April 2022 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

GreenCat80 said:

I wasn’t sure if I should join in as I failed so badly last month, but I’m here, I need to be as there is no room to blow it this month 😬

My budget is £550 for the month which has to cover 4 humans, and 3 cats. The cats and my sons pull ups are non negotiable so that leaves us about £15 per day to feed us and buy any cleaning stuff and toiletries etc. I’m aiming to come in under budget so I can clear my debts this month, if I can feed us for £10 per day I should be able to pay off my last debts. It sounds doable doesn’t it?!

It does sound doable but it does depend on what you do. Know your temptations and when it goes wrong and plan to avoid them. It might be buying regular things because you always have those, or a brand you can't live without - mine are only bought in multiples when on offer now (so I keep a store-cupboard budget in my GC).

My weakness is shopping, so I try not to go. I meal-plan from my cupboard and freezer, and substitute ingredients if I haven't got the right thing in. For example, I had a stick of sausagement in the freezer so I made roadkill toad in the hole and sprinkled stuffing mix in the batter so we didn't need potatoes. I always have eggs and milk in as these are delivered, so there is no popping to the shops. I also use the occasional Too good to go bag (£3.09 for end dated food that would be going to landfill) but sometimes the bags are too much bread.

Greying_Pilgrim

Suffolk_lass said:

The scampi bits are £1.25 in Icyland and come down to £1 if you buy 10 (!) - you would have to know you liked them really!

Mmm, that's not really a budgetary help is it?  I would have expected better from Icyland, as their head honcho seems to be very vocal in terms of food poverty.....  Even if I did super-like the product, it wouldn't be prudent for me to try to store 10 packets, unless I ate them for every meal for a week - which I would have to do, as there wouldn't be room for owt else in the freezer!

I need a NSD today - and for the next week at my current expenditure rate! Veggie sausages, yorkies and veg for tea tonight - a freezer/storecupboard meal.  

Greying X

PipneyJane

PipneyJane said:

Hi @elsiepac.   Thank you for the April thread.  Please put me down for

£162.10

which is our usual £160 GC budget, plus the £2.10 that I found (surprisingly) lurking in the bottom of the GC purse.  This is for two adults.  Our month runs from the 1st to the 30th and the GC budget covers all groceries plus all meat bought at the supermarket.  (We have a separate budget for butcher shop meat.)

- Pip

Did I say £162.10?  What was I thinking?  I meant

£142.10

Sorry, @elsiepac.  Our usual GC budget is £140/month.  It’s just that, over the last couple of months we had £20 to roll over.

Pass the coffee, please.  I need another mug!

- Pip

RandomOne

Morning  

I spent £35 on food for the week this week. Only because my house is full of food from where I've overspent for MONTHS. 
I should really only need fresh stuff for the next few months. Bread, milk, eggs, fruit & veg. 

I'm wondering if I should put my pet food & cleaning products under a separate category, as I always use my grocery budget for it. I don't spend much on cleaning (hot soapy water is my usual go-to) but the cat costs about £15 a month. What do other people do?

joedenise

I include cleaning stuff in my Grocery budget but I have a separate category for toiletries as I don't usually buy those in the SM.

I don't have pets but if I did I would definitely have a separate category for it as it wouldn't just be food it would also cover things like annual jabs, flea powder etc plus any vet fees if anything was needed.

I have to say I like to have lots of Pots!  In addition to the Groceries, Toiletries I also have a bulk fund for when I buy things like a doz baked beans or tomatoes or a box of UHT milk.  I also buy my coffee beans in 6 Kg bags at a time so I prefer to keep things like that separate.

I think I've got a total of around 50 different categories but I keep track of them in YNAB and the money is only in 2 accounts.

Suffolk_lass

 @RandomOne In contrast to joedenise, I include stores (my equivalent of bulk) and toiletries except face cream, together with subscription and DD for milk. I now don't include pets as we have a new pup and that is quite expensive. I know it is more expensive having my milk and eggs delivered, but it keeps me away from shopping (where I never quite stick to my list).

My separate pets heading covers bedding, toys and monthly vet-subscription service (the only way the particular vets would accept us) which includes flea and tick treatment, monthly weigh ins and annual vaccinations with a six monthly health-check. Our Stealth cat is much cheaper with only food and litter but I guess we will need to revisit flea treatments for her now that we have pup who goes outside (she is an indoor cat).

kacie

My cat is included in my total grocery budget, but a separate amount within that total, this month it's £20, as cat litter was needed but wet food isn't. 

Bluegreen143

For a few months I trialled just having one groceries pot but it was like a black hole.

I now have the following categories for things I buy in the supermarket:

◽️ Food
◽️ Treats
◽️ Toiletries & cleaning 
◽️ Pets
◽️ Misc - household 

And if we buy alcohol it comes from our personal budgets.

Misc - household covers odds and ends like toilet roll, lightbulbs, batteries, stamps, stationery like staples or sticky labels or printer paper. 

RandomOne

Thanks @joedenise and @Suffolk_lass. I think I'm going to set a new heading for my budget labelled 'pets'.

I have sinking funds for their vet visits ( I also have 2 dogs) and the dog food comes out of a separate pot, so I don't know why I haven't thought about doing the same for the cat. 

@kacie I like how organised that is. Having a pot inside a pot!

RandomOne

@Bluegreen143 I think breaking it down like that would be a really good idea. I'm going to try that. I think £10 a month should cover that for us. Thank you.