We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING
Hello Forumites! However well-intentioned, for the safety of other users we ask that you refrain from seeking or offering medical advice. This includes recommendations for medicines, procedures or over-the-counter remedies. Posts or threads found to be in breach of this rule will be removed.We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
January 2020 Grocery Challenge
Options
Comments
-
Spent £66.85 today in Asda, that was a stock up shop, toilet roll, kitchen roll, diluting juices,tin foil, tinned tomatoes etc. Washing pods and 2 bottles of alcohol. Meals planned for tomorrow and for work lunches this week. Also had to buy cold and flu meds, yes I’ve been hit. All in all no unnecessary buys apart from a block of my favourite cheese which disappears after Christmas.
Got a load of Ys red peppers, plan to make roasted red pepper soup with lots of chilli and garlic, hopefully it will help this cold along.
Undecided on whether to get a takeaway on NYE or not so other than that and potentially fresh bread I won’t need to be in the shops again til next weekend.0 -
We are a family of 4 + 3 pets!
We aim for £350 per month, our month begins on 25th but started early this time as we are paid early for Xmas so did a big shop so we don't have to go out for things like dog/cat food (bulk buy for the month) etc.
I have £200 left and a house full of food so aiming for a month on budget (fingers crossed)
I do struggle with cooking and having meals ready for everyone eating at different times etc but funds are limited and we need to make this work!
Off back to read the thread from the beginning
TinkLiving the simple life0 -
Can I join please? I'm aiming for £500 for the month (29th Dec- 29th Jan)0
-
Hey elsiepac, I think we may have posted at the same time. My post number 46 sets my target for 2020 please (but not included in the budgets for everyone yet)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 here0 -
Hi,
Please could I join in please? I have been a member for a while, but mainly only lurking. Please put me down for £350, that's for food/household stuff for 2 adults and a daughter who is returning to Uni on Jan 9th and adult son who visits at weekends. Making a promise to myself to ONLY use Lidl, quite a challenge, as I've sold my soul to Waitrose over Christmas, buying posh food that I couldn't really afford.0 -
I’ve walked into town yesterday and spent £2.85 on milk, bread and a discount pizza for Saturday tea. I did an inventory of my larder cupboard yesterday, chucked a few unspeakable but kept the cayenne pepper with a best before 2006; it’s a dried spice it will be fine! Need to do the freezer and update the list I have pinned on the front of it but otherwise we are good to go. Hoping I may be able to get some bargains tomorrow to put in the freezer. If the veg is still all discounted I’ll fashion something out of what’s on offer. Tonight is butternut squash and pepper lasagneSPC #023 SPC 12: £125.86[/COLOUR]:SPC 13: £214.98: SPC 14: £297.41 SPC 15: £237.27 SPC 16 £335.39; SPC 17 £662.09 SPC 18 £20MFW #21 Mortgage start Dec 2015 £79,950; June 2025 £19,394.00 2025 OP £1589/COLOR]/£2,000 MFiT T6 #3 £19070/£25,500 (72.82%%) MFiT T7 #3 £2050/£21,930 (9.34%)0
-
Please could I join in ..I am aiming for £3640 over the year and £310 for January ..Thank you0
-
£1200 for the year for me, which works out to £100 a month, with letting any spare change roll over as an overflow fund.
That's including all food, cleaning products, and any toiletries I buy in the supermarket (which is basically everything except shampoo/conditioner/other hair stuff).
Takeaways I buy because I'm lazy comes from that fund too, normally food eaten with other people doesn't, and comes from elsewhere (unless I'm cooking the figures in another part of my budget).
The other occupant of the house - the cat - has her own separate fund, which I don't include here, as she's on prescription food for the terminally obese, and it costs what it costs. I would say that altogether she costs about £35 a month though (food, litter, insurance, flea/worm, and the rest).
There's a chance I could be moving house at some point this year though so it might get a bit topsy turvy.Start mortgage date: August 2022; Start mortgage amount: £240,999; Original mortgage free date: August 2056
Current mortgage amount: £226,957.97
Start student loan 2012: £29,750; current student loan: CLEARED July 20250 -
Budgets updated to here
Welcome new joiners - Tink_04, Kinga, welshcake58, and try harder!
Welcome back Merlin's Beard and Suffolk lass (yes, we cross posted, my apologies!!!)
lantanna your soup sounds delicious! As does your lasagne Hettyhound!
---
No more actual spends from me but annoyingly my Smol comes out on Monday - it won't actually be used yet as I'm still on the last one so I'm going to take it out of next weeks budget instead I think.
---
My Budget so far (Only including weeks 2-5 of Jan)
Week.....................Budget.....Spent
Week 2 (27 Dec - 2 Jan)..£31.06.....£29.10
Week 3 (3-9 Jan).........£40.00.....£3.85
Week 4 (10-16 Jan).......£40.00.....£
Week 5 (17-23 Jan).......£40.00.....£
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 27-8-130 -
Sorry Elsiepac forgot to post, £2000 for the year please.Do I need it or just want it.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.5K Spending & Discounts
- 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.9K Life & Family
- 257.2K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards