Grocery Challenge Thread Options

scotsaver

Tried to think about this before posting a reply - here goes:-

I have only been on the GC since March after watching from the sidelines for a couple of months before plucking up the courage to join in. I love it the way it is although admittedly it is becoming a victim of it's success and is becoming harder to keep up with.

My interpretation of the GC is that I post my Target and then when I make a purchase I log on and adjust my total so that others can see how I am doing. I also log on and post to tell everyone what meals I have cooked so that people may get inspiration/new ideas and also anyone looking in from the outside can see that although we are on a Budget we are not feeding our families "carp".

I am a SAHM, I cook from scratch, grow my own spuds, tomatoes, salad leaves, fruit etc but among my friends I am in the MINORITY, so the GC is good for me as I am among people who don't think I am too old before my time!!:rotfl:

I also put a bit of chat into my Posts, I haven't told everyone my life story, just little day to day things that without would make the GC boring. I also love the photos that people post of what they have cooked as some days it spurs you on to do something different - basically we are all supporting one another to save money/stay within budget which at the end of the day is for the good of everyone and the whole point of MSE is it not?

I do agree though that there are some Posts which are off Topic - I don't think I've been guilty of that:p - so maybe we do need to limit the number of Posts we make each day - don't think I've ever made more than 2 a day and funnily enough was feeling before this all came up that maybe I wasn't being supportive enough!!:o

Anyway, think I've waffled more than enough - we shall wait and see what happens.;)

Flylady_Flower

OrkneyStar wrote: »

For clarification- what are we supposed to put on GC thread ?
I thought it was primarily spends and NSD's, however from reading some other posts I am seeing that we are not to post about NSD's either (although several posters, me included, seem to mention this on posts).
Maybe its cos I am fairly new (May 08), and have missed reading a guide or something somewhere, but is part of the problem perhaps that people are not sure what they ARE supposed to post ?
If one of the more experienced uses were to post something that included what to post/what not to post/list of links to other OS threads (already mentioned), then I, for one, would be more than happy to read and abide by this.
As I also said on GC my plan from now on is to post my weekly totals (as I budget weekly) and anything that may help/encourage people once a week, my monthly total at the end of the month, and my planned budget for the next month. Is this acceptable ?
I am one of the people who has double figures (although have edited and removed anything OTT) last night, and would hate to be causing any problems on the thread. I did also post a lot in Augs and tbh I think I misunderstood the GC thread, thinking it was more chatty than it actually is (and did not think it really mattered if everyone was able to read every post!), so I apologise for annoying any of the older posters- it was not intentional and if anyone had pointed out to me that this was a problem I would have happily posted less, or removed myself from the thread. Most of my posts were not rubbish, random pics or good night or anything like that, just a summary of my GC budget plans/bargains/nsd's/updates/responses to questions. I also think in the first couple of months I got quite excited by it all and maybe over posted as a result of that (I have calmed down now honest! :eek: ).
Perhaps limiting posts is a good idea, although how and who does this would be hard to oversee I think, I would hope that people, as someone already suggested, would use their common sense in this before posting rubbish.
Finally, I have got to say that pics of baking etc I am happy with, but anything else I am not overly keen on.
x
PS Is part of the problem the expansion in number of the GC contributors as well as the amount individuals actually post ?

I just wanted to say, I think it is really sad that Orkney Star feels that she has to go back and delete stuff she has put and feel guilty about putting it. Personally I love reading your chat Orkney, and also about other peoples challenges as it makes what I am doing myself feel normal - It helps me relate, and I believe (although this is only my 5th challenge and I am not an old timer) that this is what the challenge is all about - letting people know that there is someone out there going through the same as them and someone to help them - thats what everyone seems to do anyway.
Like someone said earlier, I think most of the problems is just the sheer quantity of people now - it is so much bigger now than it ever was, so whereas it used to be ok to chat on there (hence no guidelines originally) now it makes it problematic.
I have never been on the daily thread, but I am sure they are lovely on there, but sending everyone over there will just make that the same with the same problems we are having now - no-one will ever be able to keep up and you can't check for an answer to your question now - hence I think the need for a seperate GC chat thread.
Anyway, my opinion (again... )

Cheapskate

Seems like there are as many opinions as posters above - 60 posts already - and all valid comments. When I get chance to wade through, I think most of the posts are relevant, it's just the sheer volume - think of it as being in a large high school instead of a small village school if you like. I don't post anywhere often enough to offer an experienced opinion, but maybe reinforcing guidance at the start of the thread, & flagging it up now & again may help, although I do think that splitting the thread into GC chat & strictly GC totals may be part of the answer.
After all the positive comments about the Daily Chat, I must go & try it out. I've been put off before as well, feeling like an outsider (but NOT thinking you're unfriendly!!), but should take the plunge - always found it hard to make new friends.
Sorry - too much waffle & isn't that one of the problems we're discussing?
A x
P.S. Misread no of posters - well over 70!

sammyjig

rosieben wrote: »

Edited to say - some months ago Mrs McCawber asked us to post our GC targets in red but not sure if this is in the blurb in the first post of the GC?? targets and month-end spend in red would be helpful I think??

I'm sorry but that is probably why I was missed Sorry Mrs M :A
I didn't know we were supposed to post our targets in red. I agree with others, perhaps a post at the top of the thread with all the rules would be good for any newbies.

queen_of_string

OS generally and GC particularly are my favourite areas of the whole board. I dont stress if I cant keep up, the only time its frustrating is if a poster refers to an earlier post and then I have to scroll back and back. Maybe to ask posters to post the ref number of the post they are referring to would help. I think it's a sad fact that such a popular thread will suffer for its popularity. An intro post about what the thread is for with pointers to other helpful threads might help. However it seems to be a fact of life that some people feel the need to post every tiny detail of what theyre upto. Being more of a big picture person I dont usually feel the need.

maybe a pm to some of the regulars asking for their help in signposting people to more suitable threads to post in might help too.

TheBees

We think it would be a shame to alter the thread too much because part of its appeal is the friendly way we all swap advice, meal ideas, frustrations at lack of family support and our successes. |

Perhaps we should put a title above our post to indicate whether its a question, chat, total or general grocery money saving tip so that when we scroll through and read ones that are relevent to us.

Finally, we should limit our posts to one or two a day and post for a reason otherwise we'll end up like our kids sending one word texts!

TheBees

rosieben

sammyjig wrote: »

I'm sorry but that is probably why I was missed Sorry Mrs M :A
I didn't know we were supposed to post our targets in red. I agree with others, perhaps a post at the top of the thread with all the rules would be good for any newbies.

I'm not sure it was ever incorporated into the 'blurb' in the first thread of the post, it was just something Mrs MC suggested when she took over the thread earlier this year; perhaps it could be incorporated into the first post and all newbies can be pointed towards it when they first post on the thread?

angelnikki

I dont think that posting that something is chat in the post title should mean its ok to chat; if you're aware that you're chatting go to the chat thread

I've been doing the list since the end of June (have given it back to MrsM to do now as I'm too ill to carry on doing it) and have requested several times that people post their targets and totals in red but people seem to miss these posts... :think: ... Maybe me & MrsM should have put this request at the top of the list instead :doh:

If there are guidelines put in the first post I think there will probably need to be something in the title where it says to read the first post before posting (like on the weight loss thread) because people wont know to read it otherwise, as people dont at the moment.

OrkneyStar You wont get in trouble for posting too much on here. This is exactly the right place to post any comments and make suggestions on what you would like the GC to be like

Nikki x

rosieben

I think that would be a good idea Nikki, it would perhaps draw more attention if part of the title.

As I said, I remember that Mrs M asked us to post targets in red some months ago. but I haven't been on the GC since about March so wasn't aware whether it was still requested. I think the blurb in post 1 could be updated to ask for targets and total month-end spends in red?

BigMummaF

Is there a way that--say--every 160 posts, an index post could be put in at the top of the page? I'm not explaining myself very well, but if it could be along the lines of:-

For Questions see here
Recipes here
Hints & Tips here
Sandwich fillings here

I've noticed that a lot of folk who join a fair way into a month often admit that they haven't read back. If these 'signposts' came up at regular-ish intervals, then perhaps the other threads would be better supported--I may actually remember they are there too:p