September 2020 Grocery Challenge

goldfinches

Hello all, I had to spend £10 today on coffee, interdental brushes and toothpaste which I was rather disheartened by so that brings me to £142.60/£200 with rather a long way still to go.
I've got 8 portions of a slowcooker lentil and tomato stew in the fridge which I made with a soffritto I found lurking in the bottom drawer of the freezer and two types of lentils from the larder which will take me nearly to the middle of next week and then I'll see about repeating it with some different pulses I think.
Just looked and I've actually got two and a bit weeks to go so it's not as bad as I feared, onwards and upwards, goldfinches.

pamsdish

Spent £25.95 between Tosco and Aldi, continuing to stock pile.

moneyonmymindsam

Grocery shopping done and in at £28. Over by £2.84 on overall budget but will aim to try harder next week   
Have a great weekend all. 
Sam

BrassicWoman

Urk. My head is wonky. I finally have a date to visit mum at the care home -  she is very far away, and very confused, so sykpe is not a great option; and a 20 min outdoor visit (what has been on offer since August) is a bit short for a 16 hour round trip, and a lot of hassle for her (she has no mobility and will also wonder why she is having to go outdoors to talk to astranger). So, finally, indoor visits, for a bit longer next month. The manager says I can have an hour because I have a long journey.

That means I'll be staying in totally between now and visit time, to make sure I'm very low risk for the residents (as well as driving, not taking a train or plane).

So OF COURSE my brain wanted one last shopping trip to make sure I am ok to stay home (despite the months of stuff I have already.)

£40 at lidl (plus the £5 voucher!  on mainly nuts, nut butters, treats, pasta sauce, shampoo, tissues, things to add to home made cakes and breads, and so on. I could provide for the entire series of GBBO now, I think. Also OTC medicines, just in case. Painkillers, cold and flu stuff, etc. So no need to leave home at all, or get extra deliveries after today.

This, despite wholefoods delivery due today in an hour or so.

Also fiver on facemasks etc at Superdrug on the way back. Because if I'm staying in, I want treats!

Sigh. Well. Next month is a new month. And £40 is nothing compared to the April overspends. Under £200 is still an improvement. And, I have no winter anxiety. I'm going to be fine for a good long while!

elsiepac

Hey guys!

October Challenge now up!

PipneyJane

Afternoon All

elsiepac said:

Hey guys!

October Challenge now up!

Thanks @elsiepac.  I’ll go and sign up shortly.

I have spending to declare.  We walked to L!dl this morning and bought most of the groceries we’ll need for the next 10 days.  We also took advantage of the offers on the L!dl Plus app and stocked up on coffee - both instant and ground - and cooking bacon.   We won’t need to buy any more bacon before Christmas.  After £1.04 of discounts, we spent £24.90.

While we were in L!dl, we noticed that they had Fairy Platinum Dishwasher Tabs marked down to £9.99 for a pack of 65.  On the walk home, we checked MrT’s app and Costco for their current prices.  Also on sale in L!dl were Russell Hobbs Fast Bake Breadmakers for £49.99, a saving of £20.  (Our current breadmaker is on its last legs.)   It was a no-brainier.  I got home, unpacked and drove back to L!dl to buy the bread maker and two packets of the dishwasher tablets.  The Bulk Fund will pay for both.  On the plus side, we’ve now qualified for another £2 off L!dl voucher because we’ve spent over £100 there in a month.  On the downside, it only has a 7 day lifespan. 

The above spend brings out total for September to £161.30/£164.40, leaving £4.10 for the remainder of September.  

We will need to buy yoghurts, so I expect to end September slightly over.

- Pip

JingsMyBucket

JingsMyBucket said:

Thanks for the new thread @elsiepac. I’m going to try for $300 again for September. It’s my birthday month with a milestone birthday but let’s see what it looks like. I’m thinking maybe a small socially distanced picnic may be in order, not a big party.

Hey folks! Just checking in late into the month. It’s delightfully chilly, sunny and fall-like here in NYC. It’s my favourite time of year.

I’m currently at $258.58/$300.00 and I’m genuinely surprised I’m not over yet because I lost track sometime after my birthday. So this leaves me with $41.42 for the rest of the month. I’ve got enough enough fruit to last me the rest of the week and I’m about to make a hearty soup to last part of the week. I’m wondering if I should get another Imperfect Foods order this week as those usually cost me $30 — $35 including delivery fees. I may hold off just so I can stretch the money to this coming Saturday for things like fruit. My fruit usually costs about $12 — $15 for 7–10 days’ worth. Hrm, I’ll see how I feel about what’s on offer with Imperfect tomorrow as it changes from week to week. I’m trying to eat down my stores the next couple of weeks just get a bit of breathing room and I really want for nothing so am lucky in that sense. 

Have a lovely evening all and be well!

mooomin

Morning all,

Rather than doing a click and collect I decided to brave the supermarket.  The trip itself was fine, but of course one supermarket didn't have all I needed so I ended up at Aldi, and went to Superdrug too because I was in the area and stocked up on shampoo...!

I'm going to AMEND MY BUDGET TO £200 because I ended up buying some things for my pantry-which-is-for-emergencies (Brexit/second lockdown) from the grocery budget and it should have been from the stocking up budget but that had no money in it    Pantry sounds very grand - it's a pile of tins and jars in my spare room

Anyway, with my weekend spends I managed to get a massive pack of chicken breasts (six meals worth), chicken thighs (three meals worth) and some mince for the freezer, so I shouldn't need to buy any of those before the end of the month.  I also made a massive pot of chilli (eight portions/four meals) so I have some home-made ready meals frozen too.

With all that in mind, I'm now at £140.82/£200.  I'll need to buy milk/bread/red onions today (of course I forgot something at the shops!) but otherwise I should be on tiny spends for the rest of the week.

MazzieD

Sigh............ Gave up on the Morries cat food and back on T*sco, still he seems grateful for the swop so I now have a cunning plan - I'll keep the Morries and if he plays up again he will be given that instead.  No donation box for the RSPCA at Sainsbobs at the moment so I'll try him on the dry he refused every so often until I can find a good home for the kibbles.

Should only need to top up a bit of salad stuff between now and 30 Sep.

£5 spent on T*sco cat food this morning, popped to Lid! and stocked up on coffee with the app coupon £4.35 spent.  No sign of any panic buying with the threat of a national lockdown, apparently it's been happening again in some areas

£85.91 so far £4.09 remaining.

Doom_and_Gloom

£17.73 spent since last post.
Spaghetti squash, patty pan squash, collard greens, seasonal kale trio, red chillies, vegan milks, milk, stir fry mix, double Gloucester, egg noodles, tortilla chips and bath salts.

£168.51/£180.
£11.49 left for the rest of the month. 

Will only buy what we absolutely need.
To be honest I've done a meal plan for me for the rest of the month and need to buy very little personally; bananas, small bottle of white wine for a recipe and a couple of apples is what I need so about £3 worth there. I'd say £8 ish should be enough for OH with what he has in. The chinchilla has enough food, hay, treats etc so no problem for him. Fingers crossed.