January 2009 Grocery Challenge

gillst_2

Evening - am just watching Dispatches : The true cost of cheap food. A bit of an eye opener - hoping it does not put me off too much!!!!!!

mothershipton

just updated my sig £231 spend so far this month, only 10 days left. Am off sick at the moment and no one has gone shopping! so lots of nsd for me plus my mother in law seems to be concerned about the amount of food we have so keeps bringing us extras.. today grapes , oranges and bagels so all useful. bless her.

LittleAnna

Please can I try for Feb £300 oh dear cant get it bigger

PennyGrabber

Hello everyone! Nearly there!
My month starts tomorrow, so please can i be put down for £80 for my very first 'live' GC. Clearly, I've been being frugal anyway, who can afford not to be?!
Thought I was going to have a NSD yesterday, but ended up having KFC at BFs house. Still, that's ok, as we were planning on going out properly, which would've cost even more. NSD today though as off work feeling rubbish.
BTW, I am me, DD3 and DS2. Nappies and toiletries will be included in this, and anything else food-related. I have tons of stuff in the pantry and freezers, so think I will be able to achieve this. Anything below £80 will go straight onto my mortgage as 'D'H left me pretty much screwed for money!! I digress...
Does anyone have a good SC recipe that isn't for soup or mince? I have a great and cheap bbq pork recipe that I will hunt out for you all, but i'm after some variety!
Take care all.
PG x
Word of wisdom for today - karma is for real. What goes around comes around. If you look after your money, it will look after you.

beautiful_ravens

Lucylocket01 wrote: »

Household grocery bill at the moment is about £48 per week.
2 adults 1 child 1 dog.
I'm starting to get really stressed about money. I'm on IB and have to attend a medical on 3rd feb. dh's is getting less and less. He's self employed tradesman.
So I'm just looking at ways of cutting back. And wondered what people thought was a decent enough amount to spend on groceries for this i sont just mean food I mean everything from soap to bleach to tomatoes.?

Hi,
I am spending £50 a week on food & everything else for 2 adults, 3 young kids, one dog and some chickens. So, I bet theres a way or two you could cut down - theres tips to do this all over the forum, I started by doing a shopping list online so I could keep an eye on the total, and then finding ways to shave the total down - checking my freezer and cupboards, thinking about how best to eat any leftovers, planning meals for the next few days etc. You'd be surprised how far food and other stuff goes, if you think about it all the time!!
good luck x

orchid-96

Hi all 2nd nsd in a row today :j won't be tomorrow though as will be going to MrM and MrA looking for some bargains...

Pennygrabber, I too have 2 littluns (twins nearly 3) and I struggle a bit with what to feed them, they love chicken though so thats good, made a chicken pie today with mash that went down well.....

Just saw that dispatches programme, quite interesting, I am definitely going to investigate my local butchers soon, have noticed that they offer meat packs and discounts as well...

I can't believe how little I have spent this month, dh has definitely helped by being onside for a change! I am trying asda tomorrow, I don't need loads but want to check them out anyway....anyone know if they have any great deals on at the moment?

My month doesn't end till 31st though so won't celebrate yet

mouseymousey99

Hello Lucy, Just to say I think thats brilliant for £48!!! Don't get stressed, its not worth it. I pick things out I enjoy from the boards, and refuse to beat myself up too much about it. I notice you are already on IB, everyone on here is friendly hope you find some bits you can use.
Mx

RightyTightyLeftyLoosey

Have a search for Sammy_kaye's thread on feeding her family, it makes for impressive reading. Can't remember her total outlay per week, but it was in the same ball park as your desired spend.

Good luck!

betterlife

hi, i spend about £45 per week, for 2 adults ,4 children and a cat. 2 of my children are in nappies which is included in this amount and i buy pampers. i do cooking from scratch and buy locally where poss. example of my cooking is on monday i cooked a chicken which i bought reduced to £2 in coop. i took all the meat of and made a curry, bbq chicken, chic and veg soup (made with the bones) and there was enough left for a couple sarnies! i have a 6mth baby who`s been weaning for a month, any soup, roast etc gets blended down for him (as long as no dairy in as he`s intol) this then get frozen down in ice cube trays. i also have a large freezer full of reduced item as my local coop reduces things down by 75% later during the day and as i go past it for school i always keep my eye open for bargains. x

PennyGrabber

Ooh, meant to say I have 2 cats too!