January 2009 Grocery Challenge

jen2007

Hi Mardatha,

I'm trying to cut back on shopping in the New Year too and am avoiding shopping as much as possible as I really can't be trusted I just buy things for no apparent reason then regret it until payday :mad:.

I'm trying to meal plan as much as possible. I don't really have a lot of time for cooking as I work quite a few hours and have two small kids, but one of the things thats working for me is trying to stretch things a bit further than I usually would. For example, today I roasted a chicken which I used some of the meat for a pasta bake and a chicken and leek pie. I then used the carcass and bits of meat that i don't normally use into chicken soup (I did have to guard the chicken meat the whole time as oh, kids and cat were all trying to have a pick at it :rolleyes:) . At the same time I made a beef stew in the slow cooker using up some of the veg that was starting to look a little bit dodgy but would normally have just thrown out :eek:.

So ended up with quite a few meals and some soup for lunches. Everything will probably fall apart midweek but at least I've got through the first part of the week fairly cheaply. I'll probably never be as good as a lot of the people on here but in 2009 I'm aiming for little and often OS money saving .

Hope this helps.

Jen

redmel1621

gillst wrote: »

Would be grateful to hear your views on a small difference of opinion I am having with my DH. We currently have a fully stocked freezer and store cupboards. However I tend to replace what we use to keep the stock up. However, DH reckons I should be using what we have and reduce the stock I have built up. I do rotate stocks and very rarely throw anything away that is out of date. Any thoughts??

Hmmmm tough one.
I have always just used what's in the cupboards, and then replaced it once I have reduced down to say, 2 or less. At the moment I have cupboards like old mother hubbard, There isn't one single tin of beans, tuna, tomatoes....nothing, zilch:o But I don't mind that, I suppose that's just the way I've been brought up. My mum always had either bulging cupboards (shopping day) or empty cupboards, but with just enough random particles to rustle up a meal of some kind.

I work in much the same way - not sure if that's a good or bad thing really

Mel x

mummyofrayne

Hi all,

I'd like to join this challange please!
Put me down for £150

Thanks

Kat

blackbelle_2

I would like to join this - could you please put me down for £100 for January please? This is just for me - I used to spend £40/£50 per week :eek: on groceries but for the past few months £100 has been my new budget and includes household/cleaning items and toiletries. I'm looking forward to seeing how I can reduce this even further.

Pink.

mardatha wrote: »

ok, as part of my new year/new way, I really need to get the shopping bill down. Only 2 of us and I struggle to get us under £50 a week.
Main problem is I can't often get to the shops, I need to order online, at present from Asda. I can sometimes go to Iceland and I like them, but can't get a whole weeks food there, so I end up getting Asda delivery as well, and spending even more. :eek:
Can anybody help me get a plan and cut the spending ?

Hi mardatha,

You've had a lot of excellent tips but if anyone can help you to get a plan and cut the spending it's the regulars on the Grocery Challenge thread so I've added your thread to it. Good luck with cutting back.

Pink

angelatgraceland

gillst wrote: »

Would be grateful to hear your views on a small difference of opinion I am having with my DH. We currently have a fully stocked freezer and store cupboards. However I tend to replace what we use to keep the stock up. However, DH reckons I should be using what we have and reduce the stock I have built up. I do rotate stocks and very rarely throw anything away that is out of date. Any thoughts??

Well it partly depends how you shop. If you do big shops and are happy to buy loads and loads at once thats fine-you do chance running out of things though. Do you have an inventory of what you have? Maybe you are running out of space and your DH wants you to declutter your food stocks because of that? I know that is my problem-there is food everywhere!
Now I do it like you-Im constantly topping up and rotating-I did try to cut down and use up but I just cant do it! Its like Ive got an addiction or that I believe WW3 is about to happen or perhaps all of the shops are gonna run out of food? I dont know but-I stock up. I dont think there is a right way or a wrong way myself-each to their own. Id just cut back a little I suppose if I were in your shoes(my DH has given up on me)My excuse for my habits is that I buy a lot aof things when they are at the right price-?I only buy offers in general. If I let it run down I would have to buy things when I need them and I would end up paying more. The argument that the money would be better in savings doesnt hold any more with the interest rates so its better invested in bargains.(Well Im hooked).:rotfl: :rotfl:

Allypops

Hi everyoone, I am a newbie to the forum and would like to join in with the grocery challenge if it's not too late. Perhaps it says a lot about the reasons why I am in this position when I confess that I have no idea what I should set my budget at!! I do have quite a bit of meat in the freezer and bits and bobs in the cupboards so would like to try for £250 for the rest of the month and I'll see how I go with that....

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to pick up some tips on how to make savings and stop spending so much. I normally shop at Waitrose and have a penchant for M&S ready prepared stuff but can shop elsewhere with a bit of effort. I also have a habit of "forgetting" to take coffee and lunch to work and having to go to well-known coffee chains at least twice a day!! Takeaways are also a bit of a habit. At least I have a couple of obvious places to start making savings. A bit embarassing though to admit that I have been soooo stupid!!

Do you include takeaways and lunches? (although I am planning to cut them right back - realistically I might need to fall back on them on occasion).

Allypops

save-a-holic

gillst wrote: »

Would be grateful to hear your views on a small difference of opinion I am having with my DH. We currently have a fully stocked freezer and store cupboards. However I tend to replace what we use to keep the stock up. However, DH reckons I should be using what we have and reduce the stock I have built up. I do rotate stocks and very rarely throw anything away that is out of date. Any thoughts??

My partner and I both agree that any food that's sitting in the cupboard/fridge/freezer is actually money and we'd rather it was paying off our debt than sitting in the cupboard.

My mum is of a totally different opinion (perhaps with living through the war?) and likes to 'stockpile' in case she needs it. It hasn't been unknown for her to have a FULL cupboard of toilet rolls (at least 50 of them) and that's just for her!!!

The freezer and cupboards in our home have filled up quite a bit over Christmas so we are currently working at using up the surplus. )

reb

My sister came and we went to the Harvester for lunch. We did go in time to get the 1/3rd off. It has to come out of January budget though. Arggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!

Also I lost my little job yesterday due to the credit crunch. The lady needs to economise like us all. The money was handy, hope we'll manage!

Cat_Addict

Oh that is bad - everyone is cutting back, although it's funny because in a lot of cases peoples money/income/salary hasn't actually changed.

I hope you get something to replace it.