May 2024 Grocery Challenge

thriftwizard

Ooof! A slightly eye-watering £105.83 spent over the last couple of days, between the butcher, the supermarket & the market this morning. A fair chunk of that was something I only need to buy about once a year (balsamic vinegar) if that, but it does make a difference to a number of things I regularly cook. Also I re-stocked frozen veg, as we're well into the Hungry Gap now, although allotment no. 1 is still producing leaves & leeks & my new potatoes have come up. (Allotment no. 2 is mostly producing flint! But I'm slowly getting a few things into the ground, and the little greenhouse is worth the rent on its own.) Stores are reasonably high in general.

So that leaves me £293.59 for the rest of the month; £73-ish per week for the 3 of us, plus DD1 for the odd overnight stay. Should be do-able...

Mrs_Cheshire

So far hubby spent £92.04 in Mr T's - no idea how he spent that much ( it includes a bunch of lilies and some chocolates for our anniversary). I spent £27 on cake/cookies for our son's birthday at Cos!co which I'm including in the grocery budget. I've got some vouchers for Mr M to use so will shop there for a next few shops as I can watch the spends easily online

PipneyJane

PipneyJane said:

Good morning All

Firstly, a warning: if you have built up a balance of Nectar points, try to spend some to see if there is a problem with your account.  Yesterday afternoon after collecting his car from being serviced, DH went to the big Sainsbugs nearby.  We’d decided to spend some of our points by buying a couple of tray tables.  The checkout would not allow him to pay with Nectar points.  He talked to Customer Services and to Nectar.  “Sorry but there was suspicious activity on your account in November and payments have been blocked!”

No attempt to tell us there was an issue. No letter.  No email. Nothing in the App.  (Although I have a vague memory of having to log back into the damn thing, late last year.).  Not even a printout on a receipt.  Silence.  We’ve accumulated several Pounds worth of points since then.  

The solution given is to get a new Nectar card, activate it by purchasing something for more than £1, wait 24 hours for the card to activate in their system and then register it on his account.  At that point, he can request our points balance to be transferred over.  Talk about clunky!

…

- Pip

Well… That was a COMPLETELY ERRONEOUS advice.  DH has just been onto Nectar, to set up this transfer and was told that his old account is unlocked and that he doesn’t need to do the transfer.  He was obviously talking to a complete muppet when he phoned them on Thursday.

If you have to talk to Nectar, use the chat facility on their website.  You get a sensible human not an AI.  

- Pip



ETA:  DH went back to Sainsbugs and successfully spend some Nectar points to buy those tray tables.

keggie

First shopping day of the month. Will make enough for portions to go in the freezer.

£40.99/£250

otb666

300/550  as i go from 23rd to 23rd should be doable.  

Pennypincin

£10.50 spent in Lidl yesterday on fresh stuff plus a few other bits.
I've a bulk delivery later today, £102.38 on heavy cupboard staples.

Keedie

Can you put me down for £300 this month please @elsiepac.

That's for me and my son who's 17 and eats a fair bit, and includes household items like cleaning products, laundry stuff and other household staples like foil, cling film etc and any take aways. I've been over budget all year, but I'm determined to get on top of this month.

Off to Lidl in a few minutes and will see what the damage is 😬.

Crazycatlady2

Spent £126 so far. I need to buy less junk food and try to eat more healthy 

Pennypincin

£2.12 spent in Morrisons on salad I forgot to pick up yesterday.
I was hoping to treat myself to some reduced fruit, but just missed out as there was nothing much there.
Other than a pineapple lolly and a swede reduced.
I swear that there is a couple of people who are vultures and grab everything, leaving little for anyone else.
I spotted one of said vultures eyeing up my basket with the reduced bargains in it last week and thought it strange.
(Not that I mean to be mean or rude, it just annoys/frustrates me how greedy some people can be).

Frugalistamama

Went to Li*l for a few top up bits and came out £30.75 lighter. Humph. But did get a couple of jars of quality Geek proper honey so I won't need that now for at least the rest of the month. 

£87.30/£400