December 2021 Grocery Challenge

Doom_and_Gloom

Between an A&C delivery and Mr S shop we have spent £32.15 since last post.
Trying to keep costs down as much as possible now as already know our A&C delievery for Yule week is going to be at least £90 odd for things that count towards the budget. 

Dinner tomorrow will be shepherd-less pie mix with potato (got the meatless f@rm mince out the freezer earlier, last one that was in there. I do have dried soya mince so I'm not too worried about that. I buy and freeze them when I see them reduced to a good price).
OH will be having prosciutto cappilletti with cheese sauce for dinner tomorrow.

£87.92/£300.
£212.08.

As for dried beans I prefer to soak them a minimum of 12 hours and then use the pressure cooker setting on my PKP to cook them -found a table online that says how long to cook them in a pressure cooker dry or soaked; even though I soak I usually use the dry times which are longer. I've never had problems with any this way new or old beans. Not even with kidney beans.

Mrs_Cheshire

Morning all, Had a busy start to the month so haven't managed to get here to set my amount. 
Could you please put me down for £562 (which is £350 plus Christmas Clubc*rd Savings of £212). I save £20 per month for 10 months and get £12 bonus. 
I've already got a turkey breast joint in the freezer so just need the trimmings and dessert which I've ordered for delivery on the 23rd. 

Spent £164.68 so far but do have a box full of Christmas nibbles/treats packed away included in that so hoping I end up nearer my usual amount. 

This is the first year I've tracked my spends for the whole year so will be interesting to see how much I've spent overall. Next year our shopping habits will change as I'm going back to work so will need to rely on c&c or delivery rather than shopping at community groceries and the cheaper supermarkets etc. 

elsiepac

Budgets updated to here

Loving reading everyone's posts and meal ideas - I'm struggling so much mentally and feeling overwhelmed that I seem to have lost all basic planning skills and enthusiasm for pretty much anything - including my favourite time of year, Christmas, which is the saddest part! Thanks for the inspiration all as I find it really useful and I know I'm not the only one

sarahj1986

sarahj1986 said:

sarahj1986 said:

Hello Elsie

please put her down for €280 again. It’s December so we have friends round, plus bank holidays, plus my daughter will be home for lunch some days. Ive had €40 from last month so €320 in total 

€280 for December 

€5.47 spent

waiting for hubby to get paid so really using the dregs of the cupboards, fridge and freezer. I needed a few fresh bits though 

Sorry it’s been a busy few days!

so just checked the last week or so shopping

€81.40 spent 

€193.13 left 

PipneyJane

MissRikkiC said:

A question for those in the know - I purchased from quite a reputable ‘green - less waste’ shop a whole load of dried beans and pulses. And have now attempted to use both the butter beans and kidney beans having soaked them over night but they’re still so hard even after cooking and the butter beans had an almost a detergent taste to them! Are they just not good quality or did I do something wrong?! 

Hi @MissRikkiC

Not certain if it will help you, but this is how I prepare dried kidney beans/chickpeas/butter beans.  Because it's a pfaff, I usually cook a triple quantity.  The whole process takes a couple of days:

1. Soak overnight.
2. Drain, decant into a recycled bread bag and freeze until they're a solid lump.  (This helps break down the cell walls.)
3. Defrost the bag of beans in a bowl in the fridge. (To catch leaks.)  They don't have to be fully defrosted, just enough to enable me to slip off the plastic bag.
4. Boil the kettle.
5. Dump the lump of defrosting beans into my pressure cooker, cover with an inch or two of boiling water, breaking up any frozen lumps with a spoon.  Put the lid on.  Bring up to pressure and pressure cook for 30-45 minutes.  (Always 45 minutes for chickpeas.)
6. Allow the pressure cooker to return to normal pressure on its own. (I usually wait about half an hour.)  Pour the beans into a colander, drain and portion up.
7. Save one portion for tonight's dinner and freeze the two portions that won't be used immediately.

HTH

- Pip

goldfinches

@elsiepac - sorry to hear your festive joy has drained away and sending best wishes for recovery soonish.

I feeling a bit more like a human today and have done some shopping. I spent £20.44 at Sainsby's on paper hankies, kitchen roll, preserved lemons, black mustard seeds, ground cumin, washing up liquid, frozen berries mix, pecan plaits,  frozen cherries and parmesan. Yesterday I spent £6.08 at M*rks on f/f greek style yoghurt, 2 x radishes, lemons and a supergreen salad.
That makes my monthly total £37.37/£176.66.

From the Christmas budget I spent £10 at Sains on a bottle of Amaretto which makes my new total £29.29/£150.

From the baking budget I spent £5.10 at Sains on silver balls, mixed nuts and desiccated coconut and £1.00 at M*rks on tinned rhubarb which makes my new baking total £6.10/£39.60.

Suffolk_lass

I am spending freely and need to be a bit careful. I have been to Sainsbugs again (my excuse was to buy their good DOCG Prosecco, which is on offer at £8 instead of £10, but also with 25% off 6. I bought 6 as I need some for an event I am running (for which I will be reimbursed) this weekend so ended up paying £6 a bottle. For DOCG this is exceptional value.

I went a bit potty in there and have spent £84.03 now, with a few more things from Morries too. Next week will be just milk (£6.65). The week after I have my fresh turkey, cheese and accompaniments from the butcher and otherwise just veggies to buy.

QueenJess

Popped into Sains. and spent £30.50 as DD is eating at a larger rate than I expected.  I checked and what I went to buy was cheapest there.  I also stocked up on two other branded food items I buy (limited these days to just the ones we've tried to swap and didn't like or these ones are the lowest sugar/salt) and were cheapest or nearly cheapest there.  Found £5 on my loyalty card and so took that off the shopping.  It all helps!

Spent £30.50
Spending total: £206.04 / £600

ancientmum

There's been a change of plan after getting vouchers at Sains for extra nectar points and a £40 Lidl voucher in the paper.  I spent loads at Sains, I got some slippers for me and some for a present which gave me a money-off petrol voucher.  The wine was 25% off for 6, so those will be my contributions to family meals over the Christmas period.  The cost will come out of the festive budget.  The grocery shopping, for the purpose of this challenge came to £42.71 and included a humungous bag of wash pods that will last nearly six months.
I'll go to Lidls next week before the voucher runs out, so I know I'll go over budget, but the urge ito save now is too strong a habit to ignore.  

Mrs_Cheshire

Morning all, only spent £3 since I last updated. I'm having a planning day today - sorting meal plan for the rest of the month, food shopping deliveries etc. Still managing without the oven - new one has been delivered, just needs installing now!