September 2017 Grocery Challenge

TooClumsy

Hello everyone,

Current situation: just moved into our first home with husband, so my budget covers 2 adults who love to eat, an occasional grocery shop for grandparents and includes all cleaning supplies as well.

I had set the budget to £250 for the month, very naively me thinks.

We had two sets of dinner parties in two weeks, for close friends who came to see our new home for the first time. So we went significantly over, despite putting £40 into a sink fund for friends for the month.

I've decided to track our grocery spends by week, imagining the costs would be higher in the first two weeks of the month. There is also a Costco trip and a MuscleFoods order for chicken breasts too.

Breakdown:

Aldi: £51.21 (Big grocery shop)
Costco £87.56 (Laundry supplies and some groceries)
Tesco £15 Baked banana bread for the first time
Muscle Foods £29.99 (Delivery charge for £5)
Pound Stretcher £1.56
Tesco £14.29 (Dinner party specifics including flowers)
Week 1 Total: £197.81/£250 (79% allocated funds spent)

Aldi £14.84
Aldi £5.31
Sainsburys £30.11 (Includes ingredients for dinner party where we had a GF, DF guest)
Tesco £52.32 (Alcohol and fresh flowers)
Week 2 Total: £102.58
Grand Total: £300.39/£250

Petrol Station: £1.49 Milk for 2 year old niece
Tesco: £14.29 (second dinner party bits)
Aldi: £10.75 (milk, lunch meats and beer)
Week 3 Total so far: £26.53
Grand Total: £326.92

So if my updated budget amount is £250 + £40 sink fund = £290, then I am currently 31% over budget.

Does anyone have any tips for dinner parties etc? We are going into peak festival period for my religion so expect a lot of visits, visiting, gifts to hand out etc so will be looking to make a saving where we can.

Separately, how long did it take everyone to just "get it" in terms of their desired spends for groceries. I can basically convince myself and hubbie that we NEED that mushroom pate and that pot of humus (Sabra brand: blimming gorgeous!).

-TC

YorksLass

NewShadow wrote: »

Well my rent's just gone up by £75 so next month I'm going to need to rejoin this challenge.....The next couple of weeks I think need to be doing an inventory of existing stocks, a realistic review of the budget, and getting out and cleaning those appliances I've not been using - like the slow cooker - to remind myself how they work.

Ouch! Good plan though to re-adjust the budget, good luck.

Thanks elsiepac for the Curried Corn & Veggie Chowder recipe, it sounds yummy - I'll be giving it a try. :T

TooClumsy wrote: »

Current situation: just moved into our first home with husband.....Separately, how long did it take everyone to just "get it" in terms of their desired spends for groceries. TC

Welcome to the thread and congratulations on moving into your first new home. It can be expensive when you're just starting up so maybe you'll find things will get easier with time. Looking at your breakdown of spends so far, I'd say things like the laundry supplies etc wouldn't be something you'd be buying every month - maybe you could have a separate budget for these and also make a note of how long they last.

Other tips:
Keep all your receipts and write down every spend in a notebook - that way, you can see where the money is going so it would be easier to set a realistic budget.
Keep an inventory of what you have in the freezer/cupboards so you don't buy things you already have.
Good idea to have a sink fund for the dinner parties. Could you perhaps make some of the dinner party dishes instead of buying ready-made (eg the hummus and pate? Lots of helpful recipe links at the beginning of this thread.
Watch out for delivery charges - they can "up" the final cost more than you might think.
The "do I NEED" scenario (we've all been there ) - have a rummage through stocks to see if you have something else you could use before giving in to temptation.

As to your last question, well .... it's different for everyone and sometimes life throws things at us that upset all our best laid plans!

YorksLass

Cherry_Burton wrote: »

One thing I am really pleased about so far this month is that I haven't eaten a shop brought sandwich for lunch. I had got into the habit of buying them 4/5 times a week. CB

Well done, it's amazing how much you can save by making your own - it makes the effort worthwhile, plus you know whats gone in it. Add in things like dried fruit, nuts, carrot/celery sticks, yogurt etc too, then you won't be tempted by chocolate bars and crisps. When I was working we had a vending machine for snacks, tea, coffee etc but I used to take my own coffee in a thermos flask (the vm tea was disgusting and the coffee only marginally better), one cuppa in the morning and one in the afternoon, with water at lunchtime.

Week 3 has seen spends of £6.90 (market - eggs, cooked meat, oven cakes), £34.95 (Sainsbobs for fruit, veg, salad, ys items for freezer - x4 1/4lb beefburgers, x2 cod fishcakes, x8 large cod goujons and x2 cod fillets) and an online delivery this morning £35.70 (Sainsbobs again, cupboard stores - stocking up for winter - and meat for freezer - liver, sausage, beef escalopes, mince), total of £70.65.

Total spends so far this month: £108.22/£160 and 15/28 NSDs, leaving a balance of £51.78 in the kitty. Nine days to go and I'm hopeful all I will need next week is milk. It would be nice to have a kick-start to next year's holiday fund!

candygirl

Spent £23 in ALDI today, so that's £93/120 so far this month.Think I'll be under target, as have loads in , n also got my £15 TESCO voucher for the trolley injury

armchairexpert

$20 on lunchbox top ups and things for Mr E to take to work. That leaves me with $250 for the next two weeks, which will be...surprising, if I manage it.

Matron_Midge

Declaring for September on £313.82/£400
This was helped by our holidays where we were using a different budget.
Cupboards and freezer looking sparse so will need to stock up when I go shopping. We also have two birthdays looming where food will be an integral part of the celebrations but I think I'm ok with that.
See you on the October thread.

chocoholic_chick

Spend of £9.10 so far this week. Needed bread and sandwich meats, a few bits for lunches and some fruit. Have people coming round Saturday night for food and drinks so have planned out what I'm going to cook and it's coming in at just under £50 which includes a case of beer. It's a fair chunk of my remaining budget, but I'm still fairly confident I'll not overspend this month

zafiro1984

TooClumsy wrote: »

Does anyone have any tips for dinner parties etc? We are going into peak festival period for my religion so expect a lot of visits, visiting, gifts to hand out etc so will be looking to make a saving where we can.
-TC

Many of us have been there, new house, limited budget, wanting to do the best for friends and family and as you say the festive/expensive season is approaching.
Also, no doubt you will have friends or family in a similar position and you want to keep up with your social life not shut yourself away because of not being able to afford to socialise .

My tip for entertaining friends/family is to suggest that you provide a main course and wine, get the invited couple to provide a dessert and if there is a third couple they should provide a starter or cheese. It's a flexible way of entertaining on a regular basis and splits the cost. Also, it's quite entertaining as you don't know exactly what the others will be bringing The idea could be used for a posh dinner or dressed down to sitting on the sofa. Don't forget to reciprocate the idea when you are invited back to their place.

We used to do this - many years ago - it worked well and our circle of friends grew enormously as we met so many different people at these dinners. It was also very entertaining.

Small gifts:- something homemade - chocolate truffles (Delia Smith has a brilliant recipe), homemade chutney or jams - plums are good and in season now. If HM jam is good enough for the Royal Family it's Ok for us to do the same. Save jars and buy some pretty gingham fabric to cover the lids.
If your religion will allow it fruit soaked in vodka, or brandy to make a liqueur - plenty of recipes on the web - save small bottles, you don't have to give a wine sized bottle away. Homemade is always appreciated as it shows you have made an effort not just flashed the cash/card.

PipneyJane

TooClumsy wrote: »

Hello everyone,

Current situation: just moved into our first home with husband, so my budget covers 2 adults who love to eat, an occasional grocery shop for grandparents and includes all cleaning supplies as well.

I had set the budget to £250 for the month, very naively me thinks.

We had two sets of dinner parties in two weeks, for close friends who came to see our new home for the first time. So we went significantly over, despite putting £40 into a sink fund for friends for the month.

I've decided to track our grocery spends by week, imagining the costs would be higher in the first two weeks of the month. There is also a Costco trip and a MuscleFoods order for chicken breasts too.

Breakdown:

Aldi: £51.21 (Big grocery shop)
Costco £87.56 (Laundry supplies and some groceries)
Tesco £15 Baked banana bread for the first time
Muscle Foods £29.99 (Delivery charge for £5)
Pound Stretcher £1.56
Tesco £14.29 (Dinner party specifics including flowers)
Week 1 Total: £197.81/£250 (79% allocated funds spent)

Aldi £14.84
Aldi £5.31
Sainsburys £30.11 (Includes ingredients for dinner party where we had a GF, DF guest)
Tesco £52.32 (Alcohol and fresh flowers)
Week 2 Total: £102.58
Grand Total: £300.39/£250

Petrol Station: £1.49 Milk for 2 year old niece
Tesco: £14.29 (second dinner party bits)
Aldi: £10.75 (milk, lunch meats and beer)
Week 3 Total so far: £26.53
Grand Total: £326.92

So if my updated budget amount is £250 + £40 sink fund = £290, then I am currently 31% over budget.

Does anyone have any tips for dinner parties etc? We are going into peak festival period for my religion so expect a lot of visits, visiting, gifts to hand out etc so will be looking to make a saving where we can.

Separately, how long did it take everyone to just "get it" in terms of their desired spends for groceries. I can basically convince myself and hubbie that we NEED that mushroom pate and that pot of humus (Sabra brand: blimming gorgeous!).

-TC

Where do I start? That first shop after DH and I moved into my flat back in April 2000, we spent at least £180 in Mr T's just "stocking up" and that was without buying any meat. (I use a butcher.). We literally started with nothing but some empty Tupperware. I remember the two of us standing in the kitchen wondering where all the money had gone and agreeing that next month we'd start a kitty system, taking cash out of the bank and contributing £50 each for groceries and £20 for meat (so a monthly budget of £100 for groceries and £40 for meat).

Fast forward to 2017 and our "housekeeping budget" is now as follows:-

£120 Groceries (which I track for the grocery challenge)
£ 40 Meat fund
£ 40 Bulk fund (used for Costco, visits to Wing Yip for rice, flour, spices)
£ 10 Garden fund (for seeds, equipment, etc)
£ 10 Christmas food

---

£220 a month
====

Most of the funds accrue for several months then we'll do a big shop. While I meal-plan a little, I shop primarily to restock my freezer and pantry. We try to always have the basics in stock: onions, garlic, mushrooms, tins of tomatoes, flour, rice, kidney beans, carrots, lentils, etc. I buy the big bags of spices and store them in Douwe Egbert coffee jars (each jar takes approximately 500g of spice).

Hope that helps. Now, to turn to your spending: how many chicken breasts did you get from MuscleFoods for your £29.99? 20? 30? Are they really worth the expenditure? Would you get a better deal if you ordered them from a local butcher? To give you a benchmark, my kosher butcher usually sells a tray of 10 for about £23 and, buying kosher, I expect to pay a premium of at least 50%.

Dinner parties: take a look at your receipts and figure out where the money is going. Are you buying a lot of pre-prepared food? Spending it all on steak? Is the majority of the spend on wine? If the latter, have you tried Lidl's wines? Remember, you most guests just want good company accompanied by tasty food and plenty of it - good friends won't care a damn if you've shopped in Fortnums or in Lidl.

Good, cheap, homemade starters are veggie soup, pate (serve in ramekins accompanied by a sliced baguette), savoury roulades, vegetable terrines (make a white sauce, split it in half, add a cup of peas to one half and cauliflower and cheddar to the other, then pur!e with some gelatine. Line a loaf pan with cling film and layer up).

Main courses: a stew always works well, served with plenty of mash. Or a curry. Or consider homemade lasagne, a homemade fish pie; even a roast can be good if you can carve (prep the veggies in advance and have everything ready to shove in the oven, so that you don't need to spend time cooking while you're guests are with you).

Deserts: I'm not much of a pudding person, so I usually stick to a couple of tried and true recipes: Nigella Lawson's gooey chocolate pudding (buy your chocolate in Lidl) served with double cream; Rose Elliott's chocolate-chestnut torte; or a pavlova. Even a homemade cake is good, served warmed with cream. In my deserts, the most important ingredient is probably my food processor.

The above works for most religious festival meals as well, although I appreciate that certain festivals have certain traditional foods to accompany them (Judaism has the concept of "the table as altar"). Make as much as you feel capable of and prepare it advance where possible.

HTH

- Pip

Ginmonster

Had a very busy week so far so I only had time to pop into the sm at the train station to pick up butter, cheese and bananas. £7.70 down on that transaction.


I can't believe how much the price of butter has rocketed over the last year or so. The cheapest in Sains was £1.50 a block. We go through a fair bit as I use it for baking as well as spreading.