February 2023 Grocery Challenge

gm2917

Please can I go with £380 for February

sarahj1986

I’ll aim for £250 again. I went over in January but I think February should be a better month 

leftatthetrafficlights

I'm on an annual budget so it's still the same 😉 

Did well in January- only spent £100 - and have spent £8.31 this week out of my February allowance. 

Soontobeoap

FEBRUARY BUDGET £250

Hoping not to buy anything else in January although milk might be needed.



Time to set February budget. Was planning to eat from cupboards and freezer this month but that will be March now as DD is bringing GSs at half term so gluten free/dairy free foods need to be bought. Everyone has a different milk as one cant have soya and the other likes the soya milk because it is sweeter. 😂.

Feb will be a bit unpredictable so i am adding £50.00 to our usual £50.00 a week. Have just sat down and planned meals for the boys around what is on offer at Tescos. In their 5 for 4 offer they had gf fish, chips and dairy/soya/wheat free pizza. Have managed to save £35 in club card savings and have £38.00 of Tesco points. Order being delivered on Tuesday 31st. Good start. 

Ginmonster

Can I be put down for £250 please?

I'm trying to use up stocks in my freezer and cupboards so hopefully this shouldn't be too challenging. 🤞

EskarinaWeatherwax

Thanks @elsiepac for the thread! I’m going to stay on Jan thread til I declare on the 31st, am hoping to come in under so for Feb, again I’ll target

£180/month please 

otb666

600 again for 3 adults and tortoise We dont use any of the community pantries YS and food banks or oli apps
 We can afford 600 for food a month.  This is quite hard to stick to as we enjoy the occasional take away It is also getting harder to stick to But last 2 months outta 9 months we have managed it. I have a veg box monthly or fortnightly. Hats of to people who  manage on less we can afford the 600  But its still quite hard to stick to that I include everything eg cleaning stuff etc

Suffolk_lass

otb666 said:

600 again for 3 adults and tortoise We dont use any of the community pantries YS and food banks or oli apps
 We can afford 600 for food a month.  This is quite hard to stick to as we enjoy the occasional take away It is also getting harder to stick to But last 2 months outta 9 months we have managed it. I have a veg box monthly or fortnightly. Hats of to people who  manage on less we can afford the 600  But its still quite hard to stick to that I include everything eg cleaning stuff etc

@otb666 While it does sound as though you have reached your comfortable level for the time being, I'm sure some on here could help you out if you want to try and reduce your GC a bit so there is a bit of wiggle room in there. In the past, people have posted their shopping list (a photo of the receipt?) showing what bought, where, and for how much, and a copy of their meal plan or detail of how it got used and what was thrown away.

It may sound like a bit of overkill but I did it for a month a few years ago, just documenting in a spreadsheet and I confess that I was rather shocked by my shopping. It's how I know I over-stock and don't stick to my list - so I minimise my visits and I am on a real effort to use up store cupboard and freezer stuff here (both are good for minimising my spends). It changed what I do and how I track my spending. My spreadsheet now includes the fresh GC stuff but has lines for DD and subscriptions (milkman big river temptations), stores and treats & entertainment. I include chocolate, ice cream and alcohol in treats and entertainment as well as trips out or the occasional coffee, but the spare packet of crackers and the three loaves of bread I got yesterday are "stores" here.

Since last year I have started to track fuel, pets and credit cards too, so I have a better idea of where the money is going. I should add that when I started on here (over ten years ago, my GC was well over £750 per month and it wasn't a single phase to reduce it. I well remember the "stick" at £400 and then £350 before reducing it to £250 average (£3000 annual) that I have had for four or five years now, despite inflation.

CRANKY40

Thanks for the thread elsiepac.

I haven't finished January yet but I'm expecting to come in under target. I was thinking of reducing February's weekly spend but then I remembered that my best friend is having work done on his house and won't have a kitchen for possibly the last 2 weeks of February. I've decided to reduce my weekly spend by £5 a week to £75 a week and see what happens so £300 for February please. 

otb666

@Suffolk_lass Thank you for your lovely reply.  We do already track spending on whiteboard.  Since retirement I have let hubby cook and shop for himself as well as adult child.  This means we have mostly three different meals a day.  I know this is a huge extravagance but whilst we can afford to we dont want to change this.  This also saves my sanity.  I know I am cheap as mostly eat vegetables Hubby is a huge meat eater and child has lots of noodles and curries.  It works for us and means my time is my own.