May 2025 Grocery Challenge

sams247

Oh I am waaaay outta date and no idea how the budget has gone, except I do know I have kept within my bank account borders so....   Been on holidays, budgeted and managed to pretty much stay on target but had a non computer few days to desensitise from screen time so did not keep up with stuff.  It was great

Soontobeoap

Bought some bits in Aldi yesterday ready for GSs coming at weekend only to discover that they weren't coming as DDs weekend course had been cancelled. £26.00 spent but we do have enough cereal, fruit and veg to last us 2 months.! 🤣

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon all,

I went to Tesco's today spent more than l planned... don't l always.

£26.95 was on non food items like, vitamins, toilet roll, cream, hand cream. I couldn't get over the cost of condiments nearly £6 for bbq, brown, chilli sauce and mayo. Total spent £102.30

New totals £306.68 / £470

goldfinches

 I've managed to bust my budget in one disastrous visit to the big Sains on the ring road, I could kick myself. I stupidly avoided a small delivery fee by sending a parcel to click and collect at Argos in the Sains branch and, of course, while I was there I was tempted and fell spectacularly.

My name is goldfinches and food shopping in new to me shops is my downfall, I'd be wearing sackcloth and ashes if I didn't have to go and buy them first! 

So here is the tally of shame. First I spent £4.20 in Mr T's on 2 x clothes pegs and then £1.85 in Mr T's on zip top freezer bags.
Then I spent £21.70 in Waitflower on decaf instant coffee, a jar of bold beans, milk, butter, quark, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, 2x radishes, red chicory and ys bread. I was feeling quite virtuous at this stage because I had managed to resist so much temptation in Waitflower.
Little did I know that this morning at Sains I would spend a horrendous £66.96 on 2x gas cylinders, onions, 4x tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, ys biscuit cutters, 2x mushrooms, celery, lemons, ground cinnamon, strawberries, moisturiser, pasta, body cream, parsley and a new soft handled santoku knife.

That makes my new GC total a budget busting £184.31/£150!  Ouch and grrrr! 

So that means that it's strictly food from stores wherever possible from now until the end of this month.

On a lighter note I made these Chocolate Fudge Crinkle Biscuits this week and they were a great success, with everyone having more than one each and some people going so far as four. I got 58 individual biscuits out of the mixture and then sandwiched them together with some leftover frosting from the lemon ones I made a fortnight ago which thawed out very nicely.



I'm definitely going to repeat these and will be looking out for a different flavoured icing to sandwich them together with, coffee or caramel would be nice I think or perhaps a fruit flavour like lime or cranberry to contrast with the chocolate. We all thought that they were exactly the right size (I used a 9ml spring loaded scoop) when sandwiched together because then they were a two or three bite treat.

t14cy_t

DID AN APPROVED FOOD ORDER YESTERDAY SO BUDGET IS NOW £166/£200.

diminua

£165.68 already spent out of my £220 which isn't ideal. This week mostly due to fancy cheese and bread and salads and a bottle of wine (because the sun's out). Amazing how fast it stacks up. 

TravelCrystal

Morning all
@goldfinches I feel your pain it’s so easy to be tempted, that’s why these supermarkets are so rich!
 Do like the look of your biscuits though. I made a Mary Berry tray bake this week,  just plain cake with currants in and Demerara sugar on the top. Had visitors yesterday so needless to say they have dwindled. Put some in the freezer and I was amazed they came out as good as new and still crunchy on top.

I know several of you have a bulk fund and I think next month when I have to report my Farm Foods, wine and meat consignment it can go onto that. Will still be the same Annual result and provided it comes in less than last year I will be happy.
Today I went to Lidl this morning, Ys white loaf which will be partly used for bread and butter pudding. Will be having evaporated milk with it as I used to have as a child 😊
Free leeks as I have reached my £50 spend.
Ys hot dog rolls. Discounted yoghurts x4, milk, kitchen roll. Mango chutney and naan bread. Fruit and veg and eggs £29.14 spent.
Last Saturday I went to a house and gardens where they had a food festival on, needless to say the nice produce was out of my budget. £4 for a little cake, no.
 I did buy 2 packs of sausages and some faggots  £15.12

Total spent this week £44.26/£200

Have a good rest of the weekend everyone 

T.C

C_J

I think you are being way too hard on yourself @goldfinches - surely the fizzy drinks gas cannisters and kitchen knife don't technically count as groceries (and I bet they bumped up your total spend considerably). Could you reallocate those spends to another pot, such as "household"? 

I'm just back from a trip to Bicester (mainly for the chazzers, which I will report on the other thread) where I visited one of the town's community fridges and the large Tesco. The town has an awful air of sadness hanging over it, and there were lines of people with armfuls of flowers heading to the park just off the town centre as that has become the focus of the memorial for those who died. So, so sad.

The CF didn't have very much stock this morning so they weren't requesting any monetary donations. I did however come away with 2 x 2 litre cartons of whole milk (in date for another three days, I'll freeze one of them), some potatoes, carrot, one red onion, a pack of thinly sliced roast beef, 2 pak choi, 4 ciabatta rolls and a Tesco takeaway lunch pot of piri piri chicken rice salad.  I've just had that for lunch.

In Tesco I bought a loaf of white sliced bread (the grandchildren are here for the day tomorrow, and it's the only bread they will eat, grr!), some raspberries and strawberries (again, for the little people), washing up liquid and a bottle of squash. A total of £8.88 spent.

That brings my May total to £39.03/£160

karenccs67

Sorry I’ve been AWOL, a lot going on with my husband.

£242/£250 🤦🏻‍♀️ 

the only upside is that we are going away on Friday for a few days, there is plenty in the fridge & freezer so I won’t need to do a shop. 

JingsMyBucket

Morning all. Yesterday I did the round of grocery shopping and got some good bargains in the beginning. 

£15.25 initially spent at M & S for some heavily discounted YS deals. I originally went in there at 8:30am to have a cursory glance to check if they had a few items before going to Lidl. Lo and behold, what a YS meat bonanza I found. I picked up 3 packs of chicken leg quarters for 75p each, YS diced chicken breast, YS duck crown (they’re finally back in stock!), YS egg mayo cup for Mr. Jings, and 2 YS high end hummus dips. The hummus was for the guests we had over for drinks in the garden yesterday evening. The checkout lady said it was a good thing I bought those items then because they’d all be gone if I had waited after returning later. I resisted buying a couple of their YS whole chickens though because I wasn’t sure about carting them around the next couple hours. It may have made my bags even heavier. 

Off next to Lidl where I spent £28.46 and got 2 bags of asparagus, tomatoes, string green beans, eggs, oatcakes, crisp bread, sandwich thins, fruit yoghurts, sliced ham, butter, various cocktails in cans, Brazil nuts, YS watermelon chunks, pretzel thins, and vegetable crisps. One of the asparagus tips was free as it was my free vegetable from Lidl’s perks. 

Then back to M & S where I spent £39.96 on bananas, clementines, grapes, strawberries, arugula, chili peppers, canned tuna, baked beans, plain Greek yoghurt, oat bars, grissini breadsticks, coffee beans, spaghetti, big glass bottles of ginger beer and mango juice, ice cubes, and the 3 for £8 deal (olives, sliced meats, and a quiche). 

£314.48 / £325 spent. £10.52 total remaining.  

As you can see, a lot of what I bought was for entertaining our friends yesterday. Tallied up, that was about £27 but I’ll still count it towards the GC instead of firewalling it off. That said, I can’t believe I only have about £10 left in my budget with half the month to go. What the fudge. The main focus now is mitigation instead of letting it become a free for all. 

Another lesson going forward: definitely head to M & S early on Saturday and Sunday mornings for deep YS meat discounts!