March 2025 Grocery Challenge

diminua

Hi Elsiepac

Could you put me down for £220 as usual please?

I'm dividing this up this month into £170 for actual groceries and £50 for treats (coffees or takeaways, food and drinks out). It's the treats that keep pushing me over budget so hopefully seeing how fast that £50 dwindles will make me spend it slower. 

I have already done a shop today - bread, milk, olive oil, tinned fish, tinned tomatoes, margarine and pasta. £12.53

thanks

sams247

And so it begins...... First shop at £8.31.  Going to try and make it to Wednesday without another shop and live out of the cupboard/fridge.  

@Suffolk_lass I had my gallbladder removed - amazing how well you feel after that, a gallbladder full of stones makes you so unwell.  Good luck on his op.

PipneyJane

Good morning All and welcome to all the new starters

No GC Spend to declare yet - we’re off to Sainsbugs shortly.  However, we did go to the Butcher’s yesterday.  Thought I’d share the details, even though I don’t officially track our Meat Fund spend here  Two months’ worth of Meat Fund spent:  £79.80, on 1kg steak mince £15.96, 1.6kg whole chicken £9.79, 1kg bone-in pork belly (6 pieces) £13.59, 8 chicken thighs £8.65 (1kg),  8 chicken drumsticks £5.63 (1kg), 2 rib-eye steak £25.99 (0.6kg).  That’s enough meat for 12 dinners and 16 lunches, since we both take leftovers to work for lunch  (i.e. 28 portions of food). 

Throw in some tinned fish,  L!dl’s cooking bacon (£1.99/kg) and frozen fish (£4.79/kg), plus multiple pulse-based meals, and that’s dinner sorted for the next two months or so.

Meal Plans

Unless otherwise stated, all breakfasts are cereal and all lunches are leftovers.

Sunday:  breakfast: HM Egg McMuffins; Lunch:  wraps filled with salad and ham; dinner:  French Lentil Salad with freshly fried salmon

Monday:  BBC Southern Pork & Beans cooked in the slow cooker.

Tuesday: WW Three Bean Chilli with HM potato wedges

Wednesday: Chole Paneer or Broccoli Pasta with chorizo (not made my mind up yet)

Thursday:  Toad in the Hole using German smoked sausages

Friday:  Chicken tray bake

Saturday: Brunch:  Quinoa Bites made with cooking bacon.  Dinner: Rib-eye Steak accompanied by baked sweet potatoes and broccoli.

- Pip

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon Everyone, 

Welcome to the new members 😊. 

@Suffolk_lass hope your healthy eating gets off to a good start. 

I have three spends to declare already!! Totalling £115.83, it was more than l had hoped for so early on.  We needed washing tabs, rinse and and shower gel £13.35 gone. Also l brought alot of meat £36.04 while it was on offer/available so hopefully,  the month will even itself out. 

New totals £115.83 /£500

TravelCrystal

Nothing to report apart from @Suffolk_lass wishing you well

T.C

Quantaqa

I am trying to be better at reporting spends regularly as I go through the month, so my first spend of the month today has been:

Lidl:  £30.09
Co-op:  £1.95
Home bargains:  £11.67

Total = £43.71/£200 so £156 left for the rest of the month.

This weeks food plan is:
Mon - Steak and onion in a baked potato
Tues - HM Mac &cheese with salad
Wed/Thurs - HM Lasagne with salad
Fri/Sat - Frittata with HM chips and salad
Sun - HM Steak Pie with veg and potatoes

Lunches
I have made some cheese and bacon pastres for DH.  I am having potato salad, beetroot and deli meat.  When that runs out I'll have sandwiches.

I've had a baking morning this morning so as well as DH's pastries I've made a Victoria Sponge and Chocolate chip cookies to have as snacks at home and work. I am trying to minimise us buying in snacks or nipping to the shop for a 'treat' and have home made ones instead.  My hope is that at least there is fewer addiditives in the homemde options.

Mrs_Cheshire

Could you please put me down for £500 again. Hoping to stay in budget this month. Spent £8.53 in Home Barga!ns today. Realistically £1.79 was on plants for the garden but I'll included it in the grocery budget. I also picked up 2 bottles of paracetamol liquid for my kids, and 2 jars of roasted red peppers. 
I'll do a click and collect order for some freezer staples, fresh food, bread and milk to last till the weekend.  

AnotherNewDay

No more spends to report....but I did plant out red & brown onions, shallots and garlic today and picked up my seed potatoes which are now in egg boxes for chitting...which I like to think of as investing in future food

Suffolk_lass

Definitely healthier to bake your own @Quantaqa. As you say, you know what is in them and fewer additives. The homemade biscuits in the recipes at the start of the thread are good value too, although I only make Twinks hobnobs when they are leaving the house (or we eat them) - and I only make half a quantity at a time too!

I was reading Nancy Birtwhistle's interview in the Sunday paper and I was reassured that we do many things the same. Except she uses dried out onion and garlic skins, dried out and blitzed, as a sprinkle, where I compost mine, and similarly with orange peel at hers, they are natural firelighters here (that smell so much nicer than the bought ones). 

I broke into this month's grocery budget to buy 4 pints of (org) semi-skimmed milk so the recovering husband can have bran flakes for breakfast. He has asked that my next shop includes the Floral ight spread as it is lower than any others he could find. Just to smear on toast before marmite or honey

SausageDogSandwich

Thank you @elsiepac for the new thread. 

£350 for the month please.

Thank you ☺️