January 2006 Grocery Challenge

catznine

Hello almostbroke! Go to the blue bar at the top of the page and click on indexed collections and you will find old style recipe index. Squeaky has put all our recipes in a very easy to find format. Good luck!

clarkey1000

Hi, I'm going to join in too.

It's just me & the dog at the moment (OH away for work till May) so shouldn't need to spend too much. Would spend less but OH insists I eat vegetables so I'm not allowed to live on tuna, pasta & pesto (I'm learning to cook better in his absence as well!)

First shop of the year tonight. Fingers crossed.

Jo

dawnylou

What do you all think should be a reasonable budget for 2 adults??

We always seem to spend at least £35 a week!
We shop at Asda btw.

ems_2-2

Hi Can I join in too?
I need some help to keep my budget under control this year.
Am about to take back the shopping having handed it over to OH last year, he just buys what he thinks we need!
I have no idea what I should be spending on groceries per month - haven't had budget before I'm thinking £250/300 month for 2 adults, 4 kids (1 vege).2 kids eat adult size meals and all have packed lunches for school - hoping to cut down on crisps/choc biscuits and start some HM

£Ronnie

Ok count me in too.... My budget is £200 for 2 adults 2 children, one still in nappies and on formula. I have been lurking for a while, and have picked up many tips. Before I thought about what I was doing I used to spend about £600 a month, yet we never seemed to have anything in the cupboard?????:eek:

In the last few months I have knocked it down to about £250, and was quite pleased with myself until I read Jamie Dodgers Challenge How on earth do you manage that?? Obviously I still have a lot to learn...

So here we go:
Jan budget (26th):£200
Spent so far £63.94

squeaky

OK, but I hope everyone remembers that the idea is to reduce your budget in stages and to stay inside your own personal comfort level.

Everyone's needs and circumstances are different so there are as many different budgets as there are posters. Even more if you count the budgets of the lurkers

The challenge here is to challenge yourself - not everyone else.

If it gets to be hard work, or downright miserable then you are likely to get discouraged and quit. Do it gently, and when you think your budget is right, and you haven't given up things that you personally do not want to give up... then fine, fix it there. This is much more about shopping wisely and thriftily than it is about "spending less money" and many posters have found that as they learn the tricks of the trade, so to speak, they also find that they are actually eating better for less!

You wouldn't expect to pass a GCSA after just a few days in school and you shouldn't expect to be able to "do" Old Style in one easy go either. It's a learning process, and instead of trying to do it all at once it's a good idea to pick one or two things that catch your eye and you think "YES! I can do that!" and do them until they become second nature before picking out another thing (or two) to do. Honest

If you keep it as a nice easy process you'll find things change almost without effort and then one fine morning you'll wake up and think...

Hey! I am Old Style

Cheapskate

I've tried to do the challenge a few times, but fallen by the wayside in the last couple of months! However, new year, new start, so will try much harder this month!
Only me, OH & youngest son (nearly 14) so have set a budget of £300, for all food, petrol & 'bits', but not including bills - good job, 'cos I've just had the gas & electricity bills & had to sit down.
We're going to totally review ALL our finances this year, money in as well as out, so grocery challenge seems a good place to start. Plus, I did a food inventory yesterday & I probably don't need to buy much for the next 2 to 3 weeks, just fruit & veg. Last night I made spicy vegetable soup from elderly veg in fridge, home made granary rolls & fruit salad from elderly fruit in bowl!
Bargain of the week - yesterday I decided to buy Martin's book in a shop 'cos my PC is too unwell to give out card numbers on Amazon & was prepared to pay full price. BUT, found the last copy in my local Ottakars (must be a big seller here!), part of their sale & got it for just £4.99 - not bad, eh?!

Skintmama

Ah Yes Cheapskate, I got Martin's book on tuesday at Ottakers too! Consequently have now located this site and think it is marvellous.

We haven't gone into debt but have consistently overspent and ended up raiding our savings. They've run out now so we have just got to get our act together or debt will be a certainty. I am embarrassed that I was thinking of cutting back to a £350 target for the month when I read of much lower targets here. That will cover all the pocket money, school meals, cleaning stuff etc. DH is on chemo so I am aiming for a lot of organic stuff too (I reckon he is worth the investment) which will make it harder. So any advice on cheapest ways to buy organic will be much appreciated- we are meateaters but I am a "from scratch" type of cook generally, with the occasional lapse into fish and chips.

I would love to join in as I had my own private challenge anyway but could do with the support. I don't as yet know how to do all the fancy add-ons you folks do to your messages so cannot do the calculations bit. We only bought bread over the Christmas holiday onwards and meat, veg and eggs this week which came to £17.

We are 2 adults, DD14yrs and DS12yrs (large and ever hungry)

catznine

Hello skintmama! :wave: Welcome to Old Style! Well done on making changes so quickly! Remember to stay within your own comfort zone though (as squeaky says it is much easier to stay with it that way).

Could you get an organic fruit and veg box delivered? We have one every other week and it is a good way to budget in that you know how much will be leaving the account each time. You can order extra organic meat and groceries as well but that puts the price up a bit. I have managed to get good organic meat at fairly reasonable prices at Tescos and at a local farm shop but basically we just use less meat but try to make sure it is organic. We do this for health reasons as well (I have me/cfs) but also because it tastes better as well. My £200 budget covers food for 3 adults, cleaning products (have plenty in and use lots of vinegar!:money: and 1 elderly and fussy cat. Pocket money is budgeted separately.

To get a signature under your post just go to user cp and click on edit signature. hth

hendersonb

I'm going to have a go too - Usually my spend is around £250 pm (4 weeks) For 1 Adult

Yes, yes i know takeaways and eating out at lunch is included in the above. Most meals are usually ready cooked microwave meals.

Investing in a slow cooker tomorrow, going to cut out takeaways and try not to eat out during the day (I can't live on sandwiches for lunch hate cold food during the day, and I can be found somewhere in the west of scotland at lunch time so not really possible to get home or anywhere near a microwave).

I'm going to try and go for £150 budget this month - knock off £100 from last months and pay some CC debt off with whats left. If I kill the takeaways that should do it relatively easily, so not to unrealistic I don't think