November 2023 Grocery Challenge

DigSunPap

About to go and do my food shop for the week. A little earlier than planned (I usually do it Friday) - hoping to spend less than £100 in Aldi for 3 of us

PipneyJane

Thanks for the new thread, @elsiepac.  Hope all is well with you.

Please put me down for £140 for November.  That's for all supermarket spending, including toiletries and cleaning products for two adults and covers most meals.  It may increase, depending on what we have left at the end of October, but £140/month is our baseline.  Our November runs from 1st to 30th.

- Pip

weenancyinAmerica

@PipneyJane - Hi Pip, we have a lot of couples on here who are spending £400 or more for 2 adults. You are always doing so well. Do you have any hints for them that might help with this challenge? Any one else out there have some hints for our struggling savers? 

elsiepac

How is it almost Novemeber already! Hope you're all well

Budgets updated to here

goldfinches

Thanks for the new thread @elsiepac and yes it is horrifying how fast the year has gone. Please put me down for

Grocery Challenge £170, Baking Budget £25 and Bulk Buy Fund £66

That's for all groceries, household items and basic toiletries for one vegetarian woman and the baking budget is calculated at £5 per week to make a vegan gluten-free treat for my Wednesday group friends.

Suffolk_lass

weenancyinAmerica said:

@PipneyJane - Hi Pip, we have a lot of couples on here who are spending £400 or more for 2 adults. You are always doing so well. Do you have any hints for them that might help with this challenge? Any one else out there have some hints for our struggling savers? 

I'm sure Pip will reply for herself, but we spend a little more than she does, albeit I separately track any direct debits, stores and GC.

1. DD includes a few things I buy on subscription, monthly eggs bill (delivered weekly) and my weekly milk bill. Although the milk is more expensive, having it delivered removes the temptation from me trawling the shelves for stuff not on my list
2. Stores includes things I buy in the SM but in bulk (4s or 6s) when it is on offer. If it isn't on offer and I have run out, just the one. Normally I buy 4s because I have 2 left when it goes on offer next. Things like tins of beans, a jar of sauce, laundry detergent, shower gloop, shampoo, vitamins. Oh and savers bleach and distilled SM-OB vinegar
3. GC is the fresh food, meat, dairy, F&V, bags of frozen veg, an emergency loaf of RM wheatgerm bread. Mostly I bake bread, once a week and freeze at least half. It is cheaper because I buy flour in bulk (as in 25k sacks) and I know there are no flour improvers or other UPF elements in mine.

My annual budget is £3000.  I am at £1138.28 for groceries so far in 2023, plus £654 stores and £473 for subs and DD.

I do exclude pet and livestock spend (I track it though, and I do include cat litter if I buy it in the SM) and I have a separate line for treats and entertainment. So (eg), DH's birthday meal, where we would have eaten out but he has asked me to cook for friends, is in that heading, not GC. Also Christmas chocolate, and alcohol, plus cafe and restaurants, pub visits... less often than they once were

Soontobeoap

@elsiepac thankyou so much for keeping this thread going. I would spend so much more without it!

£180 for me this month please

I am really going to try for less but know that there will be offers for Christmas. 🤔

Soontobeoap

@Ellie79 I have only been posting on here for nearly 2 years and have learnt so much.

I cant add much to the really good bargain hunters/ meal creators on here but would just like to add,

try not to throw anything away. Bung it in the freezer and it will always help towards a meal another day.

I also have, a yearly target in my signature so that, when I overspend I can adjust, the next month to try and keep the yearly aim in sight. This keeps me motivated and means that I dont give up. In my signature I have last years total to compare it with.

Try just changing to own brand when you can. I like tesco beans as much as heinz, Aldi sweet and sour sauce is different but we like it. Other sauces from Aldi are good too. 

Finally, remember that this has been a mammoth year and we have all noticed prices going up and pack sizes shrinking. Little changes will help your budget if you want to reduce it. Just take one step at a time. A lot of us arnt working and have more time for baking. Good luck with it all and remember you are amazing. 

@otb666 I feel your pain. DH always needs a little top up shop, even if it is just for biscuits! Its their money too. You cant really argue! He does sometimes suggest beans on toast or a money saving meal now though and looks for cheaper biscuits 🤣, so some of the money saving habits are rubbing off on him now too. Slowly but surely. 

goldfinches

weenancyinAmerica said:

@PipneyJane - Hi Pip, we have a lot of couples on here who are spending £400 or more for 2 adults. You are always doing so well. Do you have any hints for them that might help with this challenge? Any one else out there have some hints for our struggling savers? 

Waving across the pond at you wn, something others haven't mentioned is moving the money you don't spend into a treat pot or fund so that you have an incentive to keep the shopping bills down. Mine is currently used towards special cookbooks that I buy new and one or two special pieces of kitchen equipment every so often, I find this very motivating.
I'm claiming another NSD entirely due to the ghastly weather here but I'll still take it.

joedenise

I'm another who moves any excess money into another pot - more often than not my holiday pot as we love our holidays!  Currently have 3 booked for next years - 2 x 2 week All Inclusive and 4 weeks in motorhome.