November 2023 Grocery Challenge

weenancyinAmerica

Wow, thank you Pip. I made a copy to see what I can do as we get our food budget tomorrow. I ended up last month with $1.02. I really hope to do better this month. I know your information will help a lot of people. 

CRANKY40

Yesterday was NSD for food (or anything else) number 2. We had sausage, hash browns, beans and toast for dinner. I need to go and gaze at the freezer for some inspiration for tonight....

Soontobeoap

Quite a large shop at Aldis, today. Lots of staples bought. Whole shop only came to £14.91! DH went alone and came back with an enormous swede for 62p They were all priced the same! He was very pleased with himself and he stuck to the list. 🎉🎉
Meanwhile, I have made the leftover chicken and scraps of ham/ bacon that have been frozen over the last 3 months into 8 pies. I have made a 2 week meal plan and written a shopping list accordingly. Very pleased with our start to November. 

Blackcats

£22 spent in Lidl today on a variety of things to help create meals using mostly items we have in the fridge, freezer and cupboards.  We needed walnuts which we have with breakfast and we had almost run out of cheese which is unusual for us.  I thought we had a pack in the fridge door but nope, unfortunately not.  We were so strict with ourselves when we were walking round the shop and stuck diligently to our list except for a pack of revels which I was unable to resist.  I just need to avoid the coffee cream flavour and as they look so similar to the orange cream it's like a high stakes roulette game.

AnotherNewDay

Hi @elsiepac can you put me down for £100 again this month to cover 1 adult woman and 2 v hungry cats for food, household and toiletries 

lilly81

@PipneyJane I'm loving all the tips and will definitely try them.
Can I add:
*Join your local Facebook freebie group 
*Download the OLIO app
*See if you have a community fridge nearby 
*If you're using the oven try to fill it (put pasta bake in whilst doing a roast etc)

And finally a lesson I learned this week - label what you put in the freezer 🤦

I spent £2.75 today on some chocolate for a friend that's stuck at home with a poorly toddler.

Spent £53.17/£200

PipneyJane

@lilly81 and @weenancyinAmerica, I’ve added a few more points. I knew there were things I was forgetting to mention.  

- Pip

CRANKY40

Yesterday was a small spend day. I went to collect some doughnuts for the HT's birthday treat so I also bought some of the heavier items like cat litter. £13.90 spent from the grocery budget, £306.10 remaining.

Dinner last night was a cheese and bean toastie and a doughnut for the HT, I had the remaining chickpea dahl with a small garlic and coriander naan bread. There is still no space in the freezer and tonight's dinner will be takeaway pizza paid for from the birthday/christmas pot at the HT's request. 

joedenise

As I did a shop on 31 October from October's money then very little needed today although I did buy some meat which comes from another budget.  Today's spend was £4.83/£200 leaving 195.17.

Sainsbury are doing half price pork and beef roasting joints on Nectar price so well worth getting if you have the freezer space.

ancientmum

Thank you elsiepac for running the thread, I'm still on track with my annual budget.

Thank you for your tips Pipney Jane.  I agree that planning ahead, cooking from scratch and wasting nothing is the way to save.  

Having said that I used the nectar app today and promptly spent the savings on posh ground coffee from the posh coffee shop and a graffa (I had to ask what it was called) from the new Italian bakery.  I justified it to myself as I rarely buy coffee out and what I bought today will last a fortnight for the price of one large cappuccino  ( unlike the graffa which will be scoffed tonight in front of the telly catching up with Shetland).  Jacket potato with bacon, cheese, and tomatoes for tea.  I used to make this as lunch for the family before going off for a late shift on a Saturday, so feeling a bit nostalgic.