April 2023 Grocery Challenge

Soontobeoap

Welcome @bunnybrain. You will learn loads on here. Take a look at the recipes at the beginning of this thread too. £108 will only cover 4 weeks at £27.00 a week so you might want to up it for your first month. Good luck. 

[Deleted User]

Hi, I am in again for April.  As always thank you to @elsiepac for running the thread.

Please put me down for £250 in April

Welcome @bunnybrain, best of luck with your month ahead.  

Ginmonster

Thanks for running this thread @elsiepac and thanks to everyone joining in. I love reading what everyone's doing. It helps keep me going.

I'm going for £250 for the month again please.

diminua

Hi Elsiepac,

Could you put me down for £190 again please?

That's to include all food and drink in April with the exception of chocolate or alcohol bought as presents. 

Nelliegrace

Thank you @elsiepac
£5 a day for two seniors, an increase when frugal Lent is over. 

£150 for April.

I am continuing the challenge to remind myself to shop from the freezer and store cupboard first. We are doing our fourth month of using WW2 ration quantities and points. 
Meat is limited to £2.50 each and 4oz of ham or bacon a week, and cheese is 2oz each. 

zafiro1984

Nelliegrace said:

I am continuing the challenge to remind myself to shop from the freezer and store cupboard first. We are doing our fourth month of using WW2 ration quantities and points. 
Meat is limited to £2.50 each and 4oz of ham or bacon a week, and cheese is 2oz each. 

That's an interesting way of doing things. Do you find it works? Maybe I should try it as it may well help me with my weight as well, I don't think there were many tubby people around in the war.

     £213.60p for April please. 

I'm quite happy with the way the budgeting is going so far this year. A few pounds over on two months but I can live with that.

Nelliegrace

It has saved money @zafiro1984 and I have lost 6lbs this year. It is interesting, and we have settled into it easily, just remembering what Mum and Granny cooked. I am a plain cook as they were, and I like the vintage cookbooks. The Ministry of Food had huge campaigns to get people to grow some vegetables, to understand nutrition, to cook food carefully, and to avoid waste.
I am at high risk of getting diabetes, with unchangeable factors like age and family history, but I have changed my diet, I have cut out snacks and highly processed foods, and increased the time between dinner and breakfast, and I feel a lot better. 

smudgybunny

Hi having disappeared completely in March I’d like to rejoin in April with a budget of £280 
Despite not posting at all in March I’ve managed to stay in budget, with £6.50 left for the rest of the month, full fridge and planned meals. So it seems you were all in my head helping me along  Thank you! 

KajiKita

Didn’t do that well in March (I need to go back and declare my final £figure) but I am conscious that being here is helpful to me in terms of looking for opportunities to save money on food etc., so will join in again.
 

Raising our monthly budget to £600 for April.

April has already started for us as we run from payday to payday, c. 25th, earlier if it lands on a weekend. Really hoping we can stay within this figure as it is high enough now! 

This includes everything for both of us (2 diets) including work lunches and snacks for both of us, house consumables (cleaning materials etc) plus a hungry cat! 

Mr KK is making a chicken chasseur today from all the scraps and bits of uncooked chicken that were sculling around in the freezers. I will supply fresh thyme, parsley and bay leaves from my garden, so that will save a scrap of money! 😊 (I will record this on my produce tracker - it’s amazing how much packets of herbs add up if you buy them!) 

I have a batch of Frugalwoods rice ‘n beans to make this morning for my work lunches this week 😊

KK

Suffolk_lass

I rummaged out a half shoulder of lamb from the freezer yesterday that I will roast today (and a pack of lambs hearts to have later - although it has not been defrosted) and we will have that with fridge veg (carrots, potatoes and cabbage). Yoghurt and honey for dessert I think. I also made a tray bake of butternut fingers for having with teas and coffees. We had four yesterday - two at lunchtime and two more with tea! - And therein lies the problem. They are just too yummy and available. (I love the word yummy). Nothing spent.