May 2019 Grocery Challenge

Ninjaqueen

£220.43 left after £12 spent in Aldi yesterday on a few baking bits and nappies.

Today should hopefully be a NSD

PipneyJane

We had several spends over the weekend, the total of which comes to £27.29, which brings our total spend so far to £31.50/£120, leaving £88.50 for the rest of the month.

Rachiedabbler70 wrote: »

Hi Elsiepac
Please could you add me in for £100 for full 31 days. Although there are 3 adults in the house from 1st may my eldest is buying his own food and so only me and 19 year old. We have some cupboards stock to use up so I’m going to run very tight and just buy essential items . Youngest is away for last 10 days of month so will be just me and I eat very little and no more than 2 meals in a day. Thanks for running thread 😀😀 and good luck everyone.

Welcome Racheldabbler. Good luck to you, too.

Interested in views on whether £140 per month is doable from June with no stocks of food for 2 adults. I shop at Aldi weekly and farm foods monthly for loo rolls, condiments and frozen vegetables. and we don’t drink alcohol or buy takeaways 😀 . It includes basic toiletries and cleaning stuff including dishwasher and clothes washing. Anyone already managing this or less? Sorry for long post I’m just trying to clear mortgage quickly and food is only moveable budget

It's completely do-able with planning. Our Grocery Challenge budget is £120, with another £40 set aside for meat (which we buy every 3-4 months). That's to feed two adults (usually) 3 meals a day. I buy in bulk where possible - rice, flour, dried pulses, cleaning products and spices - and try to only shop a couple of times a month. (I shop for the month and/or to replenish the pantry/freezer.) I do have a Costco membership, but I'm just as likely to buy my bulk items in WingYip (the Chinese supermarket). Fresh veg and eggs come from a local farmer's shop, while the rest is usually bought in Lidl or Tesco.

I cook most things from scratch, frequently bulk cooking bases (tomato sauce, or fried onion+mushrooms+garlic) and always bulk cooking dried pulses, freezing the excess. With those in the freezer to fall back on, it's a matter of minutes to get a meal simmering away when you've got home late from work. Put your rice/pasta on to cook and 15-20 minutes later, dinner is ready.

HTH

- Pip

pamsdish

£22.65 in Aldi which includes £7.99 for a new wheel for my wheelbarrow, will deduct that as non grocery, so £14.66 really.

tighteningthebelt

1st week roundup...

milk/butter/cream £3.94 on the 3rd to get me through (a dairy crisis!)
4th biscuits 41p to take visiting
7th £31.82 full shop

There's also a forgotten trip to a cafe, from April really but must declare it somewhere!! £6.00

spends so far £42.17 = £1206.50 left

JingsMyBucket

$3.00 yesterday at the corner store for a box of popcorn w/3 packets.

$42.07 at Whole Foods this evening for shredded mozzarella, pesto, pizza crusts, berries, 4 links of breakfast sausage, 1 link of Italian sausage, a couple of fine snacking cheeses, some salad bar salad as well as ready to eat beef empanadas and a mushroom quesadilla.

I was feeling hungry and fragile and didn’t think I could have the energy to make vegetable sausage pesto pizza when I got home so I bought some quick things to eat. There’s food in the fridge and I need to clear out all the old stuff to get a clear idea of how to use up all this food. The Mister left last night back to Edinburgh and I’m trying to sort out how to manage this food in his absence.

Here’s what I’m thinking about cooking the next few days, in no particular order:

• Pizzas & calzones - will use up various vegetables and Italian sausage
• Quiche - use up veg, cheddar and bacon
• Corned beef and cabbage - there’s a big piece of meat in the freezer; I’ll do this on Saturday
• Cucumber salad & beef meatballs/patties - can put them into the aging wheat pitas along with aging hummus
• Roasted tomatoes - they’ll go on the pizza and will add them to a can of tomato soup for more variety

TOTALS SO FAR
$93.53 / $450.00
3 / 12 NSD

Puddleglum

Spent £10.58 in Mr A yesterday on veg, eggs and a few other bits and pieces.

pamsdish

£29.35 yesterday between B&M and Lidl all needed to see me through, killing time while a friend having an endoscopy, seem to be shuttling between hospitals at the moment, she is having massive problems, diagnosed yesterday hiatus hernia, Tuesday went for a mammogram and machine broke down, but Dr suspects breast cancer for her third time.
I have had an ear infection, which may seem trivial, until you know my history of ear problems, that entailed me being fast tracked to E.N.T. Trauma, at a hospital 12 miles in opposite direction to my local, 5 miles, but they don`t do my type of problem. Been there twice with a third app next week.

Rachiedabbler70

Welcome Racheldabbler. Good luck to you, too.

It's completely do-able with planning. Our Grocery Challenge budget is £120, with another £40 set aside for meat (which we buy every 3-4 months). That's to feed two adults (usually) 3 meals a day. I buy in bulk where possible - rice, flour, dried pulses, cleaning products and spices - and try to only shop a couple of times a month. (I shop for the month and/or to replenish the pantry/freezer.) I do have a Costco membership, but I'm just as likely to buy my bulk items in WingYip (the Chinese supermarket). Fresh veg and eggs come from a local farmer's shop, while the rest is usually bought in Lidl or Tesco.

I cook most things from scratch, frequently bulk cooking bases (tomato sauce, or fried onion+mushrooms+garlic) and always bulk cooking dried pulses, freezing the excess. With those in the freezer to fall back on, it's a matter of minutes to get a meal simmering away when you've got home late from work. Put your rice/pasta on to cook and 15-20 minutes later, dinner is ready.

HTH

- Pip[/QUOTE]

Hiya Pipneyjane thanks for response. I’m giving it a go time will tell. I always cook from scratch too. Food so much better when you cook yourself

tighteningthebelt

Went to zero waste shop today. Didn't ask for a receipt so I don't have exact info. I think I spent 6.37 on things that are included in grocery budget... Almonds, laundry liquid, handwash liquid, shampoo.
I also spent £4.50 on cheese at a deli. Half given to dad. Signature updated.

Vanlady

£88.50/£280
nsd 6/18

Hi everyone!
Done a big shop and 2 little ones since my last entry.
I saw that mr ms had an offer on for ktc tins of tomatoes, chickpeas and mixed beans for 4 for £1 so i bought 3 crates of those (36 tins!!! ) as we get through a lot.
Yesterday was a small shop, £15.80, really due to the fact that I was walking and couldn't carry any more! So I think tomorrow will also be a small shop for milk and potatoes. I'm trying to avoid using the car wherever possible. If I'm out in the car I'll stop at a sm and fill up with heavy things like tins, cat litter etc
I'm also trying very hard to avoid buying anything that contains uncertified palm oil....it's surprising how much food and other products do ....olive oil margarine, dried stuffing, certain packets of parsley sauce etc, so I'm buying butter and cooking these other things from scratch.....but some things are a work in progress:D