July 2022 Grocery Challenge

London_1

Blackcats  I'm pleased you have enjoyed them, they really are rather yummy and so easy to make aren't they. The courgette recipe sounds rather nice as well thank you i shall be using it this Monday for my meat-free Monday night meal

DD gave me another bowl of cherries from the pallet they have in her office so its been cherries for pudding this week Last night I had some with ordinary Ms Molly's cheapo vanilla ice cream from the freezer and they were delicious.

Definitely a taste of summer. I have some left over cooked new potatoes in the fridge, and its too warm to cook much tonight so I am going to have those sauteed in a little garlic oil with some diced chestnut mushrooms and a couple of eggs and some grated cheese in an omelette followed by Hmm probably some more of the cherries  which tonight will be mixed into some low-fat greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey .

Tomorrows late breakfast/early lunch will be egg, bacon, mushrooms, around 11.30 as I go to DDs late afternoon for sunday dinner so I only have a cooked brunch on a Sunday. I have made a trifle to take with me as my contribution.

Still no shopping bought and £14.63 left from July's budget, if its not used between now and next Saturday it will go into my Chase bank savings account I opened just for the left over food budget cash, I had arounf just over £6.odd in there when I opened it with some left over loose cash transferred from my ordinary account so as it gives a good rate it can stay there ,hopefully joined by some more over the coming months and if I can leave it until after Christmas it will do a 'big' shop for essentials.

I don't carry much actual cash anymore and have found its an easier way, so I'm not tempted to fritter it away on incidentals

Every little helps as is said   

JackieO 

goldfinches

I made a planned trip to Sains this afternoon to stock up on various kinds of booze which comes from my treat fund, while I was there I spotted one or two things that the Baking Budget needed and then some YS veg as well.

The Baking Budget spent £15.75 on gluten free vegan puff pastry, 1ltr light olive oil, cocoa and 750g lurpak spreadable which makes my new total a budget busting £24.65/£20. That's a bit of an ouch but the oil and butter should last for at least a couple of months so not so bad really.

I spent £1.90 on YS tenderstem and 2x radishes which makes my new monthly total £35.32/£120 and my average daily spend £1.53.

atrixa

Just caught up with the thread, it's moving faster than I can read!

I'm up to £136.92/£145 with my budget ending on Tuesday. I just need a few bits until then, so should come within budget. Experiencing lots of bare shelves again in my local supermarket

JingsMyBucket

Evening folks. On Friday Mr. Jings and I headed to Tesco at his prodding so he could get me out of the house for some fresh air. I had either been glued to my computer working or the bed napping due to still having jet lag from our trip. By Friday I was absolutely drained mentally after a week of work and cooking. I had gone into Tesco with our roughly remaining £20 budget in mind but we went over nonetheless.  My intention was to get a Charlie Bigham ready meal for my dinner due to being exhausted but they didn't have the one I wanted so looked to YS items instead. 

£23.96 spent at Tesco for Greek yoghurt, 2 containers of pomegranate seeds, oat bars, ham, YS breaded chicken tenders, YS sausages, YS peaches that turned out to be moldy after we got them home, and an apple pie that I thought was YS but that particular box didn't have a sticker on there so we paid full price. D'OH!! 

£253.13 / £250 spent so far. OVER BY £3.13

Anyway, we're over just ever so slightly but that should be it for the month. I'm flying back to NYC on Tuesday to take care of some house and business stuff and Mr. Jings will be on his own with a full fridge. Even he said he will be fine with all the food in the house.

I must say though, I'm really proud of how we've been managing our meals and food the past couple weeks. Not one single take out or delivery meal was bought because we've been eating through our vegetables, fruit and meat stocks. This week we cooked all of our dinners, save Friday's YS feast, from existing resources. When I felt too tired to cook, Mr. Jings picked up the slack. We really worked as a team to keep our costs, calories and wastage down. Well done us! 

Have a great night all and a good week. 

PipneyJane

Good morning All, hope you had good weekends.  I hope to catch up on your posts later on.

I have a small spend to declare:  £3.92 spent on salad, cold meat, wraps and hummus at MrT’s yesterday, for a picnic lunch while we were out.  With 8p change going to the coppers jar, this brings our total spend for July to £122/£140 leaving £18 for the rest of the month.

- Pip

joedenise

YS peaches that turned out to be moldy after we got them home, 

@JingsMyBucket - call Tesco Customer Services and they should refund the money for the peaches.  It doesn't matter that they were YS as long as they are in date.  They may want you to email them with a photo of the peaches plus a photo of the barcode.  It probably isn't much money but it is the principle of the matter.

I have had to do this a couple of times and have always had the money refunded.

I do have a small spend to declare but haven't got the receipt to hand but it was just over £5.  Will update properly later in the week as I have another small shop which I need to do, probably tomorrow or Wednesday.

Suffolk_lass

It's great that you and your OH are working as a team on this @JingsMyBucket, it makes such a difference when they support your efforts. Well done!

We don't anticipate spending any more with the exception of milk, and possibly yogurt, and have a garden full of produce and a fridge full to work through

Soontobeoap

@joedenise @JingsMyBucket I agree. Tescos are really good with refunds I have been shopping regularly with them since before covid. They nearly always have the items you want, do sensible replacements and on the rare occasion that I have had to complain they sort it quickly and give a good apology. I had my first Morrisons order 2 weeks ago and they were dreadful at sorting things out and I had to complain about the rudeness of their email re substitutions which basically said ( what we send is what you get!)  I hadn’t ever tried the item and their were so many less sausages than I had ordered. Anyway eventually gave me a £5.00 voucher but not until I had complained about their attitude.

Any how. I am still trundling along in July. We have had just over a 5 week month due to me finishing the last one on 24th June. We have had 3 grandsons staying for a week too. Again I have gone over budget . £425.89 / £400. It is hard to anticipate when I don’t know who will be staying through the summer months but the challenge is definitely keeping me more focused.I  Can’t guarantee that the shopping has finished for this month yet either. The warmer weather has meant more ice lollies and ice cream shopping and the children eat much more fruit than I had anticipated. I can’t believe how much the price of apples has gone up. Also they love the soft fruits which are always more expensive but I like to treat them whilst they are at Nanny and Poppets.

I am trying hard to cut back this year but it will be good to use these figures next year as my baseline for further cuts.

not moving over to August budget until the 1st this time.

joedenise

@Soontobeoap - I find it easier to work to calendar months as we have money coming in at various times throughout the month!  I've managed to get to the stage where any money coming in this month is what pays for next month's bills and shopping etc.  I think it's a much better way to work when you don't get all your money in one go.

mumtoomany

I've got several spends to add on, about £50, maybe? Need to find the receipts to add them. Two more mouths to feed for a while now. Great niece and great nephew, 27 months and 14 months, are staying for a while. There baby brother is in hospital an hour from their home. So little ones staying here. Also have the three DGC off school for summer. Now you know why i have this user name. Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx