November 2020 Grocery Challenge

ancientmum

I went a bit mad on cheese at the market  so with that and the fruit,  veg and bacon I bought there it came to £15.67.  Then Sains and Adli shops were £5.34. So £21.01 added to my running total.

peb

ancientmum said:

I went a bit mad on cheese at the market  so with that and the fruit,  veg and bacon I bought there it came to £15.67.  Then Sains and Adli shops were £5.34. So £21.01 added to my running total.

But cheese is a necessity! And from the market hopefully good cheese.😁

peb

So, slightly in shock having gone through the weeks receipts. I knew it would be bad as I was near an aldi (none near where I live) and went in to buy tinned fruit and beans. Lidl here only stocks large tins of peaches and small tins of mandarins and Sainsbury is both expensive and unreliable.  I have deducted from the Sainsbury receipts chocolate and mulled cider as these are birthday gifts and sorry you are having a bad time gifts, I've also deducted the flood flask from the Morrisons receipt, I've often taken homemade soup or risotto to work and heated it in the microwave, with the new job and the covid situation I'm not sure what the situation is with communal microwaves but at £5.60 I think it's worth a punt.

Big breath: £34.04.  Gulp.  Hoping next week will be better.  

Suffolk_lass

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 as Pip - when I buy meat I split it out into stick together sandwich bags that I don't mind discarding. The ziplock ones I use for my produce or things already in film. I'm too tight to use a ziplock for meat, unless it's one I know I've used 2-3 times before (from the writing on the outside), and I know I have had my money's worth out of it!

We are so lucky in Suffolk that all our domestic black-bin waste is incinerated and produces energy (very low level of emissions, all filtered and water recycled).

Thanks for recommending the Tightwad gazette, I'm off to have a look. Previously I have set up sound and proven systems and then failed to maintain them!! That's my problem. I might say to DH that we have to have two meals 100% from the freezer in every week as well as any log. I need to make more passata from my frozen tomatoes this weekend as I have got down to my last jar of the first batch.

Suffolk_lass

I've spent a total of £52.66 this week - £36.09 in the supermarket, £10.87 that DH spent in the butcher (who had green streaky for the first time in months, so DH bought some and has frozen it) + £5.70 for the weekly milkman bill. Hopefully next week will just be the milkman.

wishus

Doing well so far, 1 week in:
Milk spend: £3.24.
Supermarkets: £23.13
Corner shop: £11.79
Total = £38.16

Am so, so busy though, but making the most of my garden apples and salad, plus had some pumpkin soup for lunch today, from one of my brother's homegrown pumpkins. I'm so sad I won't be able to see him and his kids for a bit.
Trying not to spend on wine or snacks this time round.

BrassicWoman

59p for me today. More really, but it was vouchers - some came with my M&S statement, and I complained about a late delivery and got a £10 voucher for online shopping. I am terrible for forgetting vouchers so I get non perishables as soon as I get them.
- raspberry iced buns
- grapes
- 2 x Salsa and 2 x onions crispies, which I love to add to rice and beans for the most delicious storecupboard dinner ever
- a huge box of mug cakes for when I need a treat
Pretty pleased with the that.

ancientmum

Peb, I don't usually buy so much cheese in one go, but might not be going back to the market for a while.  And yes, it is good.

Tahlullah.H

£31 spent predominantly on cat food, with a McDonalds thrown in.  Would have resisted had I shopped online!

PipneyJane

Black_Saturn said:

£85.95 spent in the supermarket yesterday, topping up on larder essentials, tinned items, and dairy free produce. I need to purchase some nappies, but they won’t be coming out of the allocated grocery spends. It seems as if supermarket prices are rising - either that, or I am much more aware of costs now that we are having to stick to budget.

Probably both.  Certainly, earlier this year, we were forced to put up our groceries budget by £20/month because things have become more expensive.  It’d been at £120/month for the best part of a decade.

I have one spend to declare from yesterday.  We walked down to L!dl in the late afternoon to buy eggs and a few other things that they didn’t have on Wednesday.   £22.32 spent, which included 2 Camembert, 2 YS sirloin steak (originally £6.69, down to £4.68), and a YS large chicken (originally £3.99, down to £2.79).   The steak changed our dinner plans - we had it with home made  sweet potato “dirty fries” from this week’s Eat Well For Less.  (Finally, something to use the jar of smoked paprika that has been lurking in the cupboard for years because I wasn’t impressed with the flavour.  The fries were lovely and the paprika was hot!).

All the above brings our GC spend to £97.39/£140, leaving £42.61 for the remainder of the month.  This should be do-able.  We will only need to buy fresh veg, milk and yoghurts; everything else is already in stock.

- Pip