April Grocery Challenge

Lillibet_2 · 23 March 2005 at 4:26PM

glad wrote:

Do people count school dinner money into their challenge, both my children take £2 per day to school for dinners/snacks most days.
Son goes through spells of taking a packed lunch which works out at about £1 a day.

I guess thats a personal thing, as long as you have the money availabel & accounted for somewhere in yoru monthly budget do whatever works for you. If you budget £2 per day but only spend £1 then you will be that much up at the end of the month, the down side is that it could get sucked into general gorcery spending & there might not be enough if you need it for the last week of the month or something.

Galtizz · 23 March 2005 at 4:34PM

I have said this before, but for all the newbies to the challenge;

For the first month I took a guess at the budget but I really had no idea how much I was spending.

I found the best thing is to have a guess the first month but SAVE ALL OF YOUR RECEIPTS (and yes, that does include the ones from the local shop when you run out of milk

), then at the end of the month add them all up and have a look if you were on budget, if not, it doesn't matter because your budget was a guess. For the next month you can use the total of your receipts and take a bit off to get a realistic budget, just shave off as much as you think you can, it could be £1 a week or £20 a week.

If you are currently spending £200 a month don't suddenly drop it to £100 - you'll never do it but if you cut £20 a month off for a few months you'll get there eventually without feeling you're missing out on anything.

You might think you've done everything you can in the first month but someone always comes up with a new idea and, if you try it you often find you save a bit more (unless you are SarahSaver who is an expert at this and could only save more if she turned her back garden into a paddy field and lived on rice

) In the first month I thought, I'm planning meals, I couldn't possibly save anymore, but then I started double cooking and freezing, and making soup instead of buying it in tins.

I've been doing this since Feb but only saved ALL of my receipts last month, it has given me a much better idea of where it is all going. Budget for next month is £80 for 2 of us, I'll start on 30/4. I could probably save more, by eating different foods but I can afford to live on £80, I have saved a lot of money since Feb. and I don't waste food or money anymore. So I'm happy with my budget.

moggins · 23 March 2005 at 4:49PM

Well said Galtizz, after all this is a personal challenge and not a competition to see who can spend the least, we all have different needs and different circumstances so no two peoples budget is going to be the same.

JCL · 23 March 2005 at 5:07PM

Well I'm a newbie in terms of having a specific budget but I have saved all my grocery receipts for February and March in order to ascertain my average spend.

Sarahsaver · 23 March 2005 at 5:20PM

My kids are starting on packed lunches after the easter hols, but I anticipate it won't be too bad as they will be taking homemade rolls, cakes and fruit/carrots. I have found the somerfield economy flour makes really nice bread:)
We've already discussed how its not very good for our pockets or our insides to have the junk some of their friends have in the lunchboxes. I really don't know how some people afford it. (fruit shoots, babybels, expensive crisps - every day!)

omega_2 · 23 March 2005 at 5:57PM

New, but keen!

Currently, we are spending around £230-260 mark per month (2 x greedy adults, and 1 x 14 month-old) – includes all groceries, toiletries, nappies, probably a case of tinnies and 2/3 bottles of wine per month). So, there’s plenty of scope for trimming the Grocery Budget. Should be very do-able if it’s reduced to £200 for starters. Thanks, Galtizz for the wise words.

What we do already:
- Cook from scratch, menu plan + stick to list
- Compare unit prices a lot of the time, make use of BOGOFs and other offers. I would say that we are pretty “brand flexible”, although we have only recently been experimenting with Tescos’s Value Range, and Lidls - any recommendations on these very welcome.
- We do use coupons where we can (our Tescos is pretty tight with their coupon policies)

Things I won’t be needing to buy in April: Toiletries, coffee, cleaning and dishwasher supplies. The store cupboard is reasonably well-stocked, although we will use up all the meat/fish from the freezer over the next week.

What I will be working on:
- Portion control – this is a biggie for me!
- Not buying any special drinks for me – coffee and good old “Council Pop” ! Saying that, I’ve got a bit of hot choccy left. By the way, does anyone have a good Instant Hot Chocolate Mix recipe they would like to share?
- Putting bread making supplies languishing in the cupboard to good use.
- Perhaps I should try an own brand of nappy on little ‘un? (Although saying that, I can’t remember buying Huggies at full price or without a coupon!).
- Use fixtureferrets for offer comparison.
- Trying one or two new recipies from this board.

Wish me luck... now to motivate the other half...

crazyhazy · 23 March 2005 at 6:08PM

Well as I said earlier i started my april challenge on the 18th and I was a bit worried as I've spent more in this last week than I normally do, so taking some advice from here I have just made a list of everything in my freezer and cupboards........I have discovered about 20 meals which i already have the majority of things for! So, I've just amended my meal planner for this month to use up some of my freezer and store cupboard stuff so should easily come in under budget this month. Even more money for my pms challenge!

Lillibet_2 · 23 March 2005 at 6:29PM

Well, April started today for me but I actually don't need to do a grocery shop until next Wednesday. I have been brave & ordered online, I don't like doing this because of substitutions but I have given it a go as I had a £15 off £50 code so it was a good opportunity to stock up on long life items effectively for free. However, if things don't arrive & the total cost dips below £50 will they not apply the coupon? I could potentially end up £13.98 over on my first weeks shop if it all goes a bit wrong!

Bargain-Babe_5 · 23 March 2005 at 7:12PM

My challenge for april will be £160 although its a 5 week month for us (2 adults and 2 children). I didn't join in with March's challenge because I had £5 off £50 shop vouchers but I have managed to stock up and my freezer is full. I have always planned my meals and find this the key to healthy home cooking and it makes shopping so much easier.

lynnemcf · 23 March 2005 at 7:39PM

I dont know you manage on such a small budget! I checked thru my bank statements and my family (two adults and a dog) spent about £500 in the supermarkets. I cant break it down into food / petrol / cashback / clothes / electricals on the statement, but DH says its about £100 on petrol, £100 cash. Did have to replace the kettle, toaster and the vacuum cleaner this month, but thats still about £225 on food. Thats £7.50 a day between the two of us, seems reasonable to me! So I'm setting my budget to £225 for April, will save every receipt and do a spreadsheet.

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April Grocery Challenge

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