March 2018 Grocery Challenge

thriftwizard

Another NSD today, as forecast. 2 in a row!

Sitting here with the tempting scent of baking chocolate fudge brownies wafting past my nostrils - DD1 & DS2 are on "snow days"! Ds2 walked/jogged 4 miles into work, to find that no-one else had turned up & the electronic locks were frozen shut, so he walked/jogged 4 miles straight back again. OH slept in his office last night and returned to his desk at 6am this morning, then strolled home (5 miles) this afternoon as the buses are all off; he's somewhat soggy & chilled but toasting now. DD1 decided to get baking, partly to warm the kitchen up; the living room is toasty warm, but the rest of the house is cooler. We haven't run out of anything yet...

Mrs_Cheshire

Adding £2.60 to my spends so far, on milk x 2 and a loaf of bread from the corner shop.

fifi35

Can i join in please for March £125.00 .Thank you.

I overspent last month by £6.81 which included a takeaway for £13. Would have been under budget if I had resisted!

Lydia42

Hi
Please can i join you this month. I've just re-done our budget and can't spend more than £480 on food (including cleaning and toiletries). I'm too ashamed to say what we have been spending recently on food etc. I'm aiming for £400 this month to hopefully keep below the £480 limit I've set and give myself a starting point to improve each month if i can reduce further.
I'm now off to write an inventory over the weekend of what we have in the cupboards and freezer etc and plan meals for the week. I've also just signed up to have a fruit and veg box delivered by our local market man - boxes are £10 and look fab from friends that have used him so hoping to cut costs there too. Just had a new Lidl built not far from us so planning on doing the bulk of my shopping there now too.

JingsMyBucket

MadamMim2013 and Ginmonster, I totally agree. These threads are fun, inspirational and motivating. It's a nice bunch of people and I like checking in each day even if I don't post. I like y'all.

So far 2 NSDs for me in March, yesterday and today. We were supposed to visit a large grocery store this evening but decided it move it next week Monday due to the increasing snow in our area. OH was fine with going out but he was concerned about getting back; he was worried the busses back to our place may be stuck in muddy slush, etc and we'd have to walk back in the snow. So, yeah, no. Just some coziness and finishing up work is in store for tonight.

OH has actually bought a boat load of bananas, avocados, and tangerines but to be honest, he'll be eating most of it so I'm counting it as his own separate food fund. He also bought a bunch of smoothies for himself and some Total Greek yoghurt.

Totals So Far:
2 / 10 NSD
€0 / €400.00
£0 / £150 UK stock up

Tomorrow I'll be going to Lidl to buy a few items on special: chicken thighs that are €3/kg, pork chops that are €4.48/kg, etc. They also have some salmon filets that are on sale for €8.99/kg but I'll look at it first before buying. I prefer my salmon fatty and people tend to cut lean here where I live. I may spend €20 – €26 there if picking up some other snack items. I'm actually wondering if I should skip the chicken thighs at Lidl and get whole leg quarters at my local halal butcher since they're usually €2.20/kg and I tend to trust their meat more than other sources. It's not pumped full of water and it's really fresh because they do brisk business.

I'll also go to an organic store to buy bar soap and bulk shower gel which should total roughly €30. This time I'm going to split the bars of soap in two so they will hopefully last longer. It's a rather soft soap and melts easily in the soap dish. In February I put off buying both items in order to keep my spends down and there's still a bit left of each in my bathroom. That's shown me that I really don't have to rush out to buy more just because it feels like I'm running out.

On another note, I have a regular cooking dilemma. My freezer has meats in it but not ones that are good for soupin'! There's a big porterhouse steak (rib of beef in UK cuts, I think), duck leg, pork cheeks and some hanger steak (onglet). I really feel like buying a beef soup bone at the halal butcher and putting that in the Instant Pot to go for a few hours. Or cooking up some of those chicken thighs I'm going buy tomorrow.

What a tasty decision to make. :j

JingsMyBucket

Also, Holland and Barrett emailed me a promo to tell me I have £10.25 in rewards to use. I'm wondering if I should use it in-store when I'm in the UK or order ahead and collect it while I'm there. Good to have options.

JingsMyBucket

kkffoo wrote: »

Spent 5p short of £50 this week.
Hubby was planning to take a cake to his parents' house, visit was cancelled due to weather, so I added it to our grocery budget and we ate it

I think I’d call that good fortune a Coincidental Cake.

selloptape

Hey up everyone. I thought I!!!8217;d done so much better than yesterday as I!!!8217;d bought a much cheaper lunch. Actually... only spent 20p less than yesterday as I popped into Tesco on the way home from work and panic bought rubbish. Forgot how quickly it tallies up - I!!!8217;ve clearly been away from the GC for far too long!

If the weather is bad tomorrow then I!!!8217;m hoping for a NSD to make up for it, plus have leek and potato soup to make for some cheap lunches next week. Hope everyone is safe and warm x

YorksLass

Hope everyone's managing to keep warm and safe in this awful weather. Our main roads are passable (just) although buses aren't running into the estates, most schools are closed, bin collections are cancelled and we're not getting any post. Local stores are starting to run low on stocks, especially milk, bread, F&V. It's bitterly cold, the pavements are treacherous for walking on and we're still on a yellow weather warning. Roll on Spring.

The up-side is that we've only had one shopping trip in Wk 1 of this month's challenge at a cost of £7.73. This was for milk, potatoes (both needed), butter and a tin of corned beef. These last two weren't urgent at all but DH had noticed them on the shopping list and thought he'd get them - just in case. Bless.

We're still well stocked up so no more shopping outings for us yet and I doubt we'd be able to get a home delivery either. Just counted up: there are 12 hm ready meals in the freezer and the potential to make another 8. :)

try_harder

£2.50 spent on the first and a NSD today leaving £240.35.So far so good