March 2023 Grocery Challenge

leftatthetrafficlights

KajiKita said:

Question for the board …..

I see people posting on these threads periodically about having a separate ‘bulk purchases’ budget. Could those that do use this system share some more insights about it? I’m asking as we are nearly at the end of our 5kg sack of basmati rice. I was comparing prices per 100g and the cheapest seems to be Amazon for something that looks good but I have to buy 3 x 5kg which seems way too much for just us two. 

I noticed a 1kg bag in T3sco today at £5! 😳  I can get a 5kg bag online from them for £2.40 per kilo (so helpfully better price) but that means spending £12 all at once, which is a significant lump out of my monthly budget. There are also random things like table salt which I buy once every 3 months or so ….

Questions (but I’m sure I have missed something!):

- do you run the bulk budget as a separate line?

- how did you establish it? Something along the lines of my long lasting consumption, but non perishable items are # & # & # etc. and they typically cost £## per annum, so I hereby allocate £## / 12 to buying them each month?

- where do you store it all?

- where do you find the biggest savings - what should I prioritise to bulk buy first?

- where do you buy these bulk items? Online? From standard supermarkets? Cash and carrys? (If the latter, how do you qualify for a card?)

- AOA …… or ‘any other advice’ would be much appreciated 😊

KK

I have a bulk buy fund - I used to allocate £300 grocery spends per month but I'm doing annual now so I've split the budget to £3000 for the general groceries for the year and £600 for bulk buy. I used the excess from last year's monthly budget (when there was an excess) and saved it for this year's bulk buy fund (I also saved other 'spare' money so 2024's bulk buy fund is also covered now). I will report on it separately as soon as I use anything from it. 

I generally buy things like coffee, rice, dried pulses etc from it when they are on offer so that I get them at the best price - I either store them in the kitchen or alternatively in the  understair cupboards. Depending on the packaging, I generally move things into lock and lock boxes as they're easier to stack. 

I normally buy online where possible but it just depends on where they are cheapest! I used to buy everything from Suma but as there are only two of us now we don't need the quantities that we used to so I don't use a wholesaler anymore. 

The main thing is to buy stuff that you use a lot of - no point in getting a massive amount of stuff you will have hanging around for years! 

Soontobeoap

Just been trying to find the best price for tetley tea bags. Why do they make it so difficult? They have them in bags of 80,180,240, 400, 420, 460, 600, 1100. I am finding it almost impossible to find the price per tea bag! 😂

mumtoomany

First post of this month. £4.60 to add for the milk son in law picked up, last month, for me. 70p this morning for seven loaves of granary bread, reduced. Total for these is £5.30. Total for year to date is now, £439.53/£2640. This feeds seven of us every evening, most of the seven the rest of the day, any visitors, and includes household stuff, toilet roll soap powder etc. Does not include the dog food. 

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

joedenise

Soontobeoap said:

Just been trying to find the best price for tetley tea bags. Why do they make it so difficult? They have them in bags of 80,180,240, 400, 420, 460, 600, 1100. I am finding it almost impossible to find the price per tea bag! 😂

@Soontobeoap - it's quite easy to work out the price per teabag.  Grab a calculator and divide the price by the number of bags to give you the price per bag.  Just write them all down and you'll be able to see which is the cheapest!

weenancyinAmerica

I just type the equation into Google - and it does it for me.

Nelliegrace

Teabags are very expensive paper and some micro-plastics and make a mug of something dubious, full of both, with a nasty aftertaste, and which leaves a scum on the surface and the mug. If you suck a piece of paper you can recognise the taste which is not meant to be in tea. 

You cannot beat a proper brew made in a teapot. Supermarket loose leaf tea is fine. 
Water fresh from the tap, brought properly to the boil, a warmed teapot, a spoonful of tea per person, allowed to brew for 3-4 minutes. Keep it hot with a tea cosy. Strain it into a cup for perfect cuppa and top the pot up again for a second cup, as good as the first. 
How is that for frugal. 

nat21luv

£37.50/£250 

Did a small shop in Lidl and topped up the basics so I qualified for the £5 off £40 voucher. Managed to hit the free bakery item so I helped myself to a multiseeded loaf from the bakery (£1.79 saved with the app) so that will go lovely with shakshuka one evening, and a poached egg on buttery toast one morning. 

Determined not to go shopping again for another 7 days so wish me luck!

KajiKita

Thanks for the feedback @leftatthetrafficlights. I am going to work through my online shopping favourites and try and work what I might put on a bulk list (coffee is a good one) and then I can start doing some comparisons 😊

KK

otb666

116/600 small win today gave some blood as part of a cancer trial and was rewarded with £10 voucher tesco so bought 5 packets of sausages, also elderly relative off loaded 4 packs of xmas cheese (given to them as a part of a hamper) as different flavours wasnt for them.

joedenise

@KajiKita - I use my bulk fund to buy trays of UHT milk; tomatoes, baked beans etc.  I also use it for buying a month's worth of sausages and burgers at a time.