January 2022 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

esjw said:

Oh how time flies, I can't believe we're at the end of January already, have just read through 30 pages of comments

@cw18 - DD1 is similar in that she can eat something one day and be fine and another day she's in agony. It's easier for me to shop based on cutting lactose out completely for her and if she chooses to chance it then it's her choice. Hot butter is a definite no go - only takes a few bites before she's suffering. Thank you, will get her to keep track a bit more of what does and doesn't affect her. Hope your son is better now too.

....

See you on the February thread.

@esjw, as someone who has lived with Irritable Bowel Syndrome since I was a teenager, tracking is a vital part of working out your triggers.  It is a syndrome - a collection of symptoms - not a disease, so everyone’s triggers will be different. (Mine are undercooked eggs and greasy/fatty food.).  When I start having symptoms, I’ll drink a mug of peppermint tea - leave the tea bag in so that it gets really strong - but everyone is different and it may not work for your daughter.  

More recently, I became lactose intolerant.  I can have small amounts of regular milk without any issues, so buy that - since it’s considerably cheaper than lactose-free cow’s milk - and take a lactase tablet when I have my breakfast cereal or my yoghurt or if I have anything that is heavily milky, e.g. something that has a cheese sauce.  I’ve found lactase tablets to be a god-send when out and about.  I love a cappuccino but only Costa offer lactose-free cow’s milk - not everywhere - and the non-dairy alternatives taste awful.  I’ll take one lactase with my first mouthful and another about half-way down.  No symptoms afterwards.  (I did try to get on with soy milk, back when we had a coffee shop downstairs at work. No.)

I get my lactase at H&B.  £11.99 for 120 capsules (10p each), which will last me about 3 months per bottle.

HTH

- Pip

boxofpaws

Morning all
I have really enjoyed this challenge, thank you to everyone who enriches the thread with their contributions..

I have cut down on brassicas and legumes in the last year.  I absolutely LOVE them but was struggling to digest, would end up bloated and in pain and was worried I would gas my husband in his sleep. My IBS has been a lot better, although I had a hysterectomy so it could also be that making me feel better.

I think I will declare here. No more shops, we are really winding down freezer and store cupboard stocks

3rd Jan £40.33,  Mr S delivery 

4th Jan £10 on shampoo and conditioner on offer in Boots
8th Jan £53.71 Mr S delivery 
11th Jan - Am'n - sauce 4.65
14th Jan £65.70  Mr S delivery 
21st Jan £75.90 Mr S delivery 
23rd Jan Mr T bits £11.25
23rd Jan garage Peanut butter £3
Takeaways 7th Jan- £19 and 21st Jan £19
£302.54 spent of £320

Also FIL spends £13.15 + £24.05 + £28

This is my first month doing it and we REALLY had to cut down to get there and we have used existing cupboard and freezer stocks, existing cat food stocks etc. Just what we needed to help with the overdraft but not possible long term.

The breakdown
Petfood £16 - will stick with this
Toiletries and household (includes lightbulbs, shampoo, dishwasher stuff) - £40 -will stick with this
Alcohol - need to add this £14
Takeaways - £38 will stick with this
Food £210 - need to increase this. Will try £292 (because it makes the total a nice round £400 per month) and go from there.


So my new budget will be £400 and this will include food, petfood, toiletries, household, drinks at home, and takeaways.

What does everyone else include?

mumtoomany

Hi all, hadn't planned to shop again this month, other than milk, but DD3 needed taking to work this morning, (her car is off the road) so i thought i'd pick up all the bits on my list. None of these will be used until February, but saves going to town next week. Total spent today, over five shops, is £35.71. This brings the total to date is £163.47/£2640. Still under for where we should be at one month in.
Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xx 

elbree

So, I'm declaring this month at £171/£150. 

I'm a but disappointed to be over of course but have learnt quite a bit in this first month. I underestimated the impact of a 5 weekend month and think from now on I'll adjust the budget based on how long the month is, I'm thinking £40 a weekend for food and cleaning stuff. 

I also found it difficult not to be able to top up the fresh veg as much as I normally like to. I try to eat no carbs when 8yo is not here but this month ended up padding out my meals with couscous etc, health wise I don't feel as good on that kind of diet. So I want to be able to eat the range of fresh veg I like, hopefully this slightly more generous budget will help with that. I also make cold salady lunches for school and that was more difficult with less in the fridge/cupboard so I ended up eating more junk that I would normally.

The monthly meal plan worked brilliantly, I enjoyed making it and 8yo loves it being written on the fridge. I found it took a lot of the mental load off my day knowing what we were eating (and that it was already made in the freezer or at least the ingredients were in). I'm definitely pushing on with that. I also made an effort to visit L!DL which is near my school but strangely hard to find the time to stop at. Will try and commit to an afternoon a fortnight to going after school. It is SUCH good value! (I realise I'm late to the party here! 🤦)

Have still got £1.30 in my purse for milk tomorrow if needed but payday is on Monday and Feb challenge begins 🎉🎉

joedenise

Thought I'd finished shopping for the month when I posted a couple of days ago but DH had different ideas and popped into Sainsbugs while I was at physio and spent £13.99 leaving us with £70.21/£250.  Happy with that.  Will probably put £50 into bulk fund and the rest into holiday spending for end of March.

Also bought some new lock n lock storage containers for the dried stuff in the cupboard but that comes from a different pot.  Cleared the shelf and still need another 2 or 3 so that I can get all the packets into the containers which makes the pantry look so much neater and clearer to see everything.

PipneyJane

HI @boxofpaws

To answer your question re what we include in our grocery budgets, my £140/month includes everything that I buy at the supermarket: cleaning products, toilet paper, toiletries, and food.  If I buy meat at the supermarket, I'll include that too, but I usually only buy supermarket meat if it's marked down because I don't think it's worth the money.  (I have a separate Meat Fund for buying meat at the Butcher's, £40/month.)

FWIW, there are two adults in my household.  We eat meat or fish in most main meals and have leftovers for lunch on most work-days.

- Pip

joedenise

Just checking my bank statements and discovered another £2.70 spend on an account we rarely use from about 2 weeks ago so that reduces the amount left a bit more!  Hopefully I won't find any other spends I don't know about!

nannygladys

As I'm keeping an annual amount I will just update my signature as and when. I do draw the same amount out for groceries each four week period but any left over (as cash) is going into my Xmas fund tin and when I achieve the amount budgeted, it will go towards a new poly tunnel cover. I will post the running total at the end of the month, but I don't think I will be spending anymore now
Nannyg

K9sandFelines

Wow, what a long month this has been.

I've got my granddaughter here for the weekend, and so it's took my budget over by an extra £20 ish. I'd have been under otherwise. She will only eat certain foods (possibly on the spectrum, and also has ADHD so burns off energy, eats little and often) i. e. favours wraps to bread. I was also out of a few things (mainly fruit) , that I could have possibly managed without, if it had been just me. I hadn't took this into account on my meal plan either. I love lots of Asian inspired meals, Indian etc. She will eat the odd thing like this, but not these particular meals.
So we have had vegan chicken dinosaurs peas, and chips and I had the fishless fillets, mushy peas and chips. (I am vegan, she is lactose intolerant, so she eats lots of vegan stuff anyway). 
Pesto and pasta with broccoli, roasted tomatoes (she wouldn't try these) and garlic bread. 
Tonight she will probably be on her way home before teatime; so just dinner to sort, and maybe a snack for the train. 

It's all good, it's a short month next month; and I have had a head start now. I was going to get an Iceland order on Tuesday, but all the Veganuary offers will have ended; so I have cancelled it (and I guess have saved myself £40 for now). I will continue to try and use what I have in. Hopefully, it will be a bit less spendy. 

I doubt I will be going to the shops tomorrow, so will cook off what I couldn't this weekend.

Bye for now 😊

ancientmum

I've managed to get to the end of January without spending all of my budget by eating through stores in the cupboards and freezer, also very grateful for treats like chocs, alcohol and biscuits from family at Christmas.  The final spend is £46.98/70. Each month I'll put leftover money (if any) into a jar as a buffer for the times I need to spend more, and keep a running total over the year.   

Most recent spends were bread and tomatoes at Aldi, milk from the cow machine and fruit and veg from the market.  I will need to go to the butcher but hoping I can last out until the end of the week.

Best wishes for February everyone x