April 2020 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

supersaver1000 said:

Already spent over £100 and its only four days into my new month.  So I need to come in at around £70 a week for the rest of the month.  I'm finding it much harder to gauge the budget as I can't just pop out to the shops when I want to.  It will be good practice for after our move - as my plan has always been to do one weekly shop a week in future (albeit at 2 or 3 different supermarkets).

This isn’t a typical month, so don’t be too hard on yourself.  You may find things easier if you keep a running shopping list on a note pad - just add things when you think you’re getting low/using the last one.

- Pip

H2020

Please can I be put down for £360 this month.

It's the same as last month as I went over budget a little bit in March. I'm on £136.42 / £360.00 so far, I've got pet food for a few weeks, all the usual essentials at the start of the month and also some baking stuff. I love to cook but never bake. This has all changed since staying at home. I'm off work for at least 8 weeks, so I've suddenly found a love for making cakes! Hoping to clear the chest freezer and start some batch cooking as well.

Hope everyone is well and taking care of themselves as best they can at this uncertain time.

Hettyhound

Hello, I braved tosco this morning.  Decided that’s the only place I’m going at the moment as I should be able to get everything there, small top ups of fresh stuff will be the local shops within walking distance.  Queued to get in; I’d looked online for revised opening etc and couldn’t find anything and when I got there it was vulnerable shoppers 9-10.  The man said if I joined the queue I would be let in which they did.  I was dreading it as I had my 7 year old with me (I’m a single parent) but it wasn’t as bad as I feared.  Spent £66.77 on groceries, did actually spend a bit more than that as I bought us an Easter egg each.  It wasn’t as much as I thought it could be and the only thing I couldn’t get on my list was chickpeas and I’m down to my last tin! 🙀

Naomim

Hi All,  Please put me down for £450 this month please.

I've slightly upped the budget.  have a MrT's delivery coming today. It was meant to be £101 when I checked-out  online but £81 has come out of the bank account so we'll see what's arrived when it gets here!

For next week I have a Hello Fresh box coming as I was given a £20 off voucher so that's £30.98 but only 4 nights meals. I may have to venture out to top up for fresh fruit, bread, milk etc.

I'd like to try Gousto but they're not taking on any new customers at the moment.  I also forgot there were 9 million recipes on the first few posts of the GC thread so I'm going to have a scroll through and see if anything takes my fancy.

Naomim

Islandmaid

Hi all,

just a quick note - Jack Monroe’s Tin Can Cook is 99p on Amazon kindle at the moment 👍

pamsdish

Thanks islandmaid, bought and browsing, handy for those emergencies, which sadly seem to be getting nearer.

Doom_and_Gloom

Thank you for this thread elsiepac, it keeps us all accountable (even when we severely go over budget ).

We are 2 adults and a chinchilla and our budget covers all food and drink (sans alcohol which comes out of the entertainment budget) for us, toiletries, cleansing etc and chinchilla food and items (though he's bought for for a few months now).
April goes 1st - 30th and the budget is going to be £200.

Our first spend won't be until Monday when our delivery comes as we can't go out right now.

£0/£200
£200 left.

franby64

I've stuck to the same budget this month but I'm already up to £74.46! Should only need basics for the next few days though.
Look after yourselves. 

Herbyme

Thank goodness, it's April! (Let's not think about March. I'd like to type one of those blue emojis with their hair on end, but I dk how in the 'new' format)
My 'usual' budget (ie what I actually spent in Feb) of £550 is my target for April. 3 men with very large appetites, 3 furries and me. All at home all day now (another blue shocked emoji). I seem to be well stocked but oddly it doesn't feel that way, I feel like I'm hanging in there by the skin of my teeth food-wise. I need to get back into my routine but am actually working from home as usual so no time. If anything, worse than usual. Gnash. Anyway, into April with renewed determination 

supersaver1000

Yes, thank you Elsiepac, this thread is great and really does help to keep me focussed.  

It really is a strange time and I know I am spending more as we have one more mouth to feed.  I haven't done any panic buying but am trying to keep a couple of extra meals in, just in case.  Luckily we have shops very near so its not difficult to pop in, but I am trying to limit the number of times I visit them, which is proving harder than I thought.  I'm normally a once a week shopper with a few very small top ups, but of course you just don't know if the stock is going to be there when you need it so it makes it hard to plan.  I'm avoiding buying chocolate and crisps because I know when we are home we will just all help ourselves - which isn't good for us.  I think we might continue with this even when isolation finishes, but I will be very appreciative when we can just do our shopping normally.