May 2017 Grocery Challenge

[Deleted User]

Really pleased with how its going this month. Had a lot of mini spends, nothing major, even my alcohol budget is in tact, not sure that will last though lol. Have a lovely w/e everyone. Have updated sig.

elsiepac

£2 spent yesterday - gave it to my boyfriend for some rolls he bought me in the bakery (5 for £1.50) and the other 50p towards some chips he bought me, LOL. First ones I've had for a good few weeks since I had my little health scare. Enjoyed them, but won't be indulging regularly.

I will need to buy mushrooms as found the ones in my fridge had gone manky. I have this problem sometimes - the veg drawer gets extremely cold and can even partially freeze things sometimes. It's very irritating.



................................£150 Budget
Date.......Shop......Amount.....Remaining
27 Apr.....Wa1tr0se..£80.19.....£69.81
28 Apr.....H&B.......£00.08.....£69.73
28 Apr.....Tesc0.....£29.45.....£40.28
3 May......Co-0p.....£01.29.....£38.99
3 May......Tesc0.....£00.80.....£38.19
4 May......A1d1......£16.45.....£21.74
4 May......Tesc0.....£05.00.....£16.74
11 May.....A1di......£07.05.....£09.69
11 May.....Tesc0.....£04.00.....£05.69
13 May.....A1di......£01.28.....£04.41
17 May.....A1di......£01.84.....£02.57
18 May.....A1di......£03.11....-£00.54
18 May.....Tesc0.....£01.00....-£01.54
19 May.....Bakery....£02.00....-£03.54



Date....Fresh/Frozen..Cupboard/Dry Goods..Cleaning/Toiletries..Treats..Bags
27 Apr..£24.14........£11.24..............£28.01...............£16.80..-
28 Apr..-.............£00.08..............-....................-.......-
28 Apr..£20.36........£09.04..............-....................-.......£00.05
3 May...£01.29........-...................-....................-.......-
3 May...£00.75........-...................-....................-.......£00.05
4 May...£16.45........-...................-....................-.......-
4 May...£01.66........£03.34..............-....................-.......-
11 May..£07.05........-...................-....................-.......-
11 May..£03.00........£01.00..............-....................-.......-
12 May..£00.69........-...................£00.59...............-.......-
17 May..£01.84........-...................-....................-.......-
18 May..£02.43........£00.68..............-....................-.......-
18 May..-.............-...................£01.00...............-.......-
19 May..£01.50........-...................-....................£00.50..-

elsiepac

I've been doing some calculations on my spends so far this year...

I've set myself an average budget each month of £154.
I've spent an average per month of £207.90.
This means my average overspend per month so far this year is £53.90, or 33.95%

So far in total this year I have spent £1039.48.

It's quite shocking to see that figure! I'm glad I've done well this month compared to the other 4 this year (I will finish up over budget but only by under a tenner), but the figures above include this, so the averages would have been much higher had I not reigned it in a bit!

I'm definitely motivated to try really hard to spend as little as possible, this exercise has certainly made it all seem very real!!

Cappella

Right. Last shops of May done and dusted. £57, which was much higher than I'd anticipated but included a new slow cooker as mine stopped working a fortnight ago and I've really missed it.
So I'm declaring at £260/£360 and am chuffed to bits.
Bring on The June challenge say I.
Many thanks for all your ideas and supportive posts:)

amandaatnumber7

I've been sick all week and not done a proper shop, we've been eating out of the freezer along with top up shops of the milk/bread/fruit variety these have added up to $98.75
Plus the Dr has put me on a no fat diet so there is a few things in my freezer I cant eat (pastry and scones I'm looking at you ) and I'm expecting to spend more on lean meats rather than the cheap cuts.
So now I'm feeling better I've gone through whats left in the freezer (not much) made a meal plan and will go to the shops later today.
What does everyone do with the difference in their budget if they come in under budget ???
Hubby has suggested I use it to stock up when things are on sale but I was also thinking I might put it away for Xmas
Amanda

t14cy_t

spends of £10 yesterday on a huge haul of YS goodies from Tesco and morrisons. totted up and would of cost £98!!! happy days. popped tape over the freezer door just incase it popped open over night!! xx

Kayalana99

£87/£200 so far, I'm back from holiday and paid for the food shopping that week with cash that we had saved for holiday so I'm not counting it.

So far the credit card (which we pay off monthly for food / petrol) is only on £260 including the food above, petrol and a DD but normally it finishes on around £500 before I started getting my food bill down...car has a full tank of petrol so hopefully just food left.

If I can keep my food shopping under the £50 weekly budget for the last two weeks (just did a shop) our total shopping/petrol bill will be £360 this month and that will be a record. :eek:

Wish me luck. :beer:

Wysiwyg49

amandaatnumber7 wrote: »

What does everyone do with the difference in their budget if they come in under budget ???

So far this has not been a problem I have had to wrestle with :rotfl:

Gone over at £399.49. Things might improve now DS has braces and can't eat junk and DD is on a health kick!! Convincing DH that veggie meals can be good would also help...

Meal plan this week (spot the influence of the braces):
Sat: mashed potatoes and baked cod with roast veg
Sun: pasta bolognaise
Mon: baked potatoes with beans and cheese
Tues: chicken fricassee with rice / beef stroganoff for the grown-ups
Wed: sausage casserole and mash
Thurs: bean chilli

Making soup for lunch today. Breakfast is eggs/cereal/toast/bagels. After seeing a few mentions of Twink's hobnobs I''m going to try making them, also treacle sponge.

2childmum

Haven't done as well towards the end of this week as I was at the beginning. Mid-week shop of £20.90 wasn't too bad - mainly fruit/veg and soya stuff as it was a Tesco shop - the plan is if I do this mid week I will then buy everything for my main shop in Aldi or Lidl and won't be tempted by extra stuff when I nip in somewhere else for soya stuff.
That was Thursday, and then unfortunately, on Friday, I filled the slow cooker and forgot to turn it on. Didn't notice for 31/2 hours, and as everything had been sitting in a warm liquid for that long I decided it was safer to through it away. I then had to dash out for ready meals (logistics of feeding everyone on a Friday is a night mare, and this was the quickest and easiest option) and whilst at the shop found some ys stuff for the freezer plus the ready meals and a couple of other bits i could really have done without. So that was another £24.97 I didn't really need to spend. Off to update my sig and meal plan for next week.

[Deleted User]

£202.12 / £230 so far. Just need a few essentials like butter and bread till end of May so hoping I'll keep in budget. Made the lentil cottage pie from the recipe list and now have my lunches for the week. Going to check out a few more of the recipes because they have gone down so well so far. Good luck everyone!