January 2006 Grocery Challenge

JCL

Welcome everyone to the Grocery Challenge for January 2006.

I'm setting myself a target spend of £50 so I can maximise amount of money going towards credit card. No doubt there'll be a few doing the same.

Lets see how it goes!

Useful post for newbies to the challenge from Galtizz below:

Galtizz wrote:

I have said this before, but for all the newbies to the challenge;

For the first month I took a guess at the budget but I really had no idea how much I was spending.

I found the best thing is to have a guess the first month but SAVE ALL OF YOUR RECEIPTS (and yes, that does include the ones from the local shop when you run out of milk ), then at the end of the month add them all up and have a look if you were on budget, if not, it doesn't matter because your budget was a guess. For the next month you can use the total of your receipts and take a bit off to get a realistic budget, just shave off as much as you think you can, it could be £1 a week or £20 a week.

If you are currently spending £200 a month don't suddenly drop it to £100 - you'll never do it but if you cut £20 a month off for a few months you'll get there eventually without feeling you're missing out on anything.

You might think you've done everything you can in the first month but someone always comes up with a new idea and, if you try it you often find you save a bit more (unless you are SarahSaver who is an expert at this and could only save more if she turned her back garden into a paddy field and lived on rice ) In the first month I thought, I'm planning meals, I couldn't possibly save any more, but then I started double cooking and freezing, and making soup instead of buying it in tins.

I've been doing this since Feb but only saved ALL of my receipts last month, it has given me a much better idea of where it is all going. Budget for next month is £80 for 2 of us, I'll start on 30/4. I could probably save more, by eating different foods but I can afford to live on £80, I have saved a lot of money since Feb. and I don't waste food or money any more. So I'm happy with my budget.

kiwichick

My date as from the 22nd dec to the 24th jan and target is £361.28. I know it sounds a bit retentive(!) but I've worked it out based on £75pw=£10.71pd=£361.28 for 34 days. I've opened a seperate acc for this budget and any left over at the end of the month will be paid off the CC.

Icemaiden

Went over a bit on last months budget by £30, acted a bit like a woman possessed in Asda the other day as just wanted to get out so the list went out of the window. So this month from 30th dec to 30th jan £200 for all food/milkman/toiletries/cleaning for 2x adults 1x teenager & 1x child but I do have quite a bit of food in due to the above overspend, is that classed as cheating?? or should I really take it off this months budget?

jcr16

i did very well last month. but hubby gave me £150 to by extras for xmas including all alcohol. but i not inculding this. but by the way my cupboards look i shouldn't have to go shopping for a while. except for formula milk , nappies , milk , bananas and all the little bits.
i gonna stick with the £200 tho as this seems to be a fair budget for us.

Faith_2

I'll start mine on 01/01/06. I lost my way a bit this month, but I had a birthday party weekend to organise and Christmas of course. I'm going to try for £200 for all food, toiletries and cleaning products for two of us and the cats! And I've just re-discovered Aldi so that should help a little!

[Deleted User]

Yes, roll on next week , New Year and a good time to make a new start. I am going to list all my bits that I have in the freezer and try to use up some of the tinned stuff that seems to have accumulated over the past couple of months in my cupboards.
You know the sort of things.Bogoffs and dented tins, and those odd bits that you pick up and think 'Oh that's a bargain I'll have that'
You bring them home, stick them in the cupboard ,and promptly completely forget about them.
My children always look in the cupboards and say 'Why do you always seem to have a tin of sardines or pilchards in tomato sauce in the cupboard ?, you never seem to use them .
It's a throw back from the days of rationing when everyone had a couple of tins in the cupboard 'just in case'
Just in case of what I wonder, Nuclear fall-out ,a run on pilchards ,a world shortage of sardines.Well this year I am determined to be ruthless, and either use them up or bin them or donate them.But my cupboards are going to get blitzed.
New year is a time to get organised ,not only with your budget but with all the other unessesary clutter in you life.
Out will come my exercise books and lists will begin.
Mind you I suppose that I could just have a look in Tesco's next week as their sure to be throwing some odds and ends out and you never know...........

Happy Christmas everyone from Jackie in Kent

FRUGALPIE_2

My month starts on 4th January and this time I am going to stick to my £300 budget...if not decrease it....

Frugalpie

pink_fairy_7

My month starts on January 1st and I'm determined to stick to budget this month. Overspent last two months. :snow_grin

Menu plan done, £200 target.

Good luck everyone.


pink fairy


:xmastree: :xmastree:

Penny-Pincher!!

Morning

Well I am very pleased with myself I do my shopping allowance for a 4 week period and allocate £300 but this includes petrol too. I have come in well under budget and have moved £160 to my conservatory fund :j so thats just £35 pw including petrol :beer: :beer: :beer: I also have enough food in the freezer meat and main meal wise for about 4-6 weeks, so should only have to buy perishables. So this month should be cheaper and we are eating so well.

Asdas cocked up abit on a few items being home delivered the last 4 weeks so I took full advantage large chickens mispriced at £1 each, so ordered 6, fish, bread, lamb, bacon all mispriced too.

Have written down all food in both freezers and theyve never been so full..LOL. All good food too and not processed, even the burgers are 100% beef and we only have them once a month anyway. Tend to do the same kind of meals every 7-10 days or so: Roasts always on a sunday, curries with left over meat, HM pies with left over meat, shepards pie, chill con carne with lamb, toad in hole, dippy egg and HM chips, bangers and mash, lamb stew & dumplings, chops, chicken breasts/pieces etc etc.

Im going to keep the budget at £300 and move the excess over again, but we are basically living well on £25-30pw

PP
xx

thriftlady_2

I like your meal plans Penny-Pincher-lovely old-fashioned home cooking.

Most people seem to be budgeting for £200 a month, how many is that for?

I've just had a look in my freezers and found a lot of meat and fish.And surprise surprise there's loads of cold turkey in the fridge so I'm pretty well set for Jan.Have already made stock from the turkey carcass so soups and risottos are a possibility.So with a well-stocked freezer I should be able to manage on £200 for Jan for 2 adults and 3 kids.

Does the grocery challenge include non-food items like washing powder? :xmassmile

Penny-Pincher!!

mines only for 3 of us but includes petrol too. every 4 weeks im moving over between £100-£150 which is left over, so on average spend about £40 pw but this includes petrol. we have good home cooked meals and have our 5 portions of fruit and veg daily. some items are value items (fruit juice etc) but most are store brands. mine budget includes all washing powder, loo rolls, kitchen rolls, fabric conditioner, nescafe and tetley-I wont scrimp on any of these.

pp
xx