February 2022 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

NoraNoir said:

More like £30 spent this week rather than the £25 planned. I did get some multiple items and occasional buys (vegan cheese and peanut butter) plus my fruit veg box which should last well over a week. I did slip up in getting some ‘chicken’ type vegan burgers, thinking they would be cheaper to cut up & use in stir fries etc than the fake chicken bits I occasionally use, however there were only 3 in the oversized box so not much of a bargain at all. 

 Also apparently arrived a second too late today at the YS section, only to see the last decent bits being cleared out by a very speedy and rather sharp elbowed lady as I was approached 😩 (If there’s someone waiting by the YS bit while I’m diving in I usually check if they want anything/certain items if I’m clearing it out. I figure they may well be in the same boat I’m in, if not worse. Does anyone else have a YS etiquette?) 

   I’m not planning on getting much in this week, so hoping this overspend will even out over the month. 

Me! I wait patiently until there is room to approach (while doing so in an "I was first" way if someone more pushy approaches) - then if I pick something up I ask the other person if they wanted it (unless they picked it up and put it down just before hand). I also pull the stuff at the back forward, so it is easier for others to reach it.

boxofpaws

joedenise said:

Which shop did you get your Magic Bag from @boxofpaws?  Glad you were pleased with it.

It was costcutter. There was also salad in there, going out of date that day and to my surprise it’s still ok two days later.

New total 

1st Feb
Cat food £35.95
Household £4.99
Groceries £15.40

2nd Feb
Food 74.86
H/hold £1.75

11th 
Food 86.72
Hhold 1.10
Toiletries £1.85
Magic bag £3.33

14th feb
£20 - tinned toms from amzn 

Bottles of wine 3@ £8

total £269.95 of £400

MissRikkiC

A little extra spent yesterday on milk, bananas and 3 for £1 chocolate treats for me and hub to enjoy in the car. 

I did have milk in my veg box delivery last week and asked for 3x 4 pinters but they only do 2l cartons which is a loss of approx 250ml Over the 3 which I was a little disappointed about. That said it was delivered and so I can’t really grumble so much as it meant I hardly went to the shops last week! 

The veg box was great value and we didn’t have a roast dinner this Sunday just gone so have lots of the veg left but all the fruit is gone so rather than order fortnightly I think I’ll alternate between a fruit box and milk added fortnightly and the small veg box and milk added the alternate weeks. 

Another small spend at Tesco on a ‘plastic’ dinner for my daughter tonight, on account of eating out for a huge valentines lunch (separate budget) and not wanting to make something for fear of eating that too! 

Currently at £73.31 remaining of £300 

Edit to add that I’m not sure if the veg box has come from this yet, I had cash lay around from selling an old appliance and used that but now can’t remember if I’ve shuffled stuff about or not. I’d best go check. Could therefore actually be at approx £53/300 which is also fine

joedenise

Have ordered a 3 Magic Bags to be collected tomorrow:  2 from Morrisons and 1 for Costa (for DH); total £9.18.

Need to do shopping so will update properly after that.

OrkneyStar

I never know which month to join, because our budget runs 15th (or thereabouts) to 14th (or thereabouts) due to pay dates - is it too late to join here? This month I am aiming to log all spends, so don't have a set budget, because I want to see realistically how much we need to budget to feed the three of us with current price increases (2 adults, son 14 but adult appetite, so 3 adults really) in a location where we have limited shops (Lidl, Tesco, Coop, Poundland, Superdrug in big town, Coop nearby, small local shops in big town and nearby). I used to do the grocery challenge years ago, but kind of got out of the habit. Thanks for reading, and well done all!

Suffolk_lass

How annoying, My Morries offer of £13.50 off a basket of £90 is two weeks earlier than I want to shop. It expires on 20th Feb and I won't be going again until March money hits our account. This happens almost often enough to change stores

joedenise

@OrkneyStar - I think I would do the month in which your pay starts - ie join February's now and then onto March in mid March.  Alternatively would it work for you to do a weekly amount so that you would have 2 weeks in February and then 2 or 3 weeks in March (depending on which day(s) you shop)?

OrkneyStar

Suffolk_lass said:

How annoying, My Morries offer of £13.50 off a basket of £90 is two weeks earlier than I want to shop. It expires on 20th Feb and I won't be going again until March money hits our account. This happens almost often enough to change stores

That's a pain. We don't have Morrisons here, it's one of my favourite supermarkets but the nearest one is on the mainland a few hours away. We did always stock up when driving up the A9 though!

joedenise said:

@OrkneyStar - I think I would do the month in which your pay starts - ie join February's now and then onto March in mid March.  Alternatively would it work for you to do a weekly amount so that you would have 2 weeks in February and then 2 or 3 weeks in March (depending on which day(s) you shop)?

Thanks, I will go with the first option. Weekly doesn't work for us, budget wise.

mumtoomany

Hi all, logging in with big shop on Saturday. Went to farmfoods, cash and carry,( reduced items only), Aldi and vegetable shop. Quite good haul from veg shop £6 . Also did well in the cash and carry. five kilos of piri piri chicken, six pounds. Two packs of pastrami, 520has each for two pounds. Lots of giant tins, £1.50each, 2400gms. Kidney beans, rice pudding, etc. Total spent £75.40. New total to date £262.01/£2640. Pleased with that. All freezers and cupboards still full! Mumtoomany.xx

Soontobeoap

mumtoomany said:

Hi all, logging in with big shop on Saturday. Went to farmfoods, cash and carry,( reduced items only), Aldi and vegetable shop. Quite good haul from veg shop £6 . Also did well in the cash and carry. five kilos of piri piri chicken, six pounds. Two packs of pastrami, 520has each for two pounds. Lots of giant tins, £1.50each, 2400gms. Kidney beans, rice pudding, etc. Total spent £75.40. New total to date £262.01/£2640. Pleased with that. All freezers and cupboards still full! Mumtoomany.xx

mumtoomany said:

Hi all, logging in with big shop on Saturday. Went to farmfoods, cash and carry,( reduced items only), Aldi and vegetable shop. Quite good haul from veg shop £6 . Also did well in the cash and carry. five kilos of piri piri chicken, six pounds. Two packs of pastrami, 520has each for two pounds. Lots of giant tins, £1.50each, 2400gms. Kidney beans, rice pudding, etc. Total spent £75.40. New total to date £262.01/£2640. Pleased with that. All freezers and cupboards still full! Mumtoomany.xx

I think bulk buys have got to be the next thing on my agenda.