December 2023 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

I just wanted to mention that Veg wars has started (in Morries, at least) - I went in to edit my click and collect order and checked. 19p veg!

mumtoomany

Aldi are selling their veg at, mostly, 19p. Lidl 15p. But the carrots in Aldi are a kilo, Lidls are 500gms, so not cheaper. Watch the sizes. Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xx

itsthelittlethings

£7.53 in Lidl on some lunches for the week.

boultdj

Broccoli, red cabbage, 500g parsnips, 800g carrots, 2 kilo potato, 500g sprouts and swede are 15p at Tesco from today.

Pennypincin

I popped into Tesco and bought some of the 15p veg, plus some freezer bits.
So much for running my freezer down for a clean, then to be refilled. I will keep trying to.
I've £18.83 left for this week. I shouldn't need much hopefully.
I'm going to make the most of the super cheap veg on offer at the moment.

otb666

700/600 so gone over by 100 this month.  As i go from 22 to 22nd thats it for the month Not very good but it is xmas month so it is what it is.

Soontobeoap

Thanks for the heads up on veg. Going to sainsburys tomorrow for a christmas ptesent so will check there and if they havnt got any i will pop to Aldi on the way home. 👍

elsiepac

Budgets updated to here AND

January GC Now Live! Eek!

CoffeeSonata

Sorry for vanishing - life, December, Christmas. 
Fish Pie update: thanks all. I found some YS smoked cod in Sains, and used that, some prawns and some of the frozen fish to make a fish pie. The sauce kind of disappeared into the potato entirely though, we sort of had cheesy potato mash with fish left, it had sort of all sunk and asorbed, no idea what happened there. Very tasty though. Thanks! 
 Also have 2 portions in the freezer for Jan. 

We have been out a few times due to birthdays and once spontaneous to Brewer's Fayre - this was either paid for or comes out of our eating out budget.  It's really unsual we eat out often. 

I am on £164/£410 allocated.  

£53 for christmas and new year veg order (for four people) due to come out tonight/tomorrow morning. 


I'm going away tomorrow, slightly earlier than planned, partner will follow later. 
Because some planning went out the window, despite trying to plan and not buy, and plan to use up everything before going way -  I have some more food left than I wanted. I am running out of time to do everything and finish work rapidly, and I know any fresh food I leave won't get eaten or dealt with and it's hit and miss whether ready-to-cook home meals/reheat meals will get eaten when I'm gone (partner tends to go buy  microwave meals etc anyway when I'm gone.)
I'd really like and hoped to be able to turn some veggies into soups for freezer before I go, but even if I didn't sleep I don't think I have enough hours left to do everything I need to and leave house in an acceptable state!  By which at the moment I mostly mean not unclean and not like a tasmanian devil went through packing.) I am not sure taking more food things with me works, we will  have plenty of veg, so trying to think of simplest way of freezing maybe  just taking with me.  I don't want to throw good things out.  Some is a little past it though.  Annoyed as I tried to plan so well, but planned to be leaving Saturday am! &now I'm staying two weeks, not one. Partner will be back a week before me, but see above & ready meals/bought meals. 
That might knock out some Jan savings/budget since it tends to be more expensive to buy ready meals etc. 
I have the grocery money though & there IS a week's worth of freezer to oven meals in the freezer. 
I have said when that happens additional food doesn't come out of main grocery budget, if it's all ready meals/junk but that does seem maybe a bit mean? 

We won't have much coming out of main grocery budget over christmas. I have bought the fruit and veg or most of it (coming Friday - the £53).  I only need to buy milk for this evening and partner rest of this week. Breakfast & lunch is sorted for both of us untl we each leave.  May end up buying odds and ends if I'm the one to go out to the supermarket over christmas, but won't be alot as my mum buys enough to feed a small army. 

So I'm not expecting the actual Dec grocery to go over £190 really.  
Which is just as well as really need to reallocate the extra for christmas/birthday presents/petrol. 

I'm really pleased, but it's a bit skewed though as we are away, then ate out (separate budget line- all gone now!), and partner will be buying ready meals likely next three days or so- but this probably won't come out of the main grocery fund or be added up by me.  

Same goes for first week of Jan really, especially as they may well not actually eat the freezer meals. 
So Jan may not be a true reflection either of what I can realistically manage with good planning and energy wise (realistically I cannot go back to cooking as much from scratch as I used to when fully well.)
 
I'm pleased though that we haven't used a full 50% of Dec budget for the 3 weeks of Dec. 
Keeping low was helped by some of the eating out, but also managing to plan a lot more, use some freezer things and storecupboard things. Oh! And about a weeks worth of spring rolls/veg rolls and samosas given to me left over from a work party which I think I've had 6/7 days since last week for my lunch! Not the healthiest probably, but very low effort, very tasty and I had no idea if they'd freeze properly so just ate them! (This is partly what's left me too much veg and pears though as I planned to use it up making soups for lunches, instead I've had endless samosas!) 

Still pondering whether to manage a separate bulk fund- as I sort of prefer that concept if I can pull it off (would require some buffer/upfront savings first.)  I think my brain may work better that way though as we do buy in bulk and I cook in bulk. Issue is money is basically weekly. So out of step with the way I would normally manage things. I don't know if I wouldn't just be giving myself more maths to keep track of when already mostly very overwhelmed. I do tend to roll over any grocery budget left, which balances out usually months under, other months at the limit because we bulk bought, but that hasn't really happened lately and also I do need to focus on spending less overall each month. Still thinking about the best way to do it anc conceptualise! 

Also trying to work out if for two of us, costco membership and bulk might be helpful.  Partner LOVES offers though, and bulk offers and our house is small. So trying to consider that as well! 

Going to aim for reducing grocery budget gradually from Jan to a better level for 2 of us. 
Not decided what my target will be yet. 

Dinner tonight: is stuffed spaghetti squash and roast pears and custard! 

Soontobeoap

I am declaring at £28.46 over budget this month and £34. 84 Over my budget for the whole year.

We went to Sainsbury's today where I bought half price gammon, 19p red cabbages, 4 pkts of brussels, and 2 swede. Total cost for these was £6.72 and I saved £10.00! Also bought some bits for a hamper for a friend and quite a lot of treats (choc, biscuits and sweets) The gammon will cut into 2 and make 2 roasts for us and i will be freezing all of the veg.

We are away from Friday until the end of the month. We will mainly be with family for meals but anything we do buy whilst away will be from fun budget. 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.