September 2022 Grocery Challenge

London_1

1st day of the month and a NSD for me,I did a friend a favour and took her and her OH to the hospital for an appointment ,bless her she bought me a nice coffee and we had a natter while her OH had his treatment.
Just dropped her off and she stuck an envelope into the glove box and insisted I take it for the petrol, I said I didn't want it but she insisted  
Just got home now, and she had put a £20.00 note in there  !!!,I feel awful as I really didn't want it, but she said it would make her feel better as I took them last month as well.
Its around a 30 mile round trip but I am more than happy to help her, as her car has died on her, and she said they won't bother to get a new one anymore as she said it really wasn't worth it as they didn't use it a great deal and they always had trouble parking. So a bit of a weird day all round as my energy company texted me to say they are lowering my D/D by £6.00 a month from next month.

Belt tightening for me anyway as my youngest DGS Mikey goes off to Uni at the end of this month, and I will do for him what I did for his three brothers, and make a standing order for him for the 1st of the month so I know he will at least have enough for a basic food package every month.

He's been really good and stashing his cash for the past 18 months from his part time job as his grant will still be short for his Halls rent and his parents will help make that up.

Still he's the last of my grandchildren to go on to Uni so the others got it and I will make sure he has enough to eat at least The end of this month before e goes I will make a large box of essentials up for him cleaning toiletries etc so at least I know he won't have to fork out for that.
Knowing Mikey he will be looking for part time work as soon as he can once up there at Colchester as he is going to Essex Uni to study graphic design and film/photography. All the boys found work while at Uni and are all grafters thank goodness

JackieO xx
 

pinkypig

First shop of the new month done today. Mainly stuck to the list but did get a few staples like tomato purée, veg stock cubes and essential chopped tomatoes as my Aldi has been very hit and miss with stocks of these recently and they are often at the core of my cooking.  Got four tins of beans to get the offer and a 75%off granary loaf so it’s looking like beans on toast for lunches 😀. I also got two weeks worth of oat milk as if it hadn’t been for running short of that I could have skipped a shop this week (with a bit of substituting).  We are veggie not vegan so I do buy cow’s milk too as I prefer that in cooking and on cereal but I now buy 2 litres of full fat filtered milk which is 15p more than non filtered but lasts ages and I water it down half and half.  It tastes just like semi skimmed and means I only need to buy one lot and not two as we get through 4 litres between shops.  Every little helps 😀
Anyway, after all that flannel it was £32.47 including some toiletries so I’m on track as long as I make sure there are no top ups between now and next week! 

PP x

leftatthetrafficlights

LittleGem said:

leftatthetrafficlights said:

Well another £89 spent yesterday 🤦‍♀️ £31 of that was alcohol for the damson gin & raspberry vodka that I'm making but even so....😳 I'm pretty sure I've got no chance of coming in on budget considering we're not even in September yet and I've already gone over the 2/3rds mark! 🙈 £216/£300

Could you not shift the £31 into a different category? Is it for Christmas/gifting?

@LittleGem - its not for gifting or the holiday period - just something that I do every year as we love it and get the fruit from foraging 😉

I could take the money from the slush fund/persie spend budgets but the reality is we spend this cash every year so it needs to be accounted for - I used to buy all of my groceries in bulk from a wholesale cooperative but have changed that in the past 12-18 months as our household numbers have halved and its no longer worth doing - the answer for me really is to reduce monthly budget by £50 but put that money to a 'bulk buy' fund (although not 25kg's of grains/pulses at a time! 😉) which these expenses can come out of in future. 

Crazycatlady2

hazeldreams said:

Crazycatlady2 said:

hazeldreams said:

Hi all,

I’d love to join in please! 

We are 2 adults, 2 hungry teens and a hungry black lab! 

Our groceries include all food, alcohol, cleaning products, toiletries and we have been spending roughly £800pm over last 3 months (down from £1000pm before that). I know it’s a huge sum compared to others on here but we’re trying to do it slowly as we’ve crashed and burned just cutting right back in the past! 

£750 for September please

I’m a high spender in here too. 5 of us eating adult portions plus a dog and cat 

Glad it’s not just us! Do you mind me asking how much you’ve budgeted for September? I know you shouldn’t compare but it’s so hard not to when you feel like an outsider! 

Tbh I can’t stick to a budget when I’ve tried. August was £600 ish inc cleaning etc but not sure if I included pet food and takeaways was off the charts with visitors and my 40th birthday etc included 😢

september I’m aiming for no takeaways and £600 I hope but don’t know if will need pet food this month or next and I buy in bulk. 

Greying_Pilgrim

8.00pm Thursday 1st Sept - "Secrets of your Supermarket Shop" on Channel 5.  

Forgot to add earlier that this programme is airing tonight and is supposed to have tips on saving energy when cooking a roast dinner.  I have no idea if the info will be good/bad/indifferent or startlingly obvious - and as a vegetarian, I would no longer know where to start cooking a roast myself, never mind how to cook it efficiently, but I thought I would mention it, just in case it is of use to someone.  The programme is on for 1hr, and there are other topics covered - it's not just about the roast.  

Greying X

FrugalThymes

Thank you @Greying_Pilgrim that sounds interesting, will watch on catch up! 

Day one, NSD and some lovely bits just picked up for free on Olio. I've signed up to be a food waste volunteer and our first collection is tomorrow!

London_1

Greying_Pilgrim said:

8.00pm Thursday 1st Sept - "Secrets of your Supermarket Shop" on Channel 5.  

Forgot to add earlier that this programme is airing tonight and is supposed to have tips on saving energy when cooking a roast dinner.  I have no idea if the info will be good/bad/indifferent or startlingly obvious - and as a vegetarian, I would no longer know where to start cooking a roast myself, never mind how to cook it efficiently, but I thought I would mention it, just in case it is of use to someone.  The programme is on for 1hr, and there are other topics covered - it's not just about the roast.  

Greying X

I watched part of it and I must say I wasn't impressed, They did a gadget test with a breadmaker, a soup maker and a slow cooker To say that four people wouldhave a tin of soup each at the cost of £6.00 was pushing it a bit and the Mum was a sensible lady and said her £10.00 blender and saucepan was a lot better than a £37 soupmaker .  I make my own soup but I have a blender attachment to my food mixer which is excellent and I can make a large pot of soup for less than a quid. The lady did say her veg would be cheaper as well. So it got the thumbs down but they all agreed the slow cooker was good and a good way to cook.

The chap who was presenting the programme was a bit irritating, he was waffling on a bit ,especially about fruit, and then the plant based food being conjoured up in the lab.  I must admit seeing how its made didn't encourage me to want to buy it or eat it, but then I'm not a big meat eater anyway. But it was I guess an interesting programme but a bit inflation on their prices getting worked up over sourdough bread at £1.40 - £3.00 a loaf I'm glad I don't eat a great deal of bread either at that price  

JackieO xx

Saver-upper

Can I join in again please, elsiepac?

I returned to this thread last month for the first time in about 2 years. I may have set my target a little low, especially considering it is school holidays, with everyone home. I had set a target of £300, ended up spending just over £400 eeeekkkk!!

So going to try again. elsiepac please put me down for £300 again this month. I plan to do some more serious meal planning this month, which often falls by the wayside during the holidays. I would also like to run down the contents of my small under- counter freezer. 

If I can't stay within target this month, it might be time to admit I need to reconsider a new monthly target going forward.

Greying_Pilgrim

London_1 said:

I watched part of it and I must say I wasn't impressed, They did a gadget test with a breadmaker, a soup maker and a slow cooker To say that four people wouldhave a tin of soup each at the cost of £6.00 was pushing it a bit and the Mum was a sensible lady and said her £10.00 blender and saucepan was a lot better than a £37 soupmaker .  I make my own soup but I have a blender attachment to my food mixer which is excellent and I can make a large pot of soup for less than a quid. The lady did say her veg would be cheaper as well. So it got the thumbs down but they all agreed the slow cooker was good and a good way to cook.

The chap who was presenting the programme was a bit irritating, he was waffling on a bit ,especially about fruit, and then the plant based food being conjoured up in the lab.  I must admit seeing how its made didn't encourage me to want to buy it or eat it, but then I'm not a big meat eater anyway. But it was I guess an interesting programme but a bit inflation on their prices getting worked up over sourdough bread at £1.40 - £3.00 a loaf I'm glad I don't eat a great deal of bread either at that price  

JackieO xx

Hey hun - as it happens, DH had flicked onto that channel, and I did see a part of the gadget comparison - more the summing up section.  I think the mum was right about the soup maker - a stickblender and pan are much better options (more versatile).  But I thought the £6 cost comment was directed to the chickpea curry (Angellica referred to it as a 'stew'), for the 4 of them - made in their existing slow cooker/multi cooker.  Whether it was a stew or a curry - £6 is a ridiculous cost.  There is no way that it should cost that much - unless they were using premium brand organic tomatoes and organic chickpeas or something.  Angellica said that the same 'stew' would cost in between £4 - £6 in the shop - it flashed up on the screen.  

It's a shame that these type of programmes set out with the best of intentions, or cover what (seemingly) are relevant or important topics, but end up doing a poor job of examining them.  The BBC version of "eating good for reduced expenditure" is equally banal and the presenters don't add to the experience.  Still, if the BBC no longer seeks to 'educate and inform' and focuses everything through the lense of shock, awe and entertainment, then other broadcasters ain't gonna 'up the ante' either, are they 🙁

Greying X

LunaCatty

First grocery delivery of the month for us today. I've ended up stocking up a little on some bits as my favourite coffee was on a reasonable offer and I wanted a few quick fixes for the next week or so since we restart homeschooling next week. Total has come to £62.76.

£62.76/£300.00