November 2020 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

Suffolk_lass said:

I need a strategy to make sure I use all the produce I froze from the garden this year or I will be starting veg seedlings while I have loads stashed in the outbuilding. Also I can see that both the freezers I bought this year are not frost free so reducing the stash in a systematic way will take a bit of planning.

I'm already fairly happy with spend levels, so much so that I am going to put my Christmas order in with the local butcher, and not buy more cheaply elsewhere as I can stretch to supporting them where others may not be able to now.

I'd borrow one from the Tightwad Gazette:  Amy Dacycyn kept a log on the fridge door of what was in the freezer, and used to tick of stuff as it was used up.  I may have imagined it, but I think it was a grid with each week having its own column, so that she could see what was being used up and how quickly.  Also, it helped with meal planning because it meant that she could instantly see where she needed to add variety to their diets.

HTH

Pip

IntoTheForest

Another small spend for me, we needed butter, bread and fruit. Currently at £35/£200. 

I love Amy Dacyczyn and the tightwad gazette but haven't read it in years, might have to find and re-read. On a similar vein, does anyone else wash and reuse ziplock type sandwich bags? I only use mine for freezing meat portions and then I throw them away but it is such a massive waste. 

OnlyHotCustard

Spend £44.01 this morning so am now on £117.91/£450. 

[Deleted User]

Spent £61.67 on weekly shop. Added to last week this brings total to £92.87/£250

PipneyJane

IntoTheForest said:

Another small spend for me, we needed butter, bread and fruit. Currently at £35/£200. 

I love Amy Dacyczyn and the tightwad gazette but haven't read it in years, might have to find and re-read. On a similar vein, does anyone else wash and reuse ziplock type sandwich bags? I only use mine for freezing meat portions and then I throw them away but it is such a massive waste. 

I do wash and reuse all sorts of plastic bags but not if they've held meat.  I have an old tissue box stuffed full of bread bags, ziploc freezer bags and those ziplocs that cheese comes in (my first choice for freezing fish).

If I've used a plastic bag for meat, I'll wash it and put it in the recycling IF it is one of the varieties our local council recycles.

- Pip

joedenise

PipneyJane said:

IntoTheForest said:

Another small spend for me, we needed butter, bread and fruit. Currently at £35/£200. 

I love Amy Dacyczyn and the tightwad gazette but haven't read it in years, might have to find and re-read. On a similar vein, does anyone else wash and reuse ziplock type sandwich bags? I only use mine for freezing meat portions and then I throw them away but it is such a massive waste. 

I do wash and reuse all sorts of plastic bags but not if they've held meat.  I have an old tissue box stuffed full of bread bags, ziploc freezer bags and those ziplocs that cheese comes in (my first choice for freezing fish).

If I've used a plastic bag for meat, I'll wash it and put it in the recycling IF it is one of the varieties our local council recycles.

- Pip

I'm the same.  If it's had meat or fish in it then it's definitely in the bin; anything else it gets washed and reused.  Unfortunately our council don't recycle soft plastics only hard ones like yoghurt pots, soft marge/butter tubs etc.

thriftwizard

Another bag-washer here; again, I don't re-use if it's had meat in, but it's such a waste not to, otherwise! I will also keep & re-use paper bags that have just had bread or dry fruit in, but anything greasy, damp or smeary & they're out.

I've just added £85 to my total; £65 spent at the market today in the fresh air with no queues, on just about everything we'll need for the week - fish, meat, cheese, fruit, veg, salt & soy sauce. I will need to get bread, milk, & bananas at some stage but hope to keep out of the supermarket until Tuesday at least. The other £20 was this week's mid-week top-up; the receipt has gone missing but it was just under that, with milk, cream, noodles, rice & tea on the list & one or two other small items. 

I've been dealing with a giant pumpkin - split amongst 3 friends, it's manageable, and we knew it had been well-grown, so well worth the effort in terms of nutrition - so the new freezer's filling up fast & we've had a massive batch of pumpkin & roasted-veg soup, plus pumpkin "bread" to keep the wolf from the door this week. Plus I've started clearing the allotment for the winter and found some nice surprises; the bean poles had finally been blown over & the plants had started to succumb to the frost, but they were still flowering & there were 3 more good helpings of beans for the 4 of us on there. (1 for now & 2 for the freezer) There was even one brave (and delicious) little courgette. Plus I've found two unsuspected "hoards"of potatoes, where I'd absent-mindedly chucked a few left-over seed potatoes that didn't look very promising. Needless to say, they've done better than the ones that were solemnly earthed-up & properly mollycoddled during the late frosts. There's lots of kale, chard, leeks and carrots still standing for some winter freshness, a bit of beetroot still, and I also found a very tiny little squash - I thought someone had dropped a satsuma! - hiding under the Jerusalem Artichokes, which we grow mostly for a windbreak. So - just as you wonder if it's all worth it, it proves that it is!

greent

New spends of £50.03 + £11.70 to previous spends = running total of £187.71 (inc £5.60 toiletries) ... sigh

quintwins

few more spends. we r having car issues so me and hubby haven't had dinner yet. he's nipped to get us a cheeky mcd's which has 30% off so is £4.44. and I ordered a magic bag from Greggs tomorrow for £2.59. so £7.03 added.

Money_Choices

Hi
On Monday 5 Nov I spent £12.22 from a local supermarket.
Money Choices