June 2017 Grocery Challenge

XSpender

£67.20 spent so far this month after a visit to Aldi this morning. I have stocked up on RMs and a load of rubbish for DH to feed himself on when I am away. I have made 5 rounds of sandwiches and frozen them for his lunches, he just has to remember to take them.

I bought antihistamines, shampoo, conditioner, face wash and sun tan lotion at aldi which I have included in my total along with dog food and dog chews.

I have left DH £20 too for a cheeky kebab and any extra food he needs.

I have been tracking spending on snacks this month and so far we have spent £4.94 including a 30 pack of crisps.

Total £87.20/£290

Florence_J

Erm....

I know we needed a lot of stuff, and I did buy a bottle of own brand gin (which to be fair lasts me at least 6 months), and we are approaching BBQ season and garden party season so I thought I would stock up....

But after my Mr M shop comes this evening I'm not sure if I am going to last into the next week within our budget, let alone the month.

FoxFace

What a lovely day I have been out for a day out with a friend... I had three separate pots of cash though, from various budgets :rotfl:

Took the weekly grocery cash with me, as there are some really good little shops where we went. Picked up some vegan mozzarella for Saturday Pizza night, from a little vegetarian market and two tins of jackfruit from an asian supermarket for a meal this week.

£6.05p of grocery budget spent and £53.95p remains for shopping tomorrow

Also had a £50 budget for five birthdays that are happening in the next two weeks and managed to get presents for four of the five, all within budget.

The 3rd pot of cash was my £23 personal spending money, which paid for my lunch and the car park, so I still have £10 left from that, which was way better than I thought! Other than lunch I only spent £2 on myself, on a little fairtrade coin purse on a market stall, to keep my remaining money in

mumofthetwins

Well another £52 spend for me on this weeks shopping ... Think I'm doing ok as this would be the second shop of the month (way my pay dates work) and I have stocked so shouldn't need any more this week

Gotta say I've noticed a few people saying that there spends have shot up with joining weight loss groups ... I'm at weight watchers and so far this month it's a total spend of less than £90 and that's for 2 adults 2 bottomless pit teenagers and a 10 yo oh and my little dog I've lost 60lb and at goal weight and I generally spend about forty to fifty a week on my shopping ...

Lisa x

allmannerofthings

So I thought I'd done well with £44.22 for a week's online A$da shop four days ago, then there was so much I'd forgotten to buy that the Mister had to go shopping this morning - Lidl though, and I was impressed he got a lot for the £26.76 he spent. There's also been a little £5 spend for lunch bits when my son came over, £2.10 in the corner shop, and a takeaway twice! £100 so far, so I'm veering off the rails already if I'm to keep to £370 this month.

I'll be having a look at the thread you linked to, Suffolk Lass. I could definitely do with using some things up for the next couple of weeks.

FurryBeastOz

£27.39 for the first food shop of the month. Mostly F&V but did need bleach.

Just had a cryptic text from DH which seems to indicate he may have extended his job from November to May which might mean I could apply for a permanent job. Will find out when he gets home from work about 2230ish.

Unsurprisingly didn't get paid on Friday.

ETA: no such luck. Just a 'grace period' while he job hunts. Temping here we come

armchairexpert

$251/$950 but I am well stocked for meat, I bought a huge sack of bread flour ($25!), and I seem to have a cupboard rammed full of beans, pulses and grains so I'm feeling confident. I even did a freezer list! What are you guys turning me into?

Florence I also find what people count as personal spends vs grocery spends fascinating! I suggested to Mr Expert yesterday that our snacking habit should come out of spends not groceries and he looked at me like I'd gone mad. Our general rule of thumb is that anything bought for the household is grocery budget, so cleaning products, Friday night snacks to share, etc., but that if he wants a chocolate bar at work he pays for that out of his personal spends. Food which is meal food is always groceries even if only one of us likes it, because if I'm eating spicy lentil soup I'm not eating the household's stash of sausages or whatever, and he needs more instant options for lunches than I do because I work from home but we both pay for the occasional bought lunch or coffee out of personal spends. I think a lot of this comes from whether you have mutual expectations or very different standards. If Mr Expert insisted on eating scotch fillet or lobster every night, I would change the arrangement quick smart!

amandaatnumber7

armchairexpert wrote: »

Half price cleaning products here too, unless I buy them from Aldi which is significantly cheaper anyway. Or Costco on occasion.

I'm trying a different tactic this month and trying to think monthly rather than weekly for the meal planning. To that end, I just went to the butcher and bought a range of things to plan around, rather than the other way around. I was disappointed, though: I was hoping for some good bulk discounts (mince is often cheaper if bought in 2 kg lots, for example) but the butcher told me they're having trouble keeping up with demand in the wintry weather, so no discounts for me! Supermarket meat is something I'm not willing to compromise on.

Anyway $71 later I have:

2kg basic beef sausages - 3-4 meals
A 2kg roasting chicken - 2 meals plus it'll stretch to some lunchtime sandwiches or a bit of soup
2kg marinated pork chops - 3 meals
1.4kg lamb chops - 2 meals
1 kg beef mince - 2 meals

The sausages'll probably get used up for weekend lunches and things rather than proper dinners, if I know my family (Australians seem to have super high standards for what counts as a proper meal!) but I should be able to make all that last for 3 weeks' worth of weekday meals and then Mr Expert can be a bit more extravagant on the weekends when he cooks.

I'm determined not to break into that stash until my official shopping week begins tomorrow (Sat), though, so tonight is leftover HM baked beans (delish! Slow cooker with a ham hock highly recommend), cheese omelette and chips.

I buy my meat from the supermarket, I don't have a decent priced butcher close by, thats a good price for all that meat!!
I know what you mean about a proper meal, my hubby used to be terrible for a meat and 3 veg type meal but we hit tough times not long after I had DS3 and had no choice to cut back and now he's completely on board with all things OS and we've stuck with it even though I'm working now and things are much better.

I've has nsd's since my weekly shop but I will need to get a few bits today, we're just about out of bread and fruit and there's no sugar.
And its a public holiday here tomorrow too so I'm planning on getting some meal prep done for the week

amandaatnumber7

Just quickly popping in to update my spends for today $19.75 at Aldi on fruit, bread, rice bubbles, tea, rocket and a pack of lollies (they're for me )

FoxFace

Weekly shop done

Had £53.95p left after yesterday. Today I have spent the following:

£5.00 in @sda for some sealant tape and stuff, as we found a leaky pipe this morning

£38.08p in T3sco for the main shop

£4.80p in M's for a couple of bits that they don't sell in the other two.

£47.88p total spent, £6.07p left. Potted the 7p and gave the eldest child the remainder to top up his school lunch account.

Menu Plan for the week

Lunch
(Leftover) Wensleydale & Chutney sandwiches
Baked Potato & Beans
HM (V) Sushi!
HM Tomato Soup
(V)Sausage Bean & Cheese toasties
TLT. (Tofu bacon, Lettuce & Tomato )

Dinner
Toad in the hole, mash & Veg, with gravy
Aubergine Pasta Bake
Chickpea & lentil Curry & Rice
(V) Sloppy Joes and chips
Baked Potatoes, Beans & (V) cheddar
Jackfruit burritos
(V) Pizza night