April Grocery Challenge 2006

angelatgraceland

chewy62 wrote:

Think I will start next Tuesday, even though I have quite a bit in the freezer and cupboards so I should hopefully not need the whole £50 for the week. :rolleyes:
If my OH goes to the Spar, I never include this in my weekly budget, d'ya think I should? :rolleyes:
Also, I don't know whether to itemise my receipts when I come home into food, magazines (heaven forbid!),dog food, nappies etc., so I can see exactly where it is all going.
Byeeee!!!! :beer:

In the past, Ive categorised it as follows:
Food
Household
Stationary and magazines etc
Pets
Medical
Petrol and travel

You may think of some other headings but you don't want to have too many. For this years challenges I've set up a spreadsheet which is simply food and non-foood. Thats ok for me as I know where my money goes now, but when I first started logging my spending I needed the categories to see where the money was going. If you'd like any help setting up a spreadsheet, please pm me. I realy would include those trips to Spar as they are not free, are they? I keep all my receipts and try to fill in my spreadsheet daily, otherwise I would forget what got spent where, or lose the evidence.

MinnieSpender

bulchy wrote:

I decided to tell my sister that we were doing this, and she looked at me like I've got 2 heads, I reminded her that she managed great when her OH was unemployed, her reply? 'Well I wouldnt dream of going back to eating the c**p we ate then' I dont eat c**p, I dont feed my family c**p, I thought her of all people would realise its all about going back to eating 'proper food' and doing everything from scratch. I'll be keeping it to myself from now on, apart from sharing it with everyone here
Sue

:mad: What a terrible attitude!

Sue - you stick to your guns on this one. Proper food and doing it from scratch is the way forward. Personally I eat better when I have to think about ingredients and when I'm cooking for myself.

Just remind her that Jamie Oliver won awards for going back to basics!

Stick with us, kid!

Chell

chewy62 wrote:

Think I will start next Tuesday, even though I have quite a bit in the freezer and cupboards so I should hopefully not need the whole £50 for the week. :rolleyes:
If my OH goes to the Spar, I never include this in my weekly budget, d'ya think I should? :rolleyes:
Also, I don't know whether to itemise my receipts when I come home into food, magazines (heaven forbid!),dog food, nappies etc., so I can see exactly where it is all going.
Byeeee!!!! :beer:

I'm counting groceries as food, nappies, toiletries and cleaning products.

What do you do about holidays? We are away next week, its half board so we will spend on food at lunchtime. I think I'll class this as 'leisure' rather than part of the grocery challenge

angelatgraceland

I wouldnt even count the week you are away-just subtract if from the month as its not a very realisitc total otherwise. Thats just my opinion though. Holidays are just that-go and enjoy!

The_New_Caz

I know we are in April but as I have no idea what I am spending on food this month or anything come to that matter I have decided to aim for £35 for one person for the month of May. This will enable me to menu plan including meat free dishes to keep the price down, take time to shop in market and psyche myself up! Personally I enjoy cooking and having just visited my mother and had frozen pie and chips realised I prefer the flavour of homemade. And as I don't have the money to go out may as well spend the time cooking!

angelatgraceland

Well have you taken a look at Black Saturns menu planner? Ive done a few tvp meals to avoid buying meat also. You should make your target-its a great help that you like cooking(shame about the washing up).I find that when the market are about to pack away, the meat prices often come down. Also, some of the supermarkets do their meat reductions first thing in the morning(other, an hour or so before closing). Try to find out when your shops do theirs. Most of them will tell you if you ask.

firstyearisthehardest

I did the main shop at the beginning of the month and stocked up on meat so there is still plenty left in the freezer. Going shopping again on Friday night but its just really for fresh veg, fruit, bread and milk so hopefully I wont be lured by any offers on stuff we dont need!

The_New_Caz

angelatgraceland wrote:

Well have you taken a look at Black Saturns menu planner?

Hi angelatgraceland

Can you tell me where I can find this please?

rchddap1

Did two shops over the weekend. One at Tesco's and another at Asdas. OH paid for the Tesco shop, whilst I paid for the one at Asdas. So if I bend the rules slightly I really only spent around £17.

Chell

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!

Today is the last day of my second week, £50.88 spend. DP needed razor blades so that was over £6 alone :eek: . Luckily he doesn't shave very often so they will last ages.