January 2025 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

carboot_karaoke said:

After catching up with everyone's comments I've realised that the February thread hasn't begun yet.

I've only been using GC for 6 months but I've never known it to start so late. Has anyone heard from @elsiepac recently? I hope she's ok.

I've just looked at her profile and she has not been on the forum since 8th January. We need a grown up to set up February for us. Somewhere there is a post that tells us who all the Board's guides are around the different areas but I can;'t recall offhand where it is. Off to look...

Suffolk_lass

I've messaged MSE JC to see if there is a Board's Ambassador that can set up February and carry forward all the usual bumph

PipneyJane

Suffolk_lass said:

I've messaged MSE JC to see if there is a Board's Ambassador that can set up February and carry forward all the usual bumph

Thanks @Suffolk_lass.  Hope @elsiepac is ok.

-Pip

Black_Saturn

Registering a spend of £158.01, which gives me £385.63/£600 in our January budget. Amazon subscribe and save will bump that up on Friday, but I’m happy with this month’s spends.

patentgirl

Not managed to get on thread this month definitely try harder next month but month gone well I originally said would do £100 till 14th Jan as DH pay goes in on 15th and normally start new month then but decided to run food budget 1st to end of month so far have spent £208.51 had 22 NSDs so hopefully come well under £250 for the month very happy.
Everyone done well especially newbies takes along time to get food bill down took me ages.

JingsMyBucket

Thanks @PipneyJane. We don’t have Wing Yip near us but I’ll look at potential delivery. We’ve been able to get it in Tesco, Lidl, M & S, etc but now it’s totally gone or only in 500g bags. Maybe there’s a shortage. I do remember India was holding back exporting a lot of its basmati last year due to droughts so maybe we’re finally seeing the domino effect of that. 

I have two spends to declare from Sunday. 

£6.70 spent at Iceland for 15 eggs, sliced ham trim, crackers, and a bar of Galaxy for a treat for Mr. Jings.  

£16.65 at M & S for bananas, clementines, a garlic bulb, milk, yoghurt, baked beans, a big slab of cheddar, 2 blocks of butter (I’ll be baking this week), a can of sardines, and a loaf of whole wheat bread. 

I was wondering why the M & S total came to less than I had calculated on my phone. After leaving the store, I realized I had forgotten to put the sardines on the conveyor belt so they were never rung up. Shoot. 

£174.23 / £300.00 spent. £125.77 remaining. 

This is the lowest we’ve spent ever. We’ve been eating down the pantry and the freezer so those will need refilling but this is great. We’ve essentially been doing only top ups of milk, cheese, fruit and yoghurt for the past month. I’m going to schedule a Tesco order for Saturday to take advantage of some deals but that will be in the February GC. That order will have canned tomatoes, beans, frozen vegetables, detergent, paper towels, sausages, a whole chicken, etc to restock our stores. Between now and Friday, I may do a shop for fruit but that’s it really. 

JingsMyBucket

BudgetingBelinda said:

Ohhhnooo.
816/550
why am I so bad at this! 😵😵😵😵

@BudgetingBelinda I find checking into the thread and posting at least once a week to be really helpful for staying on track. Maybe you can try that next month? 

Spendywendywoo

BudgetingBelinda said:

Ohhhnooo.
816/550
why am I so bad at this! 😵😵😵😵

I'm fairly new to this too though I have found this month that the following has helped me to stay on track;

* Visual budget (I use Excel, but it can be written or in a word document also)
* Update budget regularly, itemising what you have bought
* Plan meals for the week if possible, make a list and do one shop a week - stick to the list
* Try not to go to the shop too often (easier said than done)
* If you've run out of something before the next week's shopping or have missed an item off the list, try and work round it rather than go to the shop (or just buy that item from the shop when visiting)
* Sign up to stores reward card (M0rrisons More, Nect@r etc) and check for offers, these savings soon add up (if you were going to buy the product anyway
* Batch cook, or make more than you need and pop some portions into the freezer (if you have space), makes for an easy dinner on busy days
* I've started to make a list of all the meals we like so that meal planning for the week ahead is getting easier
*Make sure your budget goal is achievable, and look at what is included in the budget i.e. I include all food but not alcohol or dog food, there are two adults and one child in our household
* set a goal to save for something that you want or need and think about this every time you shop or plan meals (I want to be MF asap so this is really helping me to stay motivated and reduce my spending

I know what works for me might not work for others but thought it was worth sharing what's been put in place in SWWHQ  Also sharing any questions / ask for advice on the MSE boards will help, and looking at other threads too, I find the following most useful;

Could we start a meal plan thread again, so it's not lost in the GC? - Page 106 — MoneySavingExpert Forum
What are you making for dinner? - Page 1553 — MoneySavingExpert Forum
Reverse Meal Planning - Page 478 — MoneySavingExpert Forum
Shopping & freebies — MoneySavingExpert Forum

The new month starts on Saturday, you've got this,
Wendy x 

Spendywendywoo

Quick update, a couple of small spends for daily items brings the total to £230.52/£250.

That should be all now for Jan, other than maybe a loaf of bread for DS' toast

LotsOfTea

I spent another £20.18 today on fruit, salad veg, ham, tofu and vitamins. I was about to sayi didn't think I needed anything else before the end of the month but I've just remembered I forgot to buy popcorn. I've promised DS a trip to the cinema this weekend and since it's one of the big chains that allows you to bring your own snacks I'm definitely not buying the overpriced stuff there. 

I'm up to £214.48/300