don't count! So now everything is Ecozone for me!

I'm not the vegan police - gawd I hate them people (truly). I only became vegan 5th June 2016, just one wash left of my Lidl liquid, need 2day to buy vegan & bio degradeable replacement. It's not so much the vegan issue, as what's done is done & is not gonna change the state of things once bought, but putting non bio degradeable down the plug has caused me a real conflict (as I campaign on environment issues). I reasoned that even if I gave it away, it would still do damage and even if I left it, it would still end up in the ground in time, so I used it, so happy its now gone. Was thinking of buying Bio D to start with, thanks for the suggestions.

Just need some salad stuff and some of Lidl's coconut oil offer. Hopefully damage limitation will prevail.

Flat_Eric

I planned a visit to the supermarket yesterday (and wrote a list) despite the shopping trip on Sunday. I was hoping to go more than a few days without another visit. (i.e. to the weekend at least) In my defence however, my shopping trip on Sunday was limited as to fresh produce/stuff for the freezer and fridge because I wasn't sure how long I would be out for and I'm always nervy about leaving stuff out too long . My shopping trip got rainchecked however (quite literally) because of the weather. I *made do* with what I could find in the fridge and cupboards for tea. I then cooked up some ratatouille which I have had for lunch today, another portion for later in the week and 3 in the freezer for another day

Today I've organised a small home delivery shop. I say small - it checked out at over £60 but this is assuming they have everything I ordered. I feel bad for doing this after spending £83 on Sunday. My budget of £250 is soon disappearing. This should cover me for meals up until the weekend and beyond including treats for marking valentines day at the weekend. (i.e. ice cream) if it survives hiding in the freezer until the weekend

It seemed more sensible to buy everything I wanted/forgot/decided I wanted to throw in my basket "just because" rather than try and do several top up shops. Yes I could have made do and hmm this challenge is thought provoking and hard work but hopefully if I can sit down and meal plan now, I can get sorted for the rest of the month and stop spending.

Ginmonster

You can do it elsiepac!


It is hard - I have a real compulsion to hoard things 'just in case' so I also struggle not to buy stuff when I'm near a food shop. I had to shut my browser down after I started an Approved Food order this morning. I need to save the rest of my month's budget for guest entertaining as my parents are coming for a week and my MIL for a couple of days near the end of the month.

zafiro1984

Elsiepac:- I've just had a look at the 'big green smile' website. A good large selection of items, certainly cheaper than Ecover and it will do the job so I've saved the site on my tools bar as I don't need anything at the moment.

Franalamadingdong

I won't say good luck, but I will wish you all the best.

No spends from us and none planned for the rest of the day.

I am a bit stuck though. DS (5 years) has been stealing cake in the morning before I get up. It's the second time he's done it today, he did it on Sunday too. I'm at a bit of a loss as what to do. I think a chat is needed. I tried the telling off and punishing, which evidently didn't work. It was part of the cake I made for mum's birthday, so not as simple as don't have it in the house. 4 people can't eat a whole cake in one sitting

Islandmaid

:j:j:TNSD Here :T:j:j