December 2006 Grocery Challenge

Pink. · 28 November 2006 at 11:36AM

Hello everyone, welcome to the Christmas Grocery Challenge :xmassmile

Another new month is about to start for most of us, while some of you are already well into things.

As always this challenge is to reduce your own grocery budget to levels that you will be pleased with, not forgetting that we always recommend that you stay inside your own comfort levels and take things gently one step at a time.

If you are new to the challenge I have quoted the advice from Galtizz below which will help you get started.

Please post into this thread for help and advice and support at any time. Good luck to everyone taking part!

Originally Posted by Galtizz
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 any more, 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 any more. So I'm happy with my budget.

:xmassign: .....Pink

Shortie · 28 November 2006 at 12:31PM

Well, for a Christmas month, I have only £93 to last me till the 19th. I've spent £60 already :rotfl:

Mind you I should only need to buy bread, milk, potatoes and a couple of chickens the rest of the month.

I think I need luck with this one

newlywed · 28 November 2006 at 1:02PM

Trying to cut my shopping bill some more - even though it's half the amount it was before finding OS! Aim this month is £180 (2 adults and 2 kids at weekends). I've worked out that if I can get the shopping down to under £150 and the petrol down by £30 then I the debts will start to go down with very little other effort.

My month starts from 24 November - payday. Can I join? Need all the help and encouragement I can get.

Peem · 28 November 2006 at 1:33PM

I'm in again.

Going to stick to the £300 again for this month. I made it last month for the first time. So hopefully I can carry on in the same vein.

Good luck everyone:D

pollyanna24 · 28 November 2006 at 2:43PM

Well I failed miserably this month. Instead of £160, I spent £210 :mad:

Having said that, I was trying to cater for an extra person in there for two weeks of the month who has now moved in with us, so I'm gona up my budget to £210 for the three of us and a cat.

I've got my 1st December list all ready and it's already £110!! :eek: :eek:

But hopefully that's the bulk of the stuff out of the way.

Christmas stuff is a different story. Have to figure out how to pay for that extra bit.

FerociousDave · 28 November 2006 at 3:02PM

Hello everyone, just pointed towards this board by another post and really need to start doing this. Me and my gf currently spend about £40 a week on groceries. This really needs to come down. December should be alright as we away (at relatives) for a week or two for christmas.

So, if my normal budget is £160 per month, shall I try and knock £20 off? £140, does that sound reasonable?

Hello all, by the way!

stevenshell · 28 November 2006 at 3:04PM

going to join in again - done ok in Nov, only over spending by £14 or so :T which we thought was great considering how we were spending!

Going to stick to same budget of £40 per week. We've got our christmas dinner coming out of vouchers we've saved, so not including that!

LJM · 28 November 2006 at 11:03PM

november was a strange month spent nearly £200 but alot was filling freezer meats,stock cupboard refilling.im hopping december isnt going to be that bad i know its xmas and all that but it shouldnt affect my budget too much ive taken on board from here alot of recipes for cleaning and found stardrops,so that should reduce my budget by a bit,im writing down all i spend this month so i can see

pink_fairy_7 · 30 November 2006 at 7:51AM

:snow_grin I'm going to join in this month. I have a tight budget of £200 for 4 of us to last until Dec 31st. This will include Christmas dinner for 6 on Boxing day. I'm going to use all the storecupboard stuff I have up over the next 2 weeks so as to have enough money left for the end of the month.

Good luck everyone
pink fairy xx

cheerfulness4 · 30 November 2006 at 8:41AM

I'm in again this month. £140 to last from 1st-28th Dec for 4 of us. (2 adults & 2 teenagers). Will be a bit tight towards the end as all of us home for the last week and expecting treats. Guess that's what makes it a challenge.

Was really pleased with last months efforts. Consider I made it as we were only just over a £ above budget. I might actually be getting good at this!

All the best to everyone else on the challenge.

squeaky · 30 November 2006 at 9:18AM

I'm in too. Unexpected extra expenses lately have somewhat depleted my cash reserves, so I'm wondering if I can do the whole Christmas thing on just fifty quid.

Hmmm...

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December 2006 Grocery Challenge

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