April 2024 Grocery Challenge

navelorange1

Hey! I started doing the challenge on 5th April and so far have spent £58.60 for one person no toiletries. I am trying to keep it below £80 this month. I planned out everything I am going to buy for the month in an excel sheet so as long as I don’t impulse buy things (which I sometimes do) I should be able to keep it under budget. I might be being too strict though as I have begun to run out of certain things and I’m feeling more tired ect. My cat is having a dental on Tuesday though and it’s estimated to cost £400 so that’s my motivation to keep things as low as possible this month!

PipneyJane

Welcome to the Challenge @navelorange1.  Good luck with the rest of the month.  Hopefully the cat’s dental visit won’t be as expensive as estimated.

I have a small GC spend to declare from yesterday.  93p spent on mushrooms in Sainsbugs; 89p for a tray of decent looking ones and 4p for a slightly ropy, loose one.  (DH took advantage of an offer in the Nectar app for 40 bonus points available on the purchase of loose mushrooms.).  We’ll have to go shopping again today, because we tried both MrT’s and Sainsbugs and couldn’t find decent peppers anywhere.

The above brings our April GC spend to £131.55/£140, leaving £8.45 for the rest of the month.

The Bulk Fund also took a hit yesterday.  £68.37 spent at Wing-Yip, the Chinese cash-and-carry, on 5L of washing up liquid (£5.25), two 6-packs of small Marigolds for me (£9.66 a pack, so £1.61 a pair), 2kg desiccated coconut (£12.70), a 3kg bag of bicarb (£4.95), Chinese rice wine (£6.50), noodles and various sauces.

Meal plans for the next few days 

Today:  Breakfast - cereal.  Lunch - leftover stew from last night. Dinner - Chicken Fajitas (hence the need for peppers & mushrooms).
Sunday: Breakfast - HM Bacon & Egg McMuffins.  Lunch - lunchboxes from the freezer.  Dinner - Warm French Lentil Salad (with grilled mackerel).
Monday: Breakfast - cereal. Lunch - leftover salad.  Dinner - Singapore Noodles.


- Pip


ETA:  if you’re wondering about our carbon footprint, we visited the supermarkets on the way home from Wing-Yip.  We also went to B&Q, so maximised the utility of our trip, while minimising our petrol usage.  Today, we’ll walk down to L!dl to buy the much needed peppers.

NeverendingDMP

90 pounds of my 150 spent so far. Some food and washing tablets. Need to beat the target this week as DH was off sick a couple of days last week so his wages were a lot lower. Some top up stuff and things for a school trip to buy so will need to shop again but hopefully can stay under. Meal plan done until Tuesday. Will wing it wed Thursday with some sort of pasta/random meal. 

otb666

533/550   Thats my final figure for April as run from 23rd to 23rd and no more spends.  Gone back to shopping in Aldi weekly and 2 small top ups at co op weekly. Veg and fruit top ups at farm shop fortnightly.   I am into fish mainly myself and hubby into meat. My favorite  I buy cheap fozen white boneless and skinless fish which i grill in airfryer and have with rice and salad

Pennypincin

I've got over budget by £10 this week.
Popped into Morrisons and was tempted, then was tempted in Tesco's.
Just random odds and sods.
I am shocked still at the price of food in the shops, but as much as am in despair and discouraged about how I'm not managing and the cost of everything, I'm a little encouraged by how people are managing to food shop on a budget.
I'm going to try and do a bulk delivery shop from the bulk fund, but also try to make more of an effort to use up whats in the freezer so I can defrost plus clean it.

PipneyJane

Good evening All

£2.28 spent in L!dl today on mixed sweet peppers (£1.89) and spring onions (39p).  You may remember that I’ve been storing my spring onions in a glass on my kitchen windowsill; tomorrow, we’ll finally finish the batch bought February.  (Thanks again, to the GC member who suggested doing this.)

The above brings our total April GC spend to £133.83/£140, leaving £6.17 for the rest of the month.

- Pip

Soontobeoap

Only just getting back into meal planning and proper organisation. So good to feel back in control. Although our freezer is full we have a lot of multiples. 4 lasagnas, 4 battered fish, 8 beefburgers, 3 beef joints, 2 lots of leftover cooked lamb  and chicken, 2 chicken breasts etc. As there are only 2 of us this has the potential to become very boring. I am hoping to work from stores for as long as I can get away with it so I am going to have to be inventive with what I have. Meal plan this week is :- today-meatballs (made from beef burgers) with rice, sunday - lamb hot pot, Monday, chicken noodles, Tuesday - fish, chips and beans. Wednesday- chicken pies (made with frozen leftovers) with swede, brussel sprouts and roast potatos, Thursday - pizza, weekend - away at DSs for his birthday.

Good start today, DH really liked his meatball meal. He had no idea that they werent his usual. Feeling smug. 😊

thriftwizard

Dashing in to report the weekend's "normal" grocery spend, which came to £55.39. So a little over £50 to spend over the next 10 days - doable, if not easy! Currently sorting out lunch for 9 so not hanging about - will read through later when it's all calmed down a bit...

Crazycatlady2

I'm already over £600 even not adding in the bulk pet food order 😕 oh well I'll shop from home for rest of month as freezer and cupboards are full anyway 

Pennypincin

I've been given some oranges, 2 bags of pears, 2 packs of tomatoes and a small amount of salad stuff for free at church, so am happy.
Plus it will help with the stock indoors.
It's easy done crazycatlady2, to go over budget.
I'm hoping to double down and spend less on food shopping, but it's going to have to be slow and steady little steps.