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September 2024 Grocery Challenge
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thriftwizard said:@PipneyJane, if your beetroot is fairly small & young-looking, it's really nice peeled & grated into a salad. If it's a bit larger & maybe a bit wrinkled, I'll peel it, chop it into quarters, dust with herbs & spices of your choice & drizzle it with olive oil & maybe a little balsamic. Cover with foil & roast for about 45 mins, serve as a side. There are lots of other things you can do with them; I'm very much regretting the years of thinking I hated them thanks to my poor mother's very limited culinary skills - she had an uncanny knack of making them taste like boiled mud.
- Pip"Be the type of woman that when you get out of bed in the morning, the devil says 'Oh crap. She's up.'
It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it - that’s what gets results!
2025 Fashion on the Ration Challenge 66 coupons - 39.5 spent.
4 - Thermal Socks from L!dl
4 - 1 pair "combinations" (Merino wool thermal top & leggings)
6 - Ukraine Forever Tartan Ruana wrap
22 - yarn
1.5 - sports bra
2 - leather wallet5 -
no spends for a few days. ive pulled out lots of bits from the freezer which i didnt even know i had!!! am i bad.
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Evening all, just one main spend to declare at Lidl this week of £41.88, l did spend a further £8.44 on various treats for the kids but it at least it kept them happy while l perused the aisles at Ik*a.
Also DH spent £100 on fuel and l need to get fuel soon so another £50 ish spend is imminent
This brings our total to £315.88 /£600.00
Food £215.88/£420
Petrol £100/£180
MFW
Opening Mortgage Balance 16/06/2024 - £99569.04 term remaining 80 months (Feb 2031)
Current Balance £39,100
MFW 2025 #31 £23,900 / £28,000 OP
MFIT - T7 £23,900 OP
0%CC May 2027- £2,400
Grocery Challenge
Jan £387.89 / Feb £ 355.67 / Mar £418.63 / Apr £478.37 / May £426.52 / June £376.18 / July £462.54+£103.32 entertaining /
The final countdown to June 2026 - Page 4 — MoneySavingExpert Forum5 -
It was absolutely chucking it down yesterday and I wobbled and started doing an online order as I need a few bits and bobs including things for DS's food tech class tomorrow. I found myself filling my basket with all sorts of stuff including an offer which was a massive bargain of 5 frozen things for £5 which were all branded fish fingers/pizzas/chips/chicken burgers etc. And then I stopped and actually thought about it. I don't really want DS eating tons of that kind of carp and I'm trying to empty the freezer not full it up! I was just being swayed by what a "bargain" it was. But it isn't a bargain if you weren't going to buy those things anyway. 💡
So I've made a list and will drag a grumbling DS (off due to inset day) into the supermarket to pick his own ingredients. It's better for him to learn how to shop and I will only buy what we need. *Pats self on the back*10 -
I dragged the boy to Sainsbury's and we got the ingredients needed for school tomorrow and a few important other things like fruit and tea (we've nearly run out and that really would be a disaster!). We also got a bag of grated mozzarella to make pizzas with and some treaty desserts from the patisserie counter which seemed to be a new edition. They had a load of Patisserie Valerie cakes there but they also had their own brand ones which were quite a bit cheaper so we picked from those. I had a lemon and raspberry tart and DS had a strawberry tart. We had those for pudding after our homemade pizza and my goodness they were really delicious, properly like something you'd get in a good patisserie and not something I'd ever make myself. It felt like we'd had a swanky meal out and I made extra pizza to use up the whole bag of mozzarella so I can pop that in the fridge for later in the week.
I spent £20.38 today so I'm up to £93.40/£250 for the month.5 -
@LotsOfTea - Good thinking on the £5 "bargains" - as you say only a bargain if you were buying it anyway. I just had a £7 pasta meal deal pop up in my email and I thought that sounds good but actually I've got lots of pasta, ingredients for sauce and plenty of options for pudding so no need to spend £7 at all. Happy to pop round to yours though for home made pizza and strawberry tart 😋
we did a very methodical meal plan and shopping list ahead of our trip to Lidls. A few years ago I used to wander round putting lots of items in my trolley, spent a fortune and ended up with not enough meals for the week so had to do a top up shop. Lord only knows how much money I wasted that way, particularly as most of it went on a credit card that didn't get paid in full.Anyway, I'm a reforming shopper now which is better late than never!
balance remaining £98.117 -
Well done @LotsOfTea as you say your DS will learn much more, shopping for his own ingredients and you didnt spend money you didnt need to. 😊
£8.10 spent here todsy when DH went to buy milk, 2 different juices and cereal from Aldi.craft stash 2023 =161, 2024 = 119 2025 = £25.96 spent, 128 made and 5 mended,
GC 2022 = £3154.96
2023 = £3334. 84
2024 = £.3221.81
2025 = £2254.03/£3300
Jan 413.77 Feb £361.32, March £192. April £438.06 May £261.66 June £204.54 July £260.95/ £250 August £212. 85 /£650
Decluttering campaign. 2024= 78 and half/52 bin bags full. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏅💐DH ⭐4 -
Hi folks. I’m adding £9.88 spent at Lidl today and £5 over the weekend for some salad greens.
£281.84 / £386.00 spent. £104.16 remaining
I’m off to a conference in Edinburgh tomorrow for the rest of the week. While there I’m planning to stop by an Italian grocer and an East Asian grocer to pick up a few items. We’re down to a few drops of sesame oil and other goods. Mr. Jings will probably get some eggs while I’m away.
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We are off on hols in two days time so just making sure the fridge is not too full before we leave. My running total for September splits out at £54.93 for groceries, £71.84 for store cupboard and just £7.50 for direct debit milk. This is added to the rest of the year and gives a year to date percentage of 69.77% of my £3000 target with £2093.22 and three months to go. Although we are staying in a self catering cottage, we are expecting to eat out most of the time and anyway, the food is included in the holidays (treats and entertainment) total. We will shop on our way to the cottage and take a few bits (tea, coffee, mixed seeds and nuts) with us, but I'm not taking them out of the mixSave £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £4863.32 out of £6000 after May (81.05%)
OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £1286.68/£3000 or 42.89% of my annual spend so far
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My new diary is here4 -
I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Old Style, Crafting and Techie Stuff boards.If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.GC: May 22 £tbc/£250 Vegan 27-8-136
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