April Grocery Challenge 2006

russjacks

chelltune wrote:

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!

So would i be, puts my £110.00 per week to shame

chewy62

Chelltune, that's briliant! :j
Is there any way you could give a brief list of what you bought, and did you do it in one shop or a couple of trips?I would love to spend that much, just never seems to happen!Was that all your meals for the week and did you have any food left over?
Cheers! :beer:

Chell

chewy62 wrote:

Chelltune, that's briliant! :j
Is there any way you could give a brief list of what you bought, and did you do it in one shop or a couple of trips?I would love to spend that much, just never seems to happen!Was that all your meals for the week and did you have any food left over?
Cheers! :beer:

My nappies were from Boots as they are two small packs for £7.50, I bought 3 packs for DD and 1 for DS, I have loads left obviously.
I didn't have alcohol so that made it cheaper, LOL! I don't think I bought any freezer food last week but have plenty of homemade stuff in the freezer now from when I made double last week. I had alot of basics in the cupboards already but bought tinned pulses, fresh veg, fruit, loads of milk but thats £1 for four pints in Asda. DP comes home for lunch most days, one day I made homemade soup. I looked alot more at prices than normal and looked for alternatives. I bought cereal but got the own brand (not the cheap value one).
I've been out today and spent £35, I'm doing my week from Wednesday to Wednesday. before if I ran out of something I would replace, now I'm trying to decide whether I need to replace it, if so it waits till shopping day. I have avoided Home Bargains, its cheap but I buy things I don't need.
I have made sure that I use up everything whereas before things may have got thrown out. In some respects that has made us eat more, eg Sunday I made a cobbler(mega easy recipe from here) in order to use up some fresh strawberries. I did the soup again to save wasting veg. I aslo made a yoghurt cake rather than buy goodies, not sure if it was cheaper but it was tastier than bought cakes.
I struggle because we get paid throughout the month. DS gets paid 15th, I get a small wage on 25th and sometimes another on the last day. our CTC comes every four weeks and out child benefit every four weeks on a different day. I never know how much money I will have month to month and for once I know how much I need for food etc. After reading these boards I have decided tot ry to get petrol on a Wednesday too. I have no idea how much petrol I use in a month but I pan to find out. Thanks MSE'rs, you've been a greta help!

Wendrie

Well we walked to Tescos and managed to get all the top up bits plus some fruit and veg for under £50. Means that at the moment we're under budget... Even with an impromptu dinner party on Sunday and two planned meals not working out (meat for dinner had defrosted in time to be cooked and then realised it was pork not chicken breasts...oops!)

25/3/06 Costco Groceries -106.77
31/3/06 sainsburys tomatoes for salad Groceries -1.25
1/4/06 sainsburys garlic bread Groceries -1.19
25/3/06 Tescos Groceries -90.42
5/4/06 Tescos Groceries -48.41
5/4/06 Abel Cole Organic box Groceries -30.65

Total 25/3/06 - 30/4/06 -278.69

But I'm going to place the food co-op order tomorrow so that will take us up to our monthly limit... but will last us up to six months depending on the item. Still haven't worked out how I'm going to account for that.

Shez

chelltune wrote:

After reading these boards I have decided tot ry to get petrol on a Wednesday too. I have no idea how much petrol I use in a month but I pan to find out. /QUOTE]

Can I just ask why get petrol on a wednesday?

squeaky

russjacks wrote:

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,

Hiya

The following threads should just about answer all your questions:-

Vinegar & White Vinegar:
[post=545678] - Brown (malt) vinegar will not stain your clothes![/post]
[post=317293] - Cleaning product replacement?[/post]
[post=497918] - Concealing the smell of vinegar?[/post]
[post=99728] - For more than just cleaning[/post]
[post=285487] - How do you mix it / use it?[/post]
[post=884194] - Masking the smell[/post]
[post=175731] - Sources[/post]
[post=351219] - The great Bleach v Vinegar debate[/post]
[post=342247] - ..The search for cheap vinegar[/post]
[post=27821] - Uses[/post]
[post=43582] - What is it?[/post]
[post=613332] - White vinegar?[/post]

Chell

Shez wrote:

chelltune wrote:

After reading these boards I have decided tot ry to get petrol on a Wednesday too. I have no idea how much petrol I use in a month but I pan to find out. /QUOTE]

Can I just ask why get petrol on a wednesday?

I started budgetting on a Wednesday, DS is at preschool so it makes sense to shop then and get petrol on the way out of the supermarket. If I get petrol and groceries on one day it gets all the expense over and done with in one go. Since doing a spending diary I hate spending . Its amazing how much less you spend when you actually think about every penny that leaves your purse.

poppycracker

I went shopping for groceries yesterday and got a very nice surprise. We decided to stock up the freezer at Farmfoods and since I'd never been there before (they don't have one on Lewis) I couldn't beleive how cheap things were. Then we did a dry goods'fresh stuff shop in Tesco which my Mum paid for since she's staying with us for a few days. So total for this week is £40.71!

I'm away tomorrow til Tuesday so question is, how much money do I leave with himself so he won't accuse me of trying to starve him? :rotfl:

chewy62

:j That's great Chelltune! I also do my shopping on a Tuesday morning when DS1 is at playgroup, and I can fly round with DS2 who loves being in the trolley! :A
Do you avoid shops for the rest of the week?I find myself at a loose end sometimes and then nip into the Co-op or tescos to buy some bananas and bread and end up spending £10!! :eek:
I have been making lots of homemade meals and have filled the freezer, and even though I plan our meals for the week, I don't just stick to exactly what we need to make those meals. I always end up with more than I really needed. have to be more restrained! :rolleyes:

charlie007

i have had the worst luck this april, my car has been written off, my computer has died and i have spent loads, think i will start again in may!!