May 2025 Grocery Challenge

Soontobeoap

An Aldi shop done last week for £22.60 .lots of meals out this weekend but we all shared cost so we only paid for 2 of them from holiday budget. I may even come in under budget this month. Fingers crossed.

goldfinches

Evening all, hope you're all having a good Bank Holiday.

I've three spends to add which have put me just over my budget and I know I've got to buy milk and yoghurt again before the end of the month so I've resolved to try harder to avoid temptation next month, famous last words and all that. Hey ho, onwards and upwards!

Anyway, I spent £8.75 at M*rks on Thursday on milk, yoghurt, tomatoes, cucumber, a mango, 2x radishes and a seeded roll. Then yesterday I spent £11.19 at Sainsby's on toilet cleaner, 2x paper tissues, onion, cornflour, tofu, Dijon mustard, black beans, double cream and 3x ys salad bags and then I went across the road to M*rks for a white cabbage for 95p rather than buy two of the very tiny ones in Sains for 75p each.

That brings my new total to £151.21/£150 and this month's Baking Budget is also bust at £11.35/£10.

Thankfully I've got all the ingredients for this week's walking group baking in already whichever people are joining us. If it's wheat eaters I'm thinking of having a go at these Viennese Whirls or this alternative recipe in Delicious Magazine. If it's gluten free people coming I'm planning these Nigella chocolate biscuits.

Meanwhile tomorrow, just for a treat I'm going to spend the afternoon having a crack at this Rachel Roddy recipe for millefoglie, wish me luck.

And for the other meals I'm making these black bean burgers to have with the coleslaw I made yesterday evening.

Suffolk_lass

Nelliegrace said:

Hard boiled eggs in cheese sauce, (eggs mornay).
White fish in cheese sauce, (cod mornay.)
Baked leeks in cheese sauce.
Pour it over any cooked vegetable.
Cheese and potato bake.
Cheese and potato pie.
Cheese sauce on toast, Welsh Rarebit.
Could you use it in cheese scones.?

I read this as your week's menu before I remembered someone asking about recipes with cheese sauce in   🤣🤣

JingsMyBucket

Morning y’all. Just caught up on the thread last night. @thriftwizard, sorry to hear about both your OH and your mother. Be sure to ask for help and take care of yourself. 

While I was away, Mr. Jings spent £8.50 on a jar of local honey. 

Last night we had a Morrisons delivery with a few refused substitutes that came to £82.10. It was a restock of some staples such as rice and boat loads of yoghurt as well as some novel items try new things. 

£426.03 / £325 spent. £101.03 over budget. 

Freaking yikes. I’m heading to M & S today for some staples I either forgot in the Morrisons order or that we get at M & S exclusively. Baked beans, strawberries, clementines, coffee beans, etc. I’ll try to limit the damage to £20 and I think that should see us through to Saturday night, then we’ll be into June. Fingers crossed!

remmie

Another two shops, one in Ald* and one in Lids bringing my total so far up to £249.30. Hopefully no more this month so I'll have saved £50.70 on my usual budget.

Pennypincin

Hi everyone, I've lost track of the week again.
I'm over budget by £35 for last week.
I'm bound to need a few bits, mainly fresh bits.

JingsMyBucket

Evening. My stop at M & S cost £23.15 and I bought clementines, apples, garlic, milk, sliced ham, half a cooked chicken, 2 pots of hummus, a loaf of bread, baked beans, and compost bags. 

£449.18 / £325 spent. £124.18 over budget. 

With the exception of bananas and coffee beans, we’ll be fine for the rest of the week. Our M & S’ coffee bean shelf was completely bare. The only ones left were the expensive tins of Illy and OH didn’t want dark Italian roast. He’s using my coffee bags for now and the next couple days. I’ll likely head back there on Wednesday for the coffee and bananas. 

GSDMum

I'm calling in May's grocery shopping @ 379.92. I'd hoped to be under £350. Coincidently if I'd not shopped at Amazon I'd be under £350 (£342.63).

Reason I use Amazon and Tesco delivery is because my husband is housebound with quite a few health problems and I don't want to leave him alone for too long. Still the deliveries saved a bit of petrol. He had a new knee replacement on Thursday and managed to pull out a redundant canula without him noticing, blood must have been everywhere considering the state of his clothing, hence the urgent need for Vanish. 

Must try a lot harder in June as I'm trying to get the monthly grocery average back to under £350 a month. 

 Average month's shop £379.92

January	361.21
February	277.25
March	362.25
April	500.39
May	400.51

rach_anatasia

Thanks for the tips @PipneyJane and @carboot_karaoke. This is an area I always seem to overspend on the budget, so using this method seems like a good option.

Soontobeoap

Well it has been a very expensive bank holiday weekend out of holiday money not GC. We had Son and DIL staying with our 3 GDs . We bought a Chinese meal, snack in cafe and fish and chips as well as the gammon, new potatoes and veg that I cooked when they arrived and DS paid for pub meals and picnic. Anyway I was a little devious. I have frozen the chicken that I had bought to feed them another meal. That will do DH and I at least 3 meals. Have frozen the chicken from the sweet and sour balls left from that Chinese meal to put in a curry and saved back 2 fish pieces from the 3 year olds meal as I knew that she wouldn't eat them. A lot of other fish was left untouched so I willake up some fish cakes this afternoon. I realized that there were too many chips ordered so held back a small portion and will mash up this afternoon to top a shepherds pie or 2. I have started to make up just shepherds pie bases lately and top with leftover mashed, roast potatoes or chips.works Everytime and I think it makes them a bit tastier. I haven't had any complaints so far anyway. 🤫. Hopefully this will give me a very good start for June . Fingers crossed.