February 2009 Grocery Challenge

PennyGrabber

Mrs Macawber - could you please change my budget this month from £125 to £150?
Thank you! I've just done my online shop for the month, and it came to £108.39, so I think that £125 would be pushing it a bit, and I don't want to set myself up to fail!
Plus, they didn't have stardrops on the site, but held off buying other cleaning stuff as I would like to give that a whirl - my oven is minging!!!
Not bad though, for one adult, 2 young children and 2 cats, plus a 4th birthday to cater for too! I'm quite pleased, anyway. Could have got it down loads more, but bought stuff to stock up the outside freezer a bit, so i should be in for some good old batch cooking again. It's been really hard this month cooking stuff that we'll eat straight away or the day after, as I'm so used to filling up the slow cooker and freezing loads. Still, it's all good!
Night all
PG x

AlwaysHappy

Can I declare for february at £215.13, slightly over my stretching target (for us) of £200 but mainly due to bargains so not disheartened. Will try again for £200 for March if I can - good luck to all!

rumncoke

Hi, I'm going to have to give up on Feb challange, as I've been ill for the last 10 days with flu. OH has been picking up bits & pieces & I have no idea of cost. Probably way over budget but I really couldn''t care less. as at least he's looked after me, bringing drinks etc.

Now feeling much better & will be doing an inventory of freezer etc next week to start meal planning again.

S_Wales_Saver

Keep trying to run the freezer down but then stocking it up again with bargains and leftovers!!

LOL Rach that's exactly what I'm doing :rotfl: :rotfl: I can't get the darn thing emptied!!

And, I've noticed I'm not a newbie any more! Hooray for me!!

congrats PennyGrabber I'm gonna get there . Congrats as well for your strong willed shop :T

I've had two more NSDs (too busy with 3 GKs LOL) I think I will need salad stuff tho before the end of the week. It's gonna be VERY close guys :eek: .

Girl_least_likely_to

Thanks to everyone who stated what their budget includes. Having mulled it over I think I'm going to raise my budget from next month to £250 and include toiletries, cleaning stuff, booze and medicines. I may have to increase this slightly when baby arrives to include nappies and potentially formula but will look at that when it happens.

Someone mentioned about having to stick to a very strict budget because one simply couldn't afford not too. I'm really lucky not to be in this position, but who's to say that one day it might happen? I think by doing the GC it stands us in good ground if the day may arise. Personally it's helped me bring my shopping down from £400 when me and OH were both working FT and with no kids to feed. Following this thread has certainly helped me keep focused. So thanks to everyone who posts :T

meanmarie

Just updated my signature to €257.62 so with only 6 days to go I should be ok....have got to get dog food to-morrow which will be around €25 but that will feed dog until end of March at least. Will also need some milk and bread...can't persuade OH that home baked bread is nicer than the stuff he buys when he goes to get paper!

Good luck all

Marie

angelatgraceland

PennyGrabber wrote: »

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Plus, they didn't have stardrops on the site, but held off buying other cleaning stuff as I would like to give that a whirl - my oven is minging!!!
Night all
PG x

Now I like stardrops too but the only thing I like for my oven is Mr Muscle oven spray. Costs a couple of quid granted but it works! Not a lot of har work to clean after-I think I tried every brand on the market first and wasted a lot of money. I did try stardrops on my oven but I don't have "a lot of rub" to be fair so I need an easier option.
Still use stardrops for most other cleaning jobs-they are good on grease-just that if your oven really is "minging" as you say-you may need something with more muscle.

taka

Time to update my grocery spends so far this year... :rolleyes:

Day 53 /365 - annual budget of £1320

Predicted spend = £191.67
Actual spend = £216.49
Difference = -£24.82 ... oops!


Hmmmmm I am a wee bit ahead of myself but am not too worried as I have soooooooo much food in! My cupboards have never been so full! This is for 1 person and also includes cleaning + basic toiletries (includes shower stuff/ shampoo/ conditioner/ wipes etc. Make-up + luxury items like perfume come out of another budget) as well as food. Hopefully (famous last words :rolleyes: ) just fruit, veg and dairy stuff for me for a while...



I do need to stop buying stuff in my work canteen though. I've spent £39.06 there this year (18% :eek: of my spend). I wouldn't mind paying for the odd meal there if it was actualy nice but its usually tasteless / barely edible. Must try harder! I have bought some cans of Irn Bru (I have ~2 a week) and have lunches planned for the next week. I just need to remember to put the breadmaker on before bed tonight!

reb

mummyyof5 wrote: »

).

Another question if any one can help where do I find oven liners,have tried Wilkinsons and MRMs they have a sheet thing to use on baking trays Is this the same thing??

.

Yes, occasionally you can find bigger ones. Also you could foil line the oven, tis cheaper at the time but will need replacing whereas the liner will just need a wash.

PennyGrabber

I just realised how bad it looks, saying that my oven is minging! It's because I'm doing more baking etc, and I can't get the hang of not overfilling pies etc - they leak so badly!
Looking forward to tesco delivery tomorrow, but need to be so much more strict with my NSDs next month. I'm going to aim that Mondays to Fridays will be NSDs, as I'm at work all day, and have food in for the evenings. There is a Co-op next door to my school, so will go in there IF I need milk, but thinking about it, I do have a stash of long life, so I shouldn't need to.
This therefore means that I'm aiming to have 20 NSDs out of 28 this coming month. OMG will I manage?!?!