May 2022 Grocery Challenge

Hmoulds

I'm having a freezer month.  I will have to shop as the cats won't eat oven chips and I need coffee.... but I'm going for minimal this month !! 

Greying_Pilgrim

Morning May GC'rs!

Just been out to MrL and HB to get things that mostly are for consumption in May (excluding 3 packets of crisps from some multipackets - that will be munched for lunch today).  Prices definitely rising, shops still not maintaining their SEL's to reflect the rising prices at the till and lots of things oos, for the second or third week on the trot...... But apart from that.....  Anyhoo, today's spend in both stores comes to £29.07.  Not super impressed that I've nearly spent 1/3rd of May's budget already, particularly since it was light on fruit/veg due to none of the MrL £1.50 boxes offering items that would be supportive of our budget/meal planner.  

Onwards and upwards!

Greying X

Bella_Budget

£8.50 spent at t3sco. One child can't eat wheat and we're going to friends for dinner. Normally I would make the gluten free version of whatever we are eating from scratch but can't really ask other people to do that. So expensive shop bought gf items purchased but still under my weekly target of 80 and someone else is making my dinner, 😊. Weekly is £12.15 left from 80. Monthly 332.15 of 400.

ClaireT131

Another small spend yesterday as I haven't done the big shop yet. I had to pop in to T3sco to get a birthday card as I'm unorganised which resulted in my youngest requesting crackers that we can't get in our local shop so I'm now at £10.65/£360.00.

£2.25 of the £10.65 are incidental spends that could have been avoided if I had planned, so I need to remember that and really make an effort to do a proper shop to avoid those incidentals. Even though I have set the budget at £360, I would love it if I could bring it in lower!

nannygladys

No more spends for me now in April, so taking 

249.46/936 yearly

Not planning having any spends until Wednesday now ,as I'm out all day Tuesday and tomorrow and Monday I'm not going any where near foods shops. I could do with a low spend month on food but having a wee stock up on store goods, so will wait and see how it progresses. At the moment I'm spending on average £64.50 a month, not too bad but I could do better by having some sort of plan that I want to follow.
Nannyg

wishus

Joining in with a grocery budget of £102 please @elsiepac

Hello everyone! Sorry I've not done one of these for ages
Very strict month because of a few reasons:

Lovely reasons - I have 2 trips planned this month. A trip to Scarborough which is a work-related jolly, and a trip to Somerset to treat my husband for his 50th. Going to try to be as frugal as possible, but I've been saving for ages so I can relax a little bit as I have the budget. It does mean being a tightwad for the rest of the month though because...

Not so lovely reasons - back to hybrid working, rather than WFH. Whilst it's great to see my colleagues, getting to the office is so expensive now, and they have stopped getting milk as we have a free vending machine. Vending machine tea anyone? Eurgh! So when the coffee van comes round it's sooo tempting. I've budgeted to get the train in but will be trying to get the bus if it turns up in the morning as it's half the price (when it actually comes). But I've got to be strong and take my own lunches and not top up with 'treats', which is essential because I'm not exactly fit and slim this side of Covid.

Of course everything is so expensive these days... I've done it before. Can I do it again?

otb666

140/600 Hubby and son bought subway on deliveryroo (wont be doing it again)  Had to wait an hour as well.  when we ordered iceland we only got 100 out of 150 Rest out of stock.  We got chicken thighs for free as near end date without asking they gave us them for free.

wannalot

@elsiepac Thank you for your kind words. Illness since the beginning of the year has made me feel much less resilient than usual, but I know this will pass. 

I’ve done the first of my May-budget shopping. I had a delivery from Tesco yesterday for £34.69 (it would have been over £40, but a few things were unavailable. 

I then popped into the store today too, to pick up an avocado and some cheese. However, I ended up buying a couple of YSes. I got some cod and a small joint of beef, both for half-price. I’ll definitely use these, but I’m a bit annoyed about getting them, as I didn’t actually NEED them. I’m going to stay out of the shops until at least next weekend now, and use up what I have. 

Greying_Pilgrim

No spend (yet) today, but I thought I would post up my meal plan for the week.

Su:  Plant-based balls, tomato sauce, pasta and dough balls
M:  Omlette buddha bowl
Tu:  Fakes  - Greek Lentil soup
W:  Lemony Spinach hotpot with bulghar wheat
Th:  Lentil bolognese and pasta
F:  Black olive pizza and wedges
Sa:  Quorn korma curry, lentil dhal and rice
Su:  Fish, chips and mushy peas

The plant based balls are MrA's own product and I bought them well before Christmas.  We like them, but the oven has to be on to cook them, so I am going to cook the dough balls at the same time (YS'd in March), and will have to whip up a quick, simple cake to make sure the oven is fully used.

I'm least confident about the Quorn Korma being tried by LG - as I tried them with a teaspoon of each of the curries off our plate last night (Turnip & Kidney bean and Chickpea & B'nut squash).  I must have the only child in the world who doesn't like chickpeas 🙄  I mean, what's objectionable about a chickpea????? 🤣 There was actually some eating of both curries, but because there was such a monumental fuss being made, I don't suppose for one moment that LG remembers that they in fact tried something new, and that they in fact..... survived.  

Greying X

Bluegreen143

@Greying_Pilgrim my 6yo will sort of eat chickpeas and beans (most liked when served in wraps eg burritos!), but I’d say in general kids are picky with pulses aren’t they? Certainly my 3yo won’t touch them. Except in hummus, they are both obsessed with hummus (they help me make is so they are aware it contains chickpeas!). It’s tough when they are picky, mine aren’t great and we have a huge drama over trying new things too 🙄

Budget for the month £475 between Food and Treats

Treats is my budget category for small food treats you’d buy in a supermarket eg crisps, fizzy juice or sweets - I keep a separate tab on these to ensure it doesn’t take up too much of the budget! I should note these are mainly for DH 😂 I’m dieting and the children drink water and have home baking as snacks or use their own pocket money to buy the odd treat. For the GC I’ll add the two together for an overall food total. 

This is for two adults, a 6yo and a 3yo. Seems super high but it’s a £75 reduction on what we spent in April. Hoping I can gradually reduce month on month. I am keeping track of cleaning stuff and general household supplies too so will keep an eye on these but my main focus is food which is where we overspend most.