February 2022 Grocery Challenge

boxofpaws

@joedenise - thank you for this information. I have just paid for my first magic bag that I collect tonight! Pretty excited about this. 

I guess worse case is I don’t like it and can donate to the food bank. Unlikely though, the husband will eat ANYTHING 

joedenise

Have to say they vary tremendously from store to store and from what is available.  One of the bags we got this week I complained to TGTG as something had a display til date which was 3 days earlier so shouldn't even have been on the shelf.  Give them their due they refunded me the cost of the bag (still waiting for it to be refunded to my card!) - funny how it takes up to 10 days to be returned when it's taken immediately!

QueenJess

Definitely won't make it this month as had a few one off things including a £25 spend I was originally going to get for free from points, but the offer on this month meant it made more sense in the long run to use points in another month.  Also spent £54 on toilet roll/kitchen roll/tissues, but this is enough for 4-5 months.  Will see where I get to and aim for £90 a week for March.  There's definitely still a little bit of wriggle room despite my expensive habits!

Mostly stocked up, but will need bread, milk, fruit/veg and maybe the odd other thing for the rest of the month.

Total spend this month £372.06 / £400.

pelirocco

joedenise said:

Have to say they vary tremendously from store to store and from what is available.  One of the bags we got this week I complained to TGTG as something had a display til date which was 3 days earlier so shouldn't even have been on the shelf.  Give them their due they refunded me the cost of the bag (still waiting for it to be refunded to my card!) - funny how it takes up to 10 days to be returned when it's taken immediately!

I've always  had refunds immediately 

joedenise

Maybe it's because it's going back to a CC rather than DC.  Doesn't usually take 10 days but I've certainly often waited 6 or 7 days for a refund.  I think M&S are the worse if you use their returns from a Food Store - that can take up to 14 days and usually takes at least 10!

Doom_and_Gloom

£6.32 spent since last post in Mr S. The majority of that spend was on beef mince OH saw reduced. 99p for 250g packs so he picked up 5 of them. One going into the lasagne he's having for dinner. The other 4 were put in zip lock bags and put in his freezer draw. His draw is now fully stocked again but at those prices it would have stupid to pass them up.

OH dinner : Beef lasagne.
My dinner : Shepherdless pie (potato, sweet potato and swede mash topping).

£56.78/£150.
£93.22 left.

nannygladys

Thanks everybody for the advise about the star anise, I'll start easy and try it in carrots and see if I like the taste, if it's slightly aniseedy it may work in a rice pudding as well, and I do have quite a lot of stir frys, currys etc so if I like it, it can go in there as well!! 

No money spent as I haven't been out.
Nannyg

esjw

£59.11 spend brings monthly total so far to £217.65/£475.00 with £257.35 remaining

This includes our annual sugar purchase (15 x 1kg bags at £8.79 from C@stco) - used mainly for DH's cups of coffee and a touch sprinkled on porridge.

DD2 is still woefully underweight and back on iron tablets with instructions from GP to eat lots of fatty food So everything I should avoid being prediabetic is fair game for her. Add in DD1 and her no lactose - food shopping just got more interesting  

Day off tomorrow so will be tackling the chest freezer and then hopefully I'll find I'll not need to buy any meat or frozen veg for the rest of the month. Pretty sure there is a lamb joint near the bottom.

@Soontobeoap not sure what you have near you but if you are over on the mainland anytime with a car there are a couple of places in Southampton you could try: Rogers Wholesale is a past best before warehouse close to Dock Gate 20, no membership, buy in bulk cases. It's a bit hit and miss with plenty of junk food but I tend to go when I see they have something I would buy anyway at a price lower than in other shops (trays of tins of tomatoes or passata working out at 25p a tin, bread flour, noodles to name a few). Then there is Company Shop heading out towards Bitterne which is members only (free) but you can check if you qualify for membership on their website. They sell in date but close dated fresh food as well as store cupboard staples. Again, it's hit and miss but you can get some real bargains and can buy up to 6 of any item (I've had 5p packs of ham, lots of different chicken, a pack of lamb chops which turned out to be 5 x lamb shanks for £6.50). They both have websites and are on social media with updates to what they have available. I wouldn't suggest you make the journey specifically to go to them as you won't save anything once you factor in the ferry costs but if you are over anyway and in the area then you lose nothing by having a look.

ancientmum

I've spent big this week as went to the butchers and the mince, chicken legs, pork steaks, stewing beef, honey, cheese and oh dear a sausage roll that slipped in, came to £30ish (forgot to ask for receipt but paid by card so will know exact amount when the statement comes).  Then in the market £4.10 on eggs and butter, and a large box of various veg that they were selling off for £5.

shabbychic12

Well lve lost the plot big time so will limp along head held in shame until March and just try to eat from stores.😂🤞