October 2018 Grocery Challenge

CRANKY40

£42.97 spent this week so slightly under budget so far. From next week we will be having a doorstep milk delivery. Someone knocked on the door to ask if I was interested so I said yes. If the weather is bad I can make bread, cakes etc and if the milk is delivered it can save a trip out.

YorksLass

thriftwizard: Good luck with the op, hope your family looks after you while you're recovering.

Graciefields: As others have said, your budget should be what's right for you, as we're all different. At the mo, we're just about managing (2 adults) on £35pw for groceries plus another £5pw for bulk fund (freezer), thanks to looking out ys stuff, batch cooking/baking and the like, but prices are definitely going up.

K9sandFelines: Oh what an awful mix-up with your AF order. No wonder you're fuming. I hope everything gets sorted out PDQ.

YorksLass wrote: »

Meal plan done for next week using mainly stocks from F/F and cupboards and I think I should come in on budget, maybe even under!

Well, that was "famous last words" and all that! Have ended up going over budget by £13.25. On the plus side, much of what I bought will be used in November, so helping out next month's budget. There was a fair bit that wasn't on the shopping list but was ys and so bargainous it couldn't be ignored!

Declaring now. Total spends: £153.25/£140 and 17/28 NSDs.

Off now to add myself to November's thread. Have a good weekend everyone.

caronc

Small shop today of £14 mainly on cleaning bits, some breaded fish and a loaf. New month starts on the 30th so it will be the last October GC spend. Total £140/£200

JingsMyBucket

Save_Dosh wrote: »

I do have a freezer. The only thing that went in the freezer out of that lot, thus far, was the diced carrots & swede. The garlic went in the cupboard n the limes are on the counter top. The rest went in the fridge. I mostly buy fresh stuff, which I cook up and freeze. I haven't bought anything for nearly a week, so used up lots of cooked meals in the freezer, making room for when I get 'round to making the soup. Limes I use about 2-4 a day, so they won't last that long. I will probably make grape juice with half the grapes.

Thank you for explaining. I didn't mean to sound snarky, by the way. I was genuinely curious and in awe. After reading that you have a freezer, I wen't looking at standalone freezers on Curry's online. In a previous relationship, my partner's mother gave us a standalone freezer for Christmas because she heard me talking about wanting one. I miss having one so badly!! :rotfl: I think when we move to Scotland I'll possibly buy one depending on the fridge/freezer unit we have in the flat.
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Yesterday was a NSD and this evening I went out to get a couple of things just to get some fresh air and have some different food to eat.

62¢ at the halal store for a chicken leg quarter (leg and thigh joined together)
€2.50 at the halal store for split peas and some ramen.

TOTALS SO FAR:
€252.97/ €300.00
10/12 NSDs

Tomorrow I'll get some celery and carrots to make ham stock and then eventually make split pea and ham soup. The rest of the weekend I'll spend making stocks to put in the freezer and making soups for OH who returns on Monday morning.

thriftwizard

Totally lost the plot here now, because I can't sort out what belongs in October & what's November's - some should even come out of the Christmas budget, TBH! I've done a massive non-perishables shop and loaded up with fresh stuff - which I won't be able to eat - for the girls. So anyway, I will declare at £395.70/£400 which I think is fairly accurate & truthful, but that means that about £100 of November's allowance has already been spent. I have cash stashed away in the house for the girls & OH to use for fresh stuff, and I'll keep track of how much of that is left to estimate what's been spent in November.

Off now to buy a couple of things to get me through the next couple of days of starvation diet - very necessary - which I refuse to count as part of the household budget. That's pocket-money!

JingsMyBucket

@thriftwizard, for ease of mind I would just count it all towards October's GC and be mentally okay that you "went over" for the month but know that it averages out in the long run over the year. Stress is the last thing you want before an operation. This is one item that can just float right away.

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€4.10 at organic market for celery, mushrooms, and a banana.

€20.78 at Lidl for carrots, bacon, salami, salmon (9.99 on sale), 3x mozzarella balls, and toilet paper. The mozzarella is an easy thing for OH to eat when he's tired after returning.

€1.15 at the halal store on a large bag of bay leaves. I went to start laying out things to make ham stock and realized I was totally out of bay leaves for probably the first time ever in my life! :rotfl: If I had known last night when I went to the halal store, I would've just bought them then.

TOTALS SO FAR:
€279.00/ €300.00
10/12 NSDs

I'm tempted to head back out again and over to Delhaize to pick up a few things for OH for when he returns just so I can declare my October spending done today. OH's plane is landing super early on Monday morning after 20 hours of travel and 3 weeks away. I want to basically feed him some soup and shove him into bed to rest for a while, hence having easy things for him to eat.

Getting close to the limit for the month but it'll be fine. I did a lot of stocking up this month and I'm glad the amount is still under the limit.

RedFraggle

Just done all my adding up for October.
£319.54 spent so we are in. Very happy. My get some chocolate tomorrow but that'll be about it!

Doom_and_Gloom

Spent £10.99 since last post.

1kg courgettes, 345kg carrots, 625g easy peelers, 525g bananas, cucumber, 970g tomato ketchup, 2 tins sweet corn, 500g spread, 500g double Gloucester cheese, 1L organic whole milk, 2L cola.

For dinner I'm having vegetable chilli.
OH is out and he had burger and chips for dinner.

£185.22/£200.
£14.78 left

thriftwizard

Thanks, Jings, but I got it sorted out, posted on the November thread & am happy now! Years ago I'd have been perfectly content to let it go, but now I'm happier to feel that I do at least have half a finger on the pulse, as it were. This is probably because I did let it go once or twice too often back then...

Merlin's_Beard

£19.11 for the last shop, and hold the presses, I'm under budget for the first time since the start of summer! £92.57/£100