December 2008 Grocery Challenge

Sylvan

sashanut wrote: »

Sorry should have explained myself a bit better - it's M&S so they don't do value/stuff I use regularly - but I can get their yummy food cheaper so we are eating very well.....:rotfl:

Personally, sashanut, I would stock up - and keep the lovely M&S goodies for birthdays, Easter etc.

katie_jane_2

thanks keld
i dont think i realised just how much i was spending as i nearly always used my debit card hopefully handing the cash over should help!

Sylvan

Well done katie jane.:T

That's what I used to do in the days when I did all the shopping. These days we use the Mr T credit card for everything we can so we get an extra month before paying and vouchers to spend on more food...

Sylvan

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

Hey Diva, I don't often post chat here but I just wanted to say that it took me a full year and a stand up row in tesco before I managed to (semi) train my DH.

Nice to know other people do it too:rotfl:. Our stand up row was in Safeway. It was the first one we'd ever had at that! DD was so embarrassed she ran away from us in tears.
He's more or less got the hang of it now, but he still buys sweet things with no food value if they're whoopsies. That's partly why I started making him take me shopping at weekends. It costs quite a bit extra for the petrol (but on the other hand we save up to 8p/litre by buying it at Mr A's, so that helps offset it a bit) but we spend much less on rubbish than we did when he went into Mr T's 3 or 4 times a week.

ifonlyitwaseasier

evening all,

well i spent £14.84 in lidl and 1.38 in aldi, quite disappointed with aldi as they were out of the potatoes for 39p and aren't getting any more in at all to my local one. but i managed to avoid spending til today and have only bought some essentials plus a couple of christmas bits.

and i have plenty of milk in my parents freezer which we can stretch out til at least xmas i think (about 16pints!!!) and i have a fair bit of bread flour so if i get my butt in gear i think we should manage to avoid buying more than a loaf or two (cheap toast!!)

take care all

ioiwe

redmel1621

mummy2mygirls wrote: »

I dont blame you, this sounds a good plan, im due in march aswell so might be worth cutting back on some of the work, i know im going to be woken up at some silly hr by the girls!!

Well today i have to add £1.70 as i got some yummy looking sausages at some christmas market we went to, they were half price as they didnt have many left!

Tomorrow i am going into town to do a mystery shop and going to go to get some christmas presents so might pop into Aldi to see if there are any good things i can get......

of to update the sig....

Congratulations on the pregnancy. I have 2 boys, so really want to save my bad back for playing with them and their new gadgets on the day.

Well me and dh had a bit of a row over the shopping today. I wanted to start going to Morrisons, he thought I was mad (and told me so, in not quite as pleasant way!!) We usually get a Mr T delivery, but I am finding it ever more expensive and wanted to try a different tact... Anyway ended up going to the little local somerfield and wasting £12 on virtually nothing:mad:.

So I have decided to give Asda deliveries a try so will get my first shop from them tomorrow evening. Has anybody found them to be ok??

Mel x

Sylvan

katie_jane wrote: »

anyone wanna share how big their family is?
x

6ft 3inches mostly.:p With hollow legs. DS5 in particular has never gone without sustenance for more than a couple of hours at a time since birth. (I'll never forget the night he ate 14 bowls of baby food, in one go, at 3 months old:eek:)

Most of the time it's just myself, DH, DS4 (17, 6'3"), DS5 (16, 6'3") and the large hairy wolf (but she eats "complete" working dog food and scraps so only costs about £7/month). At least twice a week, and for some of the holidays, we have one or two (occasionally five or six) extras, but we do sometimes lose the littl'uns for part of the hols, so it probably evens out.

We still have to do at least one load of washing every day, but we use a small amount of value washing powder with an equal amount of soda crystals for the wash, and cheap vinegar as a fabric softener (which, BTW, has made a great difference to our eczema:D).

There used to be 8 of us and we've kept the habit of buying in bulk whenever we find a bargain. It's a larger initial outlay but it works out much cheaper in the long run (provided DD doesn't burrow into my storecupboards too often)

We're spending extra at the moment because we depleted the stores before we moved house and I'm just starting to build them up again. I want to stockpile as much as possible before DH's job evaporates in April, but I'm trying to train them to spend less at the same time. :rolleyes:

princess_leia_3

I have used Mr A for delivery and the subs are great as you get a better prduct but they price match what you ordered!!

We spent £62 in Mr T but over £20 of that was some lights and a huge ham for xmas so not too bad really
I have also included a takeway in this budget as it was paid for by our gc account so will see if we can include it or if we get desparate I will have to take that out

Edit - there are 5 of us, me,dh, ds 4, ds 3 & dd 8mths

cw18

redmel1621 wrote: »

So I have decided to give Asda deliveries a try so will get my first shop from them tomorrow evening. Has anybody found them to be ok??

My DD uses Mr A, and has rarely had a problem.

I've had a couple of minor 'gliches' with Mr T (including the time they forgot ALL my chilled goods having picked and charged them, and wouldn't refund the delivery charge even though it meant I then had to take the car and go shopping with more money while waiting for a refund on the missing items!).

But the one and only time I used Mr A was enough to make me vow to never use them again (and I live in the same area as DD!). All my fruit and veg (even the pre-packed) was best before the day after the evening delivery, as was all but one pack of fresh meat -- and given I'd ordered to feed a family of 4 (including 2 teenage boys) for a week that wasn't good.....

Customer Services were great when I phoned them though, and they refunded the cost of ALL those goods (incl the one pack of meat I told them had 3 or 4 days on it) and my delivery charge, and of course they won't collect so I got to keep the goods as well. To say my freezer was overloaded was an understatement

redmel1621

Hmm I suppose I will have to wait and see how it goes. I have never, ever had a problem with Tesco and I have used them for about 3-4yrs now. It is just the fact that I seem to get less baskets, but it costs quiet a lot more lately.

I am definitely concerned about the F&V from Asda. I have never found it that great anyway, even if I am picking it myself.

Mel x