January 2018 Grocery Challenge

[Deleted User]

Hi everyone. No spends yet. Been living out of stores. I have run low/out of some bits, but have put off buying them, as I'm [STRIKE]struggling with[/STRIKE] not buying plastic in January - how bl**dy hard is that, I didn't realize. Ran out of plant milk, so was going to make oat milk, but not enough oats, so will have to buy them (loose) - not in plastic, if I'm to do this challenge, also realised that non dairy spread, laundry/washing up liquid, my beloved free from salad cream, and the list goes on a mile, are all packaged in 'plastic'. I'm doing a stocktake and going to an 'unpackaged' store near me Tuesday, with my muslin bags, that my sister in law is currently running up for me up on her sewing machine (oh lordy). My mum thinks I have finally lost the plot. I have toilet rolls left, probably 18, from when I bought a ton months back (thankfully) as I am so [STRIKE]stubborn[/STRIKE] determined when I decide to do something, I would probably end up cutting up old teeshirts into squares (oh the shame if someone used the loo). Not sure why I put myself through this, buy hey - it's only a month. Oh yeah, so when I have finally run out of everything and lost the will to live, I can't even drown my sorrows, as i'm doing 'Dry January'. Having worked at Crisis over the Xmas, it does make me realize that avoiding a bit of plastic (no matter how hard), is hardly the end of the world. Oh, and to top it all, I have actually failed anyway. I was sat all smug in a coffee shop with my china (or whatever it is) cup of coffee, eating a bag of 'Vegan' cheese & onion crisps. Doh, forgot crisp bags are plastic. Oh well. I do usually include trips to the coffee shop in GC budget, but will come out of social budget, as I'm going to have very little social life this month. Have a lovely w/e everyone.

Islandmaid

Broke my duck today - just under £80 on a food delivery

We got back from a short break last night and I CBA to go shopping today...

Mince, chicken, pork, sausages, fish, pies, burgers etc should last most of the month Just Fresh bits to buy after this week.

Grannymolly

£25 spend today.
Was close to home bargains so popped in and stocked up on some things like mayflower curry powder and stuff I can only get from there, and then went to Mr A for a top up. Picked up a few good YS for the freezer so that’s a plus.
Hoping for no more spends this week except maybe milk

Takes my total to 76.31/250

kayester

£68.92 spend today for weekly shop. Should be able to batch cook some items and just school dinners to pay for rest of week

XSpender

Total stands at £95.61/£240 so slightly ahead of what I should have spent.

I have a dinner allowance from work to use this week as I am away 1 night but will be taking soup in a flask from home and will buy groceries with the allowance.

DH and I are doing Just Water for Water Aid this month so haven't bought any booze but have bought some bottled water. I also bought 4 pints of milk but as we are not drinking tea or coffee I didn't really need to! Will freeze this for Feb.

Meal Plan for Next Week:

Su - L/O pie for DH and DS/Sausages for me, chips, veg and gravy
Mo- I'm away so HM soup for DH
Tu- Pasta bake and salad
We - Omelette, wedges and beans
Th - Pork steaks, dauphonise and veg
Fr - Chicken and Chorizo Spanish Rice
Sa - Enchilladas, wedges and salad

thriftwizard

£3 spent at the market today, on 2 x pineapples (£1), a head of broccoli (£1) and 6 x Romano peppers, also £1. The pineapples will do an upside-down cake for pudding tonight and fruit salad for weekday nights, along with odds & sods from the fruitbowl, which was "topped up" on Friday. Also popped down to the allotment to assess any wind damage - we were lucky, nothing worse than a few cornstalks blown around - & harvested some leeks, carrots & kale.

I'm cooking a big hunk of topside tonight (plus a squash & roasted chickpeas for the veggies) which will do a "leftovers stroganoff" at some point during the week as well as sandwiches for those who work away from home, a small chicken tomorrow which will contribute towards a curry midweek & a massive "bone-broth" soup, and we had sausages last night which will make a sausage & bean casserole to eat with baked potatoes (bought by the 25Kg sack, currently £8 for Desirees, and kept out in the shed) on Thursday. The "girls" are laying well for the time of year, so omelette is an option too, and will use up leftover veg. Then we're into the next week menu-wise; I plan my menus according to what is best value (not always the same as cheapest) at the Friday market when everything is fresh, and aim to coast through to the Wednesday market in our county town for top-ups for us whilst I do my elderly mother's shopping.

It's been our first year of allotmenteering on a new site in our little town, so whilst we've been wildly impressed by what we've managed to grow & preserve so far, very little planning went into it as the site wasn't opened until mid-June and we only found out we'd got one the week before. This year we'll work out what we use through the winter, and aim to plant those things in between the summer crops like peas, beans, sweetcorn and squashes. I'm also going to try growing some Japanese salad veg in (used) juice cartons on our south-facing windowsills; I already have the seeds, and the empty cartons, and if it works it all helps to cut the costs of feeding 5 adults as well as hopefully adding in extra nutrients.

zafiro1984

Can I join in again this month £250 please.

Still quite a lot left from Christmas and New Year. I've managed to freeze it but I'm low on perishables, mainly vegetables.

The aim this year is to record absolutely everything I spend, try to seriously declutter and lose more weight.:)

Lauralozzle

Oh dear, most of my budget has disappeared already. Needed a good shop though as W.E had nothing in the fridge and I’d Pretty much reduced the freezer stocks to nothing.

Big shop at Ald! Today - spent £50.78 but fridge is full. £10 of that was on a bay tree and little rosemary tree. W.E get through a lot of the stuff and I decided buying that would work out much cheaper in the long run although it was quite a hefty expense.

Spent £16.82 in Home Bargain!ns on mainly household stuff (oven cleaner, carpet cleaner, toothpaste, mouthwash and the like.)

£11.38 in A3da - on not very much. DH impulse buys.

Fridge is looking very full now though, which is good.

Budget now at £189.15/£275

Next shops have to be small. Or, the entertainment budget will have to go - hopefully, the next trips will be small!

Menu plan for the week

Sunday - sausage, mashed potatoes, veg, Yorkshire pudding and gravy.
Monday - chicken fajitas
Tuesday - spaghetti bolognese
Wednesday - chicken curry
Thursday - pie, mash and veg with gravy
Friday - spaghetti carbonara
Saturday - birthday meal (eating out)

BrassicWoman

£2.05 in M&S; YS stir fry, loads of wholemeal pitta bread for the freezer, and non YS tomatoes for next weeks rolls.

caronc

First GC spend of 2018. £22 today mainly on F&V and much needed teabags. Aim is to shop no more than once every 8 days during 2018. I'm sure this wont always work but if I can manage it most weeks it should help run down cupboards/freezer and as a bonus every so often I'll gain a "free" week or have spare GC for any overspends.
Total so far £22/£120