August 2008 Grocery Challenge

schueys_girl

hi all sorry for what might be a strange question: but when you talk of the monthly totals you spend on groceries...is this strictly groceries i.e food? or is it other things? Such as kitchen roll, cleaning stuff etc? Also, some people may be including health and beauty stuff such as shower gels etc... thanks all

EagerLearner

Hi Schueys_girl - I include all groceries - food and cleaning. Not beauty, as we both buy our own.

Chell

schueys_girl wrote: »

hi all sorry for what might be a strange question: but when you talk of the monthly totals you spend on groceries...is this strictly groceries i.e food? or is it other things? Such as kitchen roll, cleaning stuff etc? Also, some people may be including health and beauty stuff such as shower gels etc... thanks all

I include food, cleaning products and toileteries. I don't buy kitchen rolls, DH used to use far too much so I stopped buying it.:p We use cloths now rather than wasting trees.

I don't include the odd meal out as that is entertainment in my opinion. We don't smoke, go out drinking etc so the odd treat isn't included in the grocery budget.

OrkneyStar

schueys_girl wrote: »

hi all sorry for what might be a strange question: but when you talk of the monthly totals you spend on groceries...is this strictly groceries i.e food? or is it other things? Such as kitchen roll, cleaning stuff etc? Also, some people may be including health and beauty stuff such as shower gels etc... thanks all

Schueys Girl-We include food, cleaning, toiletries, baby stuff (not much except some raisins, the etc- we use real nappies and wipes most of the time, rest of the time I try to get BOGOF's or use Boots points really).
We don't include takeaways (did used to include them but tbh they are rare) or meals out (even more rare!).
We don't buy alcohol and don't smoke so thats not included anywhere either.
hth
PS Chell, how its your LO coming along ? Hope you all enjoy the wedding.
Wonder how IOIWE's day went?
:wave:

greent

schueys_girl wrote: »

hi all sorry for what might be a strange question: but when you talk of the monthly totals you spend on groceries...is this strictly groceries i.e food? or is it other things? Such as kitchen roll, cleaning stuff etc? Also, some people may be including health and beauty stuff such as shower gels etc... thanks all

I include food, cleaning stuff, any toiletries from s/mkts, nappies, any alcohol, some 'other' purchases from s/mkts - papers, magazines, some clothes. Also takeaways & any snacks purchased whilst out and pet store purchases. Hmm - no wonder my budget is large! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

It really does depend - some people only have strict 'food', some include fuel (not a chance - DH spends £100 sometimes more per week!)

Its really up to you and what you are happy with. There's no 'right' amount. It's not a competition;) . It's what you can manage and are happy to stick to :-) Personally I'm happy with my large budget:o (well, it could be smaller - but it's come down from us spending £750 in May!):eek:

If you're looking at people's sigs to get an idea of a figure for you it's virtually impossible without knowing exactly what they include

Not much help, I know

Gt
x

angelnikki

schueys_girl I include everything that I buy from MrT. That includes food, cleaning/household products, toiletries, and nappies/wipes. If I buy nappies/wipes from boots then I take them from a seperate budget that I have for DS instead of the GC budget (I use Child Ben and Tax credits for his stuff). I used to include takeaways in the GC aswell which helped reduce the amount of takeaways that we have, but I dont include them anymore as I dont want to have them, so if we do then exOH has to pay for them from his personal money instead

I took a pack of nappies back to MrT today as DS has gone up in size. I had bought them on 2 for £13.50 but they refunded £8.98 So I've just adjusted my total.

I've got my last delivery coming on Tuesday which shouldn't be more than £50 so I'm gonna be around £50/£60 under budget this month. Yay Me :j

MrsM :A is back doing the list for September so if you're setting your new budgets then please put them in big red text for her to see. I will still post the Recipe Index (if I can get it on the first page again).

Good Luck everyone for the last week of August

Nikki x

fertyskids

Hi MrsM my challenge finishes on 26th August. Septembers starts on 27th August please can you put me down for £350 as i only have students for 3 weeks instead of 4. thanks karen

Sian_the_Green

Well it sounds like everyone is doing really well. I managed to spend £4200 today, but luckily that is on a car and not in the GC

I have been really enjoying my 'new' Mrs Beeton cookbook (£3 charity shop purchase), it is ridiculously 1960s and the pictures are more than a little lurid but it has some brilliant recipes including Blueberry Grunt and Passion Fruit Flummery in the "Commonwealth Cookery" section. Am looking forward to hopping back on board next month when I am back in Sheffield. I think baking bread is the next challenge, I have about 4 litres of chutney to eat

Happy thoughts to everyone x

gsysezz

I have a little question for the marvels on this thread. Which items do you recommend buying on their last date for freezing. At the moment I seize on pastry for throwing in the freezer and any yoghurt for turning into a yoghurt cake. I'm not very good at knowing what can be frozen for a later date. Is butter okay?
Thank you!!

schueys_girl

Thanks guys
Well as ive never done a food shop or anything before when i move out i will try and budget but im thinking for a while it might be quite high for two people while i figure stuff out and learn to cook properly! So for a while im just going to figure stuff out and then when ive found my feet with everything i will start looking at how to cut the cost thanks all for your help xxx