January 2025 Grocery Challenge

Frivolousbutfrugal

I had a small top up shop of £11.58 on Monday and had my Morrisons delivery today which was £54.55 making my total so far £141.07/ £500. It's really eye opening to see how much all the little top up shops add to my total!

cheerfulness4

 Spent £19.09 on my Tesco shop this week for basics that we needed.

75p    Toastie loaf
79p    Cornflakes
1.09   Sugar
79p    SR flour
79p    P flour
2.50   Red lentils 1kg
99p    Apple juice
5.80   4x milk
1.35   Sausage rolls
84p    Toiletries
2.15   Eggs
1.25   80 teabags

The red lentils were incredibly only 50p cheaper to buy the half sized 500g packet than to buy the large 1kg pack.  We use a lot of lentils so this was a bargain for us.

I'm trying to eat the stores out this month and there are plenty to go at so I just might end up continuing my January pantry challenge into February.  The freezer is 75% full and the cupboards are heaving.  

I'm hoping for another 6 NSDs in a row unless the loo roll doesn't hold out or we need some fresh salad but I might make winter coleslaw out of brussel sprouts to deal with that. I really want to keep my purse shut until next Thursday and be inventive as I run out of things, loo roll being the exception! 

zafiro1984

Order coming to day which should take us until half way through the month.

The budget has been tight this month to make us live out of the cupboards and freezers, so the order is mainly fresh food - fruit and veg with a few minor bulk buys of things on offer which I consistently use.

So far £80.83/£150  

Soontobeoap

Just a quick post.I am so excited that I needed to tell people who would understand. Decided on a new strategy to start this year so before Christmas I bought up as much quality meat on half price offers that I could afford in my yearly budget. 

Then the family descended and I lost all track of what I had used, grabbing what I could to cobble a meal together and freezing large amounts of food because plans were constantly changing.

Just done a freezer inventory and nothing has been thrown away or wasted.  4 whole shelves are full of meat, fish etc that will see us through into March I think with just a few supplements.Everything can be broken down into smaller amounts for meals for 2. Some of the beefburgers may need to be made into meatballs or even used as mince for lasagna or shepherds pie as we do have rather a lot. I am now excited to see how inventive I can be with using it all.

cheerfulness4

Soontobeoap said:

Just a quick post.I am so excited that I needed to tell people who would understand. 

Get your excitement completely, Soontobeoap. We have done a similar thing with the meat as it worked out so well for us at the end of last year and at easter time when the joints were on offer.

We're scanning these boards, going back to threads from nearly two decades ago, searching for tips to add to what we already know, (or have forgotten over the years!) and are doing really well with the grocery challenge. I'm really enjoying it so I get how happy you are.  

Its a lovely feeling to be in control of your grocery spending rather than being in despair as it seems to run away with you after the first couple of shops and its fun to keep coming up or discovering from others new ways of using the food that has been sat in the cupboards.

thriftwizard

Oh well done, @Soontobeoap, that's great to have kept on track despite the chaos; wish I was as well-disciplined! 

£101.45 added today, £30-odd of which was part of the monthly non-perishable shop that needed to be done elsewhere than at L!dls - I'll pop down there sometime in the next few days too, but don't actually need very much. More will be spent at the market tomorrow but the menu plan for the week is already sorted. 3 pies and a quiche were made today, using up some festive leftovers that had been frozen after Boxing Day; more needs to be eaten up as the chest freezer's in dire need of defrosting!

carboot_karaoke

Evening all, 

Just filled up the car to the tune of £44.74. 

I've also got a shiny new meal plan up to 31st of January 😊. Hoping to keep the spend low this week. Just focus on things we need for the coming weeks meals.  

New totals  £236.76 / £500

Ps @Soontobeoap l feel your joy 😄

EcoIntent

Now £148.92/£130 😭. A few small spends in Lidl unintended… it’s a long story. 

Goes to show how helpful it is it to track exactly what is happening! I’m still going to try and keep it off next weeks budget which starts on Saturday. 

Food waste as well today ☹️, three shrivelled parsnips, four small shrivelled carrots, and a tiny shrivelled sweet potato. Again tracking to see where we have challenges. 

In brighter news although I felt sorry for the driver with the weather, my flour order from Shipton Mill arrived 🙂.

EcoIntent

I think that is brilliant! That is where I’d like to get to. Using my freezer really well and making smart strategic buys. At the minute one of the reasons my spend is high as we don’t carry a lot of food inventory. I don’t want to carry much fresh food and keep that pared back as that is when we waste it but would like a bit more in the freezer and pantry of things we consistently use. Soontobeoap said:

Just a quick post.I am so excited that I needed to tell people who would understand. Decided on a new strategy to start this year so before Christmas I bought up as much quality meat on half price offers that I could afford in my yearly budget. 

Then the family descended and I lost all track of what I had used, grabbing what I could to cobble a meal together and freezing large amounts of food because plans were constantly changing.

Just done a freezer inventory and nothing has been thrown away or wasted.  4 whole shelves are full of meat, fish etc that will see us through into March I think with just a few supplements.Everything can be broken down into smaller amounts for meals for 2. Some of the beefburgers may need to be made into meatballs or even used as mince for lasagna or shepherds pie as we do have rather a lot. I am now excited to see how inventive I can be with using it all.

goldfinches

Please can I join this thread again, I fell off the wagon last July and have decided to stop procrastinating and get back on this evening. I've just seen my Mr T's clubcard unpacked and been horrified! 

@elsiepac - Please could you put me down for 

£150 for the calendar month, £120 bulk buy fund and £5 per week Baking Budget

That covers all food, household cleaning and basic toiletries for one vegetarian woman. The Bulk Buy fund is for snapping up offers on non-perishables such as coffee, tinned tomatoes etc. The Baking Budget covers baking for a group of friends who meet for a weekly walk and talk.

Just two spends so far this month, £15.37 at Mr T's and £11.15 at M*rks which makes a total spend of £26.52/£150 which isn't as bad as I thought it would be so that's a relief.

Thanks to @elsiepac for the new year's thread.