November 2021 Grocery Challenge

esjw

Week 2 total was £89.25 - split between L!dl, Company Shop, T£sco & our corner shop.

Olio has been a great help for bread (by the time I get to the shops in an evening the bread shelves look like locusts have been at them) and some lovely stuffed peppers which were a treat. School have changed their menus so have had less packed lunches while mine try the different options - the flipside is the increase to dinner money costs.

Going through lots of cereal - DD2, DD3 & DS are having 2 or 3 bowls each in a morning, any suggestions to bulk out breakfast (aside from toast)?

£235.93/£500 = £264.07 remaining

joedenise

@esjw it would probably be better for the kids if you gave them something protein based for breakfast which would also keep them fuller for longer.  Things like boiled eggs & soldiers, scrambled eggs on toast, omelettes.  If they won't eat eggs that would obviously be a problem!  How about porridge which is both quick, cheap and easy - takes about 2 minutes in the microwave to cook or you could cook on the stove the night before and then just reheat in the microwave the following morning which would probably be easier with having to make it for 3 children.

Suffolk_lass

joedenise said:

@esjw it would probably be better for the kids if you gave them something protein based for breakfast which would also keep them fuller for longer.  Things like boiled eggs & soldiers, scrambled eggs on toast, omelettes.  If they won't eat eggs that would obviously be a problem!  How about porridge which is both quick, cheap and easy - takes about 2 minutes in the microwave to cook or you could cook on the stove the night before and then just reheat in the microwave the following morning which would probably be easier with having to make it for 3 children.

I agree. Porridge and lots of it. If they don't like it much maybe sprinkle some granola and honey or jam on it to make it more appealing

DanielleNic87

Had to pop to L!dl before the school run to get some flavoured water for the kids water bottles (they won’t drink plain water), also picked up some strawberries and pain au chocolat for the kids and some ys sausages and mince meat for the freezer🙈Spent £11.70. Doing pretty well with my budget this month. Over half way through the month with more than half of my budget left! 

LadyWithAPlan

@Suffolk_lass
 those pyrex dishes with lids look great. I will add them to my xmas list for when I have my new freezer.. 

Nov  Groceries Challenge  £98.70/ £140  + £13.87/ £100 bulk 
Waitrose happened  YS meat, mushrooms, DF milk, but I did get some good green jinn/shopmium offers

I also bought some vodka for £16 as having guests over, one of which drinks a lot, but as there was a a competition on it I squared it 50% comping budget and 50% entertainment.  In theory it could come from bulk but I am not stressing..
I am determined to keep within my £140 for Nov budget even if that means eating half the freezer  
I have friends over next week so I guess some of my budget will go into the Grocery budget and some from entertaining budget


 I made my first ever shepherds pie at the weekend .... I rarely buy lamb but had froze some YS mince . It was unbelievably tasty - GF and DF even with the mash and I managed to freeze one decent portion of it so now a fair few lovely meals in there as my own takeaways ) Next stop will be making cottage pie Its hard to buy dairy free so now I know I can make a version easily and the mash was fine with DF milk and DF butter

 I have decided I am definitely buying a freezer on Black Friday weekend as this batch bulk cooking and freezing is a delight  I have plenty of money saved for bigger ticket items and I am not feeling I am moving in the next few months so...

I will be at various family members over Xmas  but I will be buying thus  lits of alcohol and some odd bits of food plus the FR turkey for my parents. So I will have a increased or separate  food/drinks budget for Xmas 

NSD 8/15

esjw

Thank you @joedenise & @Suffolk_lass

will try the protein options on Saturday when we're less rushed and have the time to experiment a bit. Haven't tried (and not sure why not) cooking in the microwave before, would definitely save time.

They all love porridge - cold/uncooked with sultanas or hot/cooked with a sprinkle of sugar or blob of golden syrup. I'd actually used it as a "carrot" to get them out of bed this morning...would only start cooking when they started getting dressed... mixed success on the getting up but only 1 came back for extra so I count that as a win.

Have also managed most of the shopping for this week already, will just need to top up the milk over the weekend. Current spend for the week is £103.12 which included: 5p packs of ham, 40p for 4 breaded chicken & 5p yoghurts in bargains so got a few bits to put aside for Christmas.

Doom_and_Gloom

£7.54 spent since last post in Mr S which got us; 2 loaves of bread, 2 L cola zero, 400g organic tomatoes x2, a mango, a large cucumber, an orange pepper, 5 nectarines , 1L gold top milk, 250g double Gloucester and a pack of Prosciutto cappelletti.

£193.54/£240.
£46.46 left.
A&C on Monday comes to £13.42. That leaves us, as it stands, £33.04 of unmarked money left. Fingers crossed that we don't need anything more this week.
We have a L!do shop planned next week as we have a £10 off a £40 shop which will help us get the groceries we need at the end of the month with not a lot of budget left. It could be tight, may go slightly over.

cornishchick

cornishchick said:

£16,27  spent in Iceland, met a friend for a costa lot, ( separate budget lol ) so popped in to get a couple of things, including some chocolate treats as my partner is down for a couple of days. 
He then arrived with a bag of delicious party foods and specials from his work ( Marks) SO I have a fridge full of lush foods I don't normally get lol which should last me till the end of the month. 

£57.37/£100

ops. had to pop into my GPs surgery and Aldi is next door, popped in for some Washing up liquid, and picked up some bits for the freezer on 30% off, so spent £10.23 but, there's some nice steak, and asparagus in my freezer lol 

£67.23/£100 

still doing ok, and plenty of fresh and frozen in for the next two weeks... 

Herbyme

Suffolk_lass said:

joedenise said:

@esjw it would probably be better for the kids if you gave them something protein based for breakfast which would also keep them fuller for longer.  Things like boiled eggs & soldiers, scrambled eggs on toast, omelettes.  If they won't eat eggs that would obviously be a problem!  How about porridge which is both quick, cheap and easy - takes about 2 minutes in the microwave to cook or you could cook on the stove the night before and then just reheat in the microwave the following morning which would probably be easier with having to make it for 3 children.

I agree. Porridge and lots of it. If they don't like it much maybe sprinkle some granola and honey or jam on it to make it more appealing

Golden syrup in our house! And sometimes raisins/banana

chirpycheap

We found a small cash and carry nearby and picked up £14 of mostly past their sell by date items. We could have spent more as there were lots of very cheap snacks but I tried to stay away from them and buy things that contributed to meals rather than in-betweens. I did buy a box of Kelloggs Bran Flakes a month past it's best before date for 40p. I've never used out of date cereals before but if they've gone soft I'm sure I could find a recipe to use them up.

I live in a large city and am lucky enough to find food up on Olio most days. I haven't bought bread in weeks and on the plus side it stops me constantly popping into the shops for a loaf and emerging with a basket of overpriced impulse buys. This week from Olio I also got two bags of organic tender stem broccoli. They were such a treat and perfectly edible. The original price on the bag was £2.90 so way out of my budget so very much appreciated.