December 2022 Grocery Challenge

taka

Can I join again please? It will be £170 + £50 bulk = £220 for the month. This may change a little if I have anything left

over (or overspend! ) in the last few days of Nov! I have almost run down my freezer contents and I need to restock some of my cupboard stuff too (particularily pulses, pesto, rice and flour). I'd like to start 2023 with better with stocked cupboards! 

(Sorry can't seem to make the number larger)

elsiepac

Budgets updated to here!

4 weeks today and it's Christmas Day; that's come around so quickly!
This year is the first Christmas in my life I will be spending alone.  I've been very up and down about this fact, but decided to view it as a positive and so I've snagged being on call for the whole Christmas period, therefore meaning I'm actually making quite a lot of extra money and it's all from home anyway, so it's a genuine good thing.  I found some great advice on Reddit for spending Christmas alone and this really helped me view it a little more positively.  IT included things like making your own traditions, planning out your day so you have some structure to it, having some lovely food that you can enjoy (and don't have to share!) and so on.

As far as groceries go this month then, I'll go for my usual £250 but I do have a separate Christmas budget anyway every year to allow for buying treats etc in December, so I'll be upping this to cover my Christmas dinner food.  Haven't decided what I'll be doing yet - but I'm quite tempted to still make all the lovely Christmas bits and then have lots of leftovers!  I will update! I might buy a "main" thing though instead of making it, as that's a lot of extra work, although again, that could potentially be a nice way to spend Christmas morning.

Also for anyone who enjoys budget YouTube videos on frugal things - one of my favourite YouTubers Madeleine Olivia has released a new budget Aldi weekly shop with lots of different meal ideas included - it's all vegan but if you aren't, you can easily adapt some of the ideas!

elsiepac

Sorry for double post - has anyone tried Earth and Wheat? I just found them off an advert and they are UK based wonky veg and bread boxes - the veg is £9.99 every Friday and the bread you can choose different boxes and how often you have it - the Essentials box contains only vegan items and is just £5.99 - I'm going to give both a try and see what they are like - this is the first wonky scheme I've come across that actually delivers nationwide and not just to London lol.  Will report back.

Its_time

I am sorry I fell off the wagon and everything went everywhere but if possible will you have me back and I will try again?
I think weekly will be better for me than monthly, uts a shorter time to mess up in.  I would like to be under

 £50 per week 

for the whole of December. 
I've been having Tesco weekly for quite a while and always have the cheapest delivery option, even so their £7.99 delivery saver is cheaper for me.  I am not sure if I've made the right decision now I've subscribed, I feel like I will be missing all the offers in the shops.  Although in reality I would spend more it I went in person, even going to Lidl as I find it hard to stick to the list as my lists are never comprehensive enough and I won't go to the shops anyway so it's probably for the best, time will tell.
I have a small amount left to get for the Christmas dinner but all chocolate etc. is already bought so I am hoping it will mingle in with our weekky shop.  £50 sounds a lot as its just the two of us but we do have DS, DDIL and DD plus grand children here a lot and I buy treats for the dogs all 5 of them out of it as well. 
I've just had the bill for the last shop in November from Tesco which has come in at £49.53, freezer is full of dinners, I make our bread and have about 8 loaves in flour , have batch cooked today and out 4 Soag Bol into the freezer and 5 souos for my lunches.  Looking forward to being back and doing better this time.

otb666

@elsiepac let us know how you get on with the wonky veg The box i currently use is 16.00 once a fortnight and I can skip a delivery which i often do I get 9 types of veg and 4 items of each.  I like the variety.  I also brought a box of nearly Best before date expired sweets for xmas 50.00 but unfortunately we have eat them So may have to order some more.  Dont want to as we may eat them all again before xmas

atrixa

elsiepac said:

This year is the first Christmas in my life I will be spending alone.  I've been very up and down about this fact, but decided to view it as a positive and so I've snagged being on call for the whole Christmas period, therefore meaning I'm actually making quite a lot of extra money and it's all from home anyway, so it's a genuine good thing.  I found some great advice on Reddit for spending Christmas alone and this really helped me view it a little more positively.  IT included things like making your own traditions, planning out your day so you have some structure to it, having some lovely food that you can enjoy (and don't have to share!) and so on.

I've spent many a Christmas alone and can echo all of the above. It can be such a long day. I always enjoyed #joinin on Twitter to chat about the telly.

Groceries wise, first shops of the month done and I'm up to £60.53/£120. Cupboards are bursting. There's a new L!dl opening near me so I'll probably stock up on their mince pies and cheap tins later in the month.

LadyWithAPlan

Dec Grocery £205 plus £30 bulk please,. (£145 me + £60 family food)

Tx @elsiepac
I will also pay again for my parents turkey - I have done that the last couple of years. I will be family for a week at Xmas but will no doubt buy some food and alcohol whilst there for them but that will be on my gifts budget

MissRikkiC

@elsiepac glad you’re all okay! 

Could I have a budget of £400 this month to include an entire restock and Christmas. 

I ran the cupboards/stores and freezer down until now other than a few odds and ends and so need a full restock including meat. Gosh it’ll be a big spendy month 

MissRikkiC

So I’m already into Decembers budget by an astronomical amount however I did feel it was necessary. There was no meat other than sausage in the freezer, something which as a big eater of protein I was struggling with. There was no rice, only spaghetti but no other pasta in the cupboards and we were very low on dairy products too! 

I’ll not share exact numbers yet as I’ve a veg box and tray of eggs to pay for but we’re already over half way! 

herebeme

I’d love to join for the first time please.

£150 for the whole month

1 person, including Xmas food contribution, food groceries, and household items bought at supermarket.
This will be the first ever month I’ve kept receipts and added everything up, should be illuminating.