The £10 Grocery Challenge - The Wrap Up

Scoring myself this high is generous.

So, seven days of spending only £10 in the supermarket - how did I do?

I didn't count the cheat lunch, as I extended the challenge. But there was a top-up of milk (£1.59 - convenience store) plus the hommous (£1.25) which means I blew the budget overall. If I simply didn't have money to overspend, I'd have been in trouble, because I become growly without milk in my coffee.

Even so, it has been an interesting experience and certainly valuable for me. I meal planned for 7 days out of 8 (that's more than ever before) and I did spend less than usual.

I didn't do great at using up what's in my cupboards. The bulk of what I have stashed is spices, sauces and so on. I think my best option here is just to stop buying them, especially if they'll only get used in one recipe.

What's left, protein-wise? I still have around 9-10 meals' worth:
most of the cheese
1 frozen pizza
8 eggs

2 portions of frozen stewing steak

3 portions of frozen mince & tomatoes

1 portion fish fingers

plus fruit and veg:

frozen veg

hash browns

plenty of potatoes, carrots and celery

2 pears

and what else:

2 frozen slices of bread

most of a pack of biscuits
a pack of muesli bars

more cereal than I know what to do with

pasta

tin of tomatoes

one quadrillion different spreads, spices and sauces
the forbidden pesto.

As hinted, my next shop involves things like a Christmas dinner and trifle - not the right time to do another challenge - but I am heading into next week with a much better idea of what I don't need to buy and hopefully I can keep the spend down a bit.

What should my next challenge be?