April 2024 Grocery Challenge

Pennypincin

Hello everyone.
I'm really struggling to keep to the food budget, even with an increase and have spent just under £24 on bits and bobs including frozen jacket potatoes, 2 packs of frozen raspberries, some fruit and salad.
I've plenty of potatoes in the cupboard, carrots, parsnips, swede and bits in the freezer and cupboards for the time being.
I may need some salad later in the week, but I'm planning to use up the veg I've got first.

PipneyJane

Thanks for the suggestions @C_J and @joedenise.  I’ve saved the recipes down because they look delicious.

In the end, I’ve decided to do a variation on a warm French Lentil Salad, using a HM vinaigrette made with lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil, spring onions, sliced red peppers (for crunch), chunks of the lamb and some green olives from the fridge.

- Pip

debtfreewannabe321

Omg I don't know what's happening this month but we have three (maybe two if I can eek the last week out) more food shops left in this month and I'm already at 400.54/500 😦
I also didn't plan for Easter holidays...kids haven't stopped eating 😭 I made homemade snacks for three days and they scoffed the bleeding lot in one night after DP and I had gone to bed. I've only just noticed when I went in the fridge to put the shopping away. They left the empty Tupperware in there with the lid on so I thought it was still full! Sigh...I think April will be more about containing overspends and damage limitations 🤣

joedenise

When making snacks for the kids can you make things that can be frozen and then just get out some each night ready for the following day?

Something like a biscuit dough is a good option.  Just make it into a roll and then slice off pieces to cook as and when needed or something like flapjacks which you can freeze ready made.

BirchMum

Afternoon all.

I have snoop and it's calculated what we spent in March. I don't know how we managed it but we spent £904 in supermarkets. There's only 3 of us.

I guess any saving this month will be an achievement 

lovemula21

Hi 👋 everyone, 
I don’t have much to report so this is a quick update. I did my first shop of the month yesterday. It was £99.48. Then a trip to co op for oil added £7.50. So £106.98 spent so far.

£106.98/£600

ancientmum

I went to Aldi today and spent £29.42 on a mixture of groceries for this week and some flour, oats and sugar to go in the store cupboard.  There were a few things which were reduced: sourdough, rocket salad and hot cross buns, so with what's in the freezer and eggs from the market on Thursday, I am well stocked up.

Soontobeoap

@debtfreewannabe and @BirchMum, I am with you. Completely lost the plot and really need to reign it in.

Dh has got shingles and is not eating a thing. Meanwbile the family have been to stay so I spent loads of money on food for them. I have nearly spent up on Aprils budget already. However as plans changed around circumstances I have been left with so much food! Our plan worked to eat at home and not eat out so that has saved us money but my oven decided it was time to quit. Ots only 5 years old so can hopefullybe fixed.

I will go over this month but have so much food in that I am hoping to be able to even it out a bit May.

keggie

First shop of the month - just a small Lidl one to get us to Friday when we go away for the weekend. Reasonably healthy too - ingredients for salmon stir fry and broccoli, chorizo, feta and quinoa stir fry too. Thursday may be a pizza or home made veggie curry from the freezer. Trying for no more spends til the airport!

£14.66/£250

thriftwizard

I suspect I'll also go over but I'm intending to try to stick to the target; where I'll come unstuck is if DS1 & DDiL do come down for a few days, as they've said they may. Or may not! They're decorating their house so may stay put to finish the job - or may really, really need a break! 

Just added £9.99 on a quick supermarket top-up today - bread, milk, apples & bananas (DD1 here tonight, will need these for her lunchbox tomorrow, and OH will eat the rest anyway) & mushrooms. I need to try to do the non-perishables shop tomorrow as we're close to running out of one or two staple items, but we're back with transport problems again - sigh. (One car back to the garage, the other advised to "stay local" until the main dealers have assessed it.) So may have to put it off for a few more days.

@Sallyp2, Asturian Tree Cabbages are a delight! Easy to grow & rather delicious, mild enough to eat in a salad & great in a stir-fry. Also - mildly perennial! Ordinary cabbages just turn to slime in our shady heavy clay at allotment 1 (we currently have 2 though we'll be giving plot 1 up eventually; plot 2 is smaller but much closer) but the tree cabbages are thriving.