May 2024 Grocery Challenge

debtfreewannabe321

Hi all, we have had our final shop for the month, month ends on the 24th.
We are at : 

£569.34 / 500

Didn't manage to bring it on budget again. I have been over my receipts this morning and there really isn't a lot of extravagance in there.
I am thinking of-
1- taking the toiletries/ cleaning products back out of the budget and budgeting separately for that. So I can easily work out how much is spent on food going forwards.
2- having a month of easy cheap meals with not much choice or variation just to catch back up with myself and restock the pantry without overspending.
3- staying away from the shops for top ups, we went 4 times this month.
4- last resort upping the budget. 

We want to move soon so I really don't want to be upping the budget right now for affordability purposes so I can foresee a lot of Jacket Potatoes, HM pizza and curries in our future  
569.34/ 4 is £142.34 a week so it isn't too bad but I am going to keep trying to get it back under or as close to £500 as I can going forwards. 

Finstickle

Suggestion, don't go food shopping after 2.5 hours at a kid's birthday party - you will be bored and hungry!!
£52.71 in Tesco yesterday for 3 bags of shopping!!!!
I couldn't face driving anywhere cheaper and although the list was very short when I went in the sunshine and DD convinced me I needed wine for me, beer for DH and ice-creams for DD.

2 small top-ups this week of £16.41 and £1.20 combined with a gin & rum purchase of £31.  We've not really been drinking so not sure why it's hit hard this week but has definitely had an impact on the budget.  I'm still under though and as we go to a festival on Thursday we are eating all the perishables we have between now and then.  Booze and snacks for the festival will probably take the rest of the budget for the month but still looking to come in on target at the moment.

£249/£400

PipneyJane

Soontobeoap said:

@pipneyjane I really hope that the chemo has done its job and you feel better soon.

Thank you so much for mentioning oral thrush. I looked in hubbys mouth and he has a yellow scaley tongue. Just had a GP call back and after decsribing inside of his mouth she is going to give him something for it alongside trying to adjust his pain relief. 🎉🎉🎉. I wouldnt have even thought about it without you. You are a star. 

Glad I could help, @Soontobeoap.  

The chemo’s gone well, although I’m completely knackered by it.  This cycle is my last and then I’ll be officially in remission.  I was so knackered that I couldn’t face cooking dinner tonight, so sent DH out to L!dl for a pie and box of their panfried potatoes.  £3.68 spent.

The above brings our total spend to £141.41/£160 leaving £18.59 for the rest of the month.

- Pip

Pennypincin

At least £5 left from last week put into the bulk fund.
Plus £1 spent in Tesco on 2 cartons of soya milk today.

goldfinches

I had a word with myself this morning and decided to make a list to get me to Friday or even further when I will then top-up once more before the end of the month. So I duly trotted up to M*rks and spent £10.35 on gherkins, white cabbage, more milk to avoid needing it again before Friday, cottage cheese, white vinegar, yoghurt and a pineapple. 
That makes my new total £120.04/£150 and my average daily spend is now £6.002  !  If I can get as far as Friday without spending any more money then that will come down to £5.001, which would be much more respectable, so now I'm really motivated.

Angelica123

I have used up £220/£250 budget. I managed to spend £50 at Lidl last week with not. much to show for it which is annoying. I also bought an Oddbox - not sure it is particularly good value for money. I started using it years ago - these days I skip most weeks. 

Suffolk_lass

I've had what appears in my spreadsheet, to be a really extravagant month. It includes £220.30 stores spending but that includes the half lamb, multiple meat offers and three packs of bin bags and water filters for the next six months. Actual groceries (as in, fresh or for immediate use like yogurts, butter and cheese) £80.16 thanks to the one and only supermarket visit and £30 milk bill (the milkman keeps me out of the shops where I can resist everything except temptation, as my Grandma used to say!)

So my running total is 42.27% (against an annual average target of 41.67% after five months).  That's £1267.98 so far this year, out of my annual £3000 budget.

Most stores are replenished and I see no need to shop again this month.

Suffolk_lass

navelorange1 said:

Suffolk_lass said:

(the milkman keeps me out of the shops where I can resist everything except temptation, as my Grandma used to say!)

Did you know that’s an Oscar Wilde quote? It makes me smile every time I read it!

I did, my Grandma used to end it saying "as Oscar used to say!"

thriftwizard

Hmmm - been MIA this weekend as DD2 & I went to DS1 & DDiL's to help them sort out their fairly massive garden after about 8 months of solid rain; if it had rained we'd have been painting the kitchen, but the weather was fabulous. I managed to do the grocery shop before leaving and spent £57.60 between the supermarket and market, plus a little top-up at the greengrocers this morning. This should have been plenty of food for OH over the weekend plus DD2 & I for the week, including one night with DD1 here too. BUT OH ran riot in the supermarket yesterday & spent £42.73, buying food to do a "welcome home" feast for us, bless him!

Unfortunately most of it is stuff I really shouldn't eat, i.e. UPFs, which have a terrible effect on my digestion, though he sees them as little "affordable" luxuries... I'm still mulling over whether to include it; I know I should, the money's spent, it is (technically, at least) edible, and he meant well. But I'm more inclined to stick it under the "unexpected family expenses" heading TBH, rightly or wrongly. Also - off-topic & probably TMI, but how can I get it across to him that these "treats" actually leave me clogged up & in fairly acute discomfort for days afterwards? He thinks it's all mumbo-jumbo; I know he's not alone, and that dietary advice really has swung this way and back that way for decades, but I do know what works for me and what doesn't!

PipneyJane

thriftwizard said:

Hmmm - been MIA this weekend as DD2 & I went to DS1 & DDiL's to help them sort out their fairly massive garden after about 8 months of solid rain; if it had rained we'd have been painting the kitchen, but the weather was fabulous. I managed to do the grocery shop before leaving and spent £57.60 between the supermarket and market, plus a little top-up at the greengrocers this morning. This should have been plenty of food for OH over the weekend plus DD2 & I for the week, including one night with DD1 here too. BUT OH ran riot in the supermarket yesterday & spent £42.73, buying food to do a "welcome home" feast for us, bless him!

Unfortunately most of it is stuff I really shouldn't eat, i.e. UPFs, which have a terrible effect on my digestion, though he sees them as little "affordable" luxuries... I'm still mulling over whether to include it; I know I should, the money's spent, it is (technically, at least) edible, and he meant well. But I'm more inclined to stick it under the "unexpected family expenses" heading TBH, rightly or wrongly. Also - off-topic & probably TMI, but how can I get it across to him that these "treats" actually leave me clogged up & in fairly acute discomfort for days afterwards? He thinks it's all mumbo-jumbo; I know he's not alone, and that dietary advice really has swung this way and back that way for decades, but I do know what works for me and what doesn't!

How about an open and honest “Please don’t buy XXX.  It’s not a treat for me; it gives me a stomach ache”?  Then, next time you have to eat it, play up the pain the next day, e.g. “Darling, please can you do YY?  I’m in too much pain right now.”?  Don’t go into details, just highlight the pain.

HTH, @thriftwizard.  And hope you feel better soon.

- Pip (Yes, I did work in sales & marketing.  How did you guess?)