May 2017 Grocery Challenge

Niv

I love the idea of this challenge but fear I would get carried away and stop buying salad bits for my lunch and cut back on fresh fruit (as its not the cheapest way to eat). I will however, keep an eye on this thread now I have found it.

pamsdish

Niv wrote: »

I love the idea of this challenge but fear I would get carried away and stop buying salad bits for my lunch and cut back on fresh fruit (as its not the cheapest way to eat). I will however, keep an eye on this thread now I have found it.

Are those pre prepared salad bits ?, otherwise it may encourage you to make your own, I make a bowl of salad and it will last in fridge for 3 days if undressed , ditto with fruit, peel what you can and leave in a bowl ready to grab a portion.

Niv

pamsdish wrote: »

Are those pre prepared salad bits ?, otherwise it may encourage you to make your own, I make a bowl of salad and it will last in fridge for 3 days if undressed , ditto with fruit, peel what you can and leave in a bowl ready to grab a portion.

Nope, all separates. And as boring as it sounds, I don't dress salad so that's a saving too !


I know that making a cheese or peanut butter sandwich every day is cheaper than fresh salad / fruit and know that what I would end up doing. Pasta every day would also be a real risk...I am too competitive with myself haha


What I have started doing though is growing my own so that will reduce the salad cost this year. Next year I will be hitting into the fruit bill too by growing my own blueberries and raspberries.

elsiepac

Week 3 shop completed - £11.05 in total. I'm pleased with that!

£7.05 in A1di on salad leaves x3, cucumbers x2, carrots, peppers, spring onions, broccoli,
green beans, and courgettes.

£4 in Mr T on wholemeal pitta x2, YS baby parsnips, YS mushrooms, radishes and coriander x3.

The YS stuff was unplanned and cost 55p. I resisted a LOT of stuff there!
I overspent on coriander as they didn't have the big bunch, so effectively overspent by 85p.

Meal planning:

Breakfasts are my savoury oats - 40g good oats (I use Flahavans),1/4 of a stock cube and 1 tbsp nooch. I have plenty of all of these for the rest of the month.

Lunches
Salads.
Lentil salad on leaves with radishes x2
Butter bean and tomato salad on leaves with radishes x4
Roasted parsnips and toasted nuts in a dressing on leaves with radishes x1

Dinners
Tofurkey Italian sausages with roasted bendy veg x1 (already had sausages)
Pea stew with lebanese rice x2 (already had ingredients + 2 portions to go in freezer)
Potato stew with lebanese rice + green veg x1 (from freezer)
Mixed vegetable and bean stew with lebanese rice x2 (from freezer)
Butternut squash creamy pasta sauce with roasted broccoli over pasta x1 (from freezer)

Snacks
Cucumber, pepper, and carrot sticks for work
Green smoothies x3

I also have 1.5 portions of leftover vegetable bake in the fridge, which I don't think will be best in the freezer, so I'll likely sub that for a couple of freezer meals and save them for the following week.
This leaves me with surplus veg, but I often bulk out meals with veg - I love it!
I also have the makings of falafels if I get round to it.
I also already had fresh mint and parsley in the fridge, hence not buying any. Fresh herbs make any meal good and are full of vitamins!

£5.69 left in budget with one more shopping day to go for my month - However I also have a £2 Mr T gift card which they sent me after I found a little green caterpillar in a pack of stir fry veg! I put a picture of him on Facebook and they sent me that! The caterpillar was fine by the way - I put him outside in a tree

I should be fine as there will be a few freezer portions left, so just fresh stuff really. I bought pittas to do garlic pittas as a treat on Saturday with my pea stew. Mix olive oil and garlic - plenty of each, with fresh parsley for bonus awesome points. Cut diagonally halfway into your pitta/s - about 5 cuts each way, then cover in the garlic oil and parsley, adn sprinkle salt. Grill until crispy. You can grill the bottom half first if you want, but I like having a crispy top and bit of a doughy bottom!



................................£150 Budget
Date.......Shop......Amount.....Remaining
27 Apr.....Wa1tr0se..£80.19.....£69.81
28 Apr.....H&B.......£00.08.....£69.73
28 Apr.....Tesc0.....£29.45.....£40.28
3 May......Co-0p.....£01.29.....£38.99
3 May......Tesc0.....£00.80.....£38.19
4 May......A1d1......£16.45.....£21.74
4 May......Tesc0.....£05.00.....£16.74
11 May.....A1di......£07.05.....£09.69
11 May.....Tesc0.....£04.00.....£05.69



Date....Fresh/Frozen..Cupboard/Dry Goods..Cleaning/Toiletries..Treats..Bags
27 Apr..£24.14........£11.24..............£28.01...............£16.80..-
28 Apr..-.............£00.08..............-....................-.......-
28 Apr..£20.36........£09.04..............-....................-.......£00.05
3 May...£01.29........-...................-....................-.......-
3 May...£00.75........-...................-....................-.......£00.05
4 May...£16.45........-...................-....................-.......-
4 May...£01.66........£03.34..............-....................-.......-
11 May..£07.05........-...................-....................-.......-
11 May..£03.00........£01.00..............-....................-.......-

spendaholic

Last night's shop came just over my £75 budget at £76.94. This included just one magazine this time, which Mr S may subscribe to - he said he may sub to his other 2 mags too, which will save me having a new budget for them. So that's £169.07 so far, of a £300 monthly target.

caronc

On-line shop of £31 this week. It did include a massive pack of loo roll but May has been a spendy month so far so I think I might go over budget. spend so far £92/£150

thriftwizard

£53.60 spent at the market today, which leaves us £138 for the rest of the month. A bit tight for comfort but still do-able, provided we don't get any sudden visitors or emergencies of one kind or another. To be fair, if I had to, say, go down to Mum's for a few days, there's plenty of food in the freezer & the store cupboards for the rest of the family to live on. But would they? Probably not...

[Deleted User]

Feeling pessimistic about sticking to my budget this month. Spent £129.01 / £230 so far. It is going to be a bit tight, but I suppose that is the challenge. Going to sit down tonight and plan out the rest of the month and hopefully I can factor in the odd treat along the way;). Good luck everyone, keep going!

Florence_J

Hoping to retain most of the £81.20 that remains of our budget, but OH has the wallet this weekend whilst I am away and since he doesn't cook I dread to think what will be left!

Suffolk_lass

Well so much for only milk and fruit. I managed to spend £52.73. My fridge is stuffed to the gunnels and I seriously need to use it all up before I buy anything else!

Off to start cooking the meat for tomorrow's chilli now