July 2023 Grocery Challenge

[Deleted User]

Hi @elsiepac, I'm late getting organised this month.

Please put me down for £300 for July. 

More than usual as I am doing a pantry/freezer restock and rethink.  Thanks again for running the thread

MissRikkiC

It’s for 3 now @Soontobeoap. Bank breaking! But honestly also been a life saver this last week whilst my work has been SO full on. Not being able to reach for some chocolate the same these days hurts. @Nelliegrace yes no soya, no diary. And they don’t taste awful. I’ll pay the premium for that bit!

diminua

£34.20 spent on: pain au choc and lunch (forgot my sandwich so had noodles and veggie stir fry at work), fruit and salad veg, Greek style yogurt, smoked salmon, parmesan, pasta, coffee, tinned tuna, bread and orange juice. I need marmite, milk, more tomatoes, probably more bread, tgel and some cleaning stuff.
Nuts, muesli base, jam and dried soya are on the list, but can wait for a bit. I've got a lot of rice and should probably organise myself to make chilli or veg curry at some point. 

Soontobeoap

Large shopping order arrived late last night. I just shoved all of the frozen stuff in freezer and will need to reorganize today as there is so much more stuff to be frozen. Not sure that I will get all of the gf bread in or the pizzas which is OK but means I have to watch the dates carefully. In normal times I am ok with that but when everyone descends i easily lose track. 🤦‍♀️. Have now spent nearly half my budget and not even at end of week 1 but hopefully stocked up enough bow to achieve my aim. Sister is coming at the weekend so looking forward ro that.

On the subject of icecream does any one know if Oatly have stopped making ice cream? I cant find it anywhere. Others seem to have wheat of all things in them! The ones that dont have soya. 

joedenise

First shop of the month done but as it was a bit of a pantry  and freezer stock up most money came from the Bulk Fund.  The general grocery challenge amount was just £22.10/£250 leaving £227.90 for rest of the month.

Still need to get some more fish and mince as didn't buy as much as I wanted as wasn't sure how much freezer space we had but have enough for at least the first couple of weeks.  Still have some money left in the bulk fund so it will come from there rather than the GC!

LittleGem

£66.83/£250 had to top up on shampoo and bath stuff for the kids so chucked a few tinned toms and beans into the basket too. Really need to stay away from the shops for the rest of the week now.

GreenFairy

Squeaked in just under budget for June. Not even enough left for a choccie bar

Can I go down for €675 this month please @elsiepac ? Bumping the budget as I've access to a cash and carry card this month, so want to stock up on some bulk items.

weenancyinAmerica

@Soontobeoap - Have you considered making your own ice cream? There are recipes out there that don't involve having a special ice cream freezer. When I was the Program Director for a Boy Scout Camp, we made it using two different sized coffee cans and regular ice. You can make any flavor you want too.

Suffolk_lass

Soontobeoap said:

Large shopping order arrived late last night. I just shoved all of the frozen stuff in freezer and will need to reorganize today as there is so much more stuff to be frozen. Not sure that I will get all of the gf bread in or the pizzas which is OK but means I have to watch the dates carefully. In normal times I am ok with that but when everyone descends i easily lose track. 🤦‍♀️. Have now spent nearly half my budget and not even at end of week 1 but hopefully stocked up enough bow to achieve my aim. Sister is coming at the weekend so looking forward ro that.

On the subject of icecream does any one know if Oatly have stopped making ice cream? I cant find it anywhere. Others seem to have wheat of all things in them! The ones that dont have soya. 

Yes, they have withdrawn them - there's an article in The Guardian confirming it here.

That sent me down a rabbit hole as I checked out oat milk recipes. This one does not contain a thickener (if you are nut tolerant (cashews)) and stresses that it doesn't need an ice cream maker. Four ingredients - oat milk, cashew nuts, maple syrup and (optional) vanilla extract - but you do need a blender for the cashews.

Suffolk_lass

I have worked out that I can go for the Morries summer offer if I manage my shopping to their timing. So I removed £50 of items from my click and collect order (it included treats!) and I have postponed them to next week. We are going away on Thursday in our camper for a long weekend so some shopping for that will be added to make up the £70, and the rest will fall into August, with only small top ups in between. The first shop was £31.54 plus £32.19 stores (and £10 for delivered eggs). I also had a multi bag of crisps (treats and entertainment budget) and some cat litter to get us over the £70 spend.

I also received my EoE Coop dividend of £6 - not bad as it is usually just milk, occasionally cream and the odd bag of onions or a lettuce (and Hot cross buns before Easter when they were on offer).