August 2009 Grocery Challenge 25 July 2009 at 5:20PM edited 20 August 2009 at 9:23AM in Old style MoneySaving 937 replies 98.5K views

elly2

elly2 wrote: »

Afternoon all, a NSD here yesterday and today and possibly tomorrow :j

How wrong can i be i went out last night and my brood managed to eat all the bread and drink 6 pints of milk :mad: and they hit the goody cupboard as well :rolleyes: dont mind the goodies going as once they have gone that is it i wont buy any more till late next week, they have also managed to eat 22 BAGS OF CRISPS since i did my tesco shop :eek:(am glad i bought the cheapest ones i could find). So now i will need more milk and bread i may have a go at making the bread by hand as i can make a bigger loaf , i am refusing to buy any more from the shops i have all the ingredients needed (i think), just need the get up and go :rolleyes:

Maitane

Thanks for the pep talk Rosie.
I know exactly what we spent the month before I tightened the reins (about two months before starting the grocery challenge) and I could make some OSers faint. I wasn't quite spending £17,000 a year but I suppose in relation to what we earn, it was a lot.

But yes, as soon as I get to grips with £160, I'm going to drop it by £10 or so each month, to see how low we can get our expenditure.

I'm looking forward to September now, I'm being made redundant on Friday so I really need to stick to the challenge.

rosieben

Maitane wrote: »

Thanks for the pep talk Rosie.

sorry I dont mean to be preachy but I see so many of you beating yourselves up when you're actually doing well; even writing down a figure for your budget is a positive step!

I'm still trying to stick to my budget but dithered yesterday as to whether I wanted a sainsbugs or MrT order and ended up with both; in my defence I didnt buy anything much last month and wont have to shop next month apart from f&v so the big spend evens out over the 3 months that's my story and I'm sticking to it

kippers

Well my month ends tomorrow (24th) and i still have £5 to spend...very pleased i'm back on track again (dispite a broken wrist).

I love this thread

mooomin

Off to shops later on as my lovely friend who has a car takes me when she gets paid :j

Shall come online later on and confess all my sins :rotfl:

Tashja

Whoops - Went to Aldi before for some Tomatoes and spent 23.16 (can't find the pound key ??) oh dear.

Not over the 300 for August but I am over the 200 we were aiming to lower the GC amount to next month !! Oh well - still going for 200 next month !!

Today I have flapjacks in the oven, Welsh Tea Bread had\s been done and so has a loaf of Cheese and Tomato bread and a Spiced tea loaf. I am also going to do the Mince Batch Bake today ready for the last week of this month - going to aim not to spend any more this month on food.

The 50.00 I would usually do on a Wednesday in Mr T's is going to be transfered to savings !!

T xx

helen_jelly

Going to MrS later - gotta get EX OH a birthday pressie from DD and DS [can't wait till they're old enough to spend their own money] also going to get some sausages as DD wants to make tea with DH - bangers and mash, potatoes are home grown as are veg so not an expensive meal tonight. Will also see if there are any whoopsies and as DH is going its bound to make us go over budget so will keep a tight reign on him lol

Just made MrsM's blackberry bake again but instead of pastry on top I sliced up an apple so will be taste testing that later with some cream - yum yum

Helen x

Keiss_21

Been posting a lot this morning on different threads as well as making lots of plans. Doing all this while listening to the cricket...go England (sounds odd as I'm a Scot)!

Coming in close to our budget this month £372.99 with a £400 budget. Cupboards, freezer and fridge all full , but will probably need to get extra milk as DS2 managed to spill a full 4 pint bottle of milk (not watered-down) over the conservatory floor...a bit pongy still after 2 washes...will clean again before bedtime.

Hope to have lots of NSD days ahead!

Will probably have a meal out and a takeaway this week to celebrate exam results (DS1 is off to Warwick in October and DS2 will get his GCSEs this Thursday), but that's a different budget!

I'll post at end of the month with my final spend.

M

Miss-spent_2

Hi declaring today and £54ish over budget. This is because we have entertained a lot and DS2 has been home from uni. Fortunately we go away fron Tues to Fri and spending money is put aside.
My down fall is that I can not resist a bargain and stock up on offer or Whoops.
Up until recently I was managing on £230 is a month but now its well over £300, so (deep breath!) I am going to aim for just £125 in September which includes £25 for cat food. This is to make me use up all the odd bits and pieces I have in cupboards etc. That is for 3 adults and if they don't like it they can buy their own stuff.
Do you think its possible?

cw18

Miss-spent wrote: »

I am going to aim for just £125 in September which includes £25 for cat food. This is to make me use up all the odd bits and pieces I have in cupboards etc. That is for 3 adults and if they don't like it they can buy their own stuff.
Do you think its possible?

If you've got plenty in, then it should be possible. My monthly budget for 3 adults for 3 days would be £162 - so £100 for 'human' food is still more than half of that But if you use 'expensive' meats (free range/organic) and need to buy some, then I guess it could be a struggle (I use all cheaps cuts and/or Whoopsies). My fruit and veg is mostly tinned and frozen (respectively), which I find minimises waste for us.