October 2022 Grocery Challenge

Smoosh

Gosh, can't believe I've missed two months of grocery challenge!

After going over budget again in August, despite being away for a week, I decided to change up the way we shop and tested it out in September. I'm now doing one big monthly shop for staples and freezer bits, topped up with mostly YS fresh food as I'm lucky to live in walking distance to a shop that has great daily reductions. This seemed to work for September, and for the first time in months, we just squeaked in on budget. I think staying out of the big supermarkets works well for us as it stops temptations and having plenty of staples in gives me the flexibility to meal plan around produce that I can get YS or through Olio.

£230 please.

This is for 2 adults, a cat (including litter) and 2 dogs. It includes all groceries, cleaning products and toiletries. We've also started doing a date night once a month where we take it in turns to choose a starter, main, dessert and drink - this is a little treat, but still comes out of the grocery budget. Budget does not include alcohol or takeaways/eating out.

Our month runs from 25th September-24th October.

Smoosh

Monthly stock up was done yesterday since it was the first day of the month for us.

First shop was £51.94 2 bottles of squash, 3 tins of custard, 1 tin of rice pudding, chocolate spread, garlic mayo, 4 kitchen rolls, bag of Yorkshire puddings, frozen potato bites, deodorant, 4 cheese & bean bakes, 5 days of dog food, Quorn chicken, Quorn mince, 3 blocks of vegetarian hard cheese, stock cubes, 1 pack of spaghetti, 1 pack of pasta, 1 pack of vegetable rice, 16 litres of fizzy drink. Plus for this month's date meal: 1 bottle of beer (for a recipe), 1 bottle of juice, a cake and squirty cream. Also gained £3 in my cash pot for this shop (from the kitchen roll), so I will redeem that next month.

Second shop was £48.09 on 20 litres of fizzy drinks, 6 pints of milk, bottle of sweet chilli sauce, 2 packets of pasta with sauce, 1 tin of coconut milk, butter, biscuits, 2 packs of food bags, mayo, 2 tins of spaghetti hoops, 2 shower gels, Quorn nuggets, frozen peas, sunflower oil, 1.5kg chips, dried casserole seasoning mix, jam, 1 tin of rice pudding, tomato puree, 2 bottles of shampoo, 4 tins of soup, peanut butter, olives, 2 tins of tomatoes, 3 tins of beans, laundry detergent, 22 bags of crisps, sugar, 2 boxes of cereal, 15 cereal bars and 9 toilet rolls. Plus for date meal: garlic dough balls.

Last spend was 10p on YS bread.

Pantry and freezer are very well stocked!

Only things I couldn't get were cotton pads (although I do have reusable ones, so I should probably put more effort in to using those), dishwasher tablets and curry paste.

£100.13/£230 spent.

leftatthetrafficlights

£12 spent - not sure what on as dh hasn't given me the receipt yet! 

ETA: It's actually £9.46 spent - the rest of it was persie stuff for dh...

£3 - soya milk
£1.20 - fizzy water
£1 razors
£1.27 grapes
£0.50 radish
£0.49 spring onions
£2 strawberries 

£9.46/£300

FrugalHedonist

I'm back to tackle this budget again with a staggering increase to last time

£160 (all food and household) - not sure this is going to last, still trying to work out an actual budget with all these price increases 

RandomOne

Good Morning, I'm back on the wagon when it comes to food shopping for October, so please can you put me down for

£300 in October

That is to feed 4 adults and a cat (our dog food comes from a separate budget). My freezers are full, my pantry needs a little extra though. But all in all, i think 300 should cover it. 

ancientmum

Thank you for running the thread elsiepac.

Please put me down for £100  again, to cover 1st-31st October

Soontobeoap

@elsiepac thank you for this lovely new thread. I am still on holiday but will be in for October. I am really trying to cut down again this month to make up a bit for spending in the summer months. 

I have settled for    £190 this month please. 

I have lost track of what I have at home and what I will need to kick start normal life again. 

LadyWithAPlan

Thank you for the new month's thread again

Oct  £145 + £30 bulk please

This covers grocery only - sweets, crisps etc are in my 'treats and entertainment' pot which also covers coffees out, drinks and food out (which is very rare).
I have a toiletries  pot and also a home stuff  pot that covers toilet/kitchen rolls and cleaning. 

I am still on September as 3 days to go but only spent  so far.  £114.94 /£160  + £23.20 /55.50 bulk 
I am trying to not spend but cat sitting as a favour so I do have food in but not my pantry or freezer. (i am also missing my 6 in 1 pressure cooker instant pot thing)
My GC goal was £170 in August (first month back in ages)  and I was low on that as was away  - £100 I think ? and £160 in Sept goal - I should come in at £120 so I am cutting again my G budget to £145 this month. I could cut more but I am aware prices are going up and I do live in London. 

wannalot

Hello all, can I be included in the challenge for October please, with a budget of 

£170

please? This is just for one person, to include all cleaning products and toiletries, for a month running from 26/09 to 25/10.

I’ve been awol for the challenge for a few months, as I’ve been suffering a little bit with a low mood. I feel a bit bad saying that, as I am aware that my circumstances are a lot better than a lot of people at a time when everything seems in such chaos, but I have felt every ground down. 

When I’m in that mood, my ability to budget just disappears, so I have been overdrawn since earlier this year. I’ve now managed to more or less fix that damage to my bank account and I’d like to save some cash over the winter, to build up an emergency fund to deal with any unpleasant shocks which crop up. 

Anyway, thanks for the thread, elsiepac, and good luck everyone with your aims this month!

PipneyJane

@elsiepac, apologies but you will need to update my budget.  We have £7.60 left from September to roll into the new month, so

please change my budget to £147.60 

for October.  Many thanks.

- Pip