March 2023 Grocery Challenge

KajiKita

Thanks for the suggestions @Gettingmyshiztogether and @Soontobeoap 😊 I will have a further rummage and see what compromise might be achieved.

Love the idea of a husbands crèche whilst the grocery shopping is happening 😂 Mr KK would need spanners, manuals and eB@y please! 😂😉

And @Soontobeoap your crafting is going so well this year!! 😊👏👍🎉

KK

2Scratters

Had a 2nd haul of TGTG bags from our local morrisons, wow what a lot of sensible and nice bits in both including 2 x 2l bottles of milk. They are skimmed over our preferred SS but am not complaining as it tastes just as good in our coffee treats. Plus a small spend of £12.67 on essential bits. Keeping this costing as low as possible as it is a 5 week month and would like to push to the end of month as I get paid on the 27th. We have eaten 2 evening meals the same on Friday and Saturday which helps with planning and more time for during the day doing other bits. 

2 Scratters xx

MissRikkiC

Does anyone know if when you return an item with a supermarket delivery and it takes you to under the basket minimum if they charge you the £4 basket fee? 

[Deleted User]

Just got myself updated with my reciepts.  I have £!01.96 left until the 25th.  Should be ok.  I have a weekend away booked this weekend and we will take food with us to minimise spending so that will come out of the food budget for this month too.  

joedenise

MissRikkiC said:

Does anyone know if when you return an item with a supermarket delivery and it takes you to under the basket minimum if they charge you the £4 basket fee? 

When my sister had a SM delivery and she sent something back which took her under the minimum spend they didn't charge her and also still allowed the use of a money off coupon for a certain spend which of course she was then under!  So hopefully your SM will be the same.

Soontobeoap

@MissRikkiC if you are returning something because it is not what you ordered or because it is not to the standard that you expected they do not charge basket minimum if you go under. I have not tried other than that 

PipneyJane

Good afternoon All

I have come to the conclusion that I’m going shopping too often.  Part of the problem is that, if you want fresh veg, you have to go more frequently AND often to multiple supermarkets to get what you need.  (I still mourn the closure of my local farm shop, which grew almost everything they sold - except eggs - and not only was it fresh, it lasted.)

Thursday night, I succumbed to the “KBA-to-cook” syndrome, and stopped at L1dl on my way home from work. £9.89 spent.  Ironically, I didn’t buy anything for dinner, but did manage to find their illusive German rye bread for £1.29.  (I’d swear it was 79p a year ago.  It was 99p in December).  DH dug one of their Salmon-en-croute out of the freezer and cooked that, instead.   I did buy him some “treat chocolate” to enjoy on his last night at home for 2 weeks.  (He’s travelling with work).

Yesterday, I helped a friend with some accounts, and stopped again at L!dl on my way home.  Picked up a YS pizza, another salmon en croute - to replenish the freezer - a jar of their Gold instant coffee, 1L of lactose free skimmed milk (£1.05) and a couple of long-dated packs of marinated anchovies.  £15.10 spent.  I had half the pizza for dinner and the other half for today’s lunch.

Today, I made a special trip to a not-quite-local branch of Sainsbugs, to fill up the car.  Their diesel is 10p cheaper than anywhere-else in our part of London (but only at that branch).  Since I was there, I bought a large head of loose broccoli - not wrapped in plastic - and 3 loose peppers (no “family packs” available).  £2.76 spent.  Forgot to buy crème fraiche, but that can wait until next weekend.

The above brings our March spend to £45.47/£156.50, leaving £111.03 for the rest of the month.

Mealplan wise, since I’m on my own for two weeks, I have to avoid the temptation to live on either ready meals or toasties.  I have a lot of food in the house; there is no excuse for not eating healthily.

Today, I’m making Cuban Black Bean Stew in the slow cooker, which will feed me tonight and give me several lunchboxes for the week ahead.  Once the rugby is over, I’ll make a pot of Chickpea & Chorizo Stew, for dinner on Tuesday.  (I’m dining with a friend on Monday.).   Between the two dishes, they should keep me fed until Friday.

- Pip

Soontobeoap

I would say that you are doing well this month @PipneyJane 👏.

I swear we will be vegetarian by the end of 2023 the way that I have started stretching meat.

Changed our minds yesterday and had chicken chow mein instead of sweet and sour chicken, so I only used one of the chicken breasts that I had taken out of the freezer. Tonight I am experimenting!! I have  lightly fried some pieces of chicken followed by onion and mushrooms. Put them all in an oven proof dish and covered with half a tin of mushroom soup. 🤷‍♀️. Then I have thinly sliced 2 medium potatoes and layered with garlic, the other half of the onion, some grated. cheese and seasoning. Finally I covered it all with the other half a tin of soup mixed with a little milk.

Who knows what it will taste like? Hopefully its good comfort food after hubbys game of bowls  Wish me luck🤞.


If any body had told me a year ago that I would have got DH to eat different things, or that I would be experimenting with cooking and enjoying it, I would never have believed them! 😂

Will let you all know verdict tomorrow!!! 

Nelliegrace

We went out to lunch today with DD, SIL and grandchilden.
This meal has been postponed several times since early December, by Covid, Strep A, another viral infection, and it was touch and go if the recent Covid contact would cancel it again.

So, we celebrated two big birthdays ending in 0, three other birthdays, Christmas, my long delayed bus pass, and next week’s Mothering Sunday.  The youngest has delayed the latest growth spurt and was allowed his meal half price, proper food not the junk food children’s meals offered at some restaurants, and he tried several new things. I showed him how to peel king prawns. I managed to stick to reduced carbs, and we were provided with free jugs of tap water with lemon to drink. I enjoyed several little portions of fish, poultry and meat with vegetables, the thinnest of crêpes, and a bit of fruit and cream for desert. We went to DD’s for coffee.
I am not counting the bill in my budget because it was from December’s budget, and it has been earning interest since then.
My Fortune Cookie read, “Good things come to those who wait.”

PipneyJane

Soontobeoap said:

I would say that you are doing well this month @PipneyJane 👏.

I swear we will be vegetarian by the end of 2023 the way that I have started stretching meat.

Changed our minds yesterday and had chicken chow mein instead of sweet and sour chicken, so I only used one of the chicken breasts that I had taken out of the freezer. Tonight I am experimenting!! I have  lightly fried some pieces of chicken followed by onion and mushrooms. Put them all in an oven proof dish and covered with half a tin of mushroom soup. 🤷‍♀️. Then I have thinly sliced 2 medium potatoes and layered with garlic, the other half of the onion, some grated. cheese and seasoning. Finally I covered it all with the other half a tin of soup mixed with a little milk.

Who knows what it will taste like? Hopefully its good comfort food after hubbys game of bowls  Wish me luck🤞.


If any body had told me a year ago that I would have got DH to eat different things, or that I would be experimenting with cooking and enjoying it, I would never have believed them! 😂

Will let you all know verdict tomorrow!!! 

Please do @Soontobeoap.  Sounds yummy.

- Pip