April 2024 Grocery Challenge

Soontobeoap

@debtfreewannabe321 i feel your pain. We are not even in April yet and I have nearly spent the months budget. I will update after Tesco delivery has been and Aldi shop has been done. As I have already mentioned 10 extras for a week has had a huge inpact. I have been careful. No extra sweets as I had already bought everyone an easter egg. All of the food I have ordered can be frozen and eaten by DH and I at a later date if plans change and my meals arnt required. DS is bringing everything to cook roast lamb for Easter day. I have finally convinced DH that we cant afford to keep paying for everyone in restsurants so have really tried to cover all bases to avoid eating out to much. He does it to give me a break but they all muck in and to be honest cooking together makes lovely memories.

I am pretty sure that I have under estimated budget but know that we will save money overall and that's the main thing.

PipneyJane

Afternoon All

It’s payday and I already have two April GC spends to declare, even though the month wouldn’t normally start for us until the 1st.  (Not this month; we ran out of March GC money so started April early.). £5.96 spent in Sainsbugs on Tuesday and £3.28 spent in L!dl this morning.

The Sainsbugs shop included a packet of YS wholemeal wraps (49p), YS New York plain bagels (49p), 300ml crème fraiche (at 89p that’s a 10p price drop from earlier this year), loose broccoli (490g for £1.07), peppers (£1.54), 300g mushrooms for 89p (plus a loose one for 4p in order to get bonus Nectar points.), and loose carrots (846g for 55p).  The Sainsbugs’ mushrooms now come in cardboard trays, which is an environmental plus (more likely to be recycled than plastic), but I have to still have to set them out on the counter, individually, to dry off condensation before putting them in the fridge.  

The L!dl shop was 450ml plain fat-free yoghurt (35p - another price drop), frozen peas (99p), 1kg onions (99p), and a 4-pack garlic (95p).  We definitely needed the onions and garlic for the weekend, but the other two items could probably have waited.

The above brings our April GC Spend to £9.24/£140 leaving £130.76 for the rest of the month.

Meal plans for the next few days:

Today. Lunch = leftover mung bean curry; Dinner = Bacon Carbonara (not the real thing.  This is made using the last of the cooking bacon and a tub of cream cheese.)
Friday. Breakfast = cereal.  Lunch = leftover Bacon Carbonara. Dinner = baked potato with leftover Pippi-An (A chicken, peanut and salt pork stew from the Phillipines.)
Satuday.  Breakfast = cereal.  Lunch = leftovers.  Dinner = HM refried beans served with melted cheese in wraps
Sunday.  Breakfast = hot cross buns.  Late lunch = roast lamb served with baked potatoes, baked onions, baked garlic and baked sweet potatoes.

I’ll plan the rest of next week’s meals once I have an idea how much lamb is left over.  (DH is out collecting the joint now.)  We asked the butcher to get us the largest leg of lamb possible and, if very big, will get him to cut it in two, so that we have two roasts plus leftovers from it. The Meat Fund will pay for that, not the Grocery Challenge.  (Last year’s leg of lamb weighed 2.86kg and cost £48.75.)

- Pip

BirchMum

Hi I'm new to this so I hope I do it right.

My budget for the month is 

£400

We are a family of 3. Two adults and our son who will turn 13 in August. The spending has been out of control for a little while to be honest. Lots of picking up things whilst we're out on top of a weekly food shop. Not much in the way of takeaways which is something at least. I've got a food shop coming tomorrow that will take us into the first week of April. I get it from tesco and this week it's 

£60.88 which leaves £339.12

for the rest of the month.

Today we are having hunters chicken with chips & corn on the cob. I'm having our son attempt it but he may end up with his old faithful ham and pasta. He's disabled and struggles with food at times.

My husband works 12.5 hour shifts in the NHS and despite having staff discount the canteen in so expensive so he takes food from home. Usually bagels, fruit, chocolate etc. It's currently the Easter holidays where we are in Wales but my son has packed lunches for school. We just need to be more mindful of what we're eating and keep an eye on expiry dates.

BirchMum

I see that people post their meal plans. This is ours for the week, it may be helpful to someone.

- Hunters chicken, chips & corn on the cob
- cottage pie
- spaghetti bolognese & garlic bread 
- chicken dinner
- chicken enchiladas, Mexican rice & sour cream
- flavoured pork loin steaks, baby potatoes & veg
- soup & bread 

CRANKY40

I haven't started shopping for April yet but I just thought I'd call in and send @elsiepac another hug. 

Soontobeoap

Welcome @BirchMum. There is no right or wrong way. It is just a way to make yourself more acciuntable and maybe help a few others along the way.

Having said that I have grossly underestimated for April. Tesco online order today came to £94 and then an Aldi sgop for tge fresh bits was £40.00. So thats another £134 to add to my total! And the masses have not even arrived yet!

Sending hugs @elsiepac. 

lovemula21

 Thanks for your comments and suggestions @PipneyJane, @weenancyinAmerica, @joedenise and @LotsOfTea I really appreciate it. 

😀

PipneyJane

Welcome @BirchMum.  Hope we can help you gain control over your budget.  It’s worth browsing the money-saving threads listed at the start of the Challenge - some of the hints and tips are very useful.  

I have another spend to declare from Thursday:  £1.74 in MrT’s, which consisted of 6 hot cross buns (99p) and 500g of dried lasagne sheets (75p).  DH popped into MrT’s on his way back from the Butcher’s, where he bought a large leg of free-range lamb (2.7kg), that the butcher kindly cut into two pieces.  Thankfully, the Meat Fund* had built up a considerable surplus, because this leg of lamb cost us £71.29 - over £22 more than last year’s Easter lamb, which was fractionally larger! 

This brings our total April GC Spend to £10.98/£140, leaving £129.02 for the rest of the month.

- Pip



* We contribute £40/month to the Meat Fund. It’s used for purchases from a butcher shop or fishmonger’s.  Any meat purchased in a supermarket, gets paid for from the Grocery Challenge budget.  

thriftwizard

I'm a bit behindhand here, thanks to more motor vehicle shenanigans (spent Thursday being carted around in a recovery truck from one flooded road to another, "new" vehicle on the back on its way back to the garage again, instead of picking up the other "new" car and doing the weekend's food shopping!) so will post my total weekend spend when I've had a chance to work it out! I know I spent £35 at the market but a LOT more at the supermarket, having missed getting to the butchers, and we have DS3, DD1 & BF here this weekend so a few extras did find their way into my trolley. But I did end up getting two huge joints of meat on special offer, one of which is in the freezer for another time. 

Picked the first rhubarb of the year this afternoon, too! And some tree cabbage & kale, and some leeks; the Girls are laying well too - every little helps!

AnotherNewDay

First food spend for April - £30.34 - but this did include £19.13 in YS organic chicken breast x 6, 1 kilo diced chicken, 1 kilo chicken drumsticks and 1 leg lamb. The diced chicken has already been turned into chicken curry with 4/6 portions frozen. The chicken breast have been frozen for future and the lamb and chicken drumsticks will be cooked tomorrow as part of Easter lunch - what isn't eaten will be portioned off and frozen for later.