December 2008 Grocery Challenge

AlwaysHappy

As my month runs to the 20th would like to declare at £310.50 for this month against my (hope) of £230. I would like Januarys budget to be set at £175 which if manageable will recoup a little of it. I still have to get meat and veg for christmas dinner, but my freezer is full and I am determined - so heres hoping. I'm feeling quite festive now, ho ho ho!!!

gailey_2

Right time for update

got oh mini xmas pud c-op 99p still not got him cake but will look today in town.

We had big discussion and have decided overstreching ourselves to buy turkey is madness so opting for free range chicken with gammon or lamb and feel much better. Got £50 left to spend which will bring decemeber up to 300 my new adjusted target as really struggled thsi month as our cupboards and freezer were bare.

Hope everyone else doing ok
merry chrsimtmas
im so exited has daughters 1stnativity yesterday was lovley off shopping today but not for food mainy being good and browsing with mum+sister.
Did spend 2.99 on duracell yesterday as camerea eats batteries and only works with duracell and nor cheap batteries but took some cute pics.

cw18

gailey wrote: »

Did spend 2.99 on duracell yesterday as camerea eats batteries and only works with duracell and nor cheap batteries but took some cute pics.

My first digital camera used to eat batteries -- even duracell. When I went back to the shop to complain, they recommended using rechargables.

And they were right -- for some reason they lasted much longer in the camera, plus (after the initial outlay of batteries and charger) they work out much cheaper in the long run.

kippers

Well my month ends on the 24th and i've just come back from my last shop. I can declare £294.43, so slightly under (however, my dad gave us a wonderful surprise for xmas of a £50 Tesco card which i did use today on a few lovely goodies...i hope this isn't cheating as we would have been over otherwise...but i also wouldn't have bought the goodies i did).

I love taking part in this challenge.

Pls put me down for £300 in January, thank you

lola34

Oh dear- just updated my sig and it doesn't look too good does it- especially as I thought I only spent on average £200 per month on food.
I still have a very large milk bill to pay - approx 4 wks as I missed the milkman last time he came round so I think I'll be over:o
On a more positive note however the cupbaords are filled to groaning point as is the fridge so it should last us until alomst New Year:rolleyes: ideally
Made a stew in the S/C for tea and plenty left so that will be frozen for another night

tessie_bear

good evening...hope all is well ....we had a joint of beef from asda for lun ch and it was nice.......half price kilo ours cost £8 but was huge...it didnt shrink much and was very tender we ate loads and have enough for another meal tomorrow....not bad for £8....didi anyone get one of the somerfield half price turkeys ?i saw an advert and thought they seemed reasonable but didnt get to have a look we have had a couple of the £1 xmas puds from asda and they are quite nice
happy Christmas if i dont get on again this week

redmel1621

I tried to do an online order but left it too late....all the slots in both Asda and Tesco were fully booked!!! So am going to have to brave either Asda or Morrisons on Monday.

As of January I am going to start doing my shopping differently, My budget will run from Pay-day to Pay-day which means 7th to 7th of each month, I am going to do one big massive shop, a Months worth..and then draw the remaining cash out the bank and nip down to the local veg shop and Somerfields for any bits I need week to week.
I have realised I will (should) only really need milk and potatoes weekly if I do it right. It will be a bit hit and miss the first month I think. I am going to just quadruple up on everything I usually buy weekly, and I am hoping this will save me money overall. Firstly because I will not have to pay for delivery every week (free del codes seem a bit hit and miss at mo) and secondly I will not be tempted each week by different goodies and offers that I just don't need!!!!

Does anybody else do a montthly online shop???? Any feedback/tips would be greatly recieved.

Mel x

mummy2mygirls

mel - i am also thinking of doing this! I cant face the shopping trolley (got spd so really hurts to push the trolly!so atleast till after baby is born...) so was thinking of doing a big shop online with all the heavy bits and then do little top up shops.. for fresh fruit and veg etc.....never sure what is the best way to shop and save money, i go through stages of liking online as i dont get distracted by any tempting things but then miss any woopsies or deals...

lola34

I used to do mine on line but its the cost of the delivery every week or so that I didn't like:rolleyes:
I have just made a meal plan for the rest of December and I have everything in that I will need to hopefully I won't go too far over my budget.;)

spendaholic

So off I went with my shiny new £25 budget and this week's grocery shop came to £19.99! That means £47.98 for the 2 weeks of my £50 budget. Of course, then came Christmas ... but that's another story/budget.

I'm not sure this will always be achievable and my £30 per week budget is still quite recent and successful. So as I was regularly spending £75+ every week, and as I'm making tons of other cuts, I'd rather stick to £30 for now.

Therefore my new budget for the new year will be £30 per week or £120 for the month, which is a 4-week month this time.

Note: I'm on the pocket pc at the moment so can't do red or bold or anything. Sorry.