Tuesday 13 April 2021

The £3 a Day Challenge - Day One

 


On a bright and sunny Monday morning I trotted off to Sainsburys armed with my re-usable bag and a single pound coin, my logic being that if I didn't have any more with me I wouldn't be tempted to go over for my first shop of the Challenge.


It worked.  I had planned to have tinned tomatoes and onion on toast and I managed to get all the ingredients I needed.  There was 22p left over, ooh I thought, is that enough for some garlic?  But on walking back to the fresh produce aisle I discovered that the bulbs of garlic were 25p each 😞


Oh well, it meant that I would have an extra 22p to spend somewhere along the line.


Breakfast Shopping

6 wholemeal Pitta breads - 35p
1 onion - 15p
1 tin tomatoes - 28p

Total 78p

22p change


My Breakfast


Leftovers

Five pitta breads, 2/3 tin of tomatoes and most of the onion.

The pittas were the only way I could afford to get any bread to make my breakfast a complete meal.  The cheapest loaf was 55p and it was that pappy cheap white supermarket bread that I just would not have enjoyed (they had no cheap brown loaves left).  Actually the pittas have worked out well, as when I cut them in half they fit neatly into my tiny toaster.

Time for Lunch ...


Lunch Shopping

4 baking potatoes - 45p
a head of celery - 43p
1 carrot - 5p

Total 93p



7p change


Everything peeled, washed and ready for chopping, I decided to add another potato after I had taken this photo as I do like a higher potato ratio in my stews 😀


The bowl on the right was my lunch and very tasty it was too, and the bowl on the left a more strained version and with all the bitty bits from the pan is going to be the filling for a pasty.


A colander full of the washed trimmings and peelings ready to go into the freezer to give me a pot of 'free' soup in a couple of days.


Leftovers

Two baking potatoes and most of the celery, now washed and wrapped so it stays nice and fresh for the whole week.

And then there was Tea ...


After a day of walking, cooking and cleaning up the mess at the house I'm afraid on the way back from the evening doggy walk I just went down the easy route, and as these Aldi No Cheez Bakes were on offer at 99p (instead of their usual £1.29 I think it is), I just bought these.

Teatime Shopping 99p

change 1p


Half an hour later and my tea was ready.  

Not magnificently nutritious but it hit the spot and with a cup of coffee and the latest Midsomer Murders it made for a pleasant evening before an early night.


So not a bad  first day and there was money over ... a whole 30p.

Which will roll forward to breakfast tomorrow and give me a little leeway with my spending, and perhaps encourage me to eat a little more healthily 😃


Food carried Forward

5 pitta breads
2 potatoes
most of a head of celery
2/3 tin tomatoes



Sue xx


20 comments:

  1. I’d get a bag of oats. You will get lots of breakfasts out of that and it can be added as a topping for something.

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    1. You read my mind, on my list this morning was a bag of oats, a banana and an apple :-)

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  2. That's a great start which was well under budget. I thought of oats too but I would need milk for my porridge and cup of tea ;)

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    1. Luckily I make my porridge with water and I drink my coffee black, although a few years ago I used to always use milk AND sugar in my porridge and have milk in my coffee, thank goodness my taste-buds changed eh :-)

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  3. Fantastic first day. The carry over each day should allow more variation eventually. Tinned Tomatoes on toast is still a favourite of mine.

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    1. It was delicious with a little bit of chopped onion cooked with the tomatoes and lots of pepper, funnily enough this is a breakfast I only discovered a couple of years ago during a Challenge.

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  4. Difficult using £1 only per meal, rather than say £3 for the whole day, makes you think more I suppose. Well done on a successful first day, Sue.

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    1. Perhaps this is a Challenge that could be done three ways!!

      The first time this way, then £3 per day with one shopping trip each day and then finally £21 for the week with just one shopping trip at the start. Haha, now you've got me thinking :-)

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  5. Great start. Funnily enough I also thought the challenge could be done three ways. Maybe you will now have to have three weeks instead of one week to try each way!

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    1. I'm thinking about it for sure, it would be interesting to see how I could make it different.

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  6. A brilliant start and it's great to have both food and cash to carry forward. Maybe you can get some garlic tomorrow!
    xx

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    1. Yes, I'm just about to go out and get some :-)

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  7. Couldn't do without some red lentils myself. Great for bulking up and thickening soups. If you soak them until they are soft then blend them to a batter consistency you can make really good pancakes with them too. Just add your favourite seasonings.

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    1. I know, I love lentil pancakes and started having them last year when I did the Ration Challenge and found the recipe from there. As they are £1 a bag in Sainsbury's and 99p a bag at Aldi I might have some one day this week.

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  8. Chickpeas as hummus with pita bread crisps?

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    1. Ooh some hummus to dip toasted pitta breads in is a brilliant idea :-)

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  9. It always astonishes me at how well you manage these challenges. With our prices and the exchange rate - I'd never be able to work with the 1 pound or 3 pound per day (even at conversion rates) -but - I could work with the 21 pounds/per week - which converts to around $36 Cdn. I average out to about $50 to $60 per week so this would be a significant but doable reduction.

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    1. I find it focuses me for quite a while after doing a low spend Challenge, which is just what I need at the moment while I'm chucking money at the new place. 🙂

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  10. Brilliant start Sue, loving this challenge and what meals you were able to have. Like Margie from Toronto, our food prices would be near impossible to do this unless we could buy the whole week of food in one go:( Looking forward to seeing your meals tomorrow xx

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    1. Food is relatively cheap here, unfortunately it's the healthier stuff that is the most expensive. It would be good to give this a go spending the full amount up front, but that will have to wait until I have fridge space for more food 😄

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