December 2017 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

Oh my, this Christmas stuff is so tempting. I think it was pure greed that made me pick up the frozen free-range goose in Morries - it was £31 but I had to play freezer tetris for half an hour to make room for it and there are still 4 packs of meat to stash ready for boxing day. Got to brave the shed. Nothing else for it. Freezer No3 is normally just garden fruit but these are easier to flatten in my never-ending tetris game so the meat will have to go out there.

Butter was £1 a pack before the vote. It was £1.50 yesterday. There was an article in the paper saying our processed dairy products could be in short supply over Christmas and New Year because the export prices are so good. I don't have room to freeze cream so we may just go without!

Highland_Fling

Good morning everyone,
well last night I sat and completed an Asd* shop which will be delivered this evening.
£70 bringing my total up to £105.

This order includes a very large box of washing powder, a pack of 24 toilet rolls and also cleaning materials.
I also ordered some nibbles and treats for Christmas.

I would seldom have a delivery but due to a combination of weather and ill health decided it was the best option this month. Therefore I took advantage and ordered heavy and bulky goods along with usual fayre and I then believe I have had better value from my delivery charge.
I am now going to have a look at cupboards and create some space.

Feel more organised now for the coming festivities although I have not gone crazy and shown some restraint as I do not want waste.

PipneyJane

Grrr.... Who turned off the outside heating? (Only kidding.)

It was very snowy when we ventured out this morning to Mr T’s and our local authority has definitely NOT gritted. Mr T’s car park was virtually empty, as was the shop - almost unheard of for a Sunday. We spent £40.39, which brings our total spend for the month to £77.76/£162.70 leaving £84.94 left to spend.

I know a few people have commented on the price of butter, but has anyone else noticed the 30+% increase in the price of milk? A month or so ago, we were paying 98p for 2 litres, today it was £1.30.

How are you coping with the weather?

YorksLass

PipneyJane wrote: »

I know a few people have commented on the price of butter, but has anyone else noticed the 30+% increase in the price of milk? A month or so ago, we were paying 98p for 2 litres, today it was £1.30.

Yup, our 4-pinters (soz, don't do litres ) were £1, now £1.10.

Weather here in W Yorks is [STRIKE]cold[/STRIKE] perishing: 2C today, forecast -5C overnight. Dull, with a little bit of snow this afternoon, not settling much, but very icy on the pavements. Tbf, gritters have been out, almost every day, for the last few days.

Week 1's spends ended up at a total of £46.19 made up of: £20.30 market, £6.27 Co-op and £19.62 Sainsbobs where I got 2 ys items - x2 melting middle smoked haddock fishcakes with Cheddar & leek for £1.65 and 1kg minced beef for £3.05 that's now portioned up and frozen.

I also bought some festive food - x6 chilled dessert pots (all long dated until after Xmas), after dinner mints and posh biscuits. These were all on promotion, so a few more pennies saved there. :) I haven't included the cost of these in my normal budget as I have a separate Christmas pot that I feed with £2 every week throughout the year. I'll probably not spend all of it as (a) there are only the two of us and (b) we're not doing the hosting this year. If anyone does pop in unexpectedly, I have enough in to rustle up "something".

Thanks to concentrating on using stuff from the freezer, spaces are now appearing :j so this week (and next) I'll be filling up the spaces by prepping stuffings, mince pies and roasties ready for The Day.:D I'll also be making jars of marmalade, some of which will be given as gifts.

Haven't done a meal plan as yet for the coming week but I have a rough idea of what we'll be having, something along the lines of:

Su - Chicken, bacon & leek bake, sprouts, mashed potatoes (chicken and cooking bacon bits from freezer)
M - Lazy dinner of soup + hot dogs & onions in rolls (haven't had these for yonks)
Tu - Smoked BBQ beefburgers (freezer), cabbage, mash, onion gravy
W - Fishcakes (freezer), fried sliced potato and side salad
Th - Something to use up the remainder of Sunday's chicken - maybe a pasta meal or stir-fry or curry

I have an online delivery slot booked for the 18th and I'm using this to stock up on basics etc that should see us well into the NY and save us trips out in the cold.

Even though we normally come in on or under budget each month, I'm going to try reducing our grocery budget by £5 a week from January. Not sure how I'll get on with it but it's worth a try in the fight (or should that be warfare?) against price increases.

Stay warm and well everyone.

Mrs_Cheshire

Popped into the C0-0p on the way home from my parents today to grab some milk for breakfast and something to go with the bits I already had for tea, got mushrooms and smoked sausage. Made pasta with tomato sauce, with peppers, sweetcorn, mushrooms and the sausage.
Spent £4.84

Having a sorting day tomorrow. Want to move and defrost the freezer and do a cupboard inventory before I go shopping.

JingsMyBucket

Happy Sunday everyone. I'm on a train back home after whirlwind weekend of stocking up and attending a birthday party.

£12.90 - Waitrose on their Carmargue/wild rice mix that OH loves; loads of crackers/oat cakes and some jarred jerk seasoning (so hard to find both where I live!!)

£40.45 - M & S. I bought their delicious fake Bailey's Irish cream so I can make a Bailey's and chocolate cake trifle for Christmas dessert. Also picked up various chocolates, oat cakes, and cheeses.

£31.31 - Waitrose again this afternoon. This time I got two (!!) of their 300g smoked salmon platters that were only £8 each!! Can you tell I'm excited about salmon? I also got some aubergine and feta burgers for OH, some cheddar cheeses and crackers.

Can you believe I forgot the bloody haggis?! I'm so annoyed with myself. I think it's also because that branch didn't have it and neither did the M & S I visited today. Blast.

There were various other purchases at Boots but a lot of that stuff like body cream or perfume so I won't count it. Nonetheless, I think we're pretty well stocked in terms of toiletries for the next 6 months or so. I just need to get soap for myself later next week.

I can't wait to get home and unpack everything.


TOTALS SO FAR:

£179.86 / £200 London stocking up fund
€49.58 / €350.00 for groceries
1 NSD

XSpender

JingsMyBucket wrote: »

£40.45 - M & S. I bought their delicious fake Bailey's Irish cream so I can make a Bailey's and chocolate cake trifle for Christmas dessert. Also picked up various chocolates, oat cakes, and cheeses.

Please could you share the recipe for the baileys and chocolate trifle as this would be ideal for a NYE party we are going to (if we have any baileys left by then )

pamsdish

Went B&M today and lidl, picked up some 2 pack thermal long sleeve T,shirts, 1 for me 1 for neighbour, rang her to make sure size and colour, wandering by till and realised I had put my bag down to rummage, no bag, shot back to T shirts still there, I was more worried about car keys as my spare is in the safe, the key of which is on my key ring, car keys, house keys, and sid safe. Will remove it from the safe and put else where, will update spends from bank statement as can`t find B&M receipt, also while other friend checking out and i am packing her stuff, cashier busy discussing staff rota with next cashier, heard an item beep 3 times, my friend had 2 dog treats £2.99 each, asked her to check it straight away, oh no only done 2 she checked 3 charged, travesty of an apology, rota very important for them. I know life is hard for store and supermarket staff, been there done that, but it`s hard enough to get money without being over charged.

adventureofmemories

£52.04 spent on this weeks shopping.

£2.70 is a Christmas gift and i also had to buy little essentials like oven cleaner and loo roll as well as more ketchup/mayo .

Mrs_Cheshire

chocoholic_chick wrote: »

Spends of £58.83 tonight in Lidl. Includes 3 bottles of their Primitivo wine @£4.99 each, a couple of packs of smoked trout they had reduced which I love but its a rare treat as the only place I've seen it before is at Sainsburys where it's £5.25 a pack, I got 2 for £4.88! Bought the things I need to make the sticky toffee cupcakes and food and snacks for DH and his mates who are coming round Saturday. So just as well I upped the budget for the month, already at £109.11!

Do you have a recipe for the cupcakes, they sound just up our street!