August 2020 Grocery Challenge

thriftwizard

Hi all! I've returned Mum safely into the hands of a live-in carer whilst we investigate some more long-term options for her, i.e. a residential home. The first few options have been pretty hopeless; adequate but not exactly inspiring, but we're looking at a couple that sound more up her street tomorrow. I've been refunded for what I've spent in fuel and on food & other supplies (night-time protection, basically) so we're all up to date & by my reckoning I've only spent £60-odd on family groceries since I last updated (having missed the main food market last Friday) so I've added that to my signature. Basically I haven't been near the shops for any length of time - haven't had time! - but the freezer & the allotment have kept us going.

joedenise

Have totted up all the grocery spends so far this month including our week's holiday.  Have spent £42.69 so far so have £271.33 left for the rest of the month so should be plenty - the extra £50 I gave us for groceries this month seems to have worked.

MazzieD

Did an early morning dash to Asd* to avoid the heat.  £9.38 on salad stuff and quiche etc to try and avoid cooking although I am heating up batch cooked meals so not as bad as cooking from scratch.  Seriously thinking about doing a "heatwave" meal plan as an alternative to kick in as soon as one is predicted with appropriate shopping list.
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Total spend so far £68.25 so £21.75 to last until end of August

boultdj

Delivery today and market Sunday has took me up to £146.73 spent so far this month.
Leaving £153.27 for the rest of the month.

joedenise

A big shop this morning across Lidl, Food Warehouse and Morries of £73.42.  This is for all the meat for the rest of the month and should also be enough for at least a couple of weeks into October after our holiday next month.  Also spent £15 of the bulk fund at the butchers.

£131.11 spent so far; leaving £182.91 for the rest of the month
£15.00/£100 spent from bulk fund

Shopping for rest of the month will only be for fresh fruit and veg plus yoghurts.  12 litres of UHT milk bought today which should last at least a month!  Also got plenty of loo roll and kitchen rolls for the month.

JingsMyBucket

Hi all. I did a big shop today at Whole Foods which was $88.75 which also included a $15.00 hot bar combo of steak and two sides. I had some of that for lunch and the leftovers will do me for a couple more meals, so a good value, I think. The rest of the shopping was various fruit like apples, berries, peaches, nectarines, bananas, etc.; a couple of fancy snacking cheeses and some crackers; some ham and turkey cold cuts; a salmon steak; a jar of marinara sauce; milk and a couple of lamb saag frozen dinners. That should be enough fruit to last me until next week Thursday or so. I have some veg in the fridge that I'm going to try cooking down this weekend to put into sauces, add to eggs, and use as sides. 

The other day I also went searching and found a veg box scheme here called Imperfect Foods: https://www.imperfectfoods.com. They take the supposedly "imperfect" food from grocery stores and sell it directly to the consumer as a way to reduce food waste, and it costs you 30% less than regular prices. Just like Abel & Cole (whom I was missing dearly), you have the option to skip weeks and customize, etc. I signed up and my first delivery will be next Thursday but I'll get to customize it next Monday and Tuesday.

A veg and fruit box for 1 – 2 people is $16; fully organic would be $24. You can also add on different packs like a meat and fish pack (with vegan & vegetarian alternatives), dairy, grains, and snacks. I've only added on the meat and fish for now and will see what's offered in the others next week. I'm excited to play around with it come Monday! You can tell I'm a food nerd. I've also told several friends about it already and they all want me to let them know how it goes. I'm like the guinea pig for our group. Hah!

$234.49 / $300.00
10 NSDS
$65.51 left

mumtoomany

Top up shop, mostly fruit and veg, ice lollies, (essential here!) yogurt. Also loads of reduced hot cross buns, crumpets and cheese topped rolls. Total spent £36.06. Total for the month now stands at £157.58/£200. Could be tight again! Mumtoomany.

Doom_and_Gloom

£10.33 spent since last post.

OH is having pizza and chips for dinner tonight.

£77.08/£155.
£77.92 left.
Not doing too bad.

pamsdish

Cannnot recall who it was liked Douwe Egberts pure indulgence coffee, Amazon doing a subscribe and save, I have set it for every 3 months, need to use up other stocks, £27 for 6 jars. That works out to £4.50 a jar.

thriftwizard

Another £60 spent yesterday at the market, and there's nothing more needed today. I may pop down to see whether there are any outrageous bargains tomorrow, but I doubt I'll actually need anything. Except maybe smoked paprika...

Thought it might be useful to break that down: meat (2 x small gammon joints, 2 x packs of stewing beef) £16, cheeses & a small pork pie £8, a big container of mixed olives & some hommous £9, fish for a fish pie £8, and £19 on fruit & veg - mostly fruit & salad stuff.
Meal plan for the week is Friday, baked potatoes & EatItUp (i.e. anything left over from the previous week) with stir-fried allotment veg. Saturday, ratatouille or beef in red wine sauce with whole grain rice & HG runner beans. Sunday, gammon or HM nut roast with HG new potatoes, courgette & a vegetable medley, mostly HG. Monday, fish pie. Tuesday, pasta Milanese with leftover ham. Wednesday, HM pizza with olives, mushroom & leftover ham, if any! Thursday, back to baked potatoes, stir-fried veg & EatItUp - there's always some in the freezer if there's none in the fridge!
Lunches will be an assortment of salads & sandwiches with whatever's lying around, or eggs - the Girls are currently laying very well.

In other news, we saw two more potential homes for my mother, both with "outstanding" CQC ratings. One was very pleasant, with lovely gardens & the occupants were clearly happy enough & well-fed. But the other was amazing, with views over an active fishing harbour to the hills, very sociable, and the sort of activities on offer that Mum loves - poetry & play readings, watercolours, discussion groups, opportunities to learn new things. Each (large) room is en-suite, with its own balcony, big enough for a table & chairs, overlooking the bay, a big sociable lounge/dining room, a disabled bath, quiet spaces, fabulous locally-sourced food; it's a non-profit so also the least expensive of the 3 we've looked at, and she can take as much of her own furniture & surroundings as she can fit in. The parish church, very important to Mum, is just about next door. The only drawback I could see is that I'm not old enough to be admitted yet! Obviously visiting will be interesting for a while; outside only, but they've just built a weatherproof "pod" in the gardens for socially-distanced outdoor visits. She's reserved her room already & should move in in a couple of weeks... now if we get locked down again, I'll know she's in good company & well looked-after. Phew...