May 2024 Grocery Challenge

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.

navelorange1

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!

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?)

PipneyJane

I have a small shop from this morning to declare:  £1.21 spent in L!dl on a 220g lump of root ginger.  DH also picked up a hand of bananas, which we’d won on their latest promotion.

The above brings our total shop to £142.62/£160 leaving £17.38 for the remainder of the month.

I used some of the ginger in the Dhal that I made for lunch.  The rest has been chopped, spooned into an ice cube mould and frozen.  As well as lunch, it made 18 ice cubes, which I’ll turn out and store in a container once frozen.  Much cheaper and easier to use than Lazy Ginger.  Each ginger cube is approximately a tablespoon of chopped ginger.

- Pip

Mrs_Cheshire

Just checked my balance - it's not as bad as I thought as I'd added a £92.04 transaction twice. Still over budget but not quite as bad as originally thought. 
£531.37/£450

navelorange1

I spent £2.44 so far today on red lentils, mushrooms and carrots. Just need to get some milk from W8trose with my voucher. I made a loaf of soda bread today for breakfast until the end of the month. I’m having leftover fish pie with veg for dinner today and tomorrow (it’s delicious!) and tomorrow will be making a red lentil bolognese with macaroni and pecorino for lunch. Also planned is a low flour/flour free banana and egg chocolate cake for the weekend

Daywon

Hi all, Budget blown last week.  Spent £151 on restocking for coming month so I can get back to the usual 

 £5/week.