May 2017 Grocery Challenge

lynnejk

mcculloch29 wrote: »

I've been doing some alternative thinking within my budget. Sticking to £140, I can still take less than this from my bank account by using alternative methods of paying. I know some people use handfuls of copper in the self-serve coin hoppers, I can't see me doing that but one of our local supermarkets has a Coinstar machine that converts coins to a voucher. I have a large-ish bag of small change.
I had a £5 voucher for doing surveys, I normally convert these to Amazon gift cards, but this morning I printed out a £5 Tesco giftcard instead.
I tend to only use Tesco for the items I cannot get in Aldi or Heron, but there are a few of these - coffee whitener, dried milk, brown rice, cocoa, Crackerbread are amongst my regular purchases.

I wouldn't advise using these machines as they take 10.9% for counting it :eek: :eek:

You can get bags free from any bank and count them yourself for nothing - or feed them into one of the self-service tills
Lx

[Deleted User]

allmannerofthings wrote: »

Reading through the thread has really made me fancy Jack Monroe's Peach and Chickpea curry - not sure I've any peaches. I think i've got prunes and grapefruit - not sure that would be quite the same :rotfl:

I was thinking that sounded nice. Not sure about the grapefruit, but I think prunes would work. Just my opinion mind.

I'M ON A DIET. Wow, nearly broke the scale the other day, i'm so upset. I've put on nearly a stone eating a load of junk, drinking too much alcohol over the Easter, tons of vegan easter eggs also, so am on day 2 of a diet. I'm hoping to lose it in a month to 6 weeks, just eating home cooked veg dishes mostly, though I will use the veggie mince/burgers and tofu in the freezer with salad. No bread, no sugar, no alcohol, yay happy days (not), anyway should keep the costs down as my fridge is packed full of veg. Weighed myself three times today, what an idiot. Spent a few pounds, have added to sig, that's probably it until Saturday.

amandaatnumber7

Hi everyone
I did my first May shop last night, I spent $134 in Aldi and $34 in Woolworths
I got mostly orange sticker stuff in Woolworths which were all 50-80% off which never happens !!
plus a few things that Aldi don't stock.
I've done my meal plan for the week which are all pretty quick and basic meals as hubby is away for 5 days and I don't want to be buying take aways when I'm too tired to cook after work.

armchairexpert

Florence I think you also work very long hours during the week, so please don't feel like I was implying you should do even more domestic work when you get home! Hand him a plate of cold food and a salt shaker.

Maisie_M

Hi all

I used to do this years ago but have kind of fallen by the wayside. Having spent an astronomical ammount in April I am back on this as the food bills are getting crazy.

I am setting my May budget at £200. I tend to do my main shop on a Saturday with a small top up on a Tuesday. There are 2 adults and two children, no pets. This will include everything I buy such as food, drinks and toiletries but not eating out or takeaways. I have a full chest freezer in my garage and an american fridge freezer 'freezer' full in my utility. I am also fairly well stocked in dried goods and really need to use some of this up.

I will meal plan tonight for the rest of this week and next week.

pamsdish

Minor spends yesterday, £8.25, and £20 bulk buy

mcculloch29

lynnejk wrote: »

I wouldn't advise using these machines as they take 10.9% for counting it :eek: :eek:

You can get bags free from any bank and count them yourself for nothing - or feed them into one of the self-service tills
Lx

Thanks, I was aware of the charge.
It's convenience really - is it really worth my while to spend time collecting bank bags, returning home, counting out a pound's worth of pennies and queuing in a very busy bank for the sake of 10 pence in the pound? My small change is mostly copper!
Every time I have used a self service machine there has been an issue, I don't think I have used one for about 6 years. It wasn't me, just hopelessly unreliable technology.

XSpender

£3.00 spent in Land of the Pound on tin foil, chocolate fingers and jelly beans.

£11.00 spent in M&S on gluten free quiche, sausage rolls, fruit scones and bread.

I am making DS and 2 sets of his grandparents (and me and his Dad;)) a proper birthday party tea on Sunday for his 7th birthday. The kind of party tea I had as a kid 40 years ago when Krispy Kreme parties and soft play didn't exist! :eek:

Apart from the usual sandwiches and sausage rolls I always remember having chocolate fingers and fairy cakes with icing and a sweet on top. And a big jug of orange squash to wash it down before jelly and ice cream. Anyone else remember what else you had at a party tea back in the 70s?

All of the spends today are for the party (except the bread and foil which are everyday stuff).

candygirl

Spent £23 in ALDI yesterday, so that should do me for this week

Ginmonster

No spends yet this month and I'm going to try and go as far into the month as I can before I buy anything. We've got loads of food in the fridge and freezer right now so I'm really going to try and use up everything we already have first. I know at some point I'll need fruit for the boy but I reckon I could get to half way through the month with nothing else needed, maybe even longer. Let's see how I get on. I'm feeling full of resolve!