October 2016 Grocery Challenge

Meekie · 24 September 2016 at 8:21AM

Welcome to all the new folks and sympathy to those who are dealing with ill health, break ups and precarious jobs.

I have now officially started my October budget having been paid yesterday- last pay for a few months as I'm on maternity leave still. As I normally earn much more than my OH, there will be a considerable dent in our income in the months ahead.

I made a October meal plan then decided on Thursday to inventory the freezer which I felt was running a bit low- in fact there was meat/fish in there for 53 meals

I then realised my October plan was only making use of about 4 meals from it - what a numpty I am. :rotfl:

So later I will have to redraft my meal plan using some of the food we already have in the house. I'm hoping we can get considerably lower than £360 this month but we'll have to see.

Have a great Saturday!

XSpender · 24 September 2016 at 2:37PM

Please can I join the challenge for October? Our food spending is way out of hand, we should be on Eat Well for Less as the before family!!

My budget includes all supermarket shopping; food, toiletries and cleaning stuff for 2 adults, 1 child (who eats at childcare 5 days a week) and a small dog. I also include any food bought for lunches or when I am travelling with work and any beer or wine we drink and DH likes a few beers at the weekend. Meals out are budgeted for separately.

So far in September we have spent nearly £600. I imagine some of you look like -> :eek: reading that :rotfl: That is nearly £150/week!!!! October is a 5 week month and if we spend at the same level as September we will come in at £750++. We have just bought a house which is way bigger than our old one and needs some work and we can't afford to do it with this level of spending.

I have set our budget at £500 this month which starts on 29th September when I have booked a Mr S delivery using a £10 voucher.

I know some of the basics like use up what I have got and meal plan but I am struggling to see why we spend so much, we don't have expensive tastes, I don't buy a new lippy every week or waste huge amounts of food (we do waste a bit I admit but not much). I seem to have lost my frugal food mo-jo. We do have allergies but don't buy a lot of free from cakes etc. just bread, oats and pasta and I work long hours so don't have a lot of time to prepare food on a night.

Any hints and tips gratefully received.

newroadahead · 25 September 2016 at 9:40AM

Morning All

Please may I joint the October challenge and set my monthly limit at £250.00.

This is only for two for us but I have started using an old app on my phone to do a full inventory and menu plan. I am including everything in this amount, toiletries, cleaning products and drinks and keeping every receipt as well a a running spreadsheet.

I would like to start buying some items for Christmas but may keep this in a separate budget for the time being.

Looking forward to see how we cope and how others do.

thanks

NRA x

Tink_04 · 25 September 2016 at 3:18PM

It's officially the start of my October shopping (well 24th) but only spent a couple of quid on bleach and cleaning stuff so no food bought yet.

I'm at work for the next 3 days and too busy to get to the shops so I'm going to meal plan 3 days meals from the freezer. I'll try and get some fruit on the way to the school run but have a few HM ready meals that will do for tea already in the freezer, breakfast is porridge or toast (no weetabix left) kids have school dinners and I'll make tea from the freezer - sure there is a frozen spag Bol somewhere so that's one day - then I'm going to do a proper list and plan! Hope everyone is ok xx

Soworried · 25 September 2016 at 4:38PM

I'll be going for the same £240 please this is for 2 adults, 2 teen for all food in and out of the house and cleaning and toiletries. This month runs from the 30th-28th.

Many thanks for the thread Zippychick, Lynne and Coxy

wannalot · 25 September 2016 at 9:24PM

Hi all

I'm in for £170 for October please! i can't believe how fast the year is going!

I'd really like to get my budget down a bit, but I'd settle for just not spending over this budget, and i really want to stop wasting stuff.

My month will run from 25/09 to 25/10. I did my first shop today and spent 46.50. Howeverr, ii now have enough Toilet rolls , toiletries and cleaning products to last for the next six months!

I need to be careful with the rest of my budget this month - I received a £9 off £60 spend voucher which will come in handy since I need soap powder and some storcupboard stuff, but I'll use some of it for nongrocery-budget stuff - possibly slippers and candles as we head into the winter months!

allyro · 25 September 2016 at 10:00PM

I'd like to try this again this October please. We need to get our grocery spending under some kind of control. Even just to know how much we are really spending will be a good thing as at the moment I haven't got a clue. There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 teens with bottomless appetites! I will set my budget at £400. I have a feeling that might be wildly optimistic of me! I really hope that writing it all down will at least give me some motivation to start changing things. Will start on Friday 30/09 as that's when I'm paid.

wyrdsister · 26 September 2016 at 11:51AM

I'd like to join in this month please. I regularly lurk, join in occasionally and then fall by the wayside and stop posting. However I really need to get my spending down. We usually spend £70 on a big shop, then "top ups" which probably equate to about another £60, each week. I'd like to set a budget of £280 for October. This is for 2 adults and 2 toddlers. I won't include nappies or wipes for now but including cleaning products. Our month will start on Wednesday which is payday for hubby, looking forward to the challenge

thriftwizard · 26 September 2016 at 12:42PM

I might be daft trying to do this, life is very unpredictable just now with my 90 y.o. mother in & out of hospital 25 miles away, but I don't want to lose momentum. So can you put me down for £500 this month, please? We have one less human mouth to feed, but one more feline, and he's never encountered the inexpensive stuff... This is to cover food, fodder, toiletries & cleaning stuff. There is a separate small budget for "entertainments" (i.e. alcohol, take-aways, popcorn, nuts & crisps for games & film nights) which amounts to about £50 on a non-festivity (birthdays, Easter, Christmas) month.

It's not a very ambitious target, considering we've one less to feed, but it gives me some leeway in case of disaster!

Slowly57 · 26 September 2016 at 1:41PM

Just started getting sorted for the week with a £19.00* spend with my local farm shop (bill on Thurs/deliver Fri).

I sometimes skip a week if I have a lot left in the fridge and a full freezer - but the weather has turned chilly so I expect to get through the root veg this week! So FR eggs, cauli, carrots, spuds, two sorts of tomato, broccoli, celery and some pantry bits. *Also includes a small delivery charge. Everything locally/UK-grown and excellent quality - so keeps well.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

October 2016 Grocery Challenge

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free