February 2024 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

Wraithlady said:

Suffolk_lass said:

Ooh, thank you, @PipneyJane I will let my Sis know. My Mum's had an accident and instead of cleaning it they binned it (and she has regretted it ever since). Depending on the shape and size it might be that I get one too, for preserving (bottling) fruit and veg I grow

I don't think you can use a pressure cooker to can veg? 

You can @Wraithlady, so long as the pressure cooker can hit 15lb of pressure.  If it can’t, then you need to add extra minutes.  An American “pressure canner” is just a large pressure cooker, 20 litres or more, instead of the standard 6 litres for a domestic pressure cooker.  

FWIW, my pressure cooker is 10 litres and maxes out at 13lb of pressure.  I haven’t done a lot of pressure canning but, when I have, I add an extra 5 minutes. 

- Pip

lovemula21

Hi @LadyWithAPlan yes, it’s a cashback one and yes it has been worth it. I’ve used it in Sainsbury’s, ikea, the works, Argos etc. It only cost me £3.99 for the year. I know some bank accounts will give cashback so it might be worth checking yours before buying the card. I noticed that both Barclays and NatWest offer various cashback offers each month. NatWest gives 3% on purchases over £30 from Aldi, so it’s worth looking into to see which is the best for you.

If you go for the totem pre paid card (it’s recently changed its name to Pluxee) then consider ways to gain extra cashback on top. I get 1% from my chase account for topping up the pre paid card. This can be combine with TopCashback too. 

 
So, if I shop at Argos, which usually happens around birthdays and Christmas, I can plan my purchase in advance. I will top up my pre paid card with funds from my chase account, then I will visit Argos’s website through TopCashback (when they have an offer on - usually 1-2% for existing customers). Once I’m ready to pay I use my prepaid card to get 5% cashback. 

The cashback usually gets added on to the next top up and there doesn’t appear to be a way to withdraw it. This doesn’t bother me because I use it often. 

I have 2 small issues with it. Firstly, since it changed its name, my Sainsbury’s cashback seems to come through slower, taking 2-3 weeks. Secondly, the app takes a while to update so you need to check your emails to make sure the top up has been successful. 

I hope that helps. 

Suffolk_lass

Wraithlady said:

Suffolk_lass said:

Ooh, thank you, @PipneyJane I will let my Sis know. My Mum's had an accident and instead of cleaning it they binned it (and she has regretted it ever since). Depending on the shape and size it might be that I get one too, for preserving (bottling) fruit and veg I grow

I don't think you can use a pressure cooker to can veg? 

I suspect you might be saying that because incorrectly bottled veg is susceptible to botulism? I'm pretty cautious about sterilising jars and ensuring there is a proper seal - or is it something else @Wraithlady?

Wraithlady

It may be the botulism thing - I think the advice comes from the USA and it's something that's been repeated quite often - TBH I have a canner so it's not something I've ever looked into.

The advice is from here:https://foodsafety.wisc.edu/consumer/fact_sheets/pressurecannerandcooker.pdf

If it works in a pressure cooker, then I will defer to your greater experience, @Suffolk_lass & @PipneyJane 

 

Elisheba

Although I haven't gotten around to posting on the challenge thread this month, I have been keeping track of everything. February spending for food and household goods is now closed, since I had to do the March big shop today as I'm busy next weekend. The grand total is £73.07 out of a budget of £100 (and £12 odd of that was on rechargable batteries which I could have added to the annual household pot, but I knew my monthly food pot was under by quite a bit so added it to that instead). That's food, toiletries and cleaning supplies for one person.

I've been running stores down all month, just to make sure nothing was too old really. I don't think these low spend months save much money in the long run as i end up having to buy it all back the next month, but it can be good to make sure there is a turnover in the cupboards and nothing goes out of date.

Soontobeoap

 @Elisheba I am working through the store cupboards to get to the end of the month too. Pastry making today 4 chicken and mushroom pies made with mushrooms and chicken leftovers from freezer and a small lemon meringue pie made with a couple of dubious looking lemons left from pancake day. If I keep being ingenius with the leftovers I should make it to Thursday. 

LadyWithAPlan

@lovemula21 tx so much for the detailed info - I will look to get one .. I dont get CB from my bank but I do the airtime rewards against my phone so I will try it..

Grocery shopping  Feb £130.86/£155  + Bulk  £26.59 (freezer full) _ crisps £9.37
SHOPPING £23.27
- Ald* - as my local Li has closed and they had no FR cornfed or FR chickens .. annoying ...
Spent  Bulk £5 inc coconut oil,  coconut milk, some YS pork GF meatballs for the freezer
Grocery - spinach, frozen peas,  DF milk, cashews, houmous, salsa  and loads veg
Plus one pack of crisps £1.49 - still no haribo/sweets eaten in 2024 and I do feel better for it.

I may be done for the month - I certainly have enough in but I do want a FR chicken that does not cost the earth so ,...


FOOD
 Just made some more cashew cream for both a DF sour cream alternative with garlic fresh herbs and lime plus as a coffee creamer..

 YS Crackling pork in halogen - was wonderful and a 3 meal plus size.. served with kale, broccoli and a  brown/white rice mix I made

NSD have been a disaster - maybe 4 this month! Had to replace some hair stuff etc so on days I would have been a NSD ..i wasnt...
I have put in a low offer in on a flat so may be serious declutter soon

Tx @elsiepac for running the GC! 

JingsMyBucket

Evening folks. Just a quick numbers update. We’re currently at 

£288.20 / £340.00 spent. £51.80 remaining. 

Colour me surprised that we still have that much left. We’ll be heading to a farm shop tomorrow for brunch with friends and will likely pick up a few items. I’ll also head into the high street afterward to buy some food for a trip I’m taking Tuesday — Saturday this week. That food will come out of my own personal budget though. I think we’ll make it just fine through the month. Famous last words! 😂

PipneyJane

Good morning All

I have one shop to declare from yesterday.  DH went to B&Q for some garden stuff and popped into the branch of MrT’s next door, to stock up on their quadruple strength squash and buy some fresh veg and yoghurts.  £15.77 spent, but since the change was 2 x £2 coins, it might as well have been £20.  (We save £2 coins.)

The above brings our total spend to £143.50/£165, leaving £21.50 for the rest of the month.

- Pip

ancientmum

I've updated my sig with a spend in the market yesterday of £10.10.  
£3.60 of this was two portions of coley at the fish stall.  I had one last night, battered and shallow fried with hm chips ,and one in the freezer for later.
The rest was spent on the veg stall.  They had carrier bags of green bananas for £1.  I'll ripen some in the warm living room and keep the rest in a cool place until needed.  Along with this, a big punnet of tomatoes, two punnets of lychees, parsnip, sweet potatoes and broccoli.

So that's me nearly shopped out for the month, although I noticed some nectar prices on butter and a couple of other things that I might be tempted by before Friday.