April 2022 Grocery Challenge

Cheery_Daff

Evening all,

I wasn't doing too badly, but Mr Cheery has been on a bit of a supermarket rampage these last few days and hasn't kept receipts 😮 so I'm waiting for the bank totals to arrive. We'll be over budget, but it was the first month I've done this, and still under what we were spending before. Still, it will be good to have a total to work towards next month, hopefully a more realistic one...

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Morning April GC'rs

wannalot - I hope you are at least on the road to recovery, and that life improves as your health returns.

I haven't been shopping today - it'd probably cost 53p in fuel to get to MrL 🤣 So no MrL box contents to report, nor lament the lack thereof 🥲Things are tight, but technically we have something to eat, for all meals, until May 1st, so can't complain!  As we've all discovered, through various means, and various bumps in the road, life comes to thwart us at every turn, and all we can do is try to do our best.  Speaking entirely personally, the GC has yielded me some sort of feeling of being (notionally) 'back in control' of my grocery budget.  OK, so factors outside my influence are still seeking to b*gger things up at every turn, but it doesn't feel quite as rocky as if I was approaching things without a (meal) plan.  Without doubt, my ingredients stores have taken a battering, and the gaps between tins and boxes grows daily!  But I'm also pushing myself to 'use up all the things'.  Whilst I try not to waste, especially food, even I admit that those black bean burgers we had last night had been kicking around in the freezer for a good while..........

Jack Monroe's Peach and chickpea curry with rice for tea tonight.

Thank you all for your support, and for being honest when things go a little awry, and for letting us in on the celebrations when things go right.  I greatly appreciate being part of this challenge - and not forgetting, that we'd all have nothing to participate in, if it wasn't for the sterling work elsiepac carries out, on our behalf each month.  Thank you.

Greying X

pamsdish

Popped into L1DL while close £17.67 spent inc a kilo of cooking bacon £1.45 @PipneyJane . 

Vanlady

A truly lovely post from you there GP.
you really are an inspiration to us all on this post. 

So, I am playing the role of domestic goddess today, but only because I can then revert to my slovenly ways as most of what I'm cooking will go into the freezer so that for quite a few meals we can ping and eat .
Lentil, veg and coconut curry in the slow cooker as we speak, bread is slowly proving to be transformed into 12 fluffy baps, and ingredients out to make 12 chocolate fairy buns as the oven will be on, and we have visitors this weekend.

Last shop of the month today came to £27.50 and includes loads of fresh veg and fruit, milk and cheese. Alot if what I bought will last us into May. 

So my total for 11th April to 30th is £159.80/£180. I'm very pleased with that but will up to £200 for the whole  month of May. 

Thankyou to everyone who posts and shares, it's so motivating. Really helps me think twice when shopping. And as GP says,  a BIG thankyou to Elsiepac for running this thread.

See you all in May x

goldfinches

@wannalot - sorry to hear you've been so unwell, hope you continue to improve over the next few days.

The post arrived as I was reading this thread and Waitflower have kindly sent me 8 vouchers for £6 off a £30 spend all valid until the 29th May, all I can say is "they'll be lucky!". I'm not spending £240 to save £48 over the next month and I'm very grateful for the Grocery Challenge threads that have helped me not to get caught by these sorts of promotions. 

joedenise

I also had some vouchers but unfortunately mine were £6 off a £40 spend x 8!  No way can I spend £40 in one go - unless I buy loads of alcohol which I don't need at the moment!  If I'd got £6 off £30 spend then I probably would have used one of them or maybe 2 but certainly not all 8.

Naturelover22

Hey all,
Think I might tot up my today tonight or Saturday, not sure yet. Husband is back from working away so might buy some things.
Does anyone have a huge delay on their debit card payments. I have had transactions take almost 2 weeks to be processed banking with TSB. Im then thinking 'i wasn't at any shops that day' but is for something I did the week before! Lloyds for my other account is more like 1 or 2 days to process.

Sorry if off topic but it does affect my grocery spend management.

SausageDogSandwich

Spent a further £9.76 since I last posted which means my total to declare is £174.25/217 revised to £174.25/150. 

Not looking forward to next month to much as we were away for 4 nights and had holiday money left over for 2 takeaway meals this month. I have managed to wean myself onto cheaper instant coffee from the flavoured aldee sachets so that should reduce my spends by around £1.60 monthly. There’s not really much else I can cut back on, almost all of our meals are now vegetarian, unless I find ys meat to freeze. I do online surveys and use that money for when we occasionally buy alcohol or takeaway. 

Today is bean stew and I’ll do some crouton sort of thing with the last of the seeded bread for the kids & OH. 

Tomorrow is chicken curry, rice & garlic flat breads.

take care everyone, see you over in mays challenge! 

bargainbetty

@wannalot Give yourself time to recover - I was still coughing badly 10 weeks later and I'm still prone to exhaustion. It's a weird one, and if you need to sleep, then the only thing to do is sleep - it can knock you sideways without making you feel really ill, if that makes sense. 

Calling in my last shop of the month which includes Ferrero Rocher for my sister-in-law's birthday cupcakes. Came in under £115 for the month. It appears my budget has been over-generous. I'm reducing it next month as it has made me think more about what I'm actually buying!

adben12

April was just over my 400.00 budget, did not take into account extra hungry mouths during the Easter Holidays.