August 2020 Grocery Challenge

joedenise

Needed to get some fruit and salad stuff today so decided to do the rest of what was on the list rather than going out again tomorrow.  Spent a total of £20.71 leaving £162.20 for the rest of the month.  Have also spent £15 of the bulk buy fund which leaves £85.

Suffolk_lass

Well I spent loads. Went into the butcher's as feeling sad for them - the local town council has removed all the parking from the High Street (so the pavements are double width for safe shopping) and it must have impacted them. I also did a Health Food shop (£15) and spent nearly £100 in the SM - £66 of which was fresh food (mostly meat and fruit - veg is plentiful at home) but also more treats than we should. I need to keep my diet mojo going as I have dropped down through the next stone barrier. I want to lose 15k in the next few months. Anyway, it is possible I won't need to shop again this month but I might

PipneyJane

thriftwizard said:

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...

That's really good news, @thriftwizard.  I hope your mum is very happy there.

- Pip (I have shopping to report but will do that later, after work.)

Butterfly_Brain

Spent £107 so far this month, mainly for milk, eggs, cheese etc.
Payday is in 9 days and I will be doing my September meal plan eek!
I have just put in some autumn veggies, kale, cabbage, broccoli, chard and more potatoes
The freezer is full to the brim and I really do need to get it defrosted again ready to start getting bits in for Christmas..............really, it isn't that far away  
Lasagna tonight (one that I made when I thought I was going in for yet another op, but like all medical appointments it was cancelled due to Covid) So a nice easy meal basically bung it in the oven, will have it with salad from the garden.
Tomorrow is going to be  crustless quiche, again with salad and new potatoes from the garden
Thursday:  Sausage, mash and peas
Friday:  Chicken Korma using thighs I found in the freezer
Saturday: Egg, bacon, beans, mushrooms and tomatoes (need to buy some mushrooms though)
Sunday: Roast beef ,Yorkshire puds, roast potatoes , runner beans and peas from the garden
Monday: Sesame chicken using more thighs from the freezer plus bean sprouts and veggies from the freezer as well.
Tuesday: Carbonara
Wednesday : Tuna Calzones
Thursday...........Pay day So new meal plan and budget

joedenise

A small spend yesterday and now have £153.27/£300 left for rest of the month.

Will need to buy a few bits tomorrow (have almost run out of potatoes - just 2 jackets left!).  Need to check meal plan for the coming week to see if there is anything else I need to add to the list which isn't already in the freezer but hopefully nothing else needed other than a little veg.

BrassicWoman

Much excitement at the arrival of a £4 M&S reward voucher in the post. Now very sure I can make it through next week with what I have, bananas (£1), spuds (£1) and some kind of veg for £2 or under.. already have garlic, ginger and onions...and survive until the 30 August wholefoods delivery. It's the little breaks I get that make me smile. Now wondering what will give me the most bang for my two bucks..

thriftwizard

A massive £140 spent yesterday, between L!dls, the wholesalers, and the Grape Tree. L!dls was mostly everyday stuff that will be used up (or rotated in the store cupboard) this month, and there was 10Kg of sugar for preserving from the wholesalers, but the rest was olive oil, dried mushrooms, and nuts, which are two of the main sources of protein for the girls; this should last us several months. So I suspect I'll go over budget again this month, with 2 Friday weekly shops to go, currently averaging £60 each. I think I need to separate out the "bulk buys" again...

Doom_and_Gloom

£20.86 spent since last post.

£101.64/£155.
£53.36 left.

joedenise

@thriftwizard - I have a bulk fund as well as the grocery budget.  I use it mainly for meat for the freezer and also for if DH is baking bread and buys the big 16Kg bags of flour.  The smaller plain and self raising flours come from the grocery budget.

ancientmum

I've just added up all the receipts from 1st August and it comes to £75.16, this includes £20 at the butchers.  We were away for a few days so any food spend comes out of the holiday fund, and the boy cooked dinner on my birthday last week, using his own money to buy the ingredients.