June 2020 Grocery Challenge

PandoraTundra

I'm new! We spend an absolutely ridiculous amount of money on groceries/household stuff each month, so I thought I'd try this out. I'm cutting us down to £120/week and will keep shaving off more each month as we get used to it. Put me down for £480 please  
We're two adults and two kids (3 year old and 9 month old). Our month is from 1-30 June.

MazzieD

MazzieD said:

Hello 
I would like to join, could you put me down for £100 please.  Just me and the cat but it has been quite difficult to set a budget, I've started adding in household, toiletries and cat food.  Think the lockdown has really made me think about where and how often to shop.  Spending much more but less often, using everything up and lack of YS items have all contributed.  Hopefully June should be much better as now have quite a lot of meat in freezer so that's a major expense out of the way but now need to work on the store cupboards,  frozen and fresh fruit and veg so I can get back to batch cooking!.   

Forgot to mention my month runs from 25 May to 24 June.
Monthly shop today: £39.62 at Lidl.
 £60.38 balance which should see me through to the end of the 5 week month so roughly £15.07 per week for remaining 4 weeks assuming I actually shop on a weekly basis as now have quite a lot of food.  Have to say Lidl stock levels were much better, only a couple of small items missing from my list which can wait until I next go shopping.  

lantanna

£60.85 across Asda and the butchers. Prob do a small Asda top up on Friday. 

XSpender

Please can you put me down for £360 to include food, dog food, toiletries and cleaning/laundry but excluding alcohol.

I have massively overspent the last 2 months spending a ridiculous amount in the supermarket.  To be honest, I overspend every month usually so can’t blame it all on lockdown but not as much as the last couple of months.  There are only 3 of us!

I have had a good long think about what I need to do differently and have decided to budget for booze separately and to take £10/week off the £100/week budget to build up a fund for bulk buys including meat.  Another change is that I am going to use cash, taking out £100/week, and keeping it in a separate transparent pencil case so I can see it.  I find it too easy when I know my debit card will cover it.  I know the shops prefer contactless at the moment but I need to sort my spending out.  

I will be making an up to date freezer and cupboard inventory, meal planning, portion control and attempting to go shopping only once per week.  I am also cutting out crisps and shop bought treats as I am getting fat!

Mrs_Cheshire

Hi all, thanks for the new thread Elsiepac, could you put me down for £400 again. 
I'm on a mission to use up the contents of the little freezer as it desperately needs defrosting, then I plan on using it to store my batch cooked meals. It has 4 draws, so can do 1 each for beef, pork, chicken and lamb. My other freezer also has 4 drawers, which will be frozen veg/potato products, fish, misc and desserts/ice cream. 
Meal planning is so much easier when you have meals ready to go or part done, just need to make a list now so meals that are easy to make together, for example a bolognese sauce I make double and 1 portion on the day with pasta, then freeze another to make lasagne or enchilada's with another time. 
Happy to have suggestions of meals that work well like that.  

Greenglockenspiel

Hi @elsiepac , thanks for the new thread Can you increase me to £300 for this month please?

I've already spent £104.86 in Tesco, £29.69 in Lidl and £25 from Riverford so it isn't looking good £159.55/£300 with the new month starting on the 23rd!

I think I was due for a bit of an increase though - I've got cooking fatigue, normally I would buy lunch out at work a couple of times a month (from a different budget) and now I'm working from home I feel like I spend all my time either cooking or working! So treated us to a couple of ready meals and oven pizzas from Tesco... I really know how to live

Santiago99

Good morning! I'd love to join this challenge; I've recently decided to allocate a four weekly income to my groceries (and socialising and entertainment, although the latter two won't be happening at the moment) so this would be fantastic to help keep track of my food spending. I'll estimate £200 to cover today's date (payday) until 23rd June.

PipneyJane

Mrs_Cheshire said:

Hi all, thanks for the new thread Elsiepac, could you put me down for £400 again. 
I'm on a mission to use up the contents of the little freezer as it desperately needs defrosting, then I plan on using it to store my batch cooked meals. It has 4 draws, so can do 1 each for beef, pork, chicken and lamb. My other freezer also has 4 drawers, which will be frozen veg/potato products, fish, misc and desserts/ice cream. 
Meal planning is so much easier when you have meals ready to go or part done, just need to make a list now so meals that are easy to make together, for example a bolognese sauce I make double and 1 portion on the day with pasta, then freeze another to make lasagne or enchilada's with another time. 
Happy to have suggestions of meals that work well like that.  

@Mrs_Cheshire, you should make “Base”.  Virtually all of my recipes start “Fry onion with mushrooms, add garlic”, and that is “Base”.  (We joke that if a recipe doesn’t start that way, then I’m either cooking a roast or cooking a cake.). It takes 5 minutes to prepare a double batch of onions (chopped), mushrooms (sliced) and garlic (crushed).  When I have freezer space, I’ll make double or treble and freeze half.

Recipe “BASE” - double quantities

Ingredients
1 very large or two medium sized onions, pealed and chopped
200g-300g mushrooms, sliced thinly
2-4 garlic cloves, crushed
2-4 tablespoons oil

Method

1. Heat the oil In a large saucepan or frying pan.
2. Stir in the onions and gently fry until they are soft and glassy.
3. Add the mushrooms and continue frying until they make water.
4. Now stir in your garlic. 
5. When the mushroom water has evaporated, decant half the Base into a freezer container, cool then freeze.
6.  Continue with your regular recipe, using the rest of the Base.
7.  When needed, add Base to a recipe from frozen.

HTH

- Pip

MrsSnowy

Hi all
Count me in again for £150 for June.
It is only me,well should only be me.However DD lives nearby and is in need of support,mentally and financially.
So milk ,eggs,fruit and veg should be all that needs to be bought,everything will be made from scratch by shopping out of the store cupboard and freezer. I have even learned how to make yogurt in the slow cooker ,to go with HM granola - yummy breakfast and occasionally pudding !
Be safe and be kind to ourselves
MrsS

Mrs_Cheshire

Thank you Pip, 

What recipes do you add it too? I use onions in most things but not always mushrooms and garlic! I like the idea of adding it to meals from frozen though.