November 2022 Grocery Challenge

sarahj1986

Good morning all

We are back in the UK. Finances are tighter now. I cannot believe how expensive food shopping is here now!

i think I can do our food shop between £50-60 per week which I think is respectable for a family of 3. 

So if I say £250 a month i should be ok but ideally want under £200


£250

wannalot

Hello all, 

Thanks for setting up the thread @elsiepac - much appreciated!

Can I be put down for a budget of £130, please?

This is a big reduction on the £160 to £180 I have been spending lately, especially with the appalling rise in the price of absolutely everything, but I did a stocktake of the fridge and freezer last night, and I have a fairly ridiculous amount of food in the house. The freezer is rammed and I’d really like to use up some of the more ancient contents!

I find buying food much easier than actually using it up, which is weird. When I was growing up, money was fairly short, and food wasn’t always plentiful, so as an adult I have always subconsciously been comforted by having full cupboards. Wandering round the supermarket is also just something I do when I am bored. I need to stop treating food as a security blanket, and stop treating shopping as a leisure activity!

So for this month (26/10 to 25/11) I’m not buying any YS products unless I am planning to use them that day, and I am focussing on using up lots of raw meat from the freezer to at least give me space to freeze soups and casseroles for the winter.

I’m hoping to spend less on food right up to Christmas, and use the savings towards other Christmas expenses, with the aim of not entering 2023 with an overdraft!

Good luck this month, everyone!

atrixa

Please put me down for £140. 

I've up to £81.78/£140 after doing the big shop for the month. After running down my freezer to defrost it last month I've had to replace all the frozen veg and other bits. 

I've made a pasta sauce today to use through the week. Planning two curries to pop in the freezer, too.

Best of luck for Nov, everyone!

happydenial

Hi all, thanks to @elsiepac for setting up the thread.

Please can I be put down for £500?

This is to include all groceries, TGTG bags and meals out in November for 2 adults, 1 teenager, 1 tween (basically 4 adults!) and a cat for all meals with the exception of Friday lunchtimes. 

I’ve tried to do this challenge many times with varying success - I’m great at the beginning of the month, but inevitably get bored about two weeks in and it all goes to pot 😬 This month however I’ve put the money into a separate/empty account and will use this to track 🤞 It should be plenty - I’ve got two full freezers and a packed pantry, lots of useful TGTG bags nearby, Costco and some decent Waitrose vouchers. Fingers crossed - ideally I’d like to spend closer to £400 and put the rest towards Christmas. 

Hettyhound

Hi everyone, I haven't posted on the grocery thread for a while but have been trying to manage the pennies each month.  As things have been going haywire, especially in the last week of each month I'm going to really try hard for November.  I'm going for an ambitious £150 for November (sorry I can't get the heading thing to work on this computer).  I went to Aldee today and spent £34.90.  Nothing going to bulk fund this month as there is still a bit left in there.  Going to look for veggie slow cooker recipes to do a bit of batch cooking for the freezer and plan to make some scones tomorrow while my son is at cubs; half for now half for the freezer too.

bupster

I'm in for £200 again please @elsiepac

I've not managed this once so far! My job for the next couple of evenings in front of the telly is to have a look at what I'm actually spending in my big supermarket orders. I know what I buy in the top-ups - eggs, milk, chocolate, and occasional expensive cans of coffee. But milk and eggs are necessary, the chocolate is always on offer so never more than about £20 a month (I might be under-estimating but not by much) and coffee is a step too far for me to address wish me luck!

joedenise

@Hettyhound - things like veggie chilli and curries are great for batch cooking in a SC.  For the chilli just substitute different beans for the meat.  You can also add lots of veggies to it to bulk it out.

Might also be worth checking out the recipes at the beginning of the thread for cheap ideas - but not necessarily vegetarian.  Just using smaller amounts of meat per portion will reduce the cost of meals too.

Smoosh

I'm going to try for £210 to account for an overspend last month.

Our month runs 25th October-24th November and includes groceries, cleaning products and toiletries for 2 adults, 2 dogs and a cat.

Lots of spends done all ready so I will update once I've got my receipts in order!

Smoosh

So far this month:

£19.87 on cat litter and syrup for coffee.

£14.51 on lots of YS bits.

£46.03 on the first monthly stock up - mostly pantry and freezer bits to keep us going through the month.

£19.75 on more things to stock up freezer/pantry.

£5.38 on some cleaning bits.

£5.53 on food and drink for our once a month date night.

£111.07/£210 spent.

leftatthetrafficlights

£30.50 spent yesterday: 
Fizzy water- 70p
Soya milk - £1.15
Skimmed uht milk - £1.10
Fresh milk - 89p
Watermelon- £3.50
Apples - 95p
Cheese - £3.25
Butter - £1.99
Pineapple - £1.75
Peppers - £1.25
Spring onions - 49p
Salad - £1.05
Pork ribs - £4.85 (end of holiday treat for dh) 
Cucumber- 69p
Grapes - £1.35
Loobloo - £1.50
Tomatoes - 85p
Raspberries- £2
Blueberries - 89p
Lemon - 30p

It would have been cheaper but dh forgot to take his club card 🤦‍♀️ I need to get a few bits of veg later today but will go with whatever is on offer 😉