January 2019 Grocery Challenge

millionaire_in_training

£16.13 so now £238.07/£250. 12 days to go and I have £12 left in budget. I have decided that whatever I go over by this month I am deducting from next month as I will have enough meat already bought in my bulk meat buy to do me all month I reckon

taka

£60 out of £161.20 spent so far this month.

Off to Costco tomorrow so that will definitely increase! :rotfl: Can't decide if it is worth Dad and I renewing our membership (we split the cost between us - due in Feb) so I may well stock up on a few things.

flubberyzing

A £21.54 spend in Tescos this morning. Larger than normal for my weekly shop to feed just me. But there were some toiletries I needed, so that's £4. Then Babybel cheeses (which I like with my lunch sometimes) were 95p off a bag, so I stocked up more than I normally would. Also needed coffee, and that's fairly expensive.

£20-ish left to last me until the end of the month... I should just about make it, as there shouldn't be any of the larger purchases.

MadamMim2013

Was a NSD for me yesterday & will be today too as off to work in a moment and won’t be home till late! Got a small list forming so will probably pick up some basics, bread, milk and eggs tomorrow or Tuesday.. Happy with how I am pottering along, Pork mince out the freezer, off to look up some ideas as to what’s best to do with it!

Ginmonster

Had a morning doing some volunteer work and by the time we'd finished it was about 1:30 and I was quite hungry so I popped into the shop on my way home to get some baps so I could have a veggie burger from the freezer for lunch. Of course being hungry I also bought 2 packets of veggie sausages and a pack of own brand Cornetto type things. £5.75 spent.

88.89/120

CRANKY40

NSD here too. Food wise there's plenty in the freezer. My shopping list this week has things like vinegar, coffee, green tea, bin bags and fruit on it so I should still be OK putting the freezer stock and celebration money away. I have one more £6 off £30 voucher for Sainsb's so this will be the last shop done there. It's 5 minutes away from home but it doesn't stock some of what we usually have and I consider it too dear most of the time.

I also need snacks for the HT. The HT takes a break time snack for himself and his best friend every day. His best friend dances as a hobby and is unfillable and he can't stand to eat with her watching him. She's 4 foot 10, built like a washing pole and is permanently hungry. Yes her family do feed her :rotfl: Whatever they give her for morning break is usually eaten by the time she gets to school.

mummyjane

Such a crazy week, we have been all over the place this week and meal planning has gone straight out of the window. We’ve been waiting for the test results of a close family member and they’ve confirmed that they have cancer. I’ve just not been in the right place either physically or emotionally to be cooking every night so we’ve reluctantly had a couple of takeaways

Hopefully we can get back on track this week and I suppose it’s our first month back to budgeting properly so it was only an estimate and you can’t always predict life can you?!

Hope everyone’s had a good week x

thriftwizard

I've added £15 to my total, having totally lost the plot for how much I actually spent at the market on a veg top-up this morning! I don't think it was actually that much but I know I changed up a fiver and a tenner. Need to sit down with pen & paper & itemise what I actually bought... Come to think of it, I know what was in my change purse when I started out, so if I see what's in there now I should be able to puzzle my way through the mental fog eventually!

K9sandFelines

£1.40 spend to add from the 12/1, paid by cash and only just find the receipt.
£5.04 spent on Saturday in Morrisons and £4.34 on dinner (we were visiting family and out in the centre, so had to grab food to go).
Last night I had an Ocado delivery totalling £79.03.
Sainsburys coming on Weds too, as want to try the Gardein vegan products from Canada

buyhighselllow

I'm determined to cut our grocery spend, for numerous reasons. There are 2 of us and 3 cats. Our spend this month so far is £388 which may make a few people eyes pop, but it has topped £500/month in the past.

I do however have certain criteria I am adopting. I will only buy meat from 2 local outlets who sell local , very high welfare meat. My meat spend so far this month is £49. However from our roast chicken yesterday I will have enough for a nice curry tonight and either a stir fry or a couple of days sandwiches. I have 8-9 meals in waiting from meat I have bought and frozen, including pork fillet, Oxtail, bacon ,Chicken breast and sausages, so I doubt I will spend any more this month on meat.
Grocerywise we are Aldi/Morrison ( sometimes JS ). Morrison is mainly for bread/cat food,Litter/fresh fish and the odd things we don't buy or like from Aldi. I do buy pretty much everything except meat and veg from the Supermarket.
We are both embarking on diets and drastically cutting down on wine and beer , so I hope to knock a good few quid every week off the bill limiting alcohol to weekends.
I have stocked up on loads of Swartz slow cooker/sauce mixes etc also this month as they have been on offer.
I don't really like batch cooking, and try to vary our diet. I was always brought up to believe I should eat the best quality food I can afford.
here is our meal plan for the week

Mon : Slow cooker curry using Swartz mix/tinned Toms,Potato/frozen spinach and left over chicken. Home made Chapatis.
Tue:Beef in ale slow cooker with Mash
Wed:Smoked haddock and mushroom risotto ( frozen smoked haddock Aldi)
Thur:Pork fillet stir fry with a sauce and mixed vegetables and noodles
Fri: Sausage and bacon and mushroom tomato pasta.
Sat: Out
Sunday: Oxtail casserole/Home made Chips

Lunch is a Cob with ham or Pastrami or Spread cheese/ oatcakes/Ryvita.

We like to eat out or have a takeaway on a Saturday.

I usually try and do 2 fish and 1 veggie meal a week, and I have
frozen Salmon and Smoked haddock to do a few meals also this month. I am not envisaging having to spend that much more this month now, so I envisage my spend will not go much over £400.

Going forwards I want to aim for £300/month initially, which by cutting down on the vino and buying the cat food in bulk I hope we will do easily. I'm also looking to do cheaper meals in the week by tweaking the menu slightly. I have found so far meal planning is the key, thinking a week ahead or so. But I have to have some versatility as I don't like to be tied to meal x if its Wednesday. Food for me is a pleasure, not a function, both preparing and sitting down together to eat and catch up on the day. So it has a value that you cannot always quantify in pounds and pence.