January 2021 Grocery Challenge

Finstickle

Cleared out the YS section in Tesco last night : 
2 x single chix and mush pie - 60p each
1 x steak and gravy 3 person pie - £1.80
4 portions Ray Wing - £3.28
400g turkey mince - £3.06
1kg mussells - £1.77
£0.62 - £0.69 a portion!!! 
Very happy lady 😁😁😁😁

Mrs_Cheshire

You should check out 0lio @Finstickle loads of food on day of use by is given away. I also love when you come across bargains in the supermarket.
I popped to Ald! this morning for milk and a couple of other things, ended up spending £15.96 but did get some cold meat for sandwiches for the coming week, some cans of fizzy for when we go out for walks as it's cheaper than getting a drink from cafe or shop individually, got some stir fry sachets and prawn crackers for a meal another day and treated myself to some flowers to brighten up the kitchen. 
I did want one of their special buy overdoor storage things but they didn't have them instore and they are sold out online. Will have a look and see if anywhere else stocks them 

pamsdish

£23.32 in M0rr1es, that does include £5 saver stamps, £12.85 in £stretcher, and £6.85 in B$M, wanted the pet shop, doesn`t open until 10 a.m. so killing time and the best part of £20. 

Finstickle

Thanks @Mrs_Cheshire, unfortunately as I live in a very small town nothing registered close on Olio - nearest is 15/20 min drive away 

goldfinches

Suffolk_lass said:

goldfinches said:

Caved in today and entered a supermarket, came out £9.94 lighter so am resolved to stop giving way to this impulse. 
Total now stands at £65.61/£124 which is £3.28 per day. That's not bad but I can do better easily as I have milk and yoghurt and more than sufficient meals planned for the next few days.
Weather here is very discouraging too, it has been raining for the last 24 hours and the rivers are dangerously high for the second time this year. 

@goldfinches - I just wanted to say well done so far this month - you seem to have taken a big step forward in your moneysaving and a big step away from those little trips that hammered your budget in previous months 🎉

Thanks @Suffolk_lass. I think a large part of that was being lonely for other people to talk to as I live alone and the charity shops and supermarkets were really my only face-to-face conversations.
I am now making more of an effort to exchange more than just greetings with the walkers and runners I see regularly and recognise which is nice as well as making more effort to meet friends in person.
It's early days yet but it does seem to be having an effect and your noticing and pointing it out was a great validation so thanks for that.

D123456789

It’s interesting that I had to go to the farm shop for eggs last weekend ( and ended up buying quite a few other bits) and the eggs remain untouched 5 days later so they weren’t really essential. No wonder I am over budget. 

Porridgecat

Just catching up for this week, I'm finding it difficult with Mr Porridge doing the shopping as he draws cash for the market and then has no idea how much he's spent. He spent £67 between Lidl and the market last weekend which gives a total of £217.29 out of £320 which wouldn't be too bad but we have had another £48 according to YNAB which I can't account for which makes it £265 and we still have two weekends so two shops. I've also had a delivery from zoo plus which was about £88 and hasn't shown up in the account yet but that should hopefully last more than this month. Doing the challenge has made me realise that Mr Porridge can't be trusted shopping, he had a list last week but took it upon himself to double up on several of the items unnecessarily but he'll have to keep doing it as long as his mum needs him to get hers. I've also decided to split my budget into £280 for shopping, which would be 4 x £70 shops and to start accounting £40 separately as a fund for big buys such as the zoo plus orders which are every few months. I'll have to see if this is enough and works and try and persuade MrP to stick exactly to the list.

VickyV

I managed finally managed to get a Morriebags mystery bag on Too Good To Go. Will pick up tomorrow on the way back from an Olio bread haul - we get a lot of bread and not much else. 

£3.09 on the bag and £1.30 in 5par for 12 reduced sausages. Takes me to £81.89/200.
will need to buy food for DS1’s birthday tea tomorrow (birthdays come thick and fast for us this month) so will pick up some bits we’re out of but I’ll hopefully keep it to a minimum! 

Vicky x

Suffolk_lass

D123456789 said:

It’s interesting that I had to go to the farm shop for eggs last weekend ( and ended up buying quite a few other bits) and the eggs remain untouched 5 days later so they weren’t really essential. No wonder I am over budget. 

Wow, that's a good spot! I do a mini challenge for myself of how long I can go without those top-up items (just used limes in my marmalade because I didn't have enough lemons in the house - seems OK!) - if you want to do some make-do meal planning do check out and join in with our reverse meal planning thread (also in Old Style)

thriftwizard

Sigh - I've slipped over by £1.83 - can't decide whether to blame the focaccia yesterday at the bakery or the daffodils today! Neither of them essential in any way except morale-building. We shouldn't need anything else until next Friday, which is payday & hence in February's allowance, but may run out of bananas, which seem to be vanishing rather faster than usual; I expect some "influencer" somewhere has mentioned them. It's vital for me in particular to keep dietary fibre levels up, having had major GI problems, so fruit, veg & oats I will go over-budget for if need be.