January 2024 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

Amateurretiree said:

I’m beginning to feel like my £300 for the two of us is unrealistic.

Up to £200 already and I know my online delivery next weekend is £100 and still need fresh stuff on top of that. It’s mostly from Tesco as I do feel I can control the spending more if I actually stay out of the supermarket! Also get one big online shop from Ocado a month as we eat a lot of their chicken breasts.

Looking at my shopping the major expenses every month is fresh chicken and Douwe Egberts coffee which I just can’t compromise on ( tried the cheaper versions but ended up throwing them away!)
We are both retired so both in the house a lot, especially in this weather. We eat out maybe once a week , so everything else is from the grocery bill.

Also, I find myself ‘stocking up’ on 4 for 3 s etc ( currently frozen jacket potatoes which we eat a lot of) .

We don’t buy any alcohol or many biscuits etc. Everything just seems so much more expensive.

£200//£300

@Amateurretiree I used to be the same. I have an approach now that might help you re the coffee. I buy 6 jars when it is on offer and never pay full price now. There is (almost) always an offer every few months. I also have a 6 jar subscription with big river which I make sure is one of five non-perishable items so it attracts 15% reduction. If that is cheaper I have that, and if more expensive, I skip it and substitute an inexpensive item so the other things in the subscription don't inflate.

Re chicken, I buy the 2 kilo packs of thighs (normally huge) from MrS and portion up into 2s, and freeze them. If there is an odd number I freeze one and eventually a second joins it. Dividing up mince into two is another useful hack (and topping up the meat with red lentils and chipped carrots when I use them in a long slow cooked ragu or chilli).

I hope this helps you

Amateurretiree

Suffolk_lass said:

Amateurretiree said:

I’m beginning to feel like my £300 for the two of us is unrealistic.

Up to £200 already and I know my online delivery next weekend is £100 and still need fresh stuff on top of that. It’s mostly from Tesco as I do feel I can control the spending more if I actually stay out of the supermarket! Also get one big online shop from Ocado a month as we eat a lot of their chicken breasts.

Looking at my shopping the major expenses every month is fresh chicken and Douwe Egberts coffee which I just can’t compromise on ( tried the cheaper versions but ended up throwing them away!)
We are both retired so both in the house a lot, especially in this weather. We eat out maybe once a week , so everything else is from the grocery bill.

Also, I find myself ‘stocking up’ on 4 for 3 s etc ( currently frozen jacket potatoes which we eat a lot of) .

We don’t buy any alcohol or many biscuits etc. Everything just seems so much more expensive.

£200//£300

@Amateurretiree I used to be the same. I have an approach now that might help you re the coffee. I buy 6 jars when it is on offer and never pay full price now. There is (almost) always an offer every few months. I also have a 6 jar subscription with big river which I make sure is one of five non-perishable items so it attracts 15% reduction. If that is cheaper I have that, and if more expensive, I skip it and substitute an inexpensive item so the other things in the subscription don't inflate.

Re chicken, I buy the 2 kilo packs of thighs (normally huge) from MrS and portion up into 2s, and freeze them. If there is an odd number I freeze one and eventually a second joins it. Dividing up mince into two is another useful hack (and topping up the meat with red lentils and chipped carrots when I use them in a long slow cooked ragu or chilli).

I hope this helps you

Thank you. Yes I was buying the coffee when it was on special offer at Ocado, we use 6 jars a month and I usually am down to 6 by the time the next 6 comes. I keep a check on prices to see if there are any offers on but none for a while, currently buying from Tesco £6.49.

Might try the chicken thighs, thanks for that idea.

Yes we already split the big packs of mince up ( Tesco 750 g 5% fat) into three and use one portion for pasta, spaghetti Bol etc) n

thriftwizard

Must admit to a fondness for Douwe Egberts here too, but I got over it by converting to a café press & L!dls Bellarom Gold - two cups of that in the morning & I'm fit for anything the day can throw at me! The rest of the day it's just tea, or herbal tea after 4pm & I'll sleep well. However OH & DD2 drink instant coffee throughout the day (and both sleep really badly) so the savings are minimal. Sigh!

pastmysellby

Amateurretiree said:

I

Also, I find myself ‘stocking up’ on 4 for 3 s etc ( currently frozen jacket potatoes which we eat a lot of) .

Would it be possible for you to batch cook your own jacket potatoes and freeze them to save a bit on cost?  Since I saw Nancy Birtwhistle do it on Instagram I've followed her lead and always have them in the freezer now, either plain or mixed with cheese / ham / onion like she suggests. I know putting the oven on for a couple of jackets isn't cost effective, but if you fill the oven with them it isn't so bad.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1270910753478919

Mamaofmanybudgets

Mamaofmanybudgets said:

Well, I've completely fallen off the challenge 🙈🙈 not bad, im still being mindful but I've definitely failed! 🤣 mostly lack of planning and a bit of a low week last week.  I'm still keeping an eye on things and will hopefully do better in February 

£349.08 / £400 ! 

You know what? Ignore me... I actually think things are OK. 
I couldn't take out cash so did my 3rd week on the card, and whilst I've definitely gone over, I think with being under the first 2 weeks , it isn't half as bad as I had thought, 
Just a lot of little trips to the corner shop. 

I did however, do dreadful with the takeaway ban.... it only takes once then its too easily done! But that's not the GC! So I'm going to try look on the bright side. 

So as long as I reign myself in this week, we may be ok! I overblown it on the weeklies but adding it up, has given me a bit of grace. I did budget 400 for the month after all. 


I'm still in the game! 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

 

otb666

when we retired we moved away from supermarket and found a cheap farm shop for fruit and veg and monthly we order from muslefood for meat and divide it up to daily amounts then freeze it. This means we only do one big shop from iceland/auldi a month but for 3 adults spend 600pm which i realise now is still expensive For 2 of us about 400pm. 

moneyowen

Asda spend of £76.45 plus paid milkman £5.50 yesterday brings my total spend this far to £265.43/350.00 My  small gluten free bread is now £2.95 a loaf which is Scandalous considering how much is in it and usually slices have gaping holes in them.  I have tried making my own but I just can’t get it right.  I don’t buy a lot of the gluten free stuff no baked goods besides bread.  I’m the only one that has to eat gluten free thank goodness.  I think I may be on track for my January budget and I’m hoping to cut back a bit more for February.  Hope everyone is doing well.
Ellen

Crazycatlady2

So I'm at £370 plus tomorrow delivery of £114 if all comes then we have loads in so really will try to limit buying towards end of month

Amateurretiree

pastmysellby said:

Amateurretiree said:

I

Also, I find myself ‘stocking up’ on 4 for 3 s etc ( currently frozen jacket potatoes which we eat a lot of) .

Would it be possible for you to batch cook your own jacket potatoes and freeze them to save a bit on cost?  Since I saw Nancy Birtwhistle do it on Instagram I've followed her lead and always have them in the freezer now, either plain or mixed with cheese / ham / onion like she suggests. I know putting the oven on for a couple of jackets isn't cost effective, but if you fill the oven with them it isn't so bad.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1270910753478919

That’s a good idea. I do feel the frozen ones are a decent deal though when they are on 4 packs for 3 ( so 32 potatoes for £15.90) and two do in 8 minutes in the microwave.

mrs_motivated

Hi Everyone,

Went shopping yesterday and my total is now £360/£400 and 1 shop left to go for January,  but I don’t think I will manage to stay within budget with only £40 left to spend.  To say that inflation is down, I’m certainly not noticing it when shopping!  Things are still so expensive, I really feel for those on a budget with large families to feed.

i cook from scratch and both me and Mr. M take packed lunches when we are in the office….so not sure what else I can do to bring costs down.  Although this weeks shop was high due to toothpaste, mouthwash and toilet rolls, which I probably could have got cheaper if I  had time to shop around.

Keep up the good work everyone at least we are on a count down to the end of the month.