As mentioned on last Sunday's post, I decided that my final weeks shopping, including a lot of things to be bought for Christmas, would be from Sainsbury's. I had £45 available in Nectar points when I got the self-serve tills ... so I used them all, I thought I might as well see this challenge out with a flourish.
As you should be able to make out from this receipt, as well as my £45 worth of Nectar points I had to spend £5.47 of my cash. As I had £8.45 in cash still available in the Challenge I managed to keep under budget for the year - just!!
So after a year of spending £100 a month on groceries and other items in the shops, I have a grand total of £2.98 left over from my £1,200 budget.
Although I am officially finishing the Challenge here and now, I have earmarked that cash to take advantage of the supermarkets annual vegetable wars. What doesn't get eaten from them over the Christmas period will be processed and frozen to use in the new year.
A close up of the food.
The chicken was for Ginger and Mavis, they eat a lot of chicken these days alongside their cat and dog food. The cakes were for our guests ... and the Yule Log is all mine I tell you ... ALL MINE!! 😄
The same food, only more to the right.
Todays Currency Conversion
If I didn't have a Nectar card this shop would have cost me £56.37 which is equal to:
US Dollars $71.63
Canadian Dollars $102.58
Australian Dollars $113.40
Euro 68.27
New Zealand Dollar - $124.81
Always an interesting comparison to make.
Over the course of the year I have also been keeping tabs on the freebies that I have managed to get. These have included the free giveaways from Booths, as well as the rewards from me having a Booths card, things bought with the Nectar points or the vouchers from my M&S credit card.
Over the year it seems to have added up quite nicely, and I have managed to get £121.95 worth of food items for free. Obviously, I have used most of them, but Alan has also benefitted a couple of times and of course Mavis got the doggy ice-cream. 😀🐶
It's been a good year but rather than carry it over to Christmas week I have decided to end now. I am also allowing myself two orders which I put in a couple of days ago. One to 'I Am Nut Ok' a handmade vegan cheese company, and one to Deliciously Ella, both had really good offers that I would have been crazy not to partake of.
Most of the food on the orders is actually for January or early next year, so although some of the cheeses might be consumed over Christmas I have no guilt whatsoever at not including them in the Challenge costs.
Thanks to everyone who has followed along with this Challenge, and especially thank you for all your words of encouragement, they really helped.
What am I doing next year you might be wondering? Well next year is a very strange year for me so I am having a long hard think about things before I decide to do anything. Whatever I do decide to do will be out of real necessity. 😐
Sue xx 🎄
Wow, congratulations! (Especially when you have had so much going on this year, hope your Mum is doing OK, and am remembering darling Suky).
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a good idea to take advantage of the 19p veg (or whatever it is this Christmas) and freeze things for next year, that's what I will be buying this weekend.
Thank you.
DeleteSadly Mum is not doing well, after another long stay in hospital she was discharged to her care home last week, which was in lockdown due to Norovirus doing the rounds there. She caught it yesterday, so it has been a week since we have seen her. :-(
Your challenges and how you contrive within them is incredible. Well done 👏
ReplyDeleteThank you. :-)
DeleteI am in New Zealand and our grocery costs are phenomenally high compared to even neighbours Australia but I’m planning to take a leaf out of your book and try a challenge once I get back from holiday on 30 December. Perhaps post Christmas sales will help! Thanks for the inspiration. Merry Christmas. Margaret
ReplyDeleteOoh, I should add the New Zealand currency conversion for you. You have plenty of time to plan for your challenge, good luck. xx
DeleteA job well done. Enjoy your goodies!
ReplyDeleteOh I am going to. :-)
DeleteEnjoy! Have a wonderful Christmas
ReplyDeleteThank you, you too. xx
DeleteIs it really a year! Goodness, time really flies when you are having fun!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear your Mum isn't so good.
Retirement next year ? perhaps you will do lots of travelling.
It's gone by so quickly hasn't it. This year has been our worst year ever, I really don't know how I managed to stay focused on the Challenge ... perhaps that is what has kept me sane!
DeleteYes, retirement in January for Alan, closing our company down in April and then a year without pay for me. Thank goodness for savings.
Well done on your challenge. Retirement does bring some new challenges but also the chance to make changes great and small. One great saving for me was clothes-I don’t have to be suited and booted on a daily basis and also can wear out/ mend clothes to wear at home. I accept cast offs from my daughter willingly too. Enjoy all the lovely food you have bought knowing that nothing will be wasted. Very wet and windy today here so no run out with the Moho as we had hoped. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI've not had the 'suited and booted' problem for years as I work from our office at home or from my little desk area in my kitchen. It's jeans and fleeces for me ... but at least they are cleaner and smarter than they were in the farming and smallholding days. 😄 The weather is just turning nasty here too now. Hopefully you'll get a run out over the Christmas period. 🎄
DeleteWell done on completing your challenge under difficult circumstances and thank you for taking us along with you. I am sorry to hear things are not good with your mum, such a worry for you. Hoping for a better year for you next year. It will be interesting to follow how you adapt to retirement. I am the same age as you and have a year from May before I get my pension but we have slowed down to very much part time (in catering) until it kicks in when we will retire completely. We pick and choose these days what we want to do so it is much easier for us.
ReplyDeleteYes, my official state pension retirement date is a year from May. But as Alan's is January 2025 and we will therefore be able to close the company down at the end of the financial year it makes sense that I join him. I'm not complaining at all. 😄
DeleteMerry Christmas from Michigan, US! I have so enjoyed following your challenge this year. It has helped me be more mindful about food and shopping. This Daily December has been lovely to read. I always looked at it first thing in the morning. I hope that you have a beautiful holiday and a very wonderful New Year.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas 🎄 Thank you for reading along each day, it will be continuing until the New Year. I hope you have a lovely holiday. ❤️
DeleteI've enjoyed your blog so much this year - its been great to meet a fellow sachet collector !
ReplyDeleteI'll be very interested to see how your days pan out once retirement is a way of life.
Oh we have to rescue the sachets. 😄 I have no expectations but we do have some tentative plans once the Welsh flat has sold, it all fell through at the last minute ... again!!
DeleteWell done on completing the challenge - I have only been dibbing in and out for most of the year as my year has been a challenging one. Have a wonderful Christmas - looking forward to whatever you post about in 2025.
ReplyDeleteGosh, sadly this year has been bad for so many of us. Hope you have as peaceful a Christmas as possible. ❤️🎄
DeleteWell done, you! I'm in constant awe of your attention to detail and organisational skills when it comes to food shopping, if Jon didn't do the shopping I'd probably live on oranges, Ryvita and wine.
ReplyDeleteThere's always chicken in our fridge - it's William's favourite thing, too!
I'm sorry to read about your Mum in the comments. I hope she's better and you're able to visit her soon. xxx
That would be an unusual diet, but I won't judge. 😂😄 Seemingly Mum is getting over the bug now, but the care home stays in lockdown until the last person has been clear of it for 48 hours. We have our fingers crossed for Christmas day. 🎄🤞
DeleteWell done, Sue. Some interesting challenges.
ReplyDeleteI managed to make a bit of space in my four drawer freezer and bought some Aldi frozen blueberries, green beans and peas. So a small saving and a few less plastic punnets. I think I have used up everything that needed using, shopped from the freezer and spent very little on buying more meat. Turkey leg mince looks good value, 750g on offer at Sainsbury’s.
I am thinking about next year’s groceries. More of the same I think. Checking and using what we have in the pantry first. Comparing prices and making a shopping list. Economical 1940s ration portions for meat, butter, cheese, sugar and tea. Buying nothing other than the basic ingredients and cooking our food at home. Avoiding UPF as much as possible.
The Royal Institute Christmas Lectures 2024 sound interesting.
Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.
That all sounds like brilliant planning, no doubt something similar will be going on here too. The lectures should be great this year, I'm really looking forward to them. 😀 Best wishes to you too. ❤️🎄
DeleteYou have done so well with your challenge this year. The 'free' food with your Nectar points is amazing and should last you a while too.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your mum, Sue, you have all had a pretty rough year and this must feel like the last straw. I do hope she feels better soon. I know Norovirus is horrible...
Thank you for letting us follow this food challenge, Sue, and I look forward to seeing what you get up to during your year of no income 😱 Wishing you, Alan and your mum a very happy Christmas and a much better 2025. Sending hugs,
Angie x
It's been a good challenge, I've learnt a lit. I'll most likely chat about it during Betwixtmas.
DeleteYep it's been a tough year mentally. It started in March and just kept getting worse for all of us, but especially for Mum..
Sorry; I am just catching up on reading your blog. I hope your Mum is feeling better and you will be able to visit her over Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading about your grocery challenge this year. You have done really well and I know you will do well with whatever challenge you choose to do next year, if you do choose to do a challenge.
I was able to keep to my $100 per month on groceries (food only, no pet food, household supplies, etc.) for most of the year, but, my daughter has been with me all of November and December, so I had to increase the budget a little bit. But, I am going to try to keep the food budget to $100, next year, too, depending on how things go. The price of one dozen eggs went up from $3.49 to $7.99 over the last couple of weeks, due to an egg shortage (bird flu virus impacting the chickens).
As you have most likely found out by now, my Challenging days are over. I have passed the baton on to the other frugal and challenging bloggers both in our circle and on YouTube. It sounds like you have done really well with your grocery budget over the course of 2024. It's shocking how quickly some things rise in price isn't it. But I suppose in a case like bird flu it is only to be expected. We still get the updates on bird flu via email after our chicken keeping days. :-)
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