August 2008 Grocery Challenge

SavvyStudent_2

Eagerlearner - we're looking for a cheap freezer too! Currently have one of those tiny ice boxes and its so demoralising throwing stuff out and not being able to buy in bulk Cheapest we've seen is £80-90 range I think

L

galadriel

rubydoiwannabee wrote: »

Hi everyone,
This was my first grocery challenge and I have failed!! Total spend £338, when target was £300. My only defence is that we have had two lots of guests in seperate weeks and that the children seem to have eaten non stop!! ha ha:D

I did an online asda shop today and it was £58, but I have my main evening meals planned now until Sept 6th and plenty of bread, milk etc. for the freezer and lunch time sandwich ingredients.

To be honest £38 over a six week period is only £6.33 per week and when I consider that we purchased beers, wine and branded crisps and dips etc the weeks we had guest, that isn't too bad.

Roll on September challenge.

I am sure I used to spend nearly double during the school holidays. Children never seem to stop eating and you end up spending a fortune on treats and icecreams just because it is the hols - and as a frazzled mum you deserve a treat

Flylady_Flower

Astonished wrote: »

I am very pleased with myself...:o now, if I can just find somewhere that sells the flour cheaper...:D

Hi Astonished, not sure if this will help - http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/listing.html?categoryId=131 - also has place to click for stockists but not sure on pricing... may be worth checking out though - well done by the way - very impressive when you have been suffering without for so long... :T

Astonished_2

Hello all

Can you please give me a clue what you 'include' in your grocery challenge budget? I've seen some of you say that you don't include this that or the other? Should I just purely count groceries?

My £400 target for the month was inclusive of everything - food, loo rolls, bathroom products (deodorant, shampoo etc), wine/cider (:o ) laundry products, dog food, rabbit food, chicken food - everything but clothes or household items etc.

If I go on just pure groceries i.e. food items then I reckon it'd be a darn sight easier for me to come in under budget...:D

What are your thoughts?...

EagerLearner

Hi Astonished, for MrEL and myself we include whatever can be bought in Sainsburys, Tesco or Sommerfield as well as the local market. Usually, this ends up mostly being groceries, as we try to make our own cleaning products now with bicarb / vinegar / lemon etc. However wine/drinks/bin bags etc goes in there too. We don't include new pots/pans etc

Savvystudent - we're looking for a second hand one, around £30 max, so I will also be looking on Freecycle... ebay may also be good...

SavvyStudent_2

I include everything for us really - food & drink, alcohol, all toiletries, cleaning stuff, laundry / household stuff, stationery etc. Easier that way then there aren't loads of different budgets going on..! L

SavvyStudent_2

EagerLearner wrote: »

Savvystudent - we're looking for a second hand one, around £30 max, so I will also be looking on Freecycle... ebay may also be good...

I'm trying to join our freecycle but the emails seem to keep getting lost!? Would be a bargain tho x

annelouise_2

NSD for me today.

DD9 at leaving party with pizza,cakes and a load of junk food.I stayed to help so DS4 got lunch too.

I took lemon drizzle buns with sprinkles out of the freezer which were a big hit.

Tonight out,tomorrow OH flies in so we'll go to Chinese I think and then set too eating the food that's left up.

Meal plan inc sausages,bolognese,chili,soup for me in individual portions.

Was drinking sangria with cinzano yesterday just to get rid of the last 2 inches of cinzano that we've had for 3 years......MSE or DESPERATE.....

Have 3 litres of lager,3 cans coke,2 1/2 litres of lookilikee fizzy and a couple of cartons of milk that should do us with very little needed shoppingwise.

Have a few pieces of fruit and a couple of tins of pineapple that will be used up.

Sunday lunch at neighbours then OH is driving car back to UK through Spain and France..don't envy him that roadtrip.

DS4 is having a couple of friends over Monday but I am going to be imaginative with whatever is left and make HM Pizza (have the making and a few jam / cheese sandwiches with crisps and cakes from the tin)

Will need to buy baguette tomorrow but have salad stuff and fillings for lunch so it may just be 50c we'll see.

annelouise

Astonished_2

denisefowler wrote: »

Hi Astonished, not sure if this will help - http://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/listing.html?categoryId=131 - also has place to click for stockists but not sure on pricing... may be worth checking out though - well done by the way - very impressive when you have been suffering without for so long... :T

Thanks for the link...only problem is our nearest stockist (other than the co-op 2 minutes away) is in York! It'd cost me more in ruddy diesel to travel there so I'll just keep plodding away with the co-op for now - but thanks again, much appreciated.

I only found out that I was gluten intolerant at the start of the summer but I am a big bread fan and I'm surprised it's taken me this long to bake my own! Just been a busy summer I guess - although the price has a lot to do with - it's so expensive for the miserly loaves you get in the shops and they really are horrid unless you toast them.

My fresh loaf hot out of the bm with flora buttery sloshed onto it was just sheer heaven for me after not having had a decent sized crust for nearly 6 weeks!! :T

cherie1122

I don't post much but I read the forums quite a lot. I have been really rigid in checking the receipts and listing exactly what I've bought on a spreadsheet. I noticed that the assistant in Tesco had charged me for 3 value buckets (73p each) instead of 1 so went back and asked for my money back.

I've just checked my online banking and seen that they've given me double i.e. £2.92 instead of £1.46 - excellent! OK it's only pence but I'd rather it be in my bank account instead of Tesco's tills.