December 2022 Grocery Challenge

goldfinches

Waving hello to all and gulping at the idea that it's December already. I'm still not feeling well so am not expecting to go shopping any time soon but am going to set a budget for this month as I've already got the money for the festive food and drink squirreled away so want to be careful about not going mad the rest of the month.

Could you put me down for £133 for my main GC budget please and a Baking Budget of £40 + £27.97 bulk.

Thanks for the new thread @elsiepac, even though I wasn't keeping track of my spends last month I found reading along with the thread very helpful as it made me think about eating from stores first rather than just opting for an expensive home delivery meal so very good for my bank balance. I'm hoping to keep up the good habit this month too as I've now managed two consecutive months under budget, hooray. 

Palmtreesandcustardcreams

Happy December all!  Our usual shopping night is a Thursday but I’m putting it off til Monday as we’re away for the weekend.  Taking some sausages out of the freezer into the fridge before we go so we can have sausage sarnies watching the football when we get back on Sunday night.  We will need a fairly big shop on Monday though considering the sorry state of the fridge 😂

ps86edi

First spend of the month done. I bought eggs yesterday at M&S, they were well stocked if expensive. A pack of 15 cost me 2.50 but I'd rather have them and not have a wasted trip to Lidl/Aldi who have been out every time we or someone we know visited. LO has taken to eating eggs with almost every meal and it is less of a struggle to get her to eat eggs compared to anything with veggies.
I'm hosting a winter party for kids later in the month and expect that to cost us about 10-15 in supplies. We can still manage without heating but I think that will change during the weekend since LO will be home longer and it's getting colder by the day.

@Palmtreesandcustardcreams I dream of an empty fridge but never manage it. Mostly because I collect from Olio but also because if it's empty I begin to worry that we don't have food. No, it's not because I ever had to worry bout that in real life. It's because I can't work with meal planning, and like to have enough food to make at least three to five different meals at a time, of which I usually choose the easiest. I do need to eat down our pantry and fridge.

ETA Total spend £2.50/£120
Also, we have been using Jam doughnut to buy gift cards when we shop. Even at the till after we have scanned items, it's quick enough. It gives cashback for each purchase ~4% for most grocery stores.

Gettingmyshiztogether

First big shop of the month done... £68.46 spent. This included some bits for Christmas.

Spent so far for December £73.94/ £460

thriftwizard

Eeeeek! I need to adjust my target, to

£550

please, @elsiepac; we've just discovered that DD1 is back with us FT,  & the BF 3/4 nights (& breakfast & main meals) per week, until at least the middle of January! Delightful to have them, of course, but a slight spanner in the budgetary works... we also have DS1, fiancée, dog & kitten paying us a pre-Christmas visit next weekend, and DS3 (fusspotarian) arriving back shortly afterwards to stay until after Christmas.

Hence a market & bakery spend this morning of £101.85... trying to get a bit ahead!

Soontobeoap

£11.81 Spent in Aldi yesterday. How can prices from some shops differ so much. Lactose free milk £1.05 in Aldi, £1.90 in Tesco for the same thing!!!  Kirsty free from pizza £4.10 in tesco but £3.50 in Asda. These arn't just small differences!!!! Just shows how important it is to shop around. Still Tesco has half price offer on pizza DH loves and offers on lactose free cathedral city, baby boils, red potatoes. They also have aldi price matched mince so have a shop booked with them tomorrow.

Thankyou to whoever highlighted the bonus points for shopping in sainsburys through nectar app. Only ever drop into sainsburys for bits and bobs on offer but by shopping for christmas presents through app and getting the small bonus points i have gained £7.39 in points since November. Its all got to help in the new year.

Fridge and freezer need re stocking now so finding it hard to meal plan. Must get back into the spirit of it. I am afraid i have slipped off the wagon!!!! I have been poorly and now DH is going downhill. We havnt been fancying much so have been eating soup and beans mainly. Looking on the bright side it has been a cheap week! I did break up the meatballs that i  had made (DH went off them!) and made them into 2 lasagnas with a bit of frozen homemade sauce and pasta!

Caroby

A few spends already but they included quite a lot of Christmas stuff. Yesterday at Tesco we spent £35.00, there was what seemed a good bargain, £5.50 off a litre of Captain Morgan spiced rum and £2 off De Kuyper cherry brandy but today in Asda I noticed the rum at the same price. Also spent £22.31 in Lidl. Today, Asda £9.95 and Home Bargains £7.75 which all adds up to £75.01 and we have the first usual big shop to do some time next week.

Doom_and_Gloom

Thank you elsiepac for doing this thread. As I keep saying it really does help keep us accountable, even if some of us blow the budget it would be worse if we weren't on here I'm sure.

Our December budget is going to be £248

The month goes 1st to the 31st

This is for two adults, my OH and I, and a chinchilla. Includes all food and drink (except alcohol), cleaning products, toiletries etc and all chinchilla items (food, hay, sand, treats etc.).

Really hoping to come in budget however I know tracking the spends is better than doing an impression of an ostrich and not doing so. 


We have spent £42.42 already.

£42.42/£248.

£205.58 left.

Wraithlady

MissRikkiC said:

…. Eeeeeeee) 

Ah'm soooooooooooooooo evil????

(Dougal and the Blue Cat, in case you think I've lost my marbles)

LadyWithAPlan

Grocery Dec   £29.53/£205 (xmas food extra) + £0/£67
£29.53 in Mr L 

I needed DF milk - its heavy enough that I don't buy in bulk so I popped in after gym. However I bought a lovely piece of salmon 30% off - so 1kg for £8.xx and then the cashier said we have another 500g piece for 90p so 1.5kg salmon for just over £9 I have apportioned   it and froze most and left some for tomorrow's food with GF soya sauce, broccoli etc and brown rice.
I also bought a FR chicken £9.xx - not corn fed this time as they were all small today and as I roast the chicken and then make 4 meals plus chicken stock and chicken soup  I wanted the largest possible bird for the effort/energy. I roast in the halogen oven.

Also I bought some turkey mince and no sausages   Plus some peppers, earl grey tea - I prefer Twinin** but 89p is much cheaper and I was in the store.

Also some lemons as no limes in, and ingredients as  I plan to try this WW soup  that someone on DFW forum was raving about - I will try again for some limes tomorrow and have some roasted squash in the freezer already from when you all encouraged me to try cooking with squash

https://www.weightwatchers.com/uk/recipe/chunky-squash-chickpea-and-lime-soup/57fdbeae35461dbc16bd31a5

Cant seem to link recipe for some reason

I am determined not to completely collapse into winter/Dec gluttony and then wake up in January feeling unhealthy. I have been allowing too many crisps and harib* in my life and as I work largely from home  I don't burn so many calories travelling - the tube is 0.8miles away etc. So I already feel a few pounds heavy for me  and been inconsistent with the gym so the lbs need to come off rather than being added to this month . My FR chicken buying is actually  less expensive and better for me than excessive sweets.
 Hence the healthy food  commitment today and yesterday and the gym and swim - it was cold coming out after. .. 
I have some fun nights and meals out planned plus Xmas itself will be a food blowout so I have decided to eat as healthy as possible and exercise in Dec on days I am not partying... It's like money - when you pay attention you don't get  or drift too far from your goals.

I thus refused to buy any crisps or sweets or choc even though I had offers/coupons etc - go me! Mr LId* has a daily advent calendar with offers on

I have a GF breadmaker as my main xmas gift list as well as a mandolin to make crisps and a cast iron red tortilla press