April 2025 Grocery Challenge

Soontobeoap

@livesimply I tend to shop at Sainsbury's once a month for the branded items we stil use and check for meat offers whilst I am there. The rest of the time we shop at Aldi. ( No Lidl near us). Always so chuffed at the much smaller bill there. The reason my shopping has been so much higher this year is that Grandchildren and DD have stayed with us for every school holiday whilst their house is undergoing major alterations. 2 of them have allergies so I have been buying gluten, Dairy and Soya free food for those weeks. It makes the bill shoot up.we usually spend between £200 and £250 per month for the 2 of us which covers all meat, grocery's, self care and cleaning products. Hope this helps.

 Our biggest downfall I have discovered is DHs sweet tooth. Thanks to all of the people who have sent ideas and recipes to help make this cheaper. He really needs to cut down. ( My latest psychology is to refuse everything that he offers me after he has been to the shops for his latest fix.) He used to buy me treats whilst he was there too and also buy extra so that I could have some,  but I have asked him to stop as I need to lose weight. We will see how it goes.

SausageDogSandwich

Morning all, I upto £88.46/400. That’s the main shop delivered last Thursday and bottle of wine. Will need milk but other than that I am trying not to buy anything else until Sunday 

wannalot

LiveSimply said:

I am determined to get the best out of this website (this time). 

So, is Sainsbury’s a good place to shop? I shop there mainly because the two nearest supermarkets are Sainsbury’s, they are on main roads, both got petrol, I collect points, and I’m familiar with the layout and labels, so it’s quicker for me to find stuff there than a Tesco (for example). I collect points but never use them for anything, I just swap them for money off the bill. Does that sound okay? Am I missing a trick, or not?

I’ve only recently started using Sainsburys, and I find it pretty good quality produce, but (like all supermarkets) you need to keep an eye on their prices! Some things are great bargains, but others can definitely be found for cheaper elsewhere!

Money_Choices

Hi all
My target for April’s grocery challenge is £120.
On 2nd April I spent £54.28 at morrisos so that leaves £65.72 the rest of the month.

Money Choices

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon Everyone,  

This sunny weather is great, but I'm sure I've spent more because of it !! 

I had a very "spendy weekend" £106.75 across 3 different shops/trips. Including lots of fruit and veg....why is it so expensive !! Plus some Y/S meat and some things for our eldest to takeaway on holiday.  

New totals £188.66 / £470.  Hoping for no more spends until Friday. 

Welcome @LiveSimply this is a very helpful and friendly community ☺️.  I don't have a Sainsbury's near me so couldn't really comment on value etc. In my experience it's less about where l shop and more about being organised and sticking to a list!!. 
This month should be a good indication of what your spending and what on. We all have our weaknesses, takeaways,  too many trips to the supermarket etc.  Then get a plan together to tackle the overspend.  

Pennypincin

£5.32 left from last week's budget.
£40 transferred over for this weeks budget.
Just over £29 in bulk fund, which is going to be used to refill the fridge freezer.
I've finally managed to declutter the contents of the freezer, defrost the freezer plus clean the fridge freezer.
I'm aiming build up the bulk fund again as I decided to use the previous money for something else.
Hopefully I will have enough to be able to do a sensible bulk shop and buy what I need/use rather than go mad like I have done.
I'm really hoping that the cost of everything doesn't keep going up like it does as I've noticed the prices have jumped up by silly amounts.

AnotherNewDay

JingsMyBucket said:

@AnotherNewDay true but there would normally be sales the two weeks prior. 

@JingsMyBucket i've just seen that from 15 April, Lidl have 15p veggies - spring onions, parsnips, carrots, swede, potatoes, green beans. From 14 April they will have their meat offers - £5.65 per kg for beef roasting joint, £4.49 per kilo for gammon, £8.99 per kilo for deluxe gammon , £6.15 per kilo for Birchwood leg of lamb, side of Salmon £9.65

LotsOfTea

I had to buy some more milk today as we've been using lots more with visitors staying so another £1.35 spent. I will have to buy an Easter egg for DS this week as the one I'd bought was subject to a recall and couldn't be eaten so I'll get a refund for that. I've adjusted my total for that even though I've not had the money returned yet.

£237.50/£400

goldfinches

Evening all!

Isn't the weather lovely, but out of the sun it's still quite chilly here so my menu planning has gone a bit haywire.

I spent £14.45 over two trips to M*rks, mostly on salad bits, milk and so on.
Then, as one of the regulars won't be coming this Wednesday or next, I rejigged my baking plans which meant a rather expensive trip to Mr T's and M*rks where I spent £15.45. That means I've gone over budget this month but hopefully next month will be cheaper as I've stashed away the ingredients I already had in stock to use then.

That makes my main GC total £35.60/£150 and my Baking Budget total £31.90/£25. 

Mrs_Cheshire

I'm currently up to £251.27/£600.
I need to do a freezer inventory so I can base my meal plan around it. Should have time whilst the kids are at an activity this afternoon. I know I've got 4 whole chickens in there as I bought them when Sainsbug's had an offer the other weekend. They were half price. I need to train DH to slow cook them, take all the meat off and only use the breast for the first meal and save the leg meat for a 2nd. He always serves up the whole chicken between 5 and there's only scraps left and the portion of meat I don't eat (which if it's been covered in gravy can't be reused for a curry).

Our store cupboards and snacks are well stocked so shouldn't need to buy anything other than fruit/veg, diary and a little meat/fish to get us through the rest of the month.