December 2025 Grocery Challenge

Nelliegrace

Thank you @PipneyJane, I shall be more careful about wearing a scarf to breathe through on freezing days. 

We went to the new, large M&S food store after short mat bowls at a local village hall yesterday. It was quite exciting to be there on opening day. 
I bought some more wholemeal baking flour though it had gone up by 30p to £1.50 for a kilo, since last week. They had black turtle beans reduced to £1 for 500g. Milk £1.75, and cream cheese with no additives, £2. (How can it be legal to adulterate cream cheese with waste citrus pulp as one supermarket does?)

I bought shortbread fingers for Christmas and New Year, much cheaper than a tin or box of shortbread and with less packaging, £1.15 for 210g.
Ingredients, Wheatflour (with Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin, added to UK flour by law) · Unsalted Butter (34%) · Caster Sugar · Icing Sugar · Cornflour · Rice Flour · Salt · Raising Agent: Sodium Bicarbonate.)
Extra strong loose leaf tea 250g £2.80, Christmas blend ground coffee £4.
It is beginning to look like a small Christmas box of treats we enjoy. 

DH added cakes from the bakery to celebrate, £5.65!

£21 spent.

December Total £40.30

Changeyourlife25

£122.41 / £600

£96.22 in L1dl today, just on meat will stock it all in freezer and will probably last longer than December, it also included a £14 Christmas ham, and I had a fiver off £80 voucher    2 large gammon joints, 2 xl chickens, 2 packs belly pork, 2 packs beef pork mince , 4 pack chicken drumsticks, pork joint, 2 butterflied sea bass, salmon fillets, 2 pork mince, 2 cooking bacon. It’s all very pork heavy but at least we’ve some bits in the freezer. 

£1.65 red bull from shop after this mornings doctors surgery stress 🤣

£24.54 in corner shop , another red bull 🤦‍♀️😆 chocolate for kids, bread, milk, cream, mushrooms, thyme, eggs, watermelon, onion, chicken. I also got charged for something else but no idea what 👀

 

Finstickle

Hi,

Can I be put down for £400 for December please.

I've had one weekly shop and a few little ones so far.

£120.21/£400

This week's shop is looking much more reasonable - £20 for greengrocers and Asda estimated at £52.04, including the lamb for Christmas Day.  I might still put a couple of extra Christmas bits on to avoid missing out nearer the day.  I do have a separate Christmas budget which is there to help cover food but if I can cover some bits from within my normal monthly budget that is always a help!

AnotherNewDay

Just realised I have done my second weekly shop of the month, but yet to post any update. Currently at £161.12/£400 - cats = £19.01/£60 and the humans are up to £142.11/£340, the grocery/household/toiletries shop did include more cleaning products and toiletries than usual. So far we are still on track

TravelCrystal

And so it begins!
Why at this time of year does someone think you need a cold and chesty cough to jolly you along.
More than likely my own fault in having done 4 choir stints, one outside in the rain and one in a cold church. Oh well, onwards and upwards.

My diary seems to be getting very full with jobs and prospective visitors.

Lidl’s had the good sense to give me £5 off if I spent £40 from one of their Christmas Advent Calendar days so even though I didn’t feel up to it struggled in and spent more.

I have bought a few things that relate to our Christmas hosting here and there.

Bacon, orange juice, Prosecco, dill, Camembert, cheddar x2 yoghurt x4, tea bags, tuna, kitchen towels, marmalade, mango chutney, puff pastry, f and v, toothpaste, pate, oats, apple sauce, b beans and salt.

Total spend £46.37
So far £87.67/£200

@Nelliegrace, don’t like the sound of citrus peel in cream cheese, what a strange addition 😮

T.C

mandco

Small spend of £6.80 in Tesco express yesterday on bread, bananas, lucozade and a bar of chocolate but otherwise a few make do meals - swapped ingredients or missed something out as I didn’t have rather than going shopping means I’ve stayed out of the supermarket midweek.

Finstickle

This week's Asda came in at £63.85
£34.25 - normal
£29.60 - Christmas (I got the lamb, sausage rolls, pigs in blankets and crackers)

I'm including the Christmas food as I do need to eat those days, at the end of the month I'll declare as a total and then calculate my offset from the Christmas budget.  Doing it this was as I do still want to be restrained, I'm not hosting anyone over night just the days and neither my budget nor my waistline would appreciate me going mad!

£184.06/£400

Soontobeoap

Been busy today trying to work out what is in freezer and fridge. I made 2 lasagnas and 2 shepherds pie whilst getting dinner ready. Just need to use up sausages in fridge tomorrow. We are away for Christmas from 19th to 27th so I will make sure that I clear fridge and I don't  throw any food items. We then are going on a cruise in January so I want to make sure that we have some meals to come back to and don't have to dash out for food straight away when we get home. 

It is a full time job working out clothes for holiday and Christmas as well as using food up buying and wrapping presents and keeping the house tidy for people that drop by but I seem to be on top of it at the moment. Fingers crossed that I can keep it up!

Pennypincin

I've completely lost the plot again this week and gone over by £15.
I will start again Monday with £40 for the week.

thriftwizard

£29 spent at the market this morning; it was tipping down & there were some great bargains, e.g. 2 large & beautifully fresh caulis for £2. One will be chopped up, blanched & into the freezer ASAP but the other will be eaten up gradually over the week. And the biggest pineapple I have ever seen for £1.50, which smells just exactly ripe. A Heligan Pineapple Cake may have to happen!