June 2025 Grocery Challenge

TravelCrystal

Many thanks @Suffolk_lass, I’ll remember that when they are ready. Yes, our tomatoes look nowhere near. We have flowers, that’s a start 🤣

T.C

Soontobeoap

Have just checked freezer and I will manage to cobble together some meals this week without going shopping

Tonight - beef and mushroom pies made with LO beef ( another 2 in freezer)

Tuesday - shepherd's pie ( last of the mince from freezer)

Wednesday - I am eating out with friend. DH will probably buy himself a pie or pasty 🤷

Thursday - beans on toast ( we are both out in evening)

Friday - chicken rissoles with salad ( made when we last had roast chicken)

Saturday - pasties made from roast beef. ( 2 more in freezer

Sunday - lamb ( bought half price at easter)

Monday - fish and chips.

Tuesday beefburgers.  ( DH has gone off of meatballs. I have loads in freezer so will be reshaping them to see if he notices) 🤣

Wednesday - sausage casserole should bulk out the 5 sausages in freezer.


That gets us through to  the last week of June without too much expense hopefully and I bought 2 bulk buys this month. ( 5 tubes  of shampoo and 12 jars of gf cheese sauce.) Feeling a bit smug I have to admit bit it could all still go wrong!

It is so good to hear about all of the produce that people are growing. I have given up this year but due to not being very good at it!!!!!  still have a few raspberries in the garden though and it's nice to graze on them whilst I tend my flowers.

PipneyJane

Suffolk_lass said:

Gosh, the price of chopped tinned tomatoes has taken me by surprise. I last bought them when I could get them for 33p a tin (440g). I have been making my own for the last (probably) three years, and bottling it and have run out after last year's poor harvest here. Even the Morries OB are 45p on special offer in packs of four

@Suffolk_lass I paid 39p/can for chopped tomatoes in L!dl in February.  Cheapest I could find around here.  I bought a cardboard tray's worth - 12 - and am slowly using them up.

@weenancyinAmerica I really feel for you, re the ICE agents.  It must be very scary.  Several of my American friends were at "No Kings" demonstrations this weekend.

It's been over a week since I visited this thread and I have multiple shops to declare.  Far to many to list.  What I will mention is the £1.50 F&V box we scored at L!dl last weekend:  3 hands of greenish bananas (15 bananas in total), plus 4 onions, 5 potatoes and 2 aubergines.  Best value I've seen for a long time.

Anyway, my current total is £146/£165, leaving £19 for the rest of the month.

It's going to be very tight. Luckily, I have a well stocked pantry, fridge and freezer.  If nothing else, we will need to purchase yoghurts, skimmed milk, peppers, broccoli, spring onions and mushrooms before 30th June.  Hmmm...

- Pip

LotsOfTea

I forgot to log my big shopping delivery for the end of last week which came to £124.01. We've got everything we need to last until early next week when we'll need more fruit and salad bits at the very least. 

£229.78/£300

mandco

Various spends totalling £259.51 over the last 9 days which isn’t too bad considering we were away for 6 days and that includes some eating out - there may be a few small spends I forgot -bits I paid cash for but not gonna worry about those as normally we’d have had a holiday budget anyway.
i wasn’t well when we returned so didn’t go food shopping as planned meaning oh went and got maccy d’s as decided he couldn’t be bothered cooking blowing a whopping £45 so not sure if should include that in my total? 

June total so far £455.61 exc maccy d’s  

mandco

How do you get everyone else on board with sticking to the budget??
still not feeling great so asked oh to pick up a few bits to tide us over till I can go and do a proper shop as he was going to the gym next door anyway - gave him a list of things we actually needed like bread milk fruit/veg ect which should have been about £22 but despite not being able to get a couple of items on the list he came out £39.49 lighter as picked up a load of stuff he wanted too - none of it was necessary and mostly junk food. Thinking about it this seems to be a regular occurrence which is really pushing up the food spends so really needs to stop but can’t seem to get it to sink in    I don’t begrudge him having the odd extra thing but nearly £20 worth is ridiculous 

Soontobeoap

@mandco My DH is exactly the same. I try to shop without him. Not easy now we are both retired! He looks after breakfast and hot drinks and his bread so often needs to pop out for milk and comes home with a £10.00 shop. He also doesn't bother with the receipt so I have to guess which often results in me overstating the spends which annoys me too. I try to preempt his shopping trips and get in first by asking him if he needs anything. Strangely he has learned to stick to the list in Sainsbury's and Tesco ( not Aldi) and does tell me that getting an order delivered is a false economy! So small steps are being made. He has started asking me what I plan for lunches as I have often got leftovers to use up but he has bought cold meat. We are getting there and I have only been doing it 3 years so there is still time!! 

K9sandFelines

£8.61 spent between Am@zon and Aldi on agave, soap, gf bread and some chocolate.

GSDMum

Stuck to my plan, and I popped into Aldi while DH was having treatment in the hospital. Receipt came to £52.37 for milk, cream, 7 pats of butter (mostly for freezer stock), fruit, veg, orange juice, mayo, coleslaw, and a pork loin joint to shred.

Spent so far this month £226.71. Trying to be as close as possible to £270 budget which will bring my average monthly total since January to £350ish. Have loads of meals in the freezer yet which needs to be eaten.

Next shop is planned for Friday to buy fresh fish from Morrisons. 

Sadly I've had to pull up all my onions and garlic in the garden as they got a dreadful scourge of blackfly which has decimated them. So annoying, but hey ho... luckily onions and garlic are quite cheap to buy and they all seem to taste the same. Autumn carrot seeds have been planted in their space. It's the convenience more than any money savings to have veg growing in the garden.  

Good luck everyone! 

weenancyinAmerica

@PipneyJane - It has been very scary. Have some neighbors in hiding. My sister went to one demonstration and her son went to another. There may be more to come. Makes it very hard to concentrate what I need to make for food.  I am making three meals for people here as roommates want different things.

Trying to clear out cupboards at the same time. Have take several boxes of food to neighbors already.

And I don't really cook - not since my mother died in 2008. So some of the concoctions come out very strangely as I experiment. May have to see if we can get meal delivered for two of roommates. Their meals would improve. They don't want to eat my salad ideas. Only 28C here today and tomorrow. Once I get the fan set up, it might make it easier to cook. Will be heading to Aldi's tomorrow to get some meal ideas.