January 2016 Grocery Challenge

rising_from_the_ashes

1st spends for me - unplanned (not good) but I was in town and they were (imho!:)) bargains!

I went back to SM1 and was refunded for an overcharge (£2 cash) and got a refund on a returned item (£5.50 voucher which I'll keep for a treat sometime!) so started the day with £7.50 credit :T

Spends

• 2.5L Fairy for £2.99 which I think is pretty good - put the £2 above towards it so counting it as a £0.99 spend I know there are cheaper WUL around but I have excema and Fairy doesn't cause a reaction so worth it for me. Should last ages & much cheaper than standard sized bottles :T
• Popped to Mr A for cat food (separate budget) but they didn't have it (had already been to PAH who also didn't have it so blaming them for me being in Mr A and giving into temptation :rotfl:) - anyway, 3 cans of the soup I love (which is hideously expensive so only ever a treat) for £2 on offer and 3 tubs of big Philadelphia garlic & herb which will do my lunches for 3 weeks :T @ £1 each so £3 and a funnel (for the WUL!) for 75p
  

Total £6.74 / £175

blue_eyes_2

Hi everyone, I think I would like to try this again, had a couple of goes at it amp do tend to do it sub consciously but I think I am ready to put it into black and white.

I'm in for £250 a month. To run from now till 27th Jan.

To feed 2 adults and a 3yr old. 3 dogs but theirs is a separate budget.

We invested in a small chest freezer a few weeks ago and I have managed to stock it very well with plenty to do us. I love batch cooking and am particularly good at utilising leftovers and making from scratch. Love to bake also.

Toiletries and cleaning products are to be included in the budget.


Looking forward to seeing all of this in black and white and sticking with this till the end of the year.

Savvy_sewing

As I was away for Christmas and just came home we don't have very much to use up in the fridge.
I had to pop into Tesco for milk and bread and already bought whoopsie items as well.
I will have to remember to stay away as I don't have space to freeze anything more.
I spent £18+ so that's not a good start. Although it's not technically January yet. But I will try not to spend anything more except for fresh fruit etc when DGD gets home.

jlhmd666

I would like to attempt this again as I have been spending a fair amount on groceries each month lately I have a budget of £300 from 1st to 31st January for five of us but don't plan on doing any shopping until the children go back to school on the 04/01. There is plenty of food in both the cupboards and freezers so shouldn't need anything yet anyway.

Suffolk_lass

Hi Coxy, Please can you add me in for an annual budget of £3000 - so an average of £250 per month (never works out like that). I need to economise this year or my hopes of retiring in 3 years will come to nothing.

Good luck for 2016 everyone
SL

Moominmama76

Hello !! I need this challenge I am like a runaway train at the min new year new start. Feeding me dd aged 16 and Ds aged 14 half the time and my pet newt tines lol .gonna go bit cheaper this month as want to start tight so for the whole of jan put me down for 150

HornetSaver

Will be doing my first spend today for non-perishable food. Given that living alone poses major disadvantages, and that for me part of the challenge is weaning myself off takeaways, my plan is one pre-planned meal a day buying whatever ingredients take my fancy, another meal based on cheap stock foods such as beans, potatoes, frozen veg and pasta (topped up with leftover ingredients from planned meals), and breakfast being a bowl of cereal unless the leftovers give me an alternative option (omelettes for example because I have to buy 6 eggs at a time).

My main recipes are:

Friday: tuna 'burgers'. Healthier than they sound, will post recipe once I've confirmed temperatures and timings. Would cost £1.25pp, but I have three tins of tuna in the cupboard (one used for this recipe). Also have seasoning and frozen diced onion, so only need to buy egg and pitta bread.
Saturday: Pork-pineapple hotpot. Expensive, but the spare pineapple will double up as a major source of fruit during the week, and the extra pork will be the main supplement to my lunches.
Sunday: bean enchiladas for lunch and dinner (I work nights).
Monday: one tuna burger in pitta with poached egg for lunch (half the tin), tuna with jacket potato for dinner (the other half).
Tuesday: by Tuesday my bodyclock tends to be in ruins, so most likely two meals of pork, onion and leek pasta with cheese - quick, easy and uses up most of my remaining perishable.
Wednesday: Roasted onion (by now will be onto fresh ones) parsnips (left from Christmas) and peppers (cost effective to buy three peppers and will have one left after enchiladas) with potato wedges.
Thursday: unplanned. Will either use anything I have left for a decent meal, or have two cheap and cheerful meals to make up for overusing expensive ingredients earlier.

As a general rule Saturdays will be the days I make something which can hardly be described as thrifty, because that's the day I'm otherwise most likely to revert back to takeaways.

XSpender

Please can I join with a target of £250 starting from 31st December?

This will be a very tough challenge for us compared with our usual spends but we are having an uber frugal January to start our year off saving to a good start

Zed42

Good afternoon all

Well, I attempted to be in this last year, but fell rapidly off the wagon, due to "life" !

This year I am going to start conservatively with £615

This will include all groceries, takeaways, dining out, household cleaning supplies and toiletries for 2 adults, one tween (who appears to be forever hungry!) and 2 cats.

The main focus is to cut down on takeaways, up the amount of home cooking, reduce waste and give us more budget for going out to dinner.

There is one exception to this, a pre-booked meal, which is part of our Christmas pressie (and comes from a separate budget!).

Month will run from 01/01/2015 to 31/01/2015

Islandmaid

Well had my first spend from Jan budget, £41 (inc a £20 off £50 voucher) from Mr S -
2 X legs of lamb,
2 X pork joints
2 X posh red wine (for New Year Dinner).

This, and what we have in the freezer, should cover all of our meat for Jan, I get a weekly veg delivery which is £10/15 pw depending on which size I choose, so my only additional costs should be household, cat food etc

Need to do some serious meal planning