June 2022 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

Good evening All

I have two shops to declare:  a small one on Sunday to buy lunch for our regular visit to the games club (RPG’s and Board Games), plus a big store-cupboard shop on Monday.  Both were at MrT’s.  Sunday’s shop came to £4.92 and included two YS packets of chicken slices, 2 bags of YS rocket salad, a tub of houmous and a pack of wholemeal tortilla wraps (85p).

Monday’s shop was primarily to take advantage of a double-points voucher AND to lock-in prices on some store-cupboard staples that we can see will go up considerably before Christmas.  We bought a 10kg sack of Leila basmati rice (£16, up from £12 over a year ago), plus a 10kg sack of MrT’s own-brand Chapatti flour (£5.25, up from £4 last September).  We also bought 4 packs of Eco toilet paper (£3.30 for 9 rolls, no change), 6 packets of bulgar wheat (£1.15), 6 bottles of Erdinger non-alcoholic beer (£1.28), which tastes like “proper” beer and a couple of tins of pink salmon (£3 each).  Oh and I took advantage of their 2-for-£11 offer on my hair-dye, buying 4.  The initial total was £120.87, but we put in £30 of vouchers to cover the bulk items/booze and I contributed £22 for the hair-dye.  Once all the “Clubcard offers” were accounted for, the Grocery Challenge paid £55.69.

The above brings our total spend to £126.58/£140, leaving £13.42 for the rest of the month.

- Pip

thriftwizard

Well, since I last posted, we've spent a grand total of £27. The entire household has gone down with COVID, one after another, so we've been surviving on what we already had in. But DD1 is now testing clear & ventured out to the supermarket today to top up supplies of bread, fresh fruit & veg, hence the £27. I feel a bit of a fraud as I've definitely got off very lightly; one of the lucky ones with just "light cold" symptoms though I'm aware it may not stay that way. 

I suspect that if I hadn't lost track, we'd still be within my budget & on track to stay that way. Not sure whether that qualifies as a minor miracle!

MissRikkiC

PipneyJane said:

Good evening All

I have two shops to declare:  a small one on Sunday to buy lunch for our regular visit to the games club (RPG’s and Board Games), plus a big store-cupboard shop on Monday.  Both were at MrT’s.  Sunday’s shop came to £4.92 and included two YS packets of chicken slices, 2 bags of YS rocket salad, a tub of houmous and a pack of wholemeal tortilla wraps (85p).

Monday’s shop was primarily to take advantage of a double-points voucher AND to lock-in prices on some store-cupboard staples that we can see will go up considerably before Christmas.  We bought a 10kg sack of Leila basmati rice (£16, up from £12 over a year ago), plus a 10kg sack of MrT’s own-brand Chapatti flour (£5.25, up from £4 last September).  We also bought 4 packs of Eco toilet paper (£3.30 for 9 rolls, no change), 6 packets of bulgar wheat (£1.15), 6 bottles of Erdinger non-alcoholic beer (£1.28), which tastes like “proper” beer and a couple of tins of pink salmon (£3 each).  Oh and I took advantage of their 2-for-£11 offer on my hair-dye, buying 4.  The initial total was £120.87, but we put in £30 of vouchers to cover the bulk items/booze and I contributed £22 for the hair-dye.  Once all the “Clubcard offers” were accounted for, the Grocery Challenge paid £55.69.

The above brings our total spend to £126.58/£140, leaving £13.42 for the rest of the month.

- Pip

Have you heard of Catan? That’s a great board game! We often play over zoom with my sister and her husband if we can’t get to see them! (They have it too so we just replicate each others moves) 

Can I ask how you then repurpose the chapati flour for what you need? I’m really keen to buy a big ole bag of the same stuff but wouldn’t know how to use it for what. 

That seems an okay price albeit not the same as before. Also were the AF Erdinger that pride each or for 6?

thanks

PipneyJane

thriftwizard said:

Well, since I last posted, we've spent a grand total of £27. The entire household has gone down with COVID, one after another, so we've been surviving on what we already had in. But DD1 is now testing clear & ventured out to the supermarket today to top up supplies of bread, fresh fruit & veg, hence the £27. I feel a bit of a fraud as I've definitely got off very lightly; one of the lucky ones with just "light cold" symptoms though I'm aware it may not stay that way. 

I suspect that if I hadn't lost track, we'd still be within my budget & on track to stay that way. Not sure whether that qualifies as a minor miracle!

Hope you all get off lightly @thriftwizard and that you feel better soon.

- Pip

PipneyJane

MissRikkiC said:

PipneyJane said:

Good evening All

I have two shops to declare:  a small one on Sunday to buy lunch for our regular visit to the games club (RPG’s and Board Games), plus a big store-cupboard shop on Monday.  Both were at MrT’s.  Sunday’s shop came to £4.92 and included two YS packets of chicken slices, 2 bags of YS rocket salad, a tub of houmous and a pack of wholemeal tortilla wraps (85p).

Monday’s shop was primarily to take advantage of a double-points voucher AND to lock-in prices on some store-cupboard staples that we can see will go up considerably before Christmas.  We bought a 10kg sack of Leila basmati rice (£16, up from £12 over a year ago), plus a 10kg sack of MrT’s own-brand Chapatti flour (£5.25, up from £4 last September).  We also bought 4 packs of Eco toilet paper (£3.30 for 9 rolls, no change), 6 packets of bulgar wheat (£1.15), 6 bottles of Erdinger non-alcoholic beer (£1.28), which tastes like “proper” beer and a couple of tins of pink salmon (£3 each).  Oh and I took advantage of their 2-for-£11 offer on my hair-dye, buying 4.  The initial total was £120.87, but we put in £30 of vouchers to cover the bulk items/booze and I contributed £22 for the hair-dye.  Once all the “Clubcard offers” were accounted for, the Grocery Challenge paid £55.69.

The above brings our total spend to £126.58/£140, leaving £13.42 for the rest of the month.

- Pip

Have you heard of Catan? That’s a great board game! We often play over zoom with my sister and her husband if we can’t get to see them! (They have it too so we just replicate each others moves) 

Can I ask how you then repurpose the chapati flour for what you need? I’m really keen to buy a big ole bag of the same stuff but wouldn’t know how to use it for what. 

That seems an okay price albeit not the same as before. Also were the AF Erdinger that pride each or for 6?

thanks

Settlers of Catan @MissRikkiC?  Yes, we play it a lot. It's a great game.  My DH once won having placed all his villages on hexes with 2s, 11s and 12s.

I use Chapati flour for everything. It's a light wholemeal, strong flour that usually makes really good bread; no additives required.  To make it into self-raising, I add a teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour.   I store it in the largest-sized Lock-n-Lock boxes (? 5L size).  A 10kg sack needs 2 of them.  I own five and 2 are currently empty, so I'll decant the flour this weekend.  I don't trust the paper sack it's in for long term storage.  (The rice, on the other hand, is in a plasticised sack and I know from previous experience that it will keep safely for months.)

The Erdinger is £1.28 each.  I was introduced to it by a colleague and very surprised because, to me, it just tastes like regular a wheat beer, similar to Hoegaarden.  I've tried non-alcoholic beers in the past and not been impressed.  

HTH

- Pip

ETA:  The Lock-n-Lock boxes are 9 litre.  (I just checked.)

MissRikkiC

Really helpful yes thanks @PipneyJane

And Yes Settlers of Catan! That’s some tactics from your OH there! 

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning GC'rs!

A £19.38 spend in MrL to own up to.  That does include a £1.50 veg box, although it was marginal whether to bother today.  They've definitely changed (not for the better), how they are made up, and are therefore increasingly less useful to me.  

Question for the group - "Has anyone used MrL 'tahini with honey' from the MrL Greek range?". 

There was a 350g jar in the RTC section, so I bought it, in the hope that it won't be any different to conventional tahini (with the exception it will taste sweeter) - but is my punt correct?  It was marked down 30%, so I paid £1.39 for it, which I thought was quite reasonable............😬  I'm hopeful I could use it as I would tahini, eg for hummus or dressings etc.

Greying X

Suffolk_lass

@PipneyJane @MissRikkiC Are you both familiar with The London Game? We bought it for Christmas and it has just the right amount of vindictiveness!

Nothing bought here. Just opening the freezer and shopping from stores for supper. I do need to shop next week to use up my voucher and also because I am doing the lunch for 24 people next Friday!

MissRikkiC

Suffolk_lass said:

@PipneyJane @MissRikkiC Are you both familiar with The London Game? We bought it for Christmas and it has just the right amount of vindictiveness!

Nothing bought here. Just opening the freezer and shopping from stores for supper. I do need to shop next week to use up my voucher and also because I am doing the lunch for 24 people next Friday!

I’ve not heard of this but it sounds like my kind of thing! 

pamsdish

£3.31 in L1D1,