June 2009 Grocery Challenge

carolt2

Afternoon everyone, not posted on this challenge this month but I have been trying to keep up with the thread. Plenty going on away from MSE at the moment.

We have managed to use some of the Mr M vouchers and have used a few of them to do my mum's shopping too.
We are stocked up pretty well at the moment.

Declare at £149.54 for June,
only 46p under budget:T. Total for year is shown in signature which on average we have spent £147.50 per month.

Mrs Mc could you please me down for £150 for July please.

helen_jelly

cw18 - thank you

Right then, as of 01.07.09 I've got £285 to buy food for 2 adults and 2 kids. The amount seems quite high to me but we have been spending loads more than that over the last 6 months and now have to stop as OH has just had a pay cut!! I'm quite excited about this challenge!!
Thanks for your help - Helen

tessie_bear

hi...lovely hot sun here...and a heat wave next week...sounds good...but i might have to change what we are going to eat....no stews here it will be salad all the way

well on target this month...and we have had a few lettuce leaves from the garden and some goose berries from our new bush...i have a fridge full of rhubarb a friend gave us so im going to prep it and put it in the freezer

we had a delish bit of organic pork yesterday from sainsburys...lovely and some left over for sarnies...yum yum...it makes the price cheaper if u can get a couple of meals out of it

take care
tess

Essex-girl_2

Hello Everyone

Actually came in under budget this month :j:j I am getting better - doing a online shop each week & resisting on stocking up on too much stuff. Sticking to menu plan (mostly) is the trick. Came in at £328.14 for June

5 week month this month so MrsMC can i please be put done for £450 for July .

Many Thanks
x

biscuitfan

Oh I love this thread, it's EXACTLY what we need...we spend so much money on food it's crazy...we never plan our meals and regularly eat out because we can't think what to have for dinner. Our overdraft is out of control though and I think this is where we could best save money. As I have no idea how much we spend each month...I dread to think...should I just carry on as usual and keep my receipts for July and then in August try to work with a reduced budget? And I assume any eating out is included Thank you in advance!!!

fallen_angel_shelley

biscuitfan wrote: »

Oh I love this thread, it's EXACTLY what we need...we spend so much money on food it's crazy...we never plan our meals and regularly eat out because we can't think what to have for dinner. Our overdraft is out of control though and I think this is where we could best save money. As I have no idea how much we spend each month...I dread to think...should I just carry on as usual and keep my receipts for July and then in August try to work with a reduced budget? And I assume any eating out is included Thank you in advance!!!

Hi biscuitfan, welcome to the GC. when you set your budegt it depends if your going to include everything i.e, cleaning stuff, pet food, nappies, etc. I would say the rules of not over spending on you food shopping is to 1, meal plan, either by the week, for a night or monthly, which ever suits you best, 2, alwasy make a list before going shopping and stick to it, 3, if you have freezer batch cook and bulk it out with veg, oats etc, 4, never food shop when your hungry, 5, if you can, go to the supermarket at the times when they put the reduced stuff out, meat, veg and bread. I hope that helps and good luck.

Shelley

carolt2

Biscuitfan......

It is entirely up to you what you include in your budget. Some people have seperate budgets ie groceries,cleaning,pets,entertainment etc and some people like to just have 1 budget to include all items.

Yes as you say its often easier if you add your reciepts up for 1 month and then that gives you a idea on your actual spend. Then you start to make reductions....when you start to reduce your budget it might be easier to do it £10 or £20 per month, rather than knock a huge amount off in one go.

The July thread should be up and running very soon and will be at the top of the Old style board. If you decide to post a target please can you post it in large fonts and in red it makes it easier for Mrs Mc to see it and she will add your name and budget to 1st page of thread when it is up and running.
Anymore questions please feel free to ask. We are all helpful.

Good luck

cw18

Totally agree with Shelley

Eating out seems to be another category that some people include and some don't (having a different budget for that).

I've not actually had to make a decision on that yet, as I can't afford to be eating out But it's one I'm likely to hit in July due to DS turning 18 - and if we go out I'll have to pay for 5 adults and 2 young children :eek: I'm thinking it should be included, even though my GC budget is really only for feeding 2 of us, but am likely to have enough in my budget to cover it (if I'm careful about where we go) as I already have everything in for July apart from bread, milk, potatoes, salad and such. All my meat and packets are in, and a lot of the meals are already made up and frozen too......

biscuitfan

Thank you for your replies...I think I'll lurk and read July's GC whilst saving my receipts...I also think I will include eating out as I think we'll be shocked to see it all in black and white and we often do that because we don't plan very well - I'm thinking this is a bit like losing weight where if you have to write down the calories of everything you eat it stops you having that extra piece of cake!! Thank you for all of your tips...roll on July, I want to get started!!!

JayneC

Hi all,

Well June went completely to pot! Totally lost track, but was away on hols for 2 weeks which made things difficult. That's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it!!!

Anyhoo... Will try again and must try harder! Please put me down for £250 for July - from 25th June to 24th July.

Have already spent arould half of it cos we had nothing in when came back from hols! Did an emergency shop at Mr T and mangaed to spend £83:eek:. That was just for the week really an I usually spend around £50-£60 on a monthly shop in Mr T's (online!):rolleyes:

Then I've spent another £27 at butchers and grocers yesterday!

Still I did lots of baking today and harvested some goodies from the garden - had new pots and some rocket and lettuce for tea, with fish altho i had to buy that! (Keep saying I'm going to learn to fish as we live near the sea - fresh mackerel for free!!!That'd be alright:D).

Well off to chase DS2 into the bath for his weekly dip:D. Will update sig shortly.

Jayne x