February 2022 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

Well done for making your first post on this helpful friendly thread @CurrentMood
There's lots of advice in the first post or two with helpful links to how others do it. After many years I know my weakness is shopping combined with a siege mentality (stocked up for the next one here in Suffolk) - so I order a few things on subscription and have milk delivered to avoid the SM as much as possible.

When I do go my meal plan is usually rather loose and will say "meat" and "veg" as well as any specifics - this allows me to pick up Yellow Stickered reductions if there are any (Monday is good for this with my local SM, whereas Waitflower reduce bread to pennies on Sunday afternoons, if I am near there).

My best thing is having a stores pot (mine is across the year although in 2022 I am tracking it by month) that lets me buy my "can't live without x brand" stuff when it is on offer, usually in multiples of 4-6 - Oh, and many of us thank as we go so we know where we got to, reading and commenting on others' posts

wannalot

Hello all

Can I join this challenge please, with a budget of £100 for Feb, for one person?

i used to do this challenge a lot, but over the past few years (especially over lockdown), I’ve lost the moneysaving habit entirely. I’m not in debt, but I’ve wasted a lot of money. I want to change my ways this year.

I have a freezer full of good food, but I hardly ever touch it, as I buy more and more each week. It’s crazy and it has to stop. In Feb, I’ll buy meat only if it is yellow stickered and if my budget permits. Otherwise,  I’ll concentrate on using what I have. 

I’m also trying a keto/low carb diet, which is heavy on meat but cuts out a lot of the stuff I normally buy from the supermarket. 

DawnW

I'd like to join for February please, with a budget of £200 for two of us plus our small dog, to include toiletries and cleaning products, and OH's beer cans. I am trying to clear the freezer instead of buying more stuff, so this should help concentrate my mind!

MissRikkiC

PipneyJane said:

@MissRikkiC - You have my sympathies.  We lived without a kitchen for nearly 3 months, while ours was being rebuilt during a particularly cold and damp winter.  (We swapped from a flat roof to a pitched roof, stripped everything back to brick, replastered and it took two months for the plaster to dry.). We had a combi-microwave-convection oven and a slow cooker but, if I was to do it again, I’d beg, buy or borrow an electric frying pan and use that for cooking most meals.

May I suggest using bulgar wheat instead of microwave rice?  Use 1/4 cup per person for a generous portion.  In a microwaveable bowl, put 2 parts boiling water to 1 part bulgar wheat, add a pinch of salt, cover with a lid or cling film and zap on high for 1-2 minutes to bring it up to a boil.  Carefully remove the bowl, keep it covered and leave in a safe spot for 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the bulgar wheat is cooked.   At £1.15 for 500g in MrT’s, it’s cheaper than the sachets of microwaveable rice and higher in both protein and fibre.  3 packets (1.5kg) last us over a month.  It’ll also occupy less microwave time, which means you can use that to cook other things in the meantime.

HTH

- Pip

Oh @PipneyJane I feel this. I once did similar when I was 19 and purchased my first home with my bf at the time, stripped back to brick and the walls took so long to dry once plastered! I cannot wait for this to be done. Thankfully it’s a really good friend of mine who knows that I’m pretty meticulous when it comes to this type of stuff so he’s working faster than usual 😂 and there are already cupboards in so it is starting to take shape! But living from the lounge is hard work! 

I’ve never done that with Bulgar wheat, we recently ran out but I wouldn’t have thought of using it like rice or cooking it in the microwave. Once we’re through the few packs of rice I bought, I’ll buy that instead. Thanks! 

K9sandFelines

Please put me down for £225 again thank you @elsiepac

Good luck to everybody. 

JingsMyBucket

Hi GCers, both old and new! We’re a great bunch and checking in here always keeps me on track. @elsiepac thanks for running this challenge every month. Could you please put me down for the following February 1 to 28?

£70/week and an extra £100 for bulk fund this month. That sums to £380.

We’re two adults in SW Scotland trying to reduce our spends. Last year we were averaging £450–£600 per month. Switching to weekly amounts really helps keep the guardrails on for us. This month we’ll be going to Edinburgh for a few days and I’ll be restocking at a favourite Italian goods store hence the bump in the bulk fund. I may also order some meat from a local butcher to pad the freezer but also need basics like black peppercorns, salt, etc. It’ll be a bit of a restocking month but we don’t want to get too crazy. 

A tip in case others may need it: Something I’ve noticed to help drive down the cost of groceries for us is reducing Tesco deliveries. It feels like I’m trying to make up the £40 minimum at times, so essentially overbuying. I think I’ll talk to Mr. Jings about how that affects our monthly total and discuss moving to weekly in person shopping. This week I’m determined to finally pay a visit to our local Lidl and Morrison’s as well. 

Have a great week everyone!

PipneyJane

Good evening All and welcome to the new GC’ers.

@elsiepac, having done my final shop for January, I now know what my February budget will be:

Please put me down for £158.50 for February.  Thank you.

- Pip

PS @OldWomanWhoLivesInAShoe - I’m tagging you to join the new GC Thread.  You may have missed it.

Hettyhound

February target £160 with an extra £40 to bulk fund.  

I get paid tomorrow, 31st but shopped this weekend on my debit card so it’s showing as pending in my account.  Spent £25.72 in home bargains and then £24.23 in Aldee.  I’m using a bit of stuff up from the freezer until this Friday when I will do a “proper” shop based on the meal plan.

CatMama

Hello everyone

Please can you put me down for £80 per week again, total of £320 for the month.  Really enjoyed reading through the thread throughout January, I’m hoping this month I will have the time to post more too.. 😁

JingsMyBucket

@gorgeousme I’m tagging you in the February Grocery Challenge if you’d like to participate or even read along this month.