December 2022 Grocery Challenge

JingsMyBucket

So sorry to hear you're sick @diminua. There's definitely lots of lurgy going around right now. You can still keep counting if you want, nobody is going to judge you at all.  

Mr. Jings has collected the prime rib roast, oxtails, sausages, and pork chops from the farmers/butchers. It came to £59.38 so well done me for estimating £60.00! 

£337.21 / £400.00 spent so far. £62.79 remaining. 

That should definitely last us until next Saturday. The roast is in the fridge so I can season and marinate it for cooking on Monday. Everything else is in the freezer for use later. I pulled some ground beef and chicken stock out of the freezer to make room. With those I'll make a beef minestrone soup for us to sup on over the next few days when we want something lighter. 

EssexHebridean

Oh @diminua I’m sorry to hear that - one of my bosses also got a positive test in the week, it’s definitely still out there isn’t it.  I hope yours (and hers, come to that!) stays mild. 

Our turkey was collected bright and early this morning in the end as it was raining far too heavily for our usual Friday morning walk to have any appeal! Instead we jumped in the car and drove the 15 minutes or so to the farm to collect - a lovely family business who really care about the birds - and the care comes through in the flavour. It’s now dropped off at Mum’s - and we have the extra lot of giblets that they offered (and I gladly accepted!) in the fridge ready for stock when the carcass & leftovers are back here. 

herebeme

£13.88 on bargain Christmas veg and a few odds and ends for post-Xmas. And £20 into the pot for family Xmas food. Hoping that apart from milk and maybe a few other items that’s the last big shop of the year. 

Now £118.71/£150

Crazycatlady2

My spend so far this month is £606 😱

some if that is bulk buying pet food and wash powder that might last into February though 🤷‍♀️

thriftwizard

Well, needless to say, I've completely lost the plot, in more ways than one! I was daft enough to sign up for a 3-day event mid-month, which of course actually took up about a week of my time in all & hardly earned me anything. Oh well, that's just the way it goes sometimes; we're accustomed to taking the rough with the smooth. But I'd thought I'd have plenty of time to do the cards afterwards - not having clocked the changes to the last posting dates. So hardly any cards have been sent... Then as soon as I'd finally unpacked all my wares & stowed them safely away for the next couple of months - winter's always "slow" - OH went down with a ferocious cold, then DD1 (whose BF has Covid) followed in short order by DD2. They are all still coughing & spluttering. So I've been playing the nursemaid & we've been eating from the freezer, which has at least made room for any leftover turkey. 

And leftover turkey there certainly will be! Having ordered a bird big enough for 9 (plus a few leftovers) I went down with the lurgy yesterday. My mother & sister-in-law are too fragile to risk infection, so the celebrations have had to be deferred, but the turkey couldn't be! So I'll be cooking a 6Kg turkey for 3 of us omnivores... ah well, at least there's some space in the freezer!

I have spent some money on day-to-day groceries too, but I've totally lost track of how much. Not a lot, though; most of it has been from the festive fund, the Entertainments budget or the freezer. So I'll sign out for the rest of December & pick up again in January. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!

PipneyJane

Good afternoon All

Remind me, please, next time I venture out to the supermarkets two days before Christmas thinking I’m heading to the 7th Circle of Hell, that there is something lower:  C0stc0.  I gave up in the car park.  I didn’t need anything that couldn’t wait until next week and it was hell.  (We’re on the last box of tissues.). Seriously, it was far worse than on a weekend, and I was there at lunchtime.

Anyway, the real reason that I was out shopping is because we ran out of eggs yesterday and we’re low on potatoes, both items I will need over Christmas.  Went into two different branches of L!dl:  no eggs in the first; in the second, I managed to pick up a box of 6 free-range ones for £1.19.  Also got the potatoes, some Chocolate Oaties (finally), a jar of instant coffee and a packet of their posh crisps for DH (79p with an offer).  £4.27 spent, with the help of a £2 off voucher.

We shouldn’t have had that voucher.  We were on £97.45 in the L!dl Plus App, when DH popped into L!dl yesterday to try to buy eggs on his way home from work.  They didn’t have any.  Finding that they had Chocolate Oaties, which have been in short supply, he bought 3 packs for £1.95, bringing our total spend to £99.40.    However, the self-service till he used credited him with what must have been the previous shopper’s spend (£44.39) as well as his own, when he used the L!dl Plus App.  Don’t know how that happened, only that there is a mystery receipt on our account, which was rung up 1 minute before DH’s.

I headed to C0stc0 after the second branch of L!dl.  Gave up.  On the way home, I went to Sainsbugs to use the cash point and, because they had an offer of extra Nectar points, for a 600ml tub of reduced fat Crème Fraiche.  None in stock (that part of the fridge was full of brandy butter).  Decide to check out their eggs and managed to get a branded box of 10, in assorted sizes, for £1.43.

Almost had a meltdown at the till.  The self-service queue was massive, while further along, there were manned checkouts with barely a wait to be served.  I put the carton of eggs onto the conveyor belt, pulled my shopping bag out of my pocket, reached in again and couldn’t find my GC Purse.  Went through all my pockets and my handbag.  No GC Purse.  Frantically thought back… my phone was in that pocket when I double checked the crème fraiche voucher, to see if a 300ml tub would do.  Paid for the eggs with my own money then dashed back to the fridge area.  No sign of my GC Purse.

Started to panic.  What the hell was I going to tell DH? Besides a small amount of cash (£13-ish), there was £85 of Clubcard vouchers in there, which are as good as cash - could they be stopped and reissued, so that the finder couldn’t use them?  Or would they be lost for ever?  (Yes, I know, they’re available in the Clubcard app, but a less-than-honest purse finder would spend them.)   Ran back to the car.  Could it have fallen out of my pocket while I was driving? Nothing beside the driver’s seat.  Opened the boot to put the eggs in and… there it was, sitting at the top of the L!dl shop:  my GC Purse.  Very nearly burst into tears.

The above brings our total GC spend to £130.40/£142.20, leaving £11.80 to spend for the rest of the month.

Merry Christmas everyone.

- Pip



ETA:  @diminua and @thriftwizard, so sorry to hear you’re both ill.  Hope you feel better soon.

EssexHebridean

otb666 said:

@EssexHebridean with our veg box we can put 3 types of veg   we dont want Also i do fortnighly boxes and can skip weeks Which i do quite alot so then only get monthly box

Cross posted yesterday - sorry! Yes, I have the three opt outs in place too - celery group is permanent, then I switch the other two about depending on what we don’t want at the time!

a small added spend here today - the cream I needed, plus two packs of Carrs Melt crackers on a good CC price in T’s. Also two bags of their Lebkuchen hearts which are a firm favourite here! There were some snacky bits from the Polish shop too but I’m not counting those as they came from my own spends! 

Now at £179.91/£250

gill5blue

Hi All,
I'm super impressed with myself....Spent £237.89 out of £240.
Utilising OLIO, and the local project for short dated foods, and being more careful buying food and being less wasteful.
I don't need a big Christmas shop as I am away for Christmas.
2 adults, 2 dogs and a tortoise(although she is hibernating at the moment.
Gill5blue

Gettingmyshiztogether

Another spend here, a tray of eggs £6.25 spent. 

To date £449.99/ £460
= £10.01 left in the budget 

Soontobeoap

I have been wrestling with myself all day!!! £52 spent in Waitrose (couldnt believe we were in there myself) on holiday staples. Bread, milk, cereal, ham,  colslaw, tea bags and coffee. Now i wanted to bring these things with us but apparently there was not room in the car! I finally decided this morning not to declare it! However with further thought i have added it to my total which means i will go way over again this month! However I will have a true idea of targets to beat next year. 
Dd has not booked her ferry for new year so i am not sure that her family will come now. Not declaring for December until I get to end of month.

We have had a couple of meals out from entertainment budget when meeting up with friends as well. Such a lovely time catchibg up with everyones news and reminiscing.