January 2020 Grocery Challenge

jasminesaver

Hi everyone, I am new to this thread and I want to spend £100 a month on grocery shopping as I live on my own (I'm a student). I mostly shop in Lidl anyway so it's not too hard to do that, but sometimes I spend about £20 in my local Co-op when I just needed to get milk. I haven't spent anything yet as I just got back to uni yesterday, but planning to do a shop tomorrow. Good luck everyone!

Hettyhound

Just spent £7.64 in sainsbobs, not my usual venue. Only needed some fruit and veg plus milk, not a lot on offer. Will not be going to SM until Thursday evening but hope only to have to buy F&V plus milk for the rest of the month.

glass_half_full

Hi all,
Spent £357.06 so far this month with two weekly shops to go so should get below the £500 target. I'm also trying to reduce waste and plastic so am making a few switches in products which may prove to be more economical in the longer run.

miss_empty_piggy

PipneyJane wrote: »

Someone - apologies, I can’t remember who - mentioned that they bought dried chickpeas. I cook them all the time and would suggest that you freeze them for at least six hours after soaking - it breaks down the cell walls a bit so a) reduces cooking time slightly, and b) makes them far more creamy, giving a texture closer to the tinned ones. I throw the frozen lump of chickpeas into the cooking pot, poor over boiling water, bring to the boil and cook until soft. (If you don’t have a pressure cooker, boil for at least 10 minutes before turning down to a simmer. That will destroy any toxins.)

Given the soaking and cooking times, I’d also suggest batch cooking chickpeas. I cook 600g at a time, which is enough for three meals, and then freeze the other two meals-worth.

- Pip

Hi Pip, it was me. I actually did them in the slow cooker overnight and have portioned them out for the freezer this morning. I have kept some back to make the curry which I'm looking forward to. I did the whole 16oz bag at once as suggested. I can't believe how simple it was. Thanks very much for the advice. x

miss_empty_piggy

£46.03 spent on weekly shop this week. Another meal plan mapped out for the week and lots of 'extras' bought e.g. crisps and more fruit for supplementing lunch. Bought some food for stores for next week also. Doing ok so far this month. Going to Lincoln next weekend to see DD1 and BF as it is his 21st so that will cost a pretty penny but will have to come out of this months savings.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend xx

jam2019

Just spent a further £9. Managed to track down those asda own brand water filters - they've got them on at £3 for 2 filters at the mo, so if anyone uses a water filter jug it's a pretty decent price I think!

ancientmum

I went to Adli today and spent £5.21 on milk, fruit and veg. That's it now until the middle of next week.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

supersaver1000

Just delurking to say can I join in please?

I have spent £183.80 so far this month. I would like normally to keep to £250 when its just the two of us, but will be £300 this month and that's not including lunch out last weekend :eek:

£183.80/£300

Greenglockenspiel

£27.87 in Lidl yesterday, £4.99 of which was on 1kg of peanut butter which should keep us going for a while!
Aaaand then £32.50 in Tesco. I went in intending just to get the bits that Lidl doesn’t do (ie tofu, aspirin) or didn’t have in stock (ie whole milk), but then ended up stocking up on a few offers and buying the snacks for an upcoming trip. I don’t really mind as it was stuff we needed anyway.
Now at £71.69/£250.

SummerDays

Reporting £10 spend in butchers for eggs and beef for our Sunday roast and £35 in M’sons for a variety of things, vegetables, bread, pizzas, chips n’ dips for Saturday evening and £10 of it was a box of beer.

Will catch up on posts and update signature with totals later £91.50 / £500. My month lasts until 31 January and will need to buy some bulkier items, kitchen roll etc by end of next week.

Have a lovely Sunday :)