January 2023 Grocery Challenge

try_harder

I am ashamed to say that last week was a disaster ,i was doing well till midweek then i suddenly had an urge to buy lots of treats and way overspent ..My new week starts today and i need to get back in to the budget and more in to healthier eating 

snowbird20

Sayschezza said:

Thank you Snowbird. 

and now i thank you!  I just saw your sig--'all that clutter used to be money'.  This is where I'm trying to get--i'm getting so angry at myself for spending...when I'll just be throwing it out this time next year.  

Chelleybee

3rd grocery shop of the month at Tesco. Could have gone to Aldi or Lidl but both are 10 miles away so not worth the fuel unless I'm passing.

Spent £79 so £255 spent from the £375 budget. A budget I plucked from thin air so with full cupboards and only one more weekend shop maybe we could go lower for February. 

Couldn't find stewing meat but it was more economical to buy a roasting brisket, chopped it up and froze half.  

Wanted to try Kombucha which was on offer so that was handy.

Now the challenge is to stick to the menu plan and avoid shops!

Today - stew and dumplings in slow cooker 

Monday - crockpot cashew chicken ( recipe found on Facebook and not tried yet)

Tues - leftover lemon chicken for one of us and spicy pasta bake for the other.

Wed- baked haloumi cheese in Greek style wraps and salad

Thurs - chicken in garlic and herb shake and bake seasoning mix, savoury rice and veg

Fri- steak at the pub

Sat - crock pot gnocchi ( another recipe found on FB.)

Need to boil some eggs for egg mayo sandwiches for our packed lunches and making a banana cake with brown bananas.

Good luck everyone 

SausageDogSandwich

Took the kids to a party today and called at farmfood as it’s next to the bus stop on the way back. They didn’t want the party food as they weren’t hungry but we’re starving when we got to the shop  so I got them some crisps and biscuits, energy drink for me and some 19p bbq sauce, would of got a couple b7t didn’t want to carry it, so I didn’t get milk either. £4.14 spent again.

£61.91/250 spent.

mumtoomany

And more milk! Total now at £124.17/£2640, for the year.
Hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

CRANKY40

Hello all, 

Weekly shop done £63.33 - total so far £175.92/£400 with two weeks still to go. I will also need milk and a few other bits towards the end of the week. 

Best friend is having work done on his kitchen and sent me home yesterday with a coffee refill pouch, 3 multi bags of crisps and about £15 worth of chocolate. The House Troll had friends round last night so I gave them the crisps and most of the chocolate. It meant that they left all my stuff alone. It's amazing what 6 teenagers can eat isn't it. Some of them ordered pizza as well (paid for by themselves as they all work as well as being at college).

Tonights dinner will be chips and something from the freezer as the HT and I are going to clean the house today so I'll be wanting something quick and easy by tonight. 

CRANKY40

Change of plan - as I'm home all day today I had a rummage in the freezer and I've liberated some Christmas leftovers for a roast dinner.

The chicken is cooked and I found stuffing balls for me and 3 pigs in blankets for the HT. I've added an extra sausage for him as there isn't much chicken. I have plenty of veg and I have potatoes in the fridge so I'll parboil them then air fry them instead of roasties. 

This decision was prompted by an email from the carvery pub up the road offering half price meals. I said to the House Troll we could go there or I could make the same at home for nothing. I must have done something right with him as he said "Ooh yes, let's make it at home". While I was looking for bits in the freezer I found a 2 pint carton of milk so we have enough for the next few days depending on how many teenagers appear to drink tea. Yes, really, they all sit around drinking tea and watching rubbish on the tv. 
 

snowbird20

CRANKY40 said:

Tonights dinner will be chips and something from the freezer as the HT and I are going to clean the house today so I'll be wanting something quick and easy by tonight. 

i call my son (who has lived with us off and on) 'the Hermit' because he stays in his room and doesn't bother me...but I might have to steal 'House Troll' depending on his behavior this next time.  Lol.  He's moving from California to 'find himself' and decide what he wants to do with his life.  (He's only 40).

sarahj1986

sarahj1986 said:

sarahj1986 said:

sarahj1986 said:

sarahj1986 said:

Hello all

kicking off my first spend of the year so far!

went into town today and popped into Lidl. I got some skinny crunch, energy drinks and finally managed to get a £1.50 fruit n veg box. It had a mango, 7/8 apples, a pear, 5/6 oranges, 2 bunches of spring onions”, orange pepper, lettuce, loads of baby potatoes, 3 red potatoes, aubergine, a lemon, a lime and a grape fruit. 4 bananas although I think only 1 of those can be saved. Apart from 3 of the bananas the rest of it is absolutely fine, 1 apple has a bruise but I can cut that off. I won’t need much fruit n veg this week now. Tesco is delivering on Thursday. I’m trying to keep that under £70

£246.67 left 

£84.33 spent today 

my shopping is due this afternoon and I’ve just got my receipt from Tesco. It would have been a bit higher but there’s 3 subs I don’t want. 

It is slightly bigger than I was planning on but I’ve done a mini stock up on things we use like crisps, cereal bars, biscuits and I’ve also got my husband a selection of tinned soup for his lunch when he wants it. I’ve only got chicken and a big pack of mince on it for dinners. I’ve taken out leftover lamb for dinner tonight, I’ll do a tikka curry, got naans coming for that. The mince I’m batch making a chilli adding in lentils and kidney beans, that will easily do 3 dinners. I’ll freeze 2 lots. Chicken, which I’m going tomorrow will do is 2 meals so freeze the rest for a curry or sweet and sour. I’ve still got 2 joints of pork, 2 joints of beef plus bacon and other bits in my freezer. Next week won’t need to be as high as I continue to use what I’ve got. 

£162.34 left 

£4.60 spent today

£1.60 in Poundland. We visited my sisters and her children. My daughter wanted a drink plus I got some skinny crunch bars as I’ve not tried the rocky road yet

£3 was a Too good to go bag from Costa. I’ve done them in the past when I’ve been up my sisters way. They are lucky to have a few Costas nearby. The one today I’ve never been lucky enough to get. I ended up with a croissant, chocolate twist, 1 chocolate muffin, 1 lemon muffin and a ham n cheese toastie. Maybe not massively money saving but a nice treat. 

£157.64 left 

£59.34 spent today 

it was over £60 but something on that was for my daughters birthday and I don’t include that 

£98.30 left 

2 shops left so needs to be under £50 each to keep myself under my budget. We shall see how it goes 

£30.30 spent today 

I went into town and headed up to Lidl as I forgot to get my daughter yogurts and she had ran out. Also needed some biscuits as I struggle to get the single packets on Tesco line. 

Anyways I got what I needed plus some reductions 

2 x chicken goujons 90p each 
1 x southern fried chicken £2
1x lemon and pepper pork chops £2
1 x breaded chicken steaks 90p
10 sausages 30% off
2 fish cakes 30% off

plus the £1,50 fruit n veg box. I had potatoes, apples, carrots, tomatoes, plums, oranges, kiwi, leek, grapefruit and red onions. There is so much for £1.50!

plus a few other bits that I needed so yeah, £30.30 spent. I’m very happy because the meat/fish alone I’ve saved probably £20 on full price, add in the fruit n veg box another £10-15. I’m extremely happy

£68 left. I think I might go over by a few pounds but I’m getting a shop this week I’ll see if I can stretch it to the end of the month, only needing milk and bread in the final week or January. With what I got reduced today and my freezer stash I definitely don’t need and meat or fish for a good few weeks 

Thanks 

Thevalueofless

£35.40 for week, £97.37/£300 for the month

Pleased with this week's total achieved by using up what we have in cupboards which is quite a lot due to my food insecurities. I built up quite a bit of pantry items over the last year and have gradually been using them up and trying not to worry about not having them which is hard for me. I did initially plan a storing budget too but would like to get back to the square one as it were and get a true idea of what we can manage on.  We also have full freezer of summer veg and stored fresh veg (mainly squash). Also the bread rolls I mentioned last week turned out well so will continue to make them for a bit - I go through phases! Harvested leeks, carrots and parsnips from the allotment yesterday which will probably end up as soup of some kind and possible parsnip and leek patties. I can easily find myself buying extra re.food issue mentioned above so what I am doing with my receipts is crossing off items as soon as we open or use them so I can see unnecessary purchases. We eat a vegan diet and find biggest spends can be on meat replacement products which I rarely find on YS. 
Really enjoying reading everyone's comments and getting ideas and tips. Have a good week everyone.