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April 2019 Grocery Challenge

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  • CRANKY40
    CRANKY40 Posts: 5,907 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Debt-free and Proud! Name Dropper
    I'd like to join in for April too please. I lost count in February and March didn't get off the ground because my little next door neighbour (aged 95) was very poorly and died so I was upset. I might have to put some of my rhubarb on the front with a "help yourself" notice now I'm not sharing it with her! Seriously the rhubarb has a life of it's own - I definitely picked the right place to plant it. I'm hoping for raspberries and blackberries this year too.

    My budget for April is £300 please. Out of this I want to spend no more that £45 a week on food. The other £15 per week will be used to add £5 per week to my freezer stock up fund (currently standing at £50), my celebration meal fund (currently £20) and I have a "me" purse that I stash £5 a week away in for anything out of the ordinary that I may want or need food wise. In reality the celebration fund and the "me" fund tend to get spent in the school holidays but I'm hoping to only spend the celebration fund at Easter.

    I have planted cucumbers, leeks, tomatoes, chives, peppers and courgettes. They're currently taking over part of the kitchen as I don't have a greenhouse but I really wanted to grow from seed this year rather than buying plants - probably just to see if I could. I really enjoyed being able to go out and pick my own tomatoes and courgettes from the garden as I needed them last year. I'll plant salad leaves as well soon. My House Troll (14 year old son) wouldn't eat lettuce if you paid him so it's handy just to be able to pick a few leaves as required rather than buy and then waste salad stuff from the supermarket.

    Jings how exciting. Is it going to be a big wedding or a small one? Mine was small and very MSE because I hate fuss. I'd have been happy just me and the late MrC but he insisted we had to invite a few people :rotfl:

    Thriftwizard I really hope your op date sticks. I know it's not quite the same but I had an open wound on my leg for 4 months and the "can't do this, that or the other" because of it made it feel like forever. I imagine you to be living much the same....just waiting and waiting. I'll have everything crossed for you on the day that they don't cancel.
  • elsiepac
    elsiepac Posts: 2,667 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 30 March 2019 at 4:39PM
    Budgets updated to here

    CRANKY Sorry to hear about your neighbour, how sad. She had a good long life though by the sound of it, and an excellent neighbour in you. Also, I'm excited to hear how all your veggies do from seed! Sounds amazing! I'm not greenfingered AT ALL or I'd try something similar, but everything I touch doesn't stand a chance :rotfl:

    I've had 3 small spends since I last posted: a couple of special tins of lentils and some "emergency" croutons in C0-op, a huge box of strawbs in Mr T (£4 for 1 kg and they are really tasty!) and some bananas, and annoyingly yesterday some lunch stuff plus a bag of leaves and pot of houmous in Mr T as well.
    Basically I just haven't been at home really this week, work has been manic and I've been exhausted and I'm on call STILL so I've had to do work in the evenings too, so the time has just flown and I've not had chance to really get organised yet!
    I'm determined not to let it spiral out of control though, so am ensuring I keep up to date with my finances and as I'm sure you've all noticed, trying really hard to post on here a lot as well. I really missed being involved properly in the last year, so must prioritise it!

    I'm currentl;y £7.44 OVER where I wanted to be at this point in my spending, however I'm going to try and keep my Week 2 spend a little smaller by making sure I meal plan properly and stick to it, and hopefully will be able to recoup the overspend without jeopardising my whole month by allowing it to roll on and then feeling I have no money!

    Have done a quick inventory this morning - been trying very hard as well to use up things from the freezer and the fridge and cupboards, as I don't want such large stocks - there's no need for it. Fridge and freezer are both emptier, freezer in particular which is good as I want to give it its annual scrub!! Fridge I do minimum of monthly if not more often.

    I have lunch for today and I'm at my friends tonight for tea (or a cheap meal out but not GC budget) so no spend for GC today, first one of the month so far!


    ...............................£202.50 Budget
    Date......Shop......Amount....Remaining
    24 Mar....A5da......£12.12....£190.38(WEEK 1)
    26 Mar....eBay......£08.00....£182.38(STOCK)
    27 Mar....Sup3rdrug.£20.01....£162.37(STOCK)
    27 Mar....H&B.......£04.98....£157.39(WEEK 1)
    28 Mar....C0-0p.....£02.90....£154.49(WEEK 1)
    28 Mar....T3sc0.....£05.39....£149.10(WEEK 1)
    29 Mar....T3sc0.....£06.54....£142.56(WEEK 1)



    Budgets as originally planned with current spends

    Week......Budget....Spent.....Remaining
    STOCK.....£20.00....£28.01....-£08.01
    WEEK 1....£32.50....£31.93....£00.57
    WEEK 2....£40.00....£00.00....£40.00
    WEEK 3....£40.00....£00.00....£40.00
    WEEK 4....£40.00....£00.00....£40.00
    WEEK 5....£30.00....£00.00....£30.00



    Budgets adjusted to compensate for overspend

    Week......Budget....Spent.....Remaining
    STOCK.....£28.01....£28.01....£00.00
    WEEK 1....£31.93....£31.93....£00.00
    WEEK 2....£32.56....£00.00....£32.56
    WEEK 3....£40.00....£00.00....£40.00
    WEEK 4....£40.00....£00.00....£40.00
    WEEK 5....£30.00....£00.00....£30.00




    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Old Style, Crafting and Techie Stuff boards.If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
    GC: May 22 £tbc/£250 Vegan 27-8-13
  • LauraWxx
    LauraWxx Posts: 565 Forumite
    :mad:2 more shops today
    Iceland shop (55.18) which stocked us up on fish and pop for the month and then a Morrisons dash (£27.85) to get plants and cards for the two mothers for tomorrow.

    So we now have £341.56 remaining for the month of April. Need to ensure that the next few weeks we just stick to the once weekly Asda delivery.
    2019 Totals: Savings: £929.53 / Mortgage OP - £746.32

    Grocery challange April: £130.17of £500 target remaining
  • CRANKY40
    CRANKY40 Posts: 5,907 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Debt-free and Proud! Name Dropper
    Thanks Elsiepac. My neighbour was amazing, my son said she was like a living history lesson - a tiny lady but tough and determined.

    I'm thinking that after today (when we're going out about 4pm to party and eat beige food at a friend's house), I'd like to start posting some of our meals as well as our grocery spends. The HT is an utter pain to cook for. He's very "sensory" so there are a lot of foods that he doesn't like the texture of but if they're mashed and hidden he will eat them (think bolognese sauce put through the blender, sigh). I'm trying to lose weight so I usually end up making two different meals which I don't mind. His favourite pasta and sauce with the addition of quorn mince or meatballs is easy enough to do. I try not to let him have it every evening though. He has a roast chicken dinner on a Sunday every week and is quite proud of himself because he eats the mashed carrots without me having to hide them. If I post what we're eating it might encourage me to be a bit more adventurous.
  • thriftwizard
    thriftwizard Posts: 4,862 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Thank you, Cranky40 and everyone else; it's been a frustrating few months but the end is in sight. Even if I get postponed, it should still happen within a month of the given date, and I'm feeling so much better now.

    And I'm off into April without realising it; £58 spent yesterday at the market and the butchers, on a large joint of beef for tomorrow, sausages, cheese, fish, fruit & vegetables for 4-6. (2 sons in evidence this weekend, as well as OH, myself and the two girls. Plus one large dog...) In essence, this is actually the 5-week month, and I've actually cut down the target a bit, having been under by £72 (as far as I can guess!) last month as I thought that was the 5-weeker! And I'll be out of action for at least a week...

    I do love a challenge...!
    Angie - GC Jul 25: £225.85/£500 : 2025 Fashion on the Ration Challenge: 26/68: (Money's just a substitute for time & talent...)
  • ditty1234
    ditty1234 Posts: 2,118 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Alright so my weeks start on a Friday and end on Thursday, so in real terms my April runs March 29th to April 26th. But in order to not have receipts drown between the two months I am declaring
    27.3 Mr L £14, 30.3 Market £15, Mr Ai £24 and Mr Icel £4 so £60 so far.
    And this will only go up. Uni boy is home and was very upset about content of fridge.
    Meal plan so far Chili from fridge, vege burgers, stir fry and meatballs with oven chips and salad and a crumble with fruit from market. And a cooked pancake breakfast.
    Am sorted for lunches, but will have to go and get more vege for lunches, will do so in Lidl on Tue or Wed as have a £5 voucher for a £30 shop.
    Uniboy will cook on Tuesday - what will it be?
    Tomorrow is pasta bake day w a Latvian salami I bought on the market, sweet potato, butter beans, a bit of cabbage and leftover pesto and tomato paste: problem identified; cheese was getting a bit skinny after toasties today!
    I
    Isa help to buy: 1000/3000 33%
    Emergency fund: 100/1000 10%
    Weight loose 8.6 kg - while having fun. 0/8.6 0%
    Focus debt to clear HSBC £10/1111, 0% updated May 25
  • Suffolk_lass
    Suffolk_lass Posts: 10,247 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I am loving the Uniboy disappointment - we had the same thing here. He treated my fridge like some sort of supplementary chilled cabinet for his own kitchen and would turn up and vacuum up the contents to take home, inhaling all orange juice in sight. It took a while but all is lovely now. Somewhat reassuring that we are not alone when this happens, I think.

    It also reminds me of the three empty Nutella jars we found in his bedroom after he moved out - each with its' own teaspoon. No wonder I thought I had early memory loss (I could have sworn I bought a spare...).

    Fond memories (a complete aside to managing our GC though!)
    Save £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £4863.32 out of £6000 after May (81.05%)
    OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £1286.68/£3000 or 42.89% of my annual spend so far
    I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
    My new diary is here
  • pamsdish
    pamsdish Posts: 2,585 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Trip to the tip which involved a side jaunt to B&M, needed gravy powder, coffee getting to last jar, got couple of items for neighbour and a bottle of washing up liquid, £10 there, no gravy powder which then involved a 4 shop walk to poundstretchers, SCORE, Golden fry reduced to 25p cleared shelf £3.50, I find it is about identical to Bisto in taste to my palate.
    Do I need it or just want it.
  • shirlgirl2004
    shirlgirl2004 Posts: 2,983 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    The OH is no good at letting me know what he spends so I have decided I'm going to put cash in an envelope for April and see if that works better.

    Budget will be £85 x 4 weeks

    £340
  • Need2bthrifty
    Need2bthrifty Posts: 1,879 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I'm in again and will keep the monthly amount at £70.00 but am hoping to come in under that cause there is plenty in the freezer and store cupboard.
    Jan - June Grocery spends = £531.61
    July - Grocery spends = £103.53
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