January 2025 Grocery Challenge

Blackcats

I have decided to have a weekly budget of £80 but record this on a monthly basis.  Shockingly £80/week comes to £4160 a year 🙀
this includes all food for 2 adults, alcohol, household items, cleaning and laundry items, basic toiletries and all the food, litter and treats for HRH The Cat.  We buy meat for 1 meal a week from our fabulous local butcher.

I used our 10% off voucher for Lidls to stock up on cat food, cat litter, toilet paper, kitchen roll, cereals, tea, coffee etc.  I think these will last us the month meaning our next shops will be based on meal plans.

I really hope to have an underspend this month so I can use the money to top up my savings.  I am trying to train myself to understand that the budget is not a target to aim for but a maximum spend to spend less than.  By thinking of it as a weekly allowance I can soon make adjustments if things are going off track.

having said all of this, I spent £87 on my first shop 🤦‍♀️.  Now I know I have £73 for next week but ideally less than £73.

£87/£400
£87/£4160

JANUARY BUDGET IS £400

Soontobeoap

I have bust my budget already. I should have known really.I take my hat off to all of you with family's.we still have the Grandchildren and their Mum staying with us and I really cannot believe how much they eat.i planned the main meals quite carefully but lunches and snacks cost a fortune. 2 of the boys are gluten and dairy free and one of them has a soya allergy too. I made cake before they all came. Granddaughters and Mum and Dad have been staying too. 12 of us for 5 days 7 for a couple. We are down to 6 now. So lovely to have them all with us but it will be good to get back into a routine too.
Anyway have spent another £148.10 between Sainsburys and Aldi with different people popping out for this and that. Also had top ups paid for by Mums and Dad's. 

Made a lemon meringue pie this afternoon
It was difficult whilst behaviour management was my main role! I just hope the lemon custard was thick enough. Hoping it will save a bit of money and can be enjoyed with a cup of coffee for elevenses tomorrow morning. 
I am travelling to mainland with them tomorrow to go to a pantomime. The boys are very excited about watching Diversity.  

Back home the next day when I can sort out all of the stuff that I have been putting into freezer because plans have changed or we have had left overs.

Mrs_Cheshire

Had a couple of shops and a takeaway (unplanned) to account for as well as some spends before New Year but eaten afterwards so included in Jan's budget. I need to stay away from the online shopping orders. Keep finding good vouchers like £15 off when you spend £60 and £10 off when you spend £40. I do need washing powder/liquid so the voucher will come in useful. 
Currently at £217.66/£400. This means I've got £60.78 each week for the next 3 weeks. I've got a bulging freezer, fridge and store cupboard plus loads of treats/snacks so should be easily doable. 

JingsMyBucket

Morning y’all. I’m a bit annoyed with myself because I spent more than intended on Friday when shopping in Lidl. That said, what I bought was regular stuff but I just forgot to add it to the list if you see what I mean. 

£17.38 at Lidl for vine tomatoes, sliced mozzarella, sliced ham, a bag of avocados, arugula, fruit oatcakes, a big tub of olives, and a 1kg tub of Whole Earth peanut butter that was only £4.99. 

Lidl is having its XXL sale for the next two weeks. I only went in for the PB and olives and came out with the rest. But as you can see, the other items were our usual buys as well. 

£21.05 at M & S for clementines, mushrooms, eggs, 2 packs of sausages (£6.50), 2 blocks butter, and 2 big pots of Greek yoghurt. 

The butter has increased to £2 a block from £1.79 but I’ve checked Tesco and Morrison and they’ve also increased to £2 for their store brand butter. So it seems to be industry-wide. I’ll use some of the yoghurt to make a lemon poppyseed cake for the cake tin this week. 

M & S were completely out of bananas and I don’t tend to buy bananas at Lidl because it’s a long way to haul them back. 😂 I’ll likely get some tomorrow, if anything to usher along those ripen at home avocados in a paper bag. 

£54.33 / £300.00 spent. £245.67 remaining. 

£5.67 to last me through January 7th as I’m allocating £60/week. £30 of bulk funds left

wishus

Thanks for the thread @elsiepac, and apologies for dropping off. I got logged out and logging back in was a hassle., then I forgot about it, so I have only just sorted it out. 

I'd like to join in please with a very slim £149 for the month.

I've already spent £42.35 of that. But we still have loads of Christmas food.

Manny the cat has had to forsake his very expensive Doubly Delicious, but he says he likes Whiskas if I mix the flavours. Or at least he said nom nom nom in cat.

Meal plan:

Today - hubby is cooking aubergines stuffed with lamb from the Persian cookbook. 

Breakfasts in the week:
Porridge for me, fruit and fibre for him - got to buy oat milk.

lunches in the week:
Chicken salad sandwiches, or cheese salad wraps. Will cook a chicken breast later for that. Carrot sticks, hummus, dates/pistachios.

Dinners:

1. Chicken fajitas
2. Chicken and mushroom tikka masala
3. Cheese and broccoli pasta
4. Sea bream, potatoes, peas
5. Mushroom risotto, or dirty fries.

And we'll revisit at the weekend. I need to freeze the sprouts I bought as hubby won't voluntarily eat them (I love them), and maybe make a nice slaw for the sandwiches from the cabbage we have left.

JingsMyBucket

wishus said:

Manny the cat has had to forsake his very expensive Doubly Delicious, but he says he likes Whiskas if I mix the flavours. Or at least he said nom nom nom in cat.

Adorable! 🐈

ancientmum

Wishus my cats were partial to Felix fishy flavours, tolerated lamb and beef but flatly refused the chicken!  My dogs, on the other hand, ate everything offered including human and cat food (they also thought it tasted better when stolen).
A further spend added:  £3 in the market on apples and tangerines, and £3.25 for Triple A batteries for my Firestick remote.  The account that I use for groceries rounds up to the nearest pound and moves the change into a linked savings account so I'm rounding everything up in the total.

Mags x

Thistimenxtyear

Good afternoon! 

Few shops to report:
Yesterday £13.30 in Morries - had to nip in for something, decided to grab a small quiche for lunch on the run and bought my mum some flowers for £6 - my ran is having radiotherapy at the minute and while me and my uncles are taking turns on the driving, mum is having to go on most of the appointments, plus cooking for gran to keep her healthy and all her shopping. I decided she needed to feel the love, hence the flowers. 

Due to snow and dodgy looking roads I walked it to sainsb - its only just over a mile but I'm usually lazy and buy too much to carry, so it actually helped my budget and my fat butt today 😅 
£17.37 on spuds, sprouts, carrots, Swede, chicken, stuffing, eggs for a roast and 3 for 2 on veggie freezer stuff for me (so bored of quorn roasts)

Already got food in for Monday and Tuesday. Need to meal plan for the rest of the week so I can shop plan. 

£62.25/£375 so far. £312.75 remaining

I have been thinking about the things I've not counted I my budget - basically anything on subscription - milkman, dog food, loo roll, eco friendly toiletries. I might be brave in February and count all these, too. 

K9sandFelines

Hi all, Happy New Year

Sorry I went AWOL from here at the end of the year. I just found it hard to keep track. I'm going to try and be more consistent going forward.

Same budget as before

£150 a month for food, cleaning and toiletries from the 13th to the 12th of every month.

So my month starts in eight days.
Unfortunately, I've tried to do the first to the end of the month, but it doesn't work for me.

Thanks @elsiepac as always ✌🏻

Quantaqa

Thanks for the info re Lidl XXL offers @JingsMyBucket. I like to stock up on a few bits when they do this. Got a bag of the xxl frozen rasps, would have got two but only one left.  Will try again before the offer is up to get another bag.

I'm not sure if this is across all stores but our local Lidl has a 6 pack of Naploina chopped tomatoes on at £1.69 today. Great price. Use by dates into 2026.  We bought 2 six packs for the pantry.