January 2021 Grocery Challenge

candygirl

Have just spent £5/130 on cheese n breads .Cupboards n freezer are full though, so fingers crossed

BrassicWoman

Oh gosh, I am very late to this thread!

may I go £2400 for the year please? I think a longer term view may be helpful!

wishus

Hello @elsiepac please can you put me down for £160 for me, hubby and new cat? I think I've pretty much factored in all my new cat costs into the budget, but the freezer has a bit too much space in for my liking, so not a bare bones start to the spending year. Lots of cheese still to eat though!
Spending the afternoon joining new pet schemes for discounts, and we just got our accurate energy bill so budget fun to start the new year celebrations, now there's an oxymoron for you!

Porridgecat

I've had my first spend, I ordered loo paper off who gives etc which arrived today. I'm counting it into January's spends though as we won't need any before tomorrow. I'll need fruit and veg for next week as well as cat food on Saturday but not much else. 

julicorn

julicorn said:

Hi there! I would love to join this challenge for the first time ever, because our grocery spends have been a little out of control over the last few months. I'd like to set the budget for January at £200 for my partner and me. Thank you

First spend of the year, £45.83 at Tesco. 

Bluegreen143

Been tracking my finances separately for a few months but want to start posting on here again. As it’s a five week months for me I’m aiming for £300 which may be a little tough but hopefully doable. That’s just food, for two adults, a 5yo and a 2yo. Us adults are tackling our eating habits and getting healthy plus I want to work on my 5yo’s picky eating by offering lots of variety and doing some tasting games to make it fun.

Payday is today and I spent £65.14 in Lidl and my husband spent £2 at the mini Tesco earlier (on cocktail sausages and spring onions).

I got:

- lots of fruit & veg (potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, frozen peas, frozen blueberries, grapes, peppers, kiwi, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, lettuce, coriander, courgettes, blackberries, lime, chillies, satsumas, cucumber, plums, ginger, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, bananas, mangetout, corn on the cob)

- white loaf, puff pastry 

- 3x milk, 2x butter, Gouda, goats cheese, soft cheese, cheddar 

- beef mince, chicken wings, brisket, sausages, chicken roll

- tinned kidney beans, baked beans, instant coffee, orange juice, sugar, salt, wholewheat pasta, white pasta, soy sauce, tinned tomatoes, coconut milk, ketchup, tinned tuna, rapeseed oil, passata, brown rice, crackers

- 6(!) bottles for diet cola for DH, 2x fancy crisps for tonight, multipack of crisps for DH’s lunches

Although it’s a bit more than I’d have liked, I knew we needed a really big shop as the fridge was bare and we got some treats eg nice cheeses for a cheeseboard tonight & crisps, a joint of brisket for our steak pie tomorrow. So I’m happy with how much we got for our cash. I do want to pick up some filo pastry for a recipe but apart from that shouldn’t need a top up shop.

Hettyhound

I’ve had my first spend of the month, £3.09 on a morrisons magic bag.  Freezer is now full with snacks for my son such as crumpets, pitta, hot cross buns and mince pies.  Will do a meal plan based on freezer contents for a shop on Monday.

charlies_tribe

Could I join for Jan please. I'm going to try for £500.
This seems a lot compared to others but I can't seem to get it lower. I'm feeding 6, 2 adults and 4 teens (2 boys at 15 and 17) and now they are home for another 2 weeks they will plough through food. I also have to order online due to my anxiety so don't manage to get any of the bargains.
Really need to look through the recipes and find some quick filling meals, fed up of the same every week.

goldfinches

Hello all, nice to see so many people joining this thread with such a variety of households. I find reading the comments here really useful, there's always someone who's found a way round whatever my problem is.

I think the MSE bug has truly bitten me too, I was shopping in Marks yesterday and noticed another customer buying breadcrumbs. I couldn't help myself from showing her the y/s loaf in my basket and explaining that I intended to whizz it up in the food processor and then freeze the crumbs in a plastic tub.  I had to tell myself to stop talking when she started commenting that there would be no waste that way!

Anyway, to get back to the point, I'm aiming for £4 per day covering all food and household items so that makes this month's target a nice round £124 and this month I intend to try to use it up from the fridge, freezer and store cupboard first before purchasing additional supplies (famous last words!).

joedenise

@charlies_tribe I don't think £500 is a lot for 6, particularly with 4 teens - they seem to have hollow legs!  I know my 2 girls did when they were teens.  I spend around £250 for just 2 of us.

Happy New Year everyone.