January 2024 Grocery Challenge

BudgetingBelinda

Hi, I’m new! 

**400 per month please**

I drastically want to cut down my grocery spend to focus on paying off last bit of debt this year. I have spent way too much- me and two boys. I hope to cut down further but this seems do-able compared to what I have been spending.  I have online shopped the next few weeks in advance and apart from allotted grocery spend and bills have had a no spend 2024- so far 🥴 2nd Jan! It became a habit to nip into the shop daily to pick up one or two things and that was a major downfall.

Plan below- money spent/£’s left of 400 budget. * for online shops already done! Last 5 days will need some money and the leftover £81 will go on that but also my breathing room
for the odd hiccup/bits needed. If I do this I think it will be the first step to cutting out some unhelpful and unhealthy habits as well as getting me debt free this year
and being accountable 🤞🏼
thanks  I’m finding this thread helpful and good luck.

31/12/23 £78/322

31/12/23 £20/302

*05/01/24 £71/231*

*12/01/24 £75/156*

*19/01/24 £75/£81*

Mamaofmanybudgets

First spend  £18.33 

However. I got short changed for a quid and found an extra penny so 19.34 🙄🤣


£1.30 for a bottle water, £1.75 for cat poop bags and baby wipes. 
Admittedly, £15.30 was spent on some celebratory cake and coffee after ds hospital trip. My plan for Jan was no eating out/take aways for january .... but I've just used my grocery budget and hopefully that'll just help me put a stop to it, keeping receipts and a budget sheet also! 😀 

London_1

 I got home last night from being away since before Christmas and dug out a chilli from the freezer I batched cooked around 16 meals at least before I went away I knew I had plenty to eat from the freezer. I had half a tin of rice pud for pudding and the other half I had after a bowl of soup at lunchtime today, I had a left over banana to eat up from stuff left from being away at the holiday cottage on the IoW, so that got diced up with the rice pud today.

Tonight I have a veggie cottage pie from the freezer for dinner with some green beans from the freezer, and some ice cream from there as well. 

 At the moment I've not been into a supermarket at all ,I have UHT milk and bread if I need it from the freezer.

Tomorrows meal I will dig from the freezer

Lunch will be an M&S steak slice that I got and froze before Christmas and I'll see what I fancy tomorrow from the freezer in the morning .So 2 NSDs so far and food budget for January untouched so far.

Its definitely a use-it-up from the cupboard or freezer this month as I also want to run my freezer down and the tinned stocks as well.I have a valuer coming on Thursday as I'm hoping to move this year and don't want to be packing food when I move house

JackieO xx

peony40

Hello,

I’d like to join you all again.

My budget is £300, to cover all food/household/toiletries for myself and DH for January.

My hope is to be able to come in under budget to allow some savings into the Rainy Day Fund.

Crazycatlady2

First spend...daughter went but should be under £6 for sanitary towels, bread and salad bag 

Frugalistamama

Needed a few household consumables and picked up some milk and some yellow sticker items. I was careful to only get what I usually use so didn't go overboard.  Spent nearly £30 so I'm at £69/£400

nannygladys

I still have the lurgy, so haven't been out and bought anything

StickyTheStickInsect

DH popped in to the Co-Op on his way home from work and got bread, some sandwich bits and some crisps £8.06.

The children go back to school on Thursday and the online system we have to use glitched for school dinners and cancelled all the bookings made, so they’ll have to have packed lunch this week as we need to order two weeks in advance. I ordered the next two weeks which was £48.20, thankful that I’ve still got one in KS1 who gets his for free. Once the weather is warmer, the older two will have packed lunches, as I just can’t afford for them to have hot meals at school for the whole year.

£56.26/£7,200

Pennypincin

Hi, sorry I've been missing in action.
£25 per week for me at the moment. I've had to shuffle the budget around a little with the gas and electric going up.
I am dreading the other bills going up and how I'm going to afford them.
That said, I managed to save £20 of last weeks food money somehow, possibly by eating out of the freezer and buying the cheap veg.
I'm currently at around the £16 in the food budget left after picking up a few odds and sods again.

keggie

New Year and a new start for me. Have reduced my working days down to 3 a week. Hoping that I can counter the 40% drop in wage with more food prep and planning to make savings in the 2 days off. Also reduction of time in the classroom may help to reduce the spend on alcohol 😂 

Weekly for January £80