April 2023 Grocery Challenge

gill5blue

hi All,
it was a more expensive week (bulk buying to save pennies)
spent £68.72.. so total so far
£185.73/£240
leaves me £54.27 for the last week, but I have lots of food in larder and freezer.
Today I shall do a list of what is in my freezer, as I find that helps me.
good luck all
gill5blue

JingsMyBucket

Hi folks, just caught up with the thread this morning after being away for about a week and then diving back into work. Since April 5th, we've spent £253.14 and I'm feeling ehhhh about getting through the end of the month. 

£347.01 spent so far. £52.99 / £400.00 remaining

So only £52.99 left for the next 8 days. I made a shopping list of what we might want or need over the next couple days and we may be okay. Here's a rough cooking plan for the week: 

• Jerk pork shoulder steaks, roasted eggplant and sweet potatoes, salad, brown basmati rice 
• Chinese pork shoulder steaks, bok choi, carrots, sautéed eggplant, edamame, lime, brown rice bowls
• Turkey soup from freezer
• Spinach & shallot frittata (frozen spinach in the freezer)
• Thai Shrimp curry (frozen shrimp in the freezer)
• Fruit and oat muffins - recipe from Aldi

ACTUALLY, ETA: I just remembered we got a £12.00 subscribe and save from Amazon for Kind Bars. So that means we only have 40.99 left for the next couple weeks. This will definitely be tough. 

£359.01 spent so far. £40.99 / £400.00 remaining

Gettingmyshiztogether

Another £72.76 spend across L!dl and S@inos today. Last week was expensive as DH came with me, he offered to come today and I said NO WAY 🤣 he almost looked offended! But I can definitely see a huge difference in our shopping habits these days. I have activated my 10% off voucher for next weeks shopping.

Month to date £320.23 / £400

(family of 4, 2 adults and 2 pre/ teens girls, all meals as send my DDs to school with packed lunches and DH too. Only DD1 eats meat) 

Leaves me with £79.77 actual money to spend next week, so i will aim for £88 with 10% off to keep on track. I shall aim to top up all of my staples on that also. Its going to be tight! 😬

gill5blue

Gettingmyshiztogether said:

Another £72.76 spend across L!dl and S@inos today. Last week was expensive as DH came with me, he offered to come today and I said NO WAY 🤣 he almost looked offended! But I can definitely see a huge difference in our shopping habits these days. I have activated my 10% off voucher for next weeks shopping.

Month to date £320.23 / £400

(family of 4, 2 adults and 2 pre/ teens girls, all meals as send my DDs to school with packed lunches and DH too. Only DD1 eats meat) 

Leaves me with £79.77 actual money to spend next week, so i will aim for £88 with 10% off to keep on track. I shall aim to top up all of my staples on that also. It's going to be tight! 😬

you are doing well!

Soontobeoap

Dear DIL text today. Upshot of messages was that our DS wants to meet down by the sea front and treat us to a meal in a pub when they come over on Saturday. That suits us. It does mean though that we will have to cut the huge ham that I bought just after Easter into 2 and put it into the freezer. It will really help with the lower budget that I have set for next month though so it is win win. 😊

otb666

623/600  i am calling it for this month so second month in a row i have gone over A bit disappointing but going over to May now

Nelliegrace

DH made a loaf this morning in the breadmaker. I made a Bara brith, a batch of rich fruit scones, and some seeded flapjacks when the oven was on for the pot roast chicken. 
That should keep us in home baked treats for the week. 

Gettingmyshiztogether

gill5blue said:

Gettingmyshiztogether said:

Another £72.76 spend across L!dl and S@inos today. Last week was expensive as DH came with me, he offered to come today and I said NO WAY 🤣 he almost looked offended! But I can definitely see a huge difference in our shopping habits these days. I have activated my 10% off voucher for next weeks shopping.

Month to date £320.23 / £400

(family of 4, 2 adults and 2 pre/ teens girls, all meals as send my DDs to school with packed lunches and DH too. Only DD1 eats meat) 

Leaves me with £79.77 actual money to spend next week, so i will aim for £88 with 10% off to keep on track. I shall aim to top up all of my staples on that also. It's going to be tight! 😬

you are doing well!

Thank you 😊 this month is going well so far, and it's all down to this lovely forum/ thread. I am slowly figuring out how to stretch the pennies, it's been 7 months I ve been doing this challenge so far. Huge gratitude to everyone who contributes to this thread 💗💗

Thevalueofless

Wk 4 £51.22, running total for month £275.20/£270

Uh oh yet again! April has not been my month! Over already and it's a five weeker for me. I really have tried to only spend on necessary items to keep spending low and not purchased any store cupboard bits but that hasn't helped me. Will try to keep away from the shops as much as possible but do need to pick up loo roll tomorrow and some veg. Feeling a bit grumpy and disappointed with my efforts but that won't last for long and I'll get my happy planning head back on 🙂

Nelliegrace

Carolyn from The 1940’s Experiment blog, has written about how the WW2 Rations diet has saved her a lot of money. It is a healthy diet, with a bit less meat, dairy produce, and sugar, and fewer sweets than we have got used to having, and more seasonal vegetables. 
The money saving is from all the things you don’t buy, crisps, biscuits, desserts in plastic pots, sugary breakfast cereals, snacks, takeaways and delivered fast food, highly processed meals, fizzy drinks, etc. She has reduced her budget from £85 to just over £18 a week, saving £3,400 a year.
I am impressed.