March 2017 Grocery Challenge

poohbear59

karenccs67 wrote: »

So, I have a Asda two minutes away which I shop in, well I did until Monday ..... It caught fire and will be closed for several months. My next closest Asda is a 25 mile round trip ...:mad: or I could go to Tesco but that is a 16 mile round trip. I could opt for home delivery but I find that doesn't have the same choice and I know they're supposed to deliver food with long dates but in my experience they don't, so my dilemma is where do I shop ... :mad:

Our nearest ASDA is 70 mile round trip and Tesco and Aldi 50. It was a steep learning curve when we moved here. The answer was planning the month's meals and shopping monthly except for fresh items which we top up on from local shops. We also have a huge chest freezer.(I freeze packets of ham, cheese, as well as usual, bread, milk, fruit, meat and vegetables). I agree that delivery services don't have the full range of items in store, and often items have very short dates on them. We use Aldi a lot, but monthly and in conjunction with another store, as fuel costs are so high

[Deleted User]

Ended up shopping today, still need/want lentils & garlic, but will get those Monday - I have enough to be getting on with and am still going through my stores. Got quite a lot and only spent £15.61. Have updated sig. Have a lovely w/e everyone.

lynnejk

Flat_Eric wrote: »

:jHooray its Friday :j

Another spend yesterday (£28.55) but this did include over £5 of spends for the office so I can deduct that.

I'm struggling to think of ideas for tea tonight despite having a cupboard and a freezer full of food. Pft.

I would rather avoid another visit to the supermarket this evening but I can't seem to decide what to cook and I haven't taken anything out of the freezer to defrost/

I hope everyone has a good day.

I used to be like this some days as well.

I found doing a monthly meal plan sorted this. Do it a couple of days before the month starts and make sure you have all the 'makings' in, as far as possible. Check freezer and cupboard stocks and add what you need to your first shopping list. Just remember that you don't have to have each meal on the day you had planned - just each one sometime during the month.

I know you still have to get fresh stuff like milk, fruit and veggies, each week, but otherwise you're sorted

HTH Lx

Suffolk_lass

Bluegreen143 wrote: »

Jumping in mid month!

Used to do this challenge a few years back but got out of the habit of posting! My husband has just changed careers and is on a low training wage for 5 months and I work part time, so money is super tight right now and I really miss having the support of everyone in the challenge to motivate me

Feeding myself, husband and 15 month old (who eats what we eat). Son gets breakfast/lunch/snacks at the childminder's three days a week but otherwise it's all meals for all of us including packed lunches for work for us adults. £120 budget.

I have separate budgets for spending money (including alcohol), pets (we have three chickens and a cat) and household supplies/toiletries etc (£40 a month).

So far we've spent £68.37 / £120 this month.

Welcome back! :wave: Really good to see you back. I seem to remember you used to organise part of this thread didn't you?

sweetpea26

I am happy with how I have shopped this week. I am certainly more aware of what I am spending. Writing it all down really keeps me focused and reading everyone elses posts helps immensely.

£8.57 local shops ... cooked ham potato salad and items for youngest son home from uni,,,this guy always costs me a few pounds when he is with me

Lidl for the top up this weekend
£19.91.. lots fruit, yogurt, fresh crusty bread etc. This includes a couple bags of fruit that I bought as a gift to a friend on way home from town.

Chemist .... decongestant etc. we have all got the cold here this week.
£3.49

Popped to a local Chicken factory shop to buy fillets for next 2 weekends and for youngest heading back to city. Got a bit of bargain... 3 Tesco cook in bag stuffed chicken for £5 already frozen ... total spent £14.

That is me well stocked up on fresh items. I am meeting a friend on Monday for lunch. I have a voucher so its not going to cost us anything.
Nothing more needed until Tuesday/Wednesday except for fresh milk.

[Deleted User]

I'd like to join again (bit late I know but had major life changes going on!! )

Still have an annual target of £4800

Total Jan spends were £158.25, Feb was £164.09.

I'm 'starting' this March challenge with £112.27 spent so far this month

Got a mountain of food in the cupboard/freezer which I will plough my way through and just top up with fresh stuff as needed

Baileys_Babe

Baileys_Babe wrote: »

My total budget for January and February was £560, we spent £527.95, leaving £32.05 which I am rolling into this budget. We need to try better at not buying take aways or going out for meals as this has accounted for £139.75 of this year's food spending

Budget: £381.05
350 + 31.05 = 382.05

Spends: £163.99
Various super markets £92.96
Wholesaler £59.03
Take away £12

Remaining: £218.06

Day 9 of my March GC 7 nsd's

The meal planning this month is really working for us, I love waking up each day knowing what we are going to eat. Even better we batch cooked some of this month's meals meaning a lot less work day to day.

Spends: £48.11
Monday £46.37
Tuesday £1.74 ys items

Remaining: £169.95

Day 14 of my March GC 10 nsd's

Looking at this week I think we will need fresh stuff I guess £20 and we are going out for a meal on Friday, not sure how much we will spend would be good to keep it under £80.

Wysiwyg49

£117.42 so far this month, not including today's trip to the butcher which I'll add after I've done the sm shop.

Had a good week with a successful chickpea and potato curry which DD wants to take every day for lunch she liked it so much! DH away yesterday so I had kedgeree (made with oven baked salmon I had in freezer, and everything else was in stock) and kids chicken goujons n chips.

Going to check stocks and do meal plan and shopping list...happy weekend everyone.

JingsMyBucket

armchairexpert wrote: »

Jing, how kind of you to read my ramblings and offer advice! All the fruit is eaten fresh, but I could swap some of the vegetables if I'm making a lasagne or a soup or something, you're right. I got a bag of frozen spinach at Ald! for 99c the other day, whereas a bunch of fresh spinach is $4. I'll play with that idea further, thanks so much!

I'm so glad that's working out for you, Armchair. I guess, thinking about it this way, if your family goes through a pack of frozen spinach per week, that's $12/month alone just on spinach you're saving! It's crazy how it all adds up. Whether that's frozen spinach in omelettes, curries, etc. And you have a family of 6 correct?

JingsMyBucket

Here are my recent spends the past few days:

March 8th
€2.39 for a dozen eggs and peanuts
€5.17 for parmesan cheese and bread at Lidl - I'm really glad I was able to go in and get out with just the items on my list.

March 9th
NSD - yay!

March 10th
€4.65 - cheddar and bananas at M & S. I realized yesterday that bananas must be a loss leader at our M & S or something because they're only 85¢ per kilo whereas everywhere else is at least €1.25/kg. Duly noted for next week when it's time to stock up on those.

Total for 3 days = €12.21
Total so far = €91.14
Remaining = €108.86

I'm feeling a bit scared now but I'll still press on. This weekend I'll buy: olive oil and fresh vegetables ≈ €15. Next week there are some good sales at Lidl for things I need like butter, eggs, avocados, and chicken thighs which would also be about €15 – €18.

* Marge Simpson worried noise...*