October 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

slummymummyof3

I spend about £300 per month feeding 5, broken down to 2 adults, 3 kids - 13, 11 & 8. It was double that but I have halved the quantity of meat etc by bulking out with lentils etc for a spag bol. I have stopped buying cleaning products except stardrops, bicarb and white vinegar. I buy copious quantities of bogof Andrex/Kleenex velvet loo roll when it is on offer (you would laugh if you opened my airing cupboard!) Shampoo, toothpaste etc I get from the cash and carry (we have a card for kids school pta that I am on.) I now shop at tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury and Somerfield - I am fairly knowledgeable about the prices at each and tend to buy quite a few of each item so I can rotate my supermarket shopping and get the best deals at each.

purpleivy

up to £200 month for three of us, not including household supplies and alcohol. This has remained the same as when my dd was at home, as we were eating more veggie food then.

missk_ensington

I spend £45-50 a week on food for myself and my 5 year old son, that includes Breakfast, (lunch for me) and dinner, as well as dishwasher/washer tablets etc etc. I could get it for £30 a week but like to have a few treats so will buy 4 eclairs, some choc biscuits, crisps, a box of cakes etc that I dont really need, and I spend a bit extra on Tropicana if its on offer, and often treat myself to a nice steak. The rest is mostly fruit, veg, and meat.

I cook everything from scratch and tend to make stuff like Shephers pie, fish pie, lasagne, hot pot, soups.... my pyrex dishes that I make them in make approx 4-6 large portions so each meal usually provides lunch the next day plus 2 portions that I freeze. So when I go shopping I only ever buy for 5 days and then for 2 days I defrost something out of my freezer that Ive made another day. Got allsorts in my freezer, all in separate, labelled, single portion plastic storage boxes, from home made Tikka Massala to Spaghetti Marinara, to Sunday Roast! Not only does it save money, but its great on nights when I cant be bothered cooking, and even better for when Ive had a night on the town and instead of falling for a 3am kebab I just come home and defrost a home made meal! :-)

gairlochgal

Around £60pw for 1 adult, 2 kids, 2 guinea pigs. That includes an online shop for all household stuff and a weekly veg box. The guinea pigs do very well out of the veg box - they're enjoying a lot of kale at the moment! I might spend £7-8 extra every couple of weeks if I make it to Lidl - like to top up there and try things out.

Natty68

I'd like to declare £192.28 + £23.00 vegetable box, with £114.12 extras spent. Well I did okay with the monthly shopping, that comes out of DH's budget, but I totally lost the plot with the extras, that comes out of my budget - eeep!!!

saverstacey

Monthly budget of £250 for 2 adults, 2 children and 1 toddler. Includes everything except wine. Used to manage on £200 but finding it harder and harder to manage on £250 now.

Hardup_Hester

I've just spent £140, that should last the 2 of us both adults til Christmas, I shall spend another £2 or £3 a week on milk & fresh veg.

nimbo

i would like to decalre £216.31 so i did go a bit over my £200 but considering that my freezer defrosted half way through the month not bad....

i'm feeling quite confident this month, although i am going to stick toi the same target, but i will also include all of my work sppends in this total....

ceridwen

Still not sure how much I spend - though it feels like noticeably less since I started being more careful. Now looking at cartons of readymade soup at £3 summat each thinking - "HOW MUCH?" and usually making my own bread (probably about 50p per large loaf).

Whatever type of food one eats - its noticeably cheaper if you're a bit "careful" and stop and think twice about the "added value" stuff (ie readymade stuff).

I AM getting a bit confused though reading the previous posts - as most people include petfood/cleaning materials/cosmetics in with the food spend - so I am finding it difficult to work out how much is for food/drink only.

I'm also wondering how much homegrown fruit/veg is supplementing the money quoted - as posters dont mention how much (if anything) homegrown has supplemented the spending in the shops.

Wondering if 'twould be possible purlease <smiles winsomely> if posters could:
- give only what is spent on (human) food
- say how much (if any) homegrown fruit/veg they used to supplement the money that was spent
- give an indication of how much of the "bought" food was yellow-stickered (ie lot less than normal price) - as that is a saving that most people in full-time jobs cant make (as we dont have the time to pop into supermarkets specially at "best reduction" time - and also I suspect I live in an area where foods just dont get reduced that much in cost at any time!).

tiredanddesperate

Good idea Ceridwen

I'll start, as this is my OCD subject at the moment:rotfl:

The figures I quoted earlier are my food shopping only - so October food 'spending' stands at £361. I have bought some items in bulk - £64 at butchers, for example - that will keep us in Sunday joints until Christmas. We grow some veg, but not that much this year. Next year we intend to grow everything, so we hope to be self sufficient for veg in 2009:j

Our actual food 'eating' is working out at only £219 so far - I expect this to finish at approx £230-£235 by the end of October.

This breaks down into dinner for 5 of us every day (£110 for October), plus £125 for breakfast, lunch (packed lunches for DH & 3DS, plus whatever is in fridge for me), supper (mainly cookies and milk for 3DS), plus my & DH's coffee - have to have good fresh coffee:D

As I said in an earlier post if you choose to use a spreadsheet it gets compulsive - mine has grown into food, cleaning, toiletries, pet food, other and now fuel It's all entered off the till receipt into each separate area.

It's amazing where our money goes - thanks to my spreadsheet I can see exactly where every penny goes and I can work out where to save money :j Ooohhh I am doing soooo well - I am really proud of myself. I'm trying so hard not to brag - please tell me I'm not bragging. But I am so, so proud of myself. I'm a stay at home Mum (new mum - just adopted 3, yes 3, boys ).

I have never been so organised. And, even though OH's work is not brill at the moment, we are coping. Our credit card balances are NOT increasing, so I guess we are living within our means - something that has not happened for
..... I can't remember, it's been soooooo long:eek: In fact, the credit card balances are going down, because we are paying more than minimum payment. That is going to save us so much money,(eventually :rolleyes: )

We regularly have NSD (No Spend Days) - that never used to happen.

I now prefer to cook, rather than order a take-away - that never used to happen

Our food bill has shrunk but the quality of our meals has gone up :T

All of this is due entirely to MSE and particularly OS (although I started off 12 months ago lurking on the Bankruptcy forum :eek: - I can't believe how far we have come in just 12 months :T :T )

Just a bit of planning goes a long, long way.

Sorry for the long post - . Thanks for reading, unless, obviously, you've already fallen asleep and you haven't read this far ....... wanders off muttering..... downshift challenge, must try harder..... how many lentils can I fit into a bolegnese???...... how many frozen peas in a bag??..... don't give the supermarket any more profit, keep it for myself...... a penny saved is another peny saved, is another penny saved, is another penny saved.... pretty soon I'll have a whole 10 pence:D