£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Treadingonplaymobil

Groceries down to £350 might be feasible - we haven't been too precious this month, and the total spend (depending how much DH spends right now at Aldi) looks like coming in around the £385 mark. I still sometimes wonder what I'm missing to struggle so much with our food shop, although it's a long way from our £520 starting point. Actually, I know exactly where I fail - it's the little extras (which are all me, I have to confess) like nice herbal tea, too much butter, nice local honey or fancy seeded rice cakes. All of these are inevitably purchased from the lovely organic supermarket in town, which I should probably just ban myself from.

enthusiasticsaver

Yep they all sound expensive and organic supermarket in itself will be pricey. It is a trade off.

We have a waitrose and a lidl in our town. I do one shop a month in waitrose as they do gluten free stuff for my son in law and lactose free for my granddaughter and husband. All the rest of the time I shop in Lidl. Our weekly shop for 2 of us (admittedly with DH doing it who is nowhere as careful as me) was £96 a few weeks ago so he has been banned from doing the weekly shop now :rotfl:. I did it at Lidls on Friday and it was less than £25 for the week. That is cleaning and household stuff, all meat for meals and veg, staples, snacks for the week. No alcohol though as we are cutting back on that.

Silver_Queen

I think you should give yourself a pat on the back with reducing your grocery spend so much since the start of your diary! If you can though, definitely keep trying to reduce it as it will really help you. Well done!

joeyjimbles

I forget if you have Aldi or Morrisons near you? But if you do both have significantly increased their healthy snacks, gluten free, organic, free from ranges and their prices are much better than the health food shops I've found. Plus in all honesty, looking at the back of the packs I'm not massively convinced that they are anything but the same product (from the same manufacturer) in different packaging. Certainly there is no difference in taste, calories or ethical provenance in the rice cakes and seeded crackers.

Treadingonplaymobil

joeyjimbles wrote: »

I forget if you have Aldi or Morrisons near you? But if you do both have significantly increased their healthy snacks, gluten free, organic, free from ranges and their prices are much better than the health food shops I've found. Plus in all honesty, looking at the back of the packs I'm not massively convinced that they are anything but the same product (from the same manufacturer) in different packaging. Certainly there is no difference in taste, calories or ethical provenance in the rice cakes and seeded crackers.

We have both nearby. And you're right - they are almost certainly very similar/identical! I always resist the urge to add them to the weekly shop, then give into temptation when I pass the organic supermarket. Maybe I should add one treat a week or something to big shop each time I resist the organic supermarket the previous week or something.

Silver_Queen wrote: »

I think you should give yourself a pat on the back with reducing your grocery spend so much since the start of your diary! If you can though, definitely keep trying to reduce it as it will really help you. Well done!

It's been a massive shift. I honestly didn't think I could reduce a single pound from our food shop when we started last February.

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Yep they all sound expensive and organic supermarket in itself will be pricey. It is a trade off.

We have a waitrose and a lidl in our town. I do one shop a month in waitrose as they do gluten free stuff for my son in law and lactose free for my granddaughter and husband. All the rest of the time I shop in Lidl. Our weekly shop for 2 of us (admittedly with DH doing it who is nowhere as careful as me) was £96 a few weeks ago so he has been banned from doing the weekly shop now :rotfl:. I did it at Lidls on Friday and it was less than £25 for the week. That is cleaning and household stuff, all meat for meals and veg, staples, snacks for the week. No alcohol though as we are cutting back on that.

We don't really buy booze either, so I can't blame that. A little thought and planning and we can definitely reduce it a bit further.

Treadingonplaymobil

Back from friends' and not having 'bleurgh, it's Sunday' particularly as I have my housekeeping day tomorrow.

DH managed to only spend £40.20 on the food shop today. I need to buy tofu this week, but assuming that's only a couple of quid we'll come in under £390 for the month, which isn't too shabby. February should be nice and low as it's only four weeks, aiming to get it under £350 for Feb at least, even if we can't ever repeat it.

Dh and I feeling so determined to drill down on the debt, the motivation has well and truly come back. Not sure how to turn it into actual money coming off the debt, but feel like we need to make a significant impact over the next 6-8 months in order to make any sort of extension happen next year. Picture me doing some kind of war dance in the face of our debt.

Savings/Spends:
- January 'rounding down' overpayment pot = £5.67/£8 (£30 per month pro rata for the rest of Jan )
- 2018 debt repayment goal = £656.48/£5,000

To do today
1. Plan week's work. Not done, one for the morning.
2. Clear work emails. Done.
3. Finish contract work. Done.

To do this week
1. More decluttering - particularly the lego!
2. Brainstorm ideas for architect - particularly in the light of the new extension information from the planners.
3. Finish planning any handmade gifts for birthdays/Christmas 2018 so I can ensure they are done well in advance.
4. Plan and book some campsites for summer hols.
5. Do birthday cards for the month and a thank you card for the weekend.

To do in January
1. Review 2017 spending and try to improve 2018 plans by being more prepared - plan big spends like holidays and Christmas now and be realistic about the cost. Done with DH before doing SOA.
2. Redo SOA once the remortgage is through. Done.
3. Make a 2018 business plan that is less frenetic than originally (I think I had too high expectations of myself, leading to much stress in Nov/Dec). Done.

enthusiasticsaver

Good to see the determination. You have some motivation with your extension plans.

Silver_Queen

I think it's a good idea to allow yourself one small treat in your grocery shop to prevent yourself from giving in at the organic supermarket.

Suffolk_lass

If you want to target your grocery shopping, have you checked out the Old Style monthly Grocery Challenge on here? The February one is up here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5778103 It has got some very good tips and some very cheap recipes in the early posts. It used to have lots of supportive comments but there is a lot more "I spent x at Y" these days.

I still do it because I know I get complacent every now and then and overspend by a hundred before I've realised it. I think I've been doing it for about seven or eight years now. All my brands are bought when they are on offer - and I buy 4 or 6 depending on how much space I have. I buy whatever is on offer and cook from scratch. I think the trick is to look at what I have in and cook from that, and only buy the one or two things missing. I regularly substitute in recipes now - who knew leek and cabbage made such a tasty veg au gratin?! I have upped my target to £3,500 for this year but on my spreadsheet I have £200 per month, £500 stores and an extra £200 for Christmas - so there is £400 in there that I hope not to spend. We will see. You plan so much more effectively than I do I am sure you could reduce a bit more with some of the tips there.

By the way, the oats and pumpkin seeds I buy are actually cheapest in bulk from the local independent health food shop - not sure if you have one

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 51: Day 2

Morning! Sat down with DH last night for a quick run through of the new budget from Feb onwards, as this is the first month of the new budget since the remortgage. We are going to try to sit down weekly to check how we’re doing, even if it’s just 10 mins over a cup of tea.

Menu plan this week is 95% leftovers, which is rather pleasing. But the fact that the food shop was still just over £40 shows me how much we spend on fruit/flour/dairy etc, and I don’t think there’s much gain to be made there - all Aldi/Lidl (I just don’t have the time to find/drive to a market to save the odd 50p here).
Monday - leftover leek risotto
Tuesday - leftover bolognese sauce from lasagne making, with pasta, obv.
Wednesday - tinned mackerel curry with flatbreads (ingredients bought a week or two ago and not used as we had leftovers one night).
Thursday - veg and orzo soup leftovers.
Friday - sweetcorn fritters
Saturday - stir fry with tofu, egg fried rice and whatever veg is left.
Sunday - butternut squash soup and bread
Breakfasts - porridge, French toast, yoghurt and hm granola (only one option per day these days! No more three-different-breakfasts).
Packed lunches - leek and potato quiche (made last week, in the freezer), crackers with salami, cheese and veg, leftover hot meals in thermos.
Snacks - fruit, toast and jam/marmalade etc, drop scones.

Savings/Spends:
- January 'rounding down' overpayment pot = £5.67/£8 (£30 per month pro rata for the rest of Jan )
- 2018 debt repayment goal = £656.48/£5,000

To do today
1. Plan week's work. This already done, efficient or what?
2. Make ghee.
3. Buy oranges and sugar for marmalade.
4. Have a browse for budget recipes.
5. Make sourdough.
6. Prep for clients tomorrow.
7. Clear the laundry.
8. Clear the ironing.
9. Do some more decluttering.
10. Thank you card for the weekend.
11. Make more granola.
12. Decide whether to grow some veg this year and check what supplies we have (I think we have reusable grow bags somewhere, maybe some seed trays. Would need seeds/seedlings and compost). More as a good activity for the children than money saving, but needs to pay its way (ie not spending £50 on seeds, which obviously I have NEVER done ).

To do this week
1. More decluttering - particularly the lego!
2. Brainstorm ideas for architect - particularly in the light of the new extension information from the planners.
3. Finish planning any handmade gifts for birthdays/Christmas 2018 so I can ensure they are done well in advance.
4. Plan and book some campsites for summer hols.
5. Do birthday cards for the month and a thank you card for the weekend.

To do in January
1. Review 2017 spending and try to improve 2018 plans by being more prepared - plan big spends like holidays and Christmas now and be realistic about the cost. Done with DH before doing SOA.
2. Redo SOA once the remortgage is through. Done.
3. Make a 2018 business plan that is less frenetic than originally (I think I had too high expectations of myself, leading to much stress in Nov/Dec). Done.