May 2022 Grocery Challenge

joedenise

Small spend today on fruit and veg of £6.29 - haven't updated YNAB yet so not sure what's left but I know it's been a good month; helped by a £10 voucher for Morries which I used a week or so ago.  Still have another one to use which I'll probably use Tuesday when I go shopping.

EssexHebridean

It’s been a pricey day grocery wise compared to normal! Veg box day - £15.99 there. Then £32 at the farmer’s market, and £27.86 in T’s this afternoon. Oh - and MrEH bought two bags of bread flour in L’s as well - so another £1.18 there. 

A quick tot up suggests We’re currently at around £140/£200 - that remaining £60 has to do another two weeks yet though! 

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning GC'rs!

I have an 82p spend to own up to. 

Whilst at LG's activity yesterday there was the opportunity to part with cash, provided by a soft whip ice-cream van....... Now, I didn't actually mind so much shelling out for a treat, and LG would rather have liked to have an ice-cream all to themselves.  I hadn't checked on the prices - so I'm not too sure how wince-worthy they were.  But I gave LG the option to either have an ice-cream there and then, or get a box of ice-creams from MrL on the way home, which could be shared with daddy (who'd had to work, and hadn't the opportunity to share LG's afternoon).  After a little bit of negotiation, LG decided they were happier with a box of ice-creams.  

Whilst in MrL (the ice-creams came out of the treat budget on this occasion), we passed the reduced section and I saw that there were 2 jars of black-eyed beans with 30% off.  Now I have loads of BE beans in the freezer - BUT I was minded of the recent R4 Food programme that discussed the merits of beans and talked about jarred versus tinned beans.  The MrL beans are Spanish and I remembered how much beans are a feature of Spanish cuisine.  So I figured that at 42p a jar (the jars have more beans in them than tins), they were value for money, and would provide the opportunity for sampling.  As I was picking through the shelf to get the beans, LG discovered some packs of smart1es that had been discounted too, so they decided to invest some pocket money in sweeties.  And just in case the community school nurse, or nutrition police are reading, LG is actually very good at portion control and having sufficient sweets occasionally, rather than excessive consumption all the time.  They are also a very good sharer 😉

So I will be looking out for suitable bean salad recipes for the menu-plan, and we have 9 ice-creams left for other days - 
a balanced shop, I think.

Greying X

PipneyJane

Good morning All

@pamsdish welcome to your new dog.  (Sorry, I’ve forgotten her name.)  Please give her a pat for me.

@Greying_Pilgrim You are doing wonders on a tight budget.  I know there’s no wriggle-room and that is stressing you out, but you are a shining light on this thread.  

I have several spends to declare £26.15 in L!dl last weekend, £8.18 on Monday in Sainsbugs - their recycled toilet paper now costs the same as MrT’s (£3.30), used to be 30p cheaper - followed by £1.58 in L!dl when DH bought 2 jars of their “Easy Garlic” for stores, and £22.20 in L!dl on Friday.  

The real reason DH popped into L!dl on Monday was to stock up on gas canisters for the weed burner we bought from them last year.  (£2.99 each from the garden budget.)  We’d walked down there last weekend and spotted them, but didn’t have the capacity to carry them back.

On the prices front, I agree that price inflation has finally hit L!dl.  In March, I paid £1.99 for their Gold instant coffee, In January it was £1.89.  Last weekend, it was £2.29 a jar.  The eggs I like, 15 free range, have gone up 20p from £1.79 to £1.99, while litre bottles of vegetable oil have gone up from £1.09 in March 2021 - when I last stocked up with an offer - to £1.30 on Friday.  (Got to love the L!dl Plu$ app, which stores your receipts so that you can check back on prices later.). I probably use more oil in baking than in other cookery, substituting it for butter at a ratio of 1/3 cup of oil - or 90ml - per 100g butter.  With butter now £1.69 per 250g in L!dl (up 20p in the last 6 months), that still gives a considerable saving.

Anyway, the above now brings our total spend to £130.30/£146.30, leaving £16 in the GC purse for the rest of the month.

Now to figure out what we’re eating for the rest of the month…

- Pip

Greying_Pilgrim

Aw, PipneyJane - you are so kind.  At least I have a light at the end of the tunnel (theoretically), and hopefully I will be able to have a larger grocery budget to work with next month.  At this moment in time, I'm hopeful for £200, which is the level of budget I had before the covid wobbles.  Naturally, I'm not really sure how this will pan out with mucho, mucho reduced stock in my cupboards and rising prices, but I'll aim to start there. 

Annoyingly, my pressure cooker has decided to 'pop-a-part' this morning, so that will need £15 spent on it to get it back up to operational fitness.  A nuisance, but having 're-discovered' my PC in recent weeks, it would be false economy to not repair it.  And at least it can be repaired.......  Thankfully, I've also got most things 'made' and put in the freezer, so the PC out of action for a short while won't be quite as disruptive as being without other appliances can be.

Greying X

Suffolk_lass

I've added in the subscription things I had last week which included coffee, bin bags, personal hygiene items and medicated shampoo. All items were cheaper than I can get them locally. Total added to budget and precariously close to this month's hopeful total. We are starting to get lettuces from the garden (self seeded, in the wrong place, but nevertheless tasty!) and it won't be long before some potatoes are ready

Suffolk_lass

Greying_Pilgrim said:

Suffolk_lass said:

Separately there are lots of local charities (London has the Felix Project for example, where food that would be wasted gets distributed to over 1000 schools and charities and they do drop ins with special assemblies so children get to choose the fresh food to take home and see what would be wasted). Your best bet would be to google "near me" or contact your upper tier local authority to see what they do and with whom they work.

Thanks Suffolk Lass - I was wondering about the Essex project really.  I hadn't heard of the Real Junk food project that was involved in the scheme.  What any government 'says' it is doing, and what it actually 'does' can be miles apart......Our local authority does not - and never has - believe that there is poverty in the area, schemes that exist are administered by charitable organisations and don't always benefit from joined up thinking......

Greying X

It depends where you are in Essex as both Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock are upper tier as well as Essex County Council. Your district Council is not the decision-maker in this case. Here's the link to the Essex page where they say how they are approaching it (vouchers and holiday play schemes). It is for last October but the amount of funding is mentioned, and their approach. It might be worth contacting them

Greying_Pilgrim

Suffolk_lass - I don't want to mislead you.  I don't live in the county of Essex.  I was thinking that the principle of utilising school canteens in the school holidays was transferable (which is what JO was highlighting). 

Greying X

K9sandFelines

Went to A1di yesterday and spent £19.69, H*meB*rgains £5.06; and got Tesc* coming today, with a projected spend of £39.09. I hope I don't need any major spends now, as got a lot more month than money left.
A lot of the things today and yesterday will last. I got a massive bag of brown lentils and a massive bag of chickpeas are on the shopping later. So will stretch to well over this month. Obviously not everything will though. 

pamsdish

Thanks @PipneyJane and you too @elsiepac belatedly, she came with "Cracker"   I tried "Ebony"  reverted to "Maddie"   my last dog as I kept calling her that, she is starting to respond to that.