July 2021 Grocery Challenge

Miss_Behaving

Hi all, I kept within budget last month, so I'm up for the challenge again in July!

@elsiepacplease may you put me down for £280 again.

Money_Choices

Hi
Thanks Elsiepac for starting July's grocery challenge.  I am staying with £120 grocery spending this month.

Money Choices

Sallyp2

Was looking to see if I can get cash back on groceries using a debit/credit card rather than faffing about uploading till receipts and having to use apps etc
apart from Santander and Amex there are no straightforward Cashback cards! 

flossyblog

Hello everyone. grocery budget €250 per month for 2 adults. year budget €3k.  going into July and Household inventory listed 

Fresh

1 pkt salad leaves

1 pkt snack tomatoes

1 pkt  mini potatoes in herb butter

2 bulbs garlic

2 packs fresh ravioli

1 pkt cheese slices

freezer

6x2 jalapeño beef burgers

3 chilli con carne 

1 chicken fillets

1 bolognaise 

3 butter 

1 petit pois 

1 haricot verts 

3 portions roasted onion 

6 portions chillies

8 portions ginger

2 portions garlic

2 pks teacakes

6 bread rolls

store cupboard

10 soup in a sac

2 tubes pringles

2 tins cubed tomatoes

1 tin tomato puree

4 pkts tea bags

2 jars jjalapeño peppers 

9 tins assorted beans

1 jar garlic

1 jar ginger

1 pkts spaghetti

1 wok oil 500ml

1 thai fish sauce 200ml

2 jars thai green curry paste

5 pkts basmasti rice

22 pkts coffee capsules

2 pkts all bran cereal

acacia honey

caramel Syrup

red lentils

rice wine vinegar

soy sauce

rice flour

1 red wine

Hendricks gin & tonic gift Box (2016) 

Herbs & spices 

salt 

peppercorns

cayenne pepper

cumin seed

cumin powder

coriander seed

coriander powder

turmeric powder

mustard powder

chilli powder

chilli flakes

fennel seeds

garam masala

cinnamon sticks

black cardamom

green cardamom

bay leaves

cloves

Cleaning supplies

5 ariel liquid 

1 dettol bath cleaner

2 glorix bleach

1 viakal 

12 toilet rolls

dishwasher tabs 

5ltr cleaning vinegar

6 scourers

75 bin liners (3 pkts !!!!!!)

freezer bags

1 kitchen roll

Toiletries  

3 Toothpaste

1 shower mousse

1 shower gel

1 shampoo

1 conditioner

2 body mouse lotion

2 nivea creme

2 bottles lavender essential oil

1 bottle teatree essential oil

1 rexona deodran

Sallyp2

For the first time in ages I am really pleased with my weekly grocery shop spend:
£land £5 / M&S £27.20 / JSains £43.47 = £75.67

Admittedly I did have a spend £50 and get £7.50 money off voucher for Sainsburys, which helped. But even so am chuffed with the weekly grocery shop this week. Perhaps it helps that I massively overspent in June as well.

The M&S kippers, pack of 2, were only £2.25 which compared to the fish monger on our  weekly Saturday market is a massive saving. He is charging about £4 per whole kipper!!!!!!! Oh and the M&S Arbroath kiln smoked kippers are very very tasty and easier to eat as they are just the fillets. Sometimes shopping locally and independently is so much more expensive!

Smoosh

More shopping done here. Didn't really need to go until Sunday but I really hate supermarkets at the weekend. It's so much nicer to go after work! Our groceries from last week will last until Saturday, so everything bought today is technically for Sunday onwards.

£37.37 in aldi on 2 bottles of Italian style soda, 4 litres of fizzy tropical drink, 6 litres of Dr pepper, bottle of shampoo, 6 pints of milk, jar of pasta sauce, 40 dishwasher tablets, pack of  ruby chocolate ice cream sticks, pack of spring rolls, 650g ketchup, bag of frozen chips, 500g Quorn mince, 2 frozen flatbread pizzas, 900g Greek yoghurt, sour cream, 2.5kg potatoes, 500g spaghetti, halloumi, 2 porridge pots, 4 bananas, 2 flatbread wraps, pack of tortilla wraps, 1 big kitchen roll, 10 bags of crisps, buttermilk pancakes, bag of salad leaves, punnet of grapes, punnet of tomatoes.

Went to sainsburys for bits I couldn't get in aldi and also managed a YS haul. £13.08 on a loaf of bread (YS), 6 bagel thins (YS), 5 cake bars (YS), potato and egg salad (YS), 450g chargrilled chicken (YS), 2 crustless quiches (YS), vegetable pizza (YS), thai chicken curry (YS), 8 vegan "pork" pies (YS), 8 vegetarian sausages, refried beans, hard cheese, 2 cheesecake slices (YS).

I've also spent £2 on 12 eggs from a friend at work who has chickens.

Homegrown produce is getting there now. We have lots of strawberries, which is lovely

Breakfasts this week will be yoghurt, brioche or porridge bars with fruit. Porridge pots if it's chilly!

OH will have curry, chicken wraps or quiche for lunches. I'll have vegan pork pies with salad or quiche.

For snacks we have crisps, cake bars, fibre bars, mini packs of biscuits and mini cheeses.

Meal plan:
1. Quorn spaghetti bolognese
2. Refried bean quesadillas with homemade wedges
3. Roast
4. Halloumi flatbread wraps with chips
5. Flatbreads and salad
6. Sausage stroganoff with spaghetti

Total spends so far: £110.07/300.

Need to bring that down!

goldfinches

Hello all, I spent £2 at Sains on tonic water and £7.35 at M*rks on organic milk, lemons and limes, radishes, easy peelers, broad beans and an avocado which starts me off at a budget busting £9.35/£124 or £4.67 per day. I also spent some of the bulk fund on more instant coffee as the brand I prefer was on offer in Sains and used the y/s fund to buy soured cream, lemongrass, mini wraps and a Higg*dy pie.
My aim now is to stay away from any food shops for at least the next four days and contrive to eat all the food that's currently in the fridge before buying any more (famous last words eh!). 

PipneyJane

Good morning All

@elsiepac, may I be a pain and update my budget for July?  We had £21.20 left in the GC Purse at the end of June, which I’m rolling into July.

Please change my July Budget to £161.20.  

Many thanks.

I have a small spend to declare from yesterday.  £10.67 in L!dl, spent on a whole roast chicken (£3.99),  800g on mature cheddar (£3.69), a YS packet of salad (52p), a packet of Oaties (49p) and two king-size Nutrageous.  We’d stopped in on the way back from playing golf with friend, because < hang head in shame > I had absolutely no plans for dinner.  If my husband hadn’t been with me, I would have probably bought a few more items from the shopping list, in order to avoid going anywhere near the shops this weekend.  (Nothing worse than a supermarket on the weekend after payday.)

Anyway, the above brings my spend for July to £10.67/£161.20 leaving £153.53 for the rest of the month.  Now I need to figure out what we are going to eat for over the next few days...

- Pip

Finstickle

low spend to declare from yesterday in lidl - £64.40

no exciting savings or purchases to report (other than £15 on a bottle of Lidl rum for the OH), just the basics, bread, cheese, ham, bacon, coffee etc - very much trying to use the cupboards/freezer for dinners at least.

last nights was leftover bolognaise with new pots.
today we're off to the beach so will bring the camping stove and do sausage baguettes with home made potato salad.
 (have stepkids so fish & chips becomes v expensive - and who doesn't like a sausage baguette!)
tomorrow i'm thinking of a bbq pork & bean thing

definitely thinking a big veggie pasta bake on weds when we have stepkids again.

all in all a good start to the month i feel

PipneyJane

Good morning All

Hope your frugal ventures are going well.  I’m still waiting for inspiration to strike on the meal-planning front, although I think today is covered (ancient YS frittata from the freezer for lunch and, since I soaked kidney beans yesterday, refried beans for dinner tonight).  I usually meal-plan a couple of days in advance, based on what is in the fridge/freezer, but nothing is inspiring me.  We do have quite a few mushrooms that need using up but I may just fry them up with some onions and garlic and then freeze as “base” for other meals.

Since DH was going to MrT’s yesterday to buy diesel, I gave him a short shopping list. £9.85 spent on sweeteners (85p), bulgar wheat (3x£1.15), Creme Fraiche (£1.85 for 500ml), and a pack 60 colour catchers (usually £4 but £3 with a £1-off voucher).

The above spend brings our total to £19.82/£161.20 leaving £131.38 for the rest of the month.

- Pip