April Grocery Challenge 2006

squeaky

To all our new arrivals...

You can, of course, just wander around the place browsing whatever threads take your fancy - but if you find yourself thinking "Good grief, there's loadsa stuff here, where do I start?"

We've got it covered.


Here are the threads where people asked that very same question already:-

Where do I start?

chewy62

hi! Am new to this money saving, though have been trying to cut back for a while.I am keeping a list of all expenditure for the month of April, and all my receipts, and will see how it looks at the end. Know I need to cut back on wine and take-aways as these happen too much in our house!
We are a family of four, me, hubby, a three year old and a one year old, a dog and a cat.I have made trips to Lidl, Makro etc. to see how much certain things cost and am going to start a book.
Wish me luck!!!!!!

bulchy

Good luck chewy62, I'm also new to this, had a bit of a trial run at the end of march and did well. Started properly on saturday, trying to manage on £50 a week for family of 4 + 2 cats and 2 dogs. This site is a great inspiration, bit addictive too :rotfl:
Sue

rchddap1

Have done a quick look round the cupboards and so far things are looking pretty good. I expect to have a small grocery bill this weekend coming. I'm still hoping that I can stay within my budget this month (although it is looking a bit on the unlikely side). On the positive side I've been 'told' by my OH that I'm not to buy anything for the freezer for the foreseeable...as he doesn't think we can squeeze anything else in. What he doesn't know is that I'm hoping to make a bit of room for a few HM bits.

chewy62

Does your £50 include non-food stuff like loo rolls and that, or is it simply for food? I've worked out that I actually spend more on household bits than I do on food, so think this is where I need to cut back!

bulchy

In our practice week, we didnt include cleaning stuff, toiletries etc, and ended up with £6 left over, so this time we included these things in the budget. We shopped for a fortnight, I find it easier than just shopping for a week, you dont feel so bad buying things in bulk when its out of a fortnights money rather than a weeks, if that makes sense We bought the dogs meat seperate as well,and just bought them a few tins of pilchards from the shopping money, as we get the meat from a local supplier cheap anyway, just wish I could find a cheaper way to feed my cats.
Sue

westie666

Right then, Lets give this a try. Living with parents just now so food doesnt get much cheaper. Just need to stop nipping to the wee shop to buy that sneeky bottle of juice and packet of crisps.

Out the Sky budget of £50 for the month starting 05/04/06

DopeyDora_2

I did our first main shop of the month on 1st April, & spent £48.44 (including some new Mach3 blades for OH). I have spent a little on bread & milk since. Total to date £50.04 I have meals planned up to the evening of 18th April, so I should only need to buy bread & milk & possibly a little veg before then. Will then do another big shop to last until the end of the month.

Dora x

russjacks

What kind of vinegar do you all use instead of cleaning products? Is it the smelly stuff you put on your chips, not that i eat chips anymore or is it the white vinegar, and what kind of cleaning do you do with it, windows, bath etc etc,

Any help will be much appreciated.

I'm really enjoying looking around this site and picking up loads of tips. My wife things i'm mad, but we payed off one of our debts last week,

By juggling money around. i used my overdraft to pay a debt off from a debt company, i owed £531.00 when i rang and asked if they could do a deal if i paid straight away they said £425.00. so i paid it. i think the way i'm going i should be able to pay my overdraft back in about 2 months i don't know about £6.00 in charges so i've saved about £100.00, and of course i can't us my overdraft so theres no temptation to dig into it.

Hopefully (but hope not) if anyone else is in the same position as me paying to a debt company this might be of use.

Now my wife has started to see some benefit from it all, but she is still fed up of me going on about a morgage pig.LOL

Please keep puting in your tips and i'll keep reading them, cheers

Chell

Last week was my first week, for two adults and two toddlers I spent £46.82. That includes cleaning items, nappies, toiletries etc. I'm happy with that!