November 2025 Grocery Challenge

JingsMyBucket

Afternoon all.

The December 2025 Grocery Challenge thread is live: 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6642214/december-2025-grocery-challenge

leftatthetrafficlights

Hope you're feeling better soon @JingsMyBucket! 🤞

JingsMyBucket

Thank you @leftatthetrafficlights! I just took a shower and it winded me. I'm definitely grateful for the good scrubbing but I think I may have lie down again!

Soontobeoap

Hope you feel better soon @JingsMyBucket. Thanks for the thread.

thriftwizard

Take good care of yourself, @JingsMyBucket! And thank you for the new thread, I'll head over there when I've worked out how December (minus the festivities, catered separately) is likely to go on the family front!

In the meantime, I'm just roasting 5 enormous butternut squashes from a neighbour's allotment. They'd taken all they & their families could use and there were still 7 left; they got a bit frosted last week but hadn't yet gone far downhill. The temperature's forecast to be lower still tonight so I've scooped them up, shared two with another neighbour, and my big oven is full of the rest! Luckily there's a bit of room in the freezer... the amazing thing is that these were all from one plant, bought at a car boot sale! I didn't get any flowers on mine at the 'lotty until 1st September & the only thing that thrived was a biggish "Lady Godiva" pumpkin, which is now (hopefully) finishing ripening in our conservatory. I grew a few fairly tiny Turk's Turbans in pots in the garden, but otherwise - nothing. So these are a very-welcome freebie!

TravelCrystal

Sorry to hear you are unwell @JingsMyBucket. Hope you feel better soon. Always worse this time of year when there is so much to do. 

Thanks for putting up the last month of 2025 😮

T.C

ancientmum

I hope you soon feel better, Jings.  Thank you for going above and beyond to put up next month's thread.

I had a lovely time last week visiting family and since I got back have only needed to spend £8 at Sainsbugs on milk, apples, bananas, and because it was a long drive, some blueberry muffins which have lasted over a few days.  I'm relying on the freezer and storecupboard for as long as I can, just need to get more eggs and fruit before next weekend.  Spend for the year is now £1323/1500.

JingsMyBucket

Evening all and thank you for the well wishes! I have a couple spends from Sunday to declare. 

£14.65 at M & S for YS deluxe hummus, YS 4pt organic milk (for yoghurt making), 2 packs of puff pastry, Greek yoghurt, fancy dried pasta, and shredded mozzarella. 

£5.20 at Iceland for 2 tubs of Philadelphia cream cheese and a container of Boursin cheese. 

£328.44 / £350 spent so far. £21.56 remaining 

I bought the puff pastry and cream cheese to make some puff pastry tarts/danishes. I have some nice reduced sugar Bonne Maman blueberry jam we brought back from France and I think that would be perfect them. I’m going to use this recipe as a guide: https://chocolatewithgrace.com/puff-pastry-cream-cheese-danishes/. I’ll skip the icing though because neither of us likes stuff that sweet. 

I may trundle into M & S tomorrow to get more bananas and eggs. Mr. Jings is now starting to feel the lurgy so that’ll be an easy food for him to eat while he recovers. He’s been doing the cooking the past couple days while I’ve been out of commission. I’ll take it over again tomorrow evening. 

oceandreamer

I've not done so well at keeping a record as I go along but have been back through my online banking and worked it out. .  I am pleased with this BUT it is definitely not representative of a usual month because I have actually been eating out of my (ridiculously stocked) freezer.  I do think that I have bought quite a lot of treats too which I would like to reduce.  This is my first month on the challenge and it has definitely made me more conscious of what I'm spending and has made me - at last - tackle the freezer!
Sorry you're not well JingsMyBucket, take care.

New total £202.80/300

oceandreamer

Trying harder.  Just had to pop to the shop for milk and onions so another £2.64.

New total £205.44/£300