January 2020 Grocery Challenge

Mrs_Cheshire

Got my 1st click and collect order, the raspberries had a short date so they went back (saved over £2.50) so that's good for keeping the budget down.

Tonight's tea was a good use of things we already had in. I've planned the next 5 meals based on things in the house.
I've got loads of apples and pears in the fruit bowl, the pears are taking ages to ripen even though they have bananas etc near them. Any tips? Was thinking of making a crumble but they are still rock hard!

zafiro1984

Islandmaid wrote: »

I am really enjoying making up meal plans from stocks I have in already

i am trying my hardest to do the same. The problem is, I have a very restricted choice of items so to find new/interesting ways of using them is quite a challenge.

Now on day six of NSD, I should be able to do another couple of days at least before I need to go out for some basics like bread. Must do my meal plan for next week.

candygirl

Is it just my pooch, who loves tangerines, but hates Clementines:rotfl:??

miss_empty_piggy

So the milk WAS stolen. They took 2 bottles of milk and 2 bottles of fresh orange - I'm so disappointed. I just think it's so mean. Feeling a little disheartened with mankind to know that neighbours/people in the village could do this.:(

candygirl

miss_empty_piggy wrote: »

So the milk WAS stolen. They took 2 bottles of milk and 2 bottles of fresh orange - I'm so disappointed. I just think it's so mean. Feeling a little disheartened with mankind to know that neighbours/people in the village could do this.:(

It's usually kids messing about! So annoying though :mad:

miss_empty_piggy

candygirl wrote: »

It's usually kids messing about! So annoying though :mad:

I'm thinking it might be the early dog walkers. it gets delivered about 03:30am. But just so fed up that I've got to by SM milk as I get it delivered to support the local business and to save on plastic bottles. I think DOH is going to build a box so that it can be secure.

glass_half_full

Hi all,
Two more weekly shops to go so should go under the target. I realise this is a grocery thread, but a side effect of trying to cut the cost in this area is that it has really made me look at our waste and recycling. This month I have been trying to really tackle our waste-to-landfill and use of plastic. So far I have taken a few small steps. Number 1 is starting to compost fruit and vegetable waste and other compostables. Since we changed our diet over the summer we use a lot more fruit and veg and so there is quite a lot of peelings etc so it makes sense to compost rather than throw away. I’m really trying to reduce our food waste as well and stick to meal planning and using up leftovers. I am also being more diligent with washing out all recyclable plastic containers etc. On hand wash I have bought a 10 litre container. I wanted to go to soap but OH hates soap and wants to keep the handwash. At least this means we can refill the handwash bottles. I have found a couple of large bottles of washing up liquid in the garage (FIL bought them some time ago) so will be using these up and then moving to a eco bulk buy solution and refill the bottles when we run out. In the bathroom I have switched a couple of products to zero waste as well. Also looking to replace cleaning materials and fluids to eco versions. Most satisfying outcome so far is after 17 days of January I have a very small bag of rubbish to landfill, mostly plastic single use wrapping and various bits and pieces. Its very hard to completely eliminate this but what a huge difference from filling up a wheely bin every 2 weeks. I realise I am catching up here with many things we could, should have been doing for a while. Also all stuff our grandmothers did so lets not pretend we invented all this! Good news is that in many cases the eco solutions are more cost effective in the long run.
I’m going to keep persevering and look for switches where I can.

Islandmaid

Miss EP that’s really annoying, some people have no morals

Another NSD here, I am making a meatball gnocchi bake, with stocks from freezer (meatballs) cupboards (gnocchi and tomatoes) and fridge (Christmas cheese, onions and garlic) will serve with salad.

I have 3 bags of peas in the freezer so will make some pea soup with frozen chicken stock for work lunches, might even venture into the garden to see if any mint has survived:D

2Scratters

Hi Peeps,
Can I please come onboard with you all?
I have been busy reading here (&other threads). I'm not new to MSE, but had to change my signature name. We are debt free:j and in semi retirement, so always working on making money go further then messing it up:mad: But hey that is life. We really do buy out far too much as still not organised. I know what I should be doing I can talk the talk but forget to do the walk. We are going to limit ourselves to £200 per month, excluding for now dog food, we have 2 collies. Meat is bought on large purchases but not on a regular basis as it varies as to when we run out. I am off to the butchers today to start this off. Will next month start separately to put away £30. This comes from a local butcher in our old town, it is about quality. Big A!di and Lid! shopper as is. Always check out any reductions.
Need to go and get DH on board for a weekly meal plan meeting. As it is 10 days to payday I will work with £80 till then. Any savings will be used towards a short break which we've not had for years.

Suffolk_lass

glass_half_full wrote: »

I have found a couple of large bottles of washing up liquid in the garage (FIL bought them some time ago) so will be using these up and then moving to a eco bulk buy solution and refill the bottles when we run out. In the bathroom I have switched a couple of products to zero waste as well. Also looking to replace cleaning materials and fluids to eco versions.

I realise I am catching up here with many things we could, should have been doing for a while. Also all stuff our grandmothers did so lets not pretend we invented all this! Good news is that in many cases the eco solutions are more cost effective in the long run.
I’m going to keep persevering and look for switches where I can.

A little hack for the washing up liquid is to decant just under half of your new bottle into the old one and carry on using that and top up the new bottle with water. Incredibly, in the time it takes to use the old bottle up, the new bottle thickens up again and you get up to two bottles from each bottle. I promise it works just as well, and if it is still a bit runny, just add a tiny bit more. You don't lose anything by trying as you will put it in water to use it.

Also - there are some very cheap alternative cleaning products to keep your costs down and be more eco friendly. Bicarbonate of soda with a little water (so it is a paste) is excellent as a cleaning solution. White (distilled clear) vinegar will take limescale or fur off stainless steel (or plastic in your kettle), and keep your washing conditioned instead of that gloopy stuff. Lemons and salt make excellent scourers. Try googling or there are some old hacks in the recipes section at the front of the thread.

My Son swears by a bottle of the cheapest cola into the toilet to remove limescale and staining (overnight, if possible) - think what it does to people's teeth...:eek:

Anyway - well done for the big reductions already. My County sends less than 3% to landfill now