March 2022 Grocery Challenge

Saver.The.Taste

Thanks again @elsiepac for this thread.

For March please can i be put down for £93.00 please?  Getting close to finding my lowest budget so will see what i can do this month!!

Thanks again and good luck to all!!

goldfinches

Thankyou to @elsiepac for this thread, it is very helpful to keep reminding myself that I can do better on the meal planning and staying out of shops front even though I often backslide.

Could you put me down for the usual £124 please, this is for one vegetarian adult and covers all food and household essentials.

I'm also budgeting £5 per Wednesday for baking which will give me a total of £25 to spend in March.

Thanks again for doing this. 

elsiepac

Budgets updated to here

After a very good post from @Suffolk_lass in last month's thread I had a sulk then put my big girl pants back on and realised she was speaking absolute sense! For those who didn't see it, the gist is essentially, get back to basics!  Meal plan/reverse meal plan being key points.

So I thought this month let's really focus on that and have a bit of a themed month:

Meal Planning March

Let's all make an effort to POST our meal plans, reverse meal plans, meal ideas and recipes to give everyone lots of inspiration and encouragement!

A lot already do this, but let's see how many of us can get on board! Obviously not compulsory or anything, just a bit of a side challenge for fun!  Hope you guys like this idea! I'm off to meal plan for the first week of March

Suffolk_lass

elsiepac said:

Budgets updated to here

After a very good post from @Suffolk_lass in last month's thread I had a sulk then put my big girl pants back on and realised she was speaking absolute sense! For those who didn't see it, the gist is essentially, get back to basics!  Meal plan/reverse meal plan being key points.

So I thought this month let's really focus on that and have a bit of a themed month:

Meal Planning March

Let's all make an effort to POST our meal plans, reverse meal plans, meal ideas and recipes to give everyone lots of inspiration and encouragement!

A lot already do this, but let's see how many of us can get on board! Obviously not compulsory or anything, just a bit of a side challenge for fun!  Hope you guys like this idea! I'm off to meal plan for the first week of March

@elsiepac ...And I concluded my post was too brutal and rude (sorry, really) and deleted it. We all do our best (you more than most) but I did it to encourage you back because I know you can do it. Good luck in March. I have confidence you can do it x

Here a Link to the Reverse Meal Planning thread for anyone who wishes to join us (it is to page one but you probably don't need to read 258 pages of posts to get the idea!)

Soontobeoap

Thank you so much for doing this elsiepac. I don’t think you quite realise how much you inspire everyone to try to stick to targets.

MY MARCH BUDGET IS £250

there are 5 Thursdays in March so for me it is a 5 shopping day month. I nearly reached my target in February and have realised that I am spending on average £50 a week. I am going to try shopping in a completely different way so bear with me if I end up going over as this is an experiment!!! It could go badly wrong!!!!

having read up everything I possibly can about ways to reduce your grocery budget along with the exceptionally helpful tips on here, I am going to TRY to change the habit of a lifetime.

I have been through freezer and cupboards and noted down my stock and then placed one huge order for the first week on March which includes all of the name brand items that we don’t want to change. I have also ordered some really good deals at Tescos. After that I intend to work from the stock in the house and just do top ups from Aldi , co op , market or where ever else I can find a good deal for the rest of the month. Milk is cheaper at co op, raisins at Aldi for example.

for some unknown reason during this challenge ( started in January 2022) I have must have been terrified of running out of food as my freezer has never been so full! It’s time to start making use of all of the goodies in there.

has anyone noticed how much Heinz beans have increased in price in the last month?

And lastly I would just like to share a really simple, delicious recipe that uses up a tine bit of left over gammon

RECIPE  FOR GAMMON PASTA

ingredients

Enough pasta for your family ( I use fusilli but ant will do)
1onion (family of 5 or 6 might need 2)
leftover gammon diced into small pieces ( you don’t need much just a taste)
liquer left from roasting the gammon ( this makes the flavour)
left Over sweetcorn, diced carrot, peas ( optional)
Mushrooms optional
leftover cheese. However much you have will add to the flavour but add to your own taste.( any will do, I am lactose free so used cathedral city lactose free cheese)

Method

cook the pasta according to instructions and save half - one cup of the starch water that pasta has been cooking in.

While pasta is cooking, fry chopped onion in the liquor. Add a little oil if needed.

Add mushrooms and fry 

Add cooked ham and any vegetables to the frying pan and give a good stir.

Add cooked pasta and starch water.

add pasta and make sure it is all well mixed.

throw the cheese over the top and mix well.

serve up and wait for the praise!

My OH is quite a fussy eater but loves pasta, particularly a carbonara. He says that this is the best pasta that he has viewer eaten!

slowly but surely I am getting him on board and I thought he was an old stick in the mud as far as food is concerned. Who would have known. At the beginning of January he was saying why are you doing this. We are OK for money ( Male pride thing) but we are dipping into our savings all of the time and soon there won’t be any left. With rising prices I am worried and this challenge has been a great way to take control. 

Anyway I digress. Now he is looking at the price of things and coming home excited when he has found a bargain! Thanks again elsiepac. Sorry it’s been such a long one. So much to get off my chest.

goldfinches

elsiepac said:

Budgets updated to here

After a very good post from @Suffolk_lass in last month's thread I had a sulk then put my big girl pants back on and realised she was speaking absolute sense! For those who didn't see it, the gist is essentially, get back to basics!  Meal plan/reverse meal plan being key points.

So I thought this month let's really focus on that and have a bit of a themed month:

Meal Planning March

Let's all make an effort to POST our meal plans, reverse meal plans, meal ideas and recipes to give everyone lots of inspiration and encouragement!

A lot already do this, but let's see how many of us can get on board! Obviously not compulsory or anything, just a bit of a side challenge for fun!  Hope you guys like this idea! I'm off to meal plan for the first week of March

Great idea @elsiepac I'll be joining in as I'm sure it will be helpful.

[Deleted User]

This is a great idea, I always think I need a big shop until I make my meal plan and realise I’m only missing half a dozen bits!

It’s a long 5 week month for me, starting on 28th Feb. Can I please be put down for £200 for the month, £40 a week. That’s for me and my two little ones and a couple of furry critters out the back. It will cover food, toiletries, nappies, cleaning supplies and pet stuff. 

Thanks @el@elsiepac!

atrixa

In the spirit of meal planning, here are my planned (vegan) meals I'll batch cook in March. I've got a Tesc0 order in for tomorrow for any of the non-perishables. I've based this on what I've already got in the cupboard that needs using up.

Not Sausage tomato pasta sauce

Chilli sin Carne

Yellow lentil and coconut curry

Spaghetti Bolognese

Roasted aubergine and tomato curry Brazilian black bean stew Veggie Dumpling Stew Risotto Yellow split pea soup  Carrot, leek and butterbean soup Carrot and Lentil Soup Pasta arrabiata

esjw

I'm in again this month.

£425

This is for 4 adults (1 lactose free) and 3 children. Will be including all food, school dinners, toiletries and OTC medicine. With it being Lent we'll be on minimal "treats" which helps with the budget

I'm still finishing up February so will be back once tallied and declared on there.

MissRikkiC

ariarnia said:

okay i need to get back on this wagon after a few years of being overwhelmed by the bigger picture. 

i have no idea how much we're spending right now, and i keep convincing myself its not much but it could be way too much... 

I'm going to aim for £200 

all food for two adults and two sprogs not including whats in the house currently or pet food as we don't buy that in the supermarket

starting with a £88.70 order from asda due on thursday 

Welcome. Small steps such as this make a difference in the long run for sure. 

I came to add that maybe keeping your receipts this month is a good idea instead of budgeting too lightly. I’m only speaking from my own experiences but I think you could find your budget a bit tight if not light. We too have 2 adults and the 1 little one and found towards the back end of last year £250 wasn’t cutting it, and £300 is now a little tight. We don’t eat really extravagantly, but we are noticing prices increasing. We include household items such as loo roll and kitchen roll etc which you may not but maybe some food for thought. Hope you don’t mind my saying so