February 2022 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

wannalot said:

No spending to report here. I decided to stay home at the weekend instead of doing my usual wander round the shops, even if I don’t need anything. I need to stop thinking of food shopping as a leisure activity. Does anyone else do this? There were a few things I needed, but nothing I couldn’t do without. 

I’ve now made a meal plan for the week, using up bits and bobs from the fridge and a few things from the freezer. I really want to run down my freezer stock (it is chock-full) to free up space to keep some frozen veg and berries handy. 

I have a shop arranged for Wednesday from Morrisons (using a £5 off voucher), after which I probably won’t need another big shop this month. I might need a few odds and ends after that, but not a lot.

How does this bulk fund method work? Do you physically keep cash separate, and what is it used for? I wish I had one this month, as I would have liked the LIdl tuna offer, and Morrisons has a great deal on steak too. Both of these would come in handy, as I am on a low-carb diet at the moment.

Hi @wannalot

Regarding the Bulk Fund, we set aside £40 a month.  Yes, I keep the cash physically separate and it can grow for months before being raided. In the "old days" it used to go into a separate biscuit tin in the kitchen.  These days, it goes into a savings account.  When we purchase something that counts as a Bulk Fund purchase - e.g. a shrink-wrapped pack of 24 tins of chopped tomatoes - we pay for it separately out of our own pocket, not from the GC money, and then get reimbursed directly from the savings account.

As well as the odd "OMG-that's-a-bargain-buy-loads" purchase from the supermarket (e.g. the tomatoes above), we use the Bulk Fund for purchases from C0stco and from the Chinese cash-n-carry, Wing-Yip.  At Wing-Yip, I've bulk bought spices, basmati rice, white vinegar, washing-up liquid, flour, baking powder, noodles...  At C0stco, it's usually porridge sachets for DH (who has breakfast at work), coffee beans, dried fruit, recycled-plastic rubbish bags and laundry powder.  (Warning:  C0stco is one of those shops where you go in with the intention of spending <£10 on coffee beans, and come out £100 lighter, with a basket of goods you didn't know you needed.)

- Pip

Doom_and_Gloom

Doom_and_Gloom said:

£12.53 spent since last post today in Mr S. Though OH forgot to buy milk for himself so he'll be going over again tomorrow. 


£36.65/£150.
£113.05 left.

£13.51 spent today at Mr S. While that looks bad as all OH needed was his forgotten milk he also picked up 2 jars of the instant coffee he drinks on offer (£5 for 300g), 2 frozen pizzas, 85g container of mixed herbs (realised we were nearly out), large cucumber, tin of chopped tomatoes, OH dessert yogurts on offer, bottle of ketchup and a red pepper.
So not bad for the above bought, we did use £5 worth of points for the second jar of coffee otherwise it would have been £18.51 spent. When we have points and an offer on a store item is very good we sometimes use them to help stock up the store cupboard without it eating into needed money. Now it seems the doubling of points isn't going to be done this makes the most sense for our overall budgeting.

OH dinner : stir fry.
My dinner : potato and chickpea tortilla with salad and beans.

£50.46/£150.
£99.54 left.

Greenglockenspiel

Hello, I haven't been on here for yonks but can I join again?

My aim is £200 a month.

That's for two adults and includes cleaning/household products and essential toiletries (toothpaste etc).

I came in at £212.40 for January and I'm at £156.76 already for February so suspect I will go over again this month! But the January spend includes a year's supply of dishwasher tablets and around £90 of the Feb spend is 5L each of hand soap and laundry liquid which should also last to the end of the year so I'm not beating myself up. They are pricey but I have eczema so have to be careful what I put on my skin.

goldfinches

@JingsMyBucket - thankyou for your kind thoughts. I'm still feeling the effects of the miserably cold and wet weather and am looking forward to warmer temperatures soon.
@wannalot - you asked if anyone else treated food shopping as a leisure activity which made me smile ruefully. I certainly do this and when I'm not feeling well enough to venture out the difference in my spending is very stark.  Generally I have found that sticking to my list, reducing the number of trips to any food shop and freezing milk so that I don't have top-up shops are all helpful tactics. I notice that other forumites use NSDs, using what you have and various other wheezes to help themselves and think it's worth trying anything that others find helps.
@GreenCat80 - my baking budget is an attempt to rein in my spending on ingredients as I have accumulated a large stash of these that are taking up quite a lot of larder space. I realised that I was finding it all to easy to snap up specialist flours, sugars and so on, so wanted to make an effort to bake with what I have, this isn't quite working well yet so I'm calling it a work in progress! 

It's been vilely wet and cold here today so I haven't ventured out which means I can claim a NSD so I'm calling that a win.

PipneyJane

MissRikkiC said:

@esjw it’s brilliant, I’ve literally dreamt of having one since I was about 12 years old and I’m so pleased with it. It’s just taking a bit to fill! 😂 funny how you couldn’t reach the good stuff! My husband is 5ft 6 so now I know how to keep him off my prized possessions! 

@MissRikkiC what model did you buy, please?  Ditto @esjw what model do your parents have?  The reason I’m asking is that our current American-style fridge-freezer isn’t very good and I’m wondering about replacing it.

We initially had a Samsung, which was brilliant, held loads and never frosted up.  Sadly, after 15 years of loyal service, it died in the middle of August 2018.  I didn’t have time to shop around and ended up buying its replacement online.  The replacement is a Kenwood, considerably smaller on the inside, and the freezer is the opposite of frost free.  Everything has a coating of ice and some things have icicles.  Beyond fitting the space and being American-style, this fridge was one of only two that didn’t have a drinks dispenser/ice-maker built into the door.  (There is no way we can run a water line to fridge, so that would be a total waste of money and space.)

Many thanks,

- Pip

MissRikkiC

@PipneyJane ours is a Samsung RS8000 range Rs67 something which does have the water dispenser plumbed but I’m sure you can get the next one down that’s not plumbed in. I can only vouch for it being good since last Friday but seems you’ve had Samsung before and it served you well so I’m hopeful this will be the same for us. 

MissRikkiC

Veg box arrived today, I only ordered the smaller type at £12 but it was a mixture of fruit veg and salad and I think will last a week easily. 

2kg spuds
1kg carrots 
fine beans 
Broccoli
red onion 
3 bananas 
3 oranges 
3 pears 
4 salad tomatoes 
cucumber
bag of lettuce 

then I added 12 pints of milk, mushrooms and a swede which still all came under £20!
more importantly means I don’t have to venture to the shops even for milk so pleased with that. 

I too see food shopping as a leisure activity, my husband thinks I’m crazy but I’ve always enjoyed it since I was a teenager. I’d be given a list when I was younger and sent off to find the ingredients, which was probably more for my mothers sanity but I always found everything 😂

esjw

@PipneyJane theirs is a Samsung (@ 16yrs old and still going strong), if I remember right, doors had to come off the house and fridge freezer to get it inside

nannygladys

The last two days I have done some food shopping, £24.36 in Lids, which was mainly 'sensible' needed food and just a couple of treats. Today I went to hb's to buy toilet paper, tin foil and coffee, but they didn't have the brand I like so I went round to Mr T's and bought coffee and their own brand of marmite. So in total I spent £13.84 so the total for the year so far is £82.96. 
Today I went to our local food hub and came away with some bread and veggies and tomorrow I will go to the community pantry, I only go once every 2/3 weeks as not eating meat or fish and not wanting 'goodies' (trying to be healthier) I find it difficult sometimes to get the amount of items. 
I'll just go update my signature
Nannyg

Hoosrice

I love grocery shopping. Any shopping really. Luckily I also love a bargain, if I see a YS  or sale sign I’m on it... only thing I’m not good at meal planning, normally eating what we pick up at reduced each night, but also have a full freezer. When I finish my contract this week, I’m going to use my free time to sort freezer and cupboards stock, and try and at least organise 3 meals a week. My oh was so impressed with my budgeting last month, that I have now been given overall control of food budget. So have decided on £200 a month  including cleaning stuff and toiletries....