June 2022 Grocery Challenge

JingsMyBucket

@pamsdish what a beautiful clear sky. Thanks for sharing. 

@SausageDogSandwich was that 1kg of cooking bacon or regular slices of bacon? That's extremely cheap if the latter. 

EssexHebridean

Pamsdish that's a fabulous view - thank you for posting it! 

I need to get fully focused on putting together a meal plan for next week to ensure that anything and everything that needs using up gets incorporated. After last night's salad there is still half a lettuce, a bunch of spring onions and a tub of baby cucumbers to be used - as well as yet more of the positive mountain of mini sweet peppers. I'm debating about switching Thursday's meal around to include those. Everything aside from the lettuce will last to next week though - and in fairness if I stick the lettuce  base in a jar of water that might even hang on as well. 

We will definitely need fruit as I only buy that for a week at a time. MrEH will want Milk - mine will "probably" last - I hope. Everything else will come from stores - again - "I hope"! We're away camping over the weekend too which will definitely help as food while we're away will come from a different budget.

It's funny thinking back - it wasn't all that long ago that our monthly budget was £175 and I could relatively easily make a saving each month on that - I'd really struggle now to get to the end of a month on that - I could do it, but it would certainly mean more compromise than we'd make through choice. 

FrugalHedonist

Total so far £86.60/£100 - I feel I can get to the end of the month and be in target - in fact I feel that I have still been buying more than I needed instead of using stuff up in the house (although mostly dried food so no waste) I think I will try this amount for next month as well to push myself then will increase it once my cupboards are less full

My meal plan for this week is 
Monday - Vegetable Crumble (other half will go in the freezer)
Tuesday - mash, fish fingers and veg 
Wednesday - Lentil Dhal and Rice (left overs will go in the freezer)
Thursday - Beans on toast 
Friday - Cheese and tomato quiche, fries and veg
Sat and Sun - TBC

SausageDogSandwich

@JingsMyBucket it’s for the cooking bacon 

goldfinches

@Suffolk_lass - the TGTG vanishing bags at the Co-op sound like a rip-off, I hope you can complain to the manager of that branch and get some recompense for your fuel costs.

I splurged for some cheese and bread at my local Mr T's yesterday rather than slog all the way into the centre of town which makes my new monthly total £32.51/£120 and my average daily spend £1.54.

Ginmonster

I popped into M&S today and got a few YS treats - a pack of ripe nectarines for £1.52 (from £2.50) and 2 big boxes of medjool dates reduced to £1.54 each (from a whopping £5.50 each). 

I also got a cucumber for 65p in coop so a total of £5.25 spent.

My total is up to £153.04/200 so I'm still very much on track.

DawnW

Suffolk_lass said:

I was banking on a TGTG bag from the not quite local coop last night but they let me down. Although I got there at the start of the collection window they said they had none. I am convinced some of them keep the bags back for staff as there is no connect between the people putting them up and those handing them out, so no accountability. The woman was awfully smug about the fact I would get a refund. Not of my fuel I won't!

So I picked up a bag of flour and a pot of ice cream and that was it. Just milk DD to go I think now.

Genuine question - is it cost effective to travel in the car for TGTG / Olio etc? Where I am, it definitely isn't (it seems to be all bread and processed type stuff), there is nothing within walking distance, and collection times aren't convenient. I do like a good Lidl £1.50 box if there are any available when I shop - but again, I wouldn't drive specially to check them out.

ragz_2

It definitely isn't cost effective for me, but I'm 6 miles from our nearest c0-0p. The two lots of TGTG bags I've had from there weren't really worth it, when fuel cost is added (currently 23p a mile for me) though last time I did go after work as I had a later finish, so didn't have to make a special trip.

Suffolk_lass

DawnW said:

Suffolk_lass said:

I was banking on a TGTG bag from the not quite local coop last night but they let me down. Although I got there at the start of the collection window they said they had none. I am convinced some of them keep the bags back for staff as there is no connect between the people putting them up and those handing them out, so no accountability. The woman was awfully smug about the fact I would get a refund. Not of my fuel I won't!

So I picked up a bag of flour and a pot of ice cream and that was it. Just milk DD to go I think now.

Genuine question - is it cost effective to travel in the car for TGTG / Olio etc? Where I am, it definitely isn't (it seems to be all bread and processed type stuff), there is nothing within walking distance, and collection times aren't convenient. I do like a good Lidl £1.50 box if there are any available when I shop - but again, I wouldn't drive specially to check them out.

I try to do a SM shop once a month and then inevitably, one or more other trips for something not on the list (SR flour this time) or a fruit top up. So if I am going out, or to the local town for another reason, I look for a TGTG bag. I could have got the flour 1.5 miles away, but along a road with no footway that is increasingly busy with lorries (think 32 ton tipper trucks) and a 60mph speed limit so at the moment, walking or cycling just is not safe.

We are mostly lucky with TGTG, usually it is F&V, with one or two bakery items. The nearest L*dl is more like 8 miles each way and the car park is a total wind-up in terms of poor design and the behaviour of some of the users there so unless they are just opening on a Sunday morning after I have been for a swim, I avoid. I wanted to try this particular co-op because it is in a super-trendy location (think tourists) and styles itself as a high class grocer (just not such high class staff on this occasion

CynicalPinnacle

Went to Sainos last to collect an eBay purchase (am trying to use click and collect that I can walk too over delivery as it creates less GHG emissions) and did a mop up shop. Spent £20.57 (£5 just on stocking up on discounted to £1 Borders Lemon biscuits that DH is addicted too). It still feels a bit extravagant but we should have shaved about £200 off our usual monthly spend, which isn't bad, especially as we'd already spent £243 by the 5th of the month 😱. I think I might bump us down to £500 in July.

£419.77 of £600 spent / £180.23 remaining