FITISH

I collect all spare change in one little pouch and use that for car washing service (the one where you self wash operates using coins). This time I am a bit strapped for money in my bank account so I decided to do a challenge where I’m going to use the spare change for groceries.

Let’s see how much this little thing holds.

I counted 14.98 euros in this pouch. Not bad at all.

I have some decent amount of protein, carbs and frozen/canned veggies at home so this will not be a case of having sleep for dinner. So I am going to use this best I can so that I don’t feel empty inside this week.

Shopping wish list consists of:

Let’s see if I can buy all of this with my spare change!

Lidl is usually my best bet when I want to save some money on groceries so I decided to check this week’s catalogue.

Currently, they have fresh ground meat (pork and beef) for 5.39/kg! This is insanely good! At least the price is, I really hope the meat isn’t too bad.

Lidl also has a great deal on carrot (0.55 euros per kilo) so I will have to grab those as well.

For cabbage and muscovado sugar I must visit Konzum since Lidl doesn’t have these items, and Konzum is also where I can find the best deal on everything else.

Usually, I’d buy tortilla wraps for 0.99 euros (mind you, only store brand is acceptable when it comes to tortilla wraps), but I take this challenge as an opportunity to finally make them at home. It shouldn’t be hard, and it is probably healthier. And this will leave more rooms for whatever else I might need to get.

I found this recipe online: LET ME SHOW YOU

This was the first Google result so naturally I’m letting SEO decide my fate. If you’re curious how it turned out, well I’m curious, too, because I won’t be making them right now.

Muscovado I usually buy costs 3.25 per bag (500 g). I need this for my homemade chocolate chip cookies. The one that is currently on sale in Konzum costs only 2.79 per bag (500 g)! This is the sweetest deal this week.

Cabbage leaves (1 kg) costs 3.49, Greek yogurt (900 g) is 2.89 but I get 35% cashback. The price stays the same but I will get 1.01 euro out of this purchase.

Butternut squash is 1.49 per kilo (a squash is approx. 1.5 kg) and this is double the price what I’d usually pay. No deals on that this week. I might not buy it after all.

Sweet potatoes are 1.99 per kilo. Again, when it’s on deal it’s 1.39 per kilo so I will not buy it this week. I might substitute with regular potatoes instead.

Vanilla sugar (5×10 g) is only 0.39 in Konzum so surely I’ll be able to afford it. Right?

For the sake of this challenge I will omit the paper towels. They are very useful in the kitchen, but let’s be frugal about it and use regular kitchen cloths instead.

Konzum doesn’t have store brand rinse aid and I do not intend to pay for name brand so I will have to check Lidl’s price for that as well.

LET’S ADD THESE PRICES TOGETHER

What we currently know is that this grocery trip (minced meat, cabbage, yogurt, vanilla sugar, carrots, muscovado) might cost me 15.50 euros. I don’t have enough money?! This is ridiculous. I haven’t even left the house yet and I’m already broke.

You know those “5 pound dinners” videos that are popular on social media? In Croatia you’d be able to buy some bread and cheese and that’s it.

LET’S REVISE

Upon revisiting this list, I decided to get only 500 g of carrots and noticed I get additional 15% off of Muscovado if I use store card so it’s 2.37 instead of 2.79.

Now the total should be around 14.80 euros.

Phew!

UPDATE: Part 2 is here https://fitish.blog/2025/12/06/challenge-shopping-using-only-spare-change-part-2-2/