December 2017 Grocery Challenge

Mrs_Cheshire

I've done the big Christmas food shop, did it yesterday as the shops are only going to get busier. Spent £29.37 in tosco, should have been £48.18 before discount and coupons. Then £24.11 in Ald!, need to go back there this morning as I've just noticed they've overcharged me, 5 broccoli when I only bought 1!

JingsMyBucket

Evening all. Today was a NSD but I have trips from yesterday to report.

€15.74 at Delhaize for oats, tortilla chips, tomatoes, and some other bits to make dishes I took to the holiday potluck today.

70¢ at the Halal store for cilantro (coriander). I'll return there tomorrow to buy my leg of lamb and a tray of eggs.

£18.71 at Waitrose in London. OH stocked up on lots of cream, custard and other dairy before getting the train back home.

24¢ - remember when OH bought groceries when I was ill but didn't give me the receipt? I found it and I missed 24¢ off the total.

TOTALS SO FAR
€193.20 / €350.00 for groceries
7 NSD
£198.57 / £200 London stocking up fund

Wow! I barely just came in under my London stocking up budget. Talk about a close call. For the rest of the month, we still have some Christmas main meal shopping to do the next few days. Hopefully we can get this all done for about another €75 – €80 and call it a day. Even though the budget is set for €350, I feel like I'm tired of spending and would like to limit it to €275 or €300 for the month.

PennyGrabber wrote: »

I haven't spent a huge amount on food this month, and I have had a massive organising session of all my food stocks. 50kg of pasta, anyone?!

My goal for 2018 is to run out of stuff. I have boxes and boxes of food, organised by date. A big 2017 box is at the bottom of my pantry to be used asap, then I have 5 2018 boxes and a 2019 box!!!

^^^ I totally hear you PennyGrabber. My stocks aren't as heavy as yours but it still feels like I need to clean house and only use what's in the cupboards for a month or so. I want to run out of stuff as well.

That said... how did you wind up with 50kg of pasta?... :rotfl:

PennyGrabber

JingsMyBucket wrote: »

That said... how did you wind up with 50kg of pasta?... :rotfl:

Well... So here's the thing...

Pasta is our go-to. I always buy the cheapo variety. We like fusilli, which is the morries cheapo, so I buy a dozen at a time (6kg). Dd, poss on the spectrum, likes spaghetti with certain meals and pasta with others, so I buy a dozen of those at a time too. Then, prices went up in a$da, so I whipped to morries and got loads more before they went up too. Then, at te$co, the 3kg bags of pasta shells (conchiglie?) were half price to get rid of them, so I got six... Then I found about 10kg already in the cupboard when I had a sort out. Then I found some boxes of lasagne sheets. And there you have it, 50kg!

(Hangs head in shame...)

PG x

K9sandFelines

PipneyJane wrote: »

I use Atta flour for everything. It's just strong, finely-milled wholemeal plain flour (aka "bread flour"). It makes great bread, good pancakes and very nice cakes. One loaf of bread costs about 25p in the breadmaker.


If you need self-raising, add a teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour.


Atta Flour is also sold as Chappatti Flour and is very cheap. I usually pay £3 for a10kg sack, which lasts us about 9 months. I split it in two and store it in two of the largest sized Lock-n-Lock boxes.


HTH

Pip

Thanks Pip. I'll get doing some cakes and bits with it then.

thriftwizard

All my efforts have been derailed by a small domestic disaster; my 91 y.o. mother & her live-in carer are parting company on Christmas Eve & it's been a total nightmare trying to find some cover for her at the busiest time of the year! Hopefully sorted now, but in the meantime I have spent some money - not a lot, I was able to do a contactless transaction - but I can't find my receipt so will have to "log" it later on! Still hoping to just about make it, but not sure yet...

Suffolk_lass

PennyGrabber wrote: »

Well... So here's the thing...

Pasta is our go-to. I always buy the cheapo variety. We like fusilli, which is the morries cheapo, so I buy a dozen at a time (6kg). Dd, poss on the spectrum, likes spaghetti with certain meals and pasta with others, so I buy a dozen of those at a time too. Then, prices went up in a$da, so I whipped to morries and got loads more before they went up too. Then, at te$co, the 3kg bags of pasta shells (conchiglie?) were half price to get rid of them, so I got six... Then I found about 10kg already in the cupboard when I had a sort out. Then I found some boxes of lasagne sheets. And there you have it, 50kg!

(Hangs head in shame...)

PG x

:eek::eek::rotfl::rotfl:

RedFraggle

RedFraggle wrote: »

Did a big Mr T shop yesterday £156.04 (eek!) but got most of the Xmas stuff (meat is on butchers order and should only need veg/fruit next week.
Had to buy the cats extortionate food £31.99 (he has bad skin issues) and the hamster needed foragey stuff £3.99.
Total so far £376.88

That leaves me £23.12 so I have zero chance of coming in at sub £400 but should hit £450.

Have spent getting on for £100 of pet food this month which is disproportionate as it's months of food for the ratties (and hamster) and about 8 weeks worth for the cat. I was tempted to buy the smaller bag of catfood to come in nearer budget but it is half the price per kg to get the big one.

Oh dear. £170 in T *watches budget go up in a puff of smoke* and still the butchers order to collect. Ah well, it's Xmas, we just moved house and it's been a stressful time! Small amount of proudness in avoiding all megabucks per 100g Xmas branded foods apart from the puds, Xmas cake and stollen.
Back on it for Jan!

pamsdish

Lost the plot, impulsive spends on goodies and everything else associated with the festive season, looking forward to a thrifty 2018.

JingsMyBucket

Oh my word PennyGrabber, that is hilarious. You're stocked up on pasta for the next six months! :rofl: I mean, at least. You could probably do two pasta dishes per week and still be covered for a while. Hey, at least you know it's there and can now call a moratorium on pasta buying. You must resist!

Thriftwizard, I'm glad you were able get cover for caring for your mum. Hopefully she doesn't have too much shock to the adjustment.

Red Fraggle, do you mean you spent an extra £170 at Tesco or that's what your total is now? I'm not sure I'm reading it clearly. If it's an additional £170 spend, I think this is kind of normal when moving house. It's a combination of restocking plus the newness and celebration of it all.

Pamsdish, hang in there I'm sure it'll all taste good and will last you well into January.

As for me, I revised my shopping list last night by deleting what's been bought, consolidated store lists, etc. Frustratingly, I still came in at an estimated additional €148 to be spent the next two days. I removed some items and remembered that we have a €5 coupon for Delhaize and should help a bit. My new estimated spend for the next couple of days is about €132. Fingers crossed I can keep it that. If so, that should put me at €325-ish for the month.

Faete

Just tallied up my last three shops - £147.15 at Asdda and £129.59 at Aldi which takes my monthly total to £322.32

Fae xx