September 2021 Grocery Challenge

LLM2018

Hello I haven't been around to update recently as I have been unwell. My totals so far is £53.49/75. I shouldn't really need anything until the end of the month so should hopefully stay within target this month. 

nannygladys

LLM2018 - hope you're feeling OK now.

£5.50 spent today, signature amended. I shouldn't be spending too much more before my new month starts next week, so I'm thinking of using anything over on winter pantry supplies. I would normally use it as treats or carry it over but food stocks might be a better idea with winter, possible prices hikes and shortages.
Nannyg

goldfinches

I've managed a NSD today mostly due to pressure of work plus being knackered from yesterday but I'm not looking this particular gift horse in the mouth. 
This means that my total remains the same at £63.98/£120 but my average daily spend goes down to £3.99! 

Pixiehouse55

Milk, Lettuce, cucumber needed today, very naughty as I brought some chocolate and cakes.  Oh and chewing gum as I really fancy a smoke right now(stress of moving?)  That all came to £10 and oddses. Will check exact amount tomorrow.  Chicken steaks in breadcrumbs salad, homemade coleslaw and new potatoes today.. 

elsiepac

@Hettyhound I've added you to this month's budgets

@LLM2018 hope you're feeling a bit better now

@goldfinches sounds like you are having a fun month with all your visits to exciting places!!

@Pixiehouse55 well done on going for the gum instead of the smokes

So I was going to make smokey red beans and rice on Wednesday but I fell asleep and woke up at quarter to 8 so it would have been way too late by the time it cooked.  So instead I threw together the pasta sauce I was planning for later in the week.  Got 4 portions out of it and froze 2, so I had it for tea weds and thurs.

I'll do my smoky beans and rice tonight and again I'll try and get 4 portions out of it.

I made what I am hoping is my final spend of the month yesterday - £4.22.  I bought 1kg carrots, a cabbage, a bag of brown onions, 1kg oats and some biscuits for treats.  Combined with everything I have in I should now be able to last the month.

I'm not going to lie, I am not enjoying this hugely because I'm missing fresh veg and my usual variety but it's necessity and I'm doing my best.  I have over 4kg frozen veg of various types (apart from what I've already accounted for with my meal plan) plus the few fresh items I bought yesterday so it's not like I'm technically missing out, it's just my perception. Also realising I don't need quite so much variety in my "stores" so I'm going to pare them down in future and focus on just basics and not worry too much about having spares of absolutely everything!!

This is giving me tons of ideas for the future though.  For example, after I've been paid I'm going to make up my own bags of mixed veg like the ones I bought and have been using this month - so I'll make some "starters" which will be onion, carrot and celery mixes - I'm thinking I could use my blender to chop these up quickly? - and maybe do a med veg version as well although I'm not sure that would be cost effective so I'll have to think about it!

joedenise

@elsiepac - it depends how fine you want your veg cut:  if you want it almost paste like then use a blender but for just chopped I'd go for using a food processor and pulse it until you get to the texture you want.  I find the blender goes too fast to be able to get it exactly right.

Have been shopping a couple of times this week but not posted so after today's shop, which included a £1.50 Lidl veg box, I'm down to £108.27 for the rest of the month so I've spent a bit more than I would have liked by this time of the month but there is plenty in the freezer to use so I won't be stressing about it.  It's mainly fresh fruit and veg that I'll need to buy as I'm fairly certain there is enough tins and frozen stuff to manage.

Purple_kitten

Hmm I have some rather severe doubts we are going to make budget this month, we won't need anything next week but will need a shop at the end of the month which will take us over I think. This has been good as I've noticed we do buy a lot for stock as well. so reporting in spends of:-

B and M 6

Lidl 10.10

HomeBargains 10

Costco 42.75

Farm Foods 64.42

So the total spend so far is 177.27 / 200

Blackcats

£20 spent in Lidl on Wednesday to make the most of another £5 voucher.  I didn't need much for immediate use so I bought a few items to stock up on - shower gels, mouthwash, toothpaste, dishwasher salt and cleaner, a few jars of pesto, sun dried tomatoes, butter, caster sugar, choc chips for baking.  Plus a bag of bananas, some blueberries, bread and milk.  It was very hard to get up to £25.
my spending this month is so low (by my standard).  I think keeping track of spends on here really helps, I had a big spend just before the start of the month and I've used £25 of vouchers in Lidl which buys a lot of shopping.  However, it's happened I'm really chuffed. 

TOTAL SPENDS £127.84/£380
Remaining budget £252.16

goldfinches

@elsiepac - I sympathise with your not enjoying your current regime but think that you are right to pursue it at this time as one should cut one's coat to suit one's cloth IYSWIM. Doing things this way means that when your economic situation changes you can make immediate changes to your buying habits which will be more enjoyable than having to wait.

I spent £8.93 on beer, 2 x y/s ricotta, tomatoes, bread and crisps which was mostly a treat and easy dinner, especially the beer, so my new total is  £72.91/£120 and my average daily spend is £4.28.

thriftwizard

I've just added a whopping £110 to my total, which I have to admit is guesswork, though probably fairly accurate. I haven't yet been down to L!dls because the week turned manic on me; that'll have to happen next week. But I know I spent £46.50 at the market this morning, £5 at the bakers & £30 at the butchers yesterday, i.e. £81.50, plus a supermarket spend of £20-odd on yogurt, bananas, bread etc. a couple of days ago and a smaller one today, as I needed some cider vinegar & sugar to deal with a glut of cherry plums - now 8 jars of plum sauce and 9½ jars of plum jam, plus a jar of dehydrated plums - and had forgotten to get ghee earlier in the week.

The allotment is still producing well, though the beans & courgettes are beginning to slow down and the sweetcorn supply is dwindling. But there are still spuds to dig up, and the kale & chard will see us right through the winter. Sadly the leeks never really got going - I'll have to buy them this winter! - and the squashes have only just decided to reproduce, apart from one bizarre-looking beastie that looks like a cross between a Turk's Turban, which we grew last year, and a giant pumpkin. May or may not be edible! So we'll probably have 4 or 5 tiny butternuts to feed 2 vegetarians for 4 months. Oh well, I'll just have to buy them as well...