August 2022 Grocery Challenge

diminua

Drinks with Dad on Thursday after I posted - £10.20. Then lunchtime Friday (WFH) I popped to JS and got a ciabatta, orange juice, tinned tuna, soft fruit and salad veg, plain yogurt, carrots, coffee, salad potatoes, pestos and pasta (£15.25 with a voucher). By last night the last third of the ciabatta was getting quite dry so I chopped it in half and made mini pizzas with tomato paste, sliced tomatoes, tuna and parmesan. I need to make an egg salad sandwich for lunch tomorrow, and I'll take in a few squares of chocolate and some nuts and raisins for snacking so I'm not tempted to buy crisps. 

LittleGem

Well £30.59 spend in Mr.L’s. Not bad as I had to get nappies and kids vitamins but also added another bag of pasta and some store cupboard bits. Also chuffed to get a £1.50 box - they regularly have these in there but I’m always wielding a pram and a toddler on the loose so never able to carry it! But I spotted one with a punnet of grapes, pack of 4 corn on the cobs, a few onions, sweet potatoes, peppers, couple of sad looking carrots and satsumas so grabbed one and decanted it into my shopping bags only to discover a huge pile of radishes at the bottom 🤣definitely worth it but has anyone got any ideas of what I can do with radishes other than salad? Pickle them?

£146.63/£200

katkin

Spend to declare today - £23.06 to top up the usual and stock up baking ingredients. Funny how they run low when you've been baking   

Yesterday I reorganised the herbs / spices, baking, dry goods, carbs and beans / pulses cupboards. Nice and clean now and everything rotated and noted down. Hence why I needed flour, yeast, brown sugar, dried fruit etc. Managed to get some reduced (49p) item "fancy" flours in Morries that will make nice bread. Or very unusual pizza bases  

Also starting to get low on cleaning things. No sign of star drops anywhere, so I bought pink stuff as it's made by the same brand. Apart from bleach, vinegar, soda crystals and washing up liquid I don't buy any other cleaning products - but I do rate star drops. 

A cat food order was made. My old boy is on a prescription diet which comes out of the vets n' pets budget and I have a 5 month old youngster on shop bought kitten food. The prescription food usually comes from the vets but I thought I'd shop around to see if I could get it cheaper elsewhere and I did by £32! - also got kitten food in bulk reducing his weekly cost by 50p. Feel a bit bad, bit like the milk delivery, taking the income from the local vets online elsewhere. But I'll feel nowhere as bad as I will when the winter energy bills come round... sad state of affairs. 

Anyway the kitten food spend for the week is £4.50. Brings my total spend this week to £27.56. Leaving a balance of £4.96 for the rest of the GC   

£4.96 for 10 days. It'll be a challenge but I have enough in stock to try, only milk will be needed. 

I agree, this thread has been so helpful and you are the only folk who I "know" who seem to understand old-style and thrift. People around me are spending as normal (some like mad even!) and seem uninterested in rising costs, energy, budgeting or the economic and social crisis that's building by the day. 

Keep on in there everyone x 

Nicki_Sue

T3sco Click & Collect £53.67
That's the cat all taken care of, loo roll (£6.59 for 24 rolls) plus other bits I couldn't find elsewhere.
All stocked to the hilt and meal plans done for the next three weeks.
The plan is to not buy anything else other fresh stuff/veg that I can't get from the garden for the next couple of weeks.

£223.61/£650 (Budget ends 16th Sept)

elsiepac

Does anyone have any any recommendations for good DW tabs? I currently get mine on a plastic free subscription service called smol which is great as I don’t have to think about buying them and they don’t come individually wrapped in plastic, but wondering if there are any decent cheaper plastic free options I should consider?

I actually use Smol as well for both dishwasher and laundry - they are a little costly and they've certainly gone up in price a lot in the last couple of years but I have to say I'm really happy with them.  However I do live alone so I likely use much less than you... do you have an eco-type shop near you? They often have refills of Ecover/Method etc that you can take your own container in to fill so there's no extra packaging used

elsiepac

Greying_Pilgrim said:

Sorry to 'think out loud', but it helps me to set out my plan and know where I'm aiming - even if I don't get there. 

Greying X

Personally I love your "train of thought" posts, don't ever stop!

LittleGem

elsiepac said:

Does anyone have any any recommendations for good DW tabs? I currently get mine on a plastic free subscription service called smol which is great as I don’t have to think about buying them and they don’t come individually wrapped in plastic, but wondering if there are any decent cheaper plastic free options I should consider?

I actually use Smol as well for both dishwasher and laundry - they are a little costly and they've certainly gone up in price a lot in the last couple of years but I have to say I'm really happy with them.  However I do live alone so I likely use much less than you... do you have an eco-type shop near you? They often have refills of Ecover/Method etc that you can take your own container in to fill so there's no extra packaging used

Yes we only have a small DW but it runs minimum every other day. I do have an eco shop actually, I’ve recently started getting washing up liquid and hand soap in there although it’s definitely pricier than a cheapo one from L!dl but I feel better about the plastic. Thanks!

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Evening GC'rs

Thanks elsiepac 😊

I haven't posted a pic of 'us tea' in a while, but I tried a 'new to me' recipe tonight, so I took a pic of it because it was simple to make, tasted good, and is relatively inexpensive to make, so a keeper for me 😊



I made a version of Green Spinach Coconut Curry.  If you would like to see it made by the vlogger that inspired me to try the dish, then tune into her utoob channel HERE.  The curry prep/cooking starts at 9.22 and a link to the recipe is also in the description box.  If you're interested in DIY weddings, in wonderful Canadian lakeside locations, then be sure to check out Sadia & Robin's latest vlog.................

Back to the food......  I didn't have any channa dal, so used conventional yellow split peas instead.  I did soak them overnight, but they cooked quickly in the PC, so I probably didn't need to, but as I wasn't too sure how 'fresh' the dried peas were, I erred on the side of caution.  I served the curry with a dollop of yoghurt and some pomegranate seeds (I had picked up a pomegranate from the waste divert a couple of weeks ago, and it was fine, but very pithy, so didn't yield many seeds, but what there were, were beautifully ripe and juicy).  I also served tortillas for 'scooping'.  I hadn't got any naan, and couldn't be bothered to make flatbreads - and the tortilla wraps worked, so......... This is definitely a keeper of a recipe for me, as LG ate up the curry alongside their splodge of 'ordinary' lentil dhal (although their curry portion didn't have spinach in it - one step at a time......) and declared it delish.  LG enjoyed 'scooping' with their bread, and tucked in with gusto.

Greying X

weenancyinAmerica

I like to grate radishes into salads and into tacos. Sliced can be used with dips as snacks.

joedenise

Couple of spends over the weekend to declare.  Have now spent £81.86 of my now £200 budget leaving £118.14 until the end of the month.

As we are away in September anything left will be used for holiday spending in addition to that which is already budgeted.  We are away for the whole month in the motorhome in France/Belgium/Germany but no real plan just following our noses!