February 2024 Grocery Challenge

SausageDogSandwich

Thank you for the new post @elsiepac. I’ve decided to up my budget as my middle child is changing to packed lunches and he’s going to be picking his own things with the dinner money which is £12. Husband also upping protein and fruit and veg which of course costs more and I don’t need an extra stress when we have a bit of Wiggle room in the budget for a few months. Can I please have 

£350 for February. 

This is for 2 adults and three kids that eat more than me, chicken for the dog and cleaning products. Also includes alcohol but I’m not planning on buying any again this month.

Amateurretiree

So I’m trying to understand why I’m going over budget, and I can see that when stuff is on special offer ( like T have 3 for the price of 4 on frozen jacket potatoes and Youngs fish of which we eat a lot of) I always fill the freezer .

I know there are ‘cycles’ of offers and they will come around again but I still do it. I try and compensate by not buying stuff I have a few months supply of like dishwasher tablets etc.

I guess I should have a separate bulk buy budget but that seems to me to be defeating the object. 

LadyWithAPlan

Feb Grocery Budget   £155 and £50 bulk 

Tx @elsiepac for this very useful and focusing thread


Grocery spent in  Jan   £139.82/£175 plus £24.49/£50 bulk plus £35.28 HFresh -    £10.30 of this HF (used final credit) is to arrive on Sun Feb 4th but enclosed in last months as its paid in Jan.

Therefore I already have 4 x 2 people meals arriving for Feb  plus food in freezer.
Looking at other peoples grocery bills I feel  I am still a bit high as it is just me but Central London - so expensive - I will try to get down from the £175 plus bulk..  I do eat meat but try to buy FR...
I do need loads of fresh greens and a chicken as soon as I can get out to shop - feel going back to a weekly FR chicken as it makes me 5 meals plus soup stock ...which for £9 is good


@Amateurretiree I find my bulk fund incredibly useful -  as it exists, I then make the monthly Grocery budget lower - whatever works for you though

wishus

£170 again this month please, for 2 adults and a cat.

Suffolk_lass

CoffeeSonata said:

Though the plan is to stock up on some tinned/frozen soups and also some easy freezer meals that are quick from the freezer and don't rely on me having remembered to defrost first. So either fish and chips type things, or homemade/slow cooker batch cooked things that are freexer-> oven in about 45 minutes safely. 

(Open to ideas there! I'm out of practice and overwhelmed with rest of life, is not helping.)  I have pyrex dishes with lids. 
Bonus points for things that can be first cooked in the slow cooker, or don't take much pre cooking/effort. 

Here is one idea

I put all the ingredients for a basic ragu (bolognese-type) into the slow cooker (add more liquid so a handful of red lentils will pad this out) and let it cook overnight (dual tariff off-peak electricity) and then divide it up - typically 2 portions that evening with penne pasta and I mix more of the cooked penne through, popping 2 portions into a shallow dish and freeze, ready to top with a white sauce (from a jar if you don't want to make one) and then a bit of grated cheese on top. You can defrost shallow dishes more quickly in the microwave, then pour the sauce over, top with cheese for a really comforting no-fuss pasta bake, a bit like lasagne but without the sheets pulling through when it is served. If you defrost it to cold it takes 30 minutes to bake and the cheese to brown, but if you make sure the base is warm after defrosting in the microwave, the sauce and cheese only take ten minutes under the grill.

I put two more portions into a take-away box and freeze, ready to make into a quick chilli by adding a tin of mixed beans and some lazy chilli to the defrosted base. Typically this makes 3 portions so I keep one back to have with a baked potato, half a portion each - so one batch of ragu does 8 portions, with four different dinners 

You can also do a vegetable or meat based casserole - eg chicken thighs in the slow cooker with a quartered onion, a chunked up carrot or two, maybe a potato in similar chunks, and a tin of soup. Put it in and cook low overnight and when you get home, separately pour kettle water over a small bowl of frozen peas and strain and add them for instant hot comfort food.

I hope this helps

Suffolk_lass

Amateurretiree said:

So I’m trying to understand why I’m going over budget, and I can see that when stuff is on special offer ( like T have 3 for the price of 4 on frozen jacket potatoes and Youngs fish of which we eat a lot of) I always fill the freezer .

I know there are ‘cycles’ of offers and they will come around again but I still do it. I try and compensate by not buying stuff I have a few months supply of like dishwasher tablets etc.

I guess I should have a separate bulk buy budget but that seems to me to be defeating the object. 

@Amateurretiree This is why I have an annual budget - mine is £3000, so would average out at £250 a month but I aim for under £200, so I can take advantage of the offers. The old Martin saying is in my head though... "Do I need it?" - many on here will remember one person who insulated her loft with toilet rolls as she could not resist a bogof!

I'm a bit like this so I restrict my trips to the SM. One a month and local coop for milk top-ups and any veg or fruit that is running low. Knowing your personal weaknesses is the first step to getting control of your spending.

By the way, I hope you mean four for the price of three and T were not being sneaky!

Amateurretiree

Suffolk_lass said:

Amateurretiree said:

So I’m trying to understand why I’m going over budget, and I can see that when stuff is on special offer ( like T have 3 for the price of 4 on frozen jacket potatoes and Youngs fish of which we eat a lot of) I always fill the freezer .

I know there are ‘cycles’ of offers and they will come around again but I still do it. I try and compensate by not buying stuff I have a few months supply of like dishwasher tablets etc.

I guess I should have a separate bulk buy budget but that seems to me to be defeating the object. 

@Amateurretiree This is why I have an annual budget - mine is £3000, so would average out at £250 a month but I aim for under £200, so I can take advantage of the offers. The old Martin saying is in my head though... "Do I need it?" - many on here will remember one person who insulated her loft with toilet rolls as she could not resist a bogof!

I'm a bit like this so I restrict my trips to the SM. One a month and local coop for milk top-ups and any veg or fruit that is running low. Knowing your personal weaknesses is the first step to getting control of your spending.

By the way, I hope you mean four for the price of three and T were not being sneaky!

Ha ha yes I meant 4 for 3! I think I maybe just need to increase my budget to allow for stock ups when they are on special offer. I only buy the stuff we regularly use.

I do online grocery delivery and am constantly going through my list right up to the night before to remove stuff if I don’t think we need it, so I don’t think I’m buying stuff we don’t eat. And we don’t have cupboards or freezers full of stuff. 

I guess in my mind £300 a month for a retired couple who rarely eat out is just something I’m going to have to live with. But at least I have my eye on it and will continue to take note of all the hints on here!

debtfreewannabe321

My first week is done, I have spent
£208.33
already. Eek. Need to reign it in a little bit I think to keep to budget. I had to get a sack of potatoes, large bulk sack of rice and lots of staples we'd run out of as well as fill the freezer, so hopefully I can pull this one back in to budget. 

blubella

Please can I join the challenge. I am a single person household now that my son has flown. I mainly cook my meals from scratch but I do buy the odd packaged item. I try to bulk order meat from the farm and bulk buy fish when I can. I do like a visit to the health food shop which probably increases my spend too.

As, I have no idea what I spend I thought I would set a target of £150 + £50 bulk. I am starting a new job this month, so will be out of county training and living in a hotel for 2-3 weeks, so I'm hoping my budget isn't destroyed by this. 

SecondStar

I got paid today, so for me this is the start of ‘February’.

Did my first shop today, so I’ve currently spent:

£24.20 / £120 budgeted