November 2009 Grocery Challenge

huston_kw

thisismoneysaving wrote: »

I feel quite guilty... you guys are doing so well.. even if you're over budget at least you've written it all down properly!!! I've totally lost track - no idea where I am. :mad:
Maybe I should call this month a practise?!
I don't think I'm over budget (or anywhere near tbh) but I don't know... you know?
Any hints??
I'm going to try and eat from the freezer this week and next...

What I do is use KMyMoney it's an account package for linux and I've got into the habit of filling it in when I get in (daily) so it's all tallies. I have sections for various income and expenditure. You could use a spreadsheet and fill it in daily (no need to keep a months worth of recipts) and no end of month trying to figger where the moneys gone etc etc... I hate it when I lose track of it and do it all in one go.

ajmoney

Well my aim for the month was £300 and I am nowhere near that (currently at £118.76) although we were away at the weekend and have eaten out a couple of times. We are trying to eat healthier which is good as our fruit buying seems to be cheaper than the chocolate and crisps buying.

I was looking at other people's monthly budget, how many people are there in your households? There are 2 of us, I would be interested to compare with other people's spends.

huston_kw

ajmoney wrote: »

Well my aim for the month was £300 and I am nowhere near that (currently at £118.76) although we were away at the weekend and have eaten out a couple of times. We are trying to eat healthier which is good as our fruit buying seems to be cheaper than the chocolate and crisps buying.

I was looking at other people's monthly budget, how many people are there in your households? There are 2 of us, I would be interested to compare with other people's spends.

Mine use to be 400 and that was for food, laundry, kids stuff inc clothes etc, toiletries basic everything but utlilties, rent and big one offs.

I didn't like the fact that I spent so much so I cut it and I've been reducing it by 10 pounds a month, aiming for 230 this month, I was just under 240 last month but I'm wanting it at 200 for next year.

We are a family of 2 adults and two children (3&5) we eat very well. We barely eat out (never really have) and don't eat takeaways.

I found that food planning really helped to lower the cost.

ajmoney

Thanks huston_kw I am quite ashamed that we spent £300 last month when your family of 4 spends less. We eat well too, good meat etc. We only eat out when we are away, takeaways when we are doing hospital visits. We have cut this down an awful lot from a couple of years ago. I tried meal planning a few weeks away but it is hard to get OH on board, I may try again next week and try to keep the bill under £200 for the month.

nmlc

Afternoon all

Just a quick update on the spends, shopped at MrA today and spent £84.04 - more than I wanted but bought some extras that were on offer, so not too worried. NEED TO DECLARE AT £376.98 FOR LAST MONTH AND SIGN UP FOR £350 FOR NEXT MONTH PLEASE. Really need to get into gear with the Xmas shopping I'm really behind this year and so need to get organised in the next couple of weeks. MrA are having quite a lot of good offers at the moment so keep checking them out.

Have a good weekend everyone, hugs to those that need them.
nmlc

SunnyGirl

Just updating my signature with todays spends. Went to the local market & got a 2kg piece of gammon for Sundays lunch & leftovers for Monday's tea & a soup as well. 2 bags of Iams cat food from a local cheapy freezer shop and a big bag of oven chips for late night munching for the kids All in came to £15.46

ajmoney When I started doing the grocery challenge almost a year ago I was spending £450 - £500 a month. There are 6 of us - myself, DH, DD (17), DS1 (17), DS2 (15) and DS3 (11). It's down drastically from that now thankfully and we seem to eat better too. We eat 99% home cooked meals & don't really eat out much or have takeaways - with 6 of us its just too cost prohibitive :eek::D I started by dropping £10 or £15 a month off the budget as it's not noticable. My DH has lost his job now so we don't have much choice but to keep the budget as low as possible but, having said that, I don't think I'd spend much more than I do now anyway. The only thing that I don't buy in abundance any more is cooked meats as they are expensive & will often go off before they're used as the boys will open 4 of them at the same time then go off sandwiches for a few days :rolleyes: We have cheese, cream cheese, lentil pate, other HM pates, tuna, egg & peanut butter on sandwiches now instead.

I think that slow and steady is the way forward for reducing your spend HTH

thisismoneysaving

Thanks for the kind words RE my lack of note-taking.
I think doing it daily is key.
I'm going to carry on with this month & try to tott it all up. Who knows how accurate it will be though.
Next month I'm going to be a bit more military about things. I'm not the most disciplined person around, but I'm trying at least.

I have been cooking from scratch 9/10 and tried out some new yummy recipes, which have gone down a treat.

I've baked for the first time (since being a grown up) too (twinks and blueberry muffins - both fab).

Maybe I'm biting off more than I can chew?!

taka

I use a pocketmod with a shopping list bit on a page or 2 to record my spends during the week then tot it all up and do a proper update of my spreadsheets etc at the weekend. I live in jeans all the time (even at work) so I usually have one in my pocket along with a pen in my pocket or bag.

scotsaver

Hi everyone - a NSD today and still feel I won't need to go near shops until Monday.;)

Dinner tonight our usual fish, chips and mushy peas and then I need to put my feet up - won't go into the details but had a stressful day.

Hugs to those that need them, have a good weekend everyone.:D

Jevvers

Taka, never seen one of those before, cute!

Thisismoneysaving you've baked for the first time ever and started making most of your meals, I think you're doing brilliantly!

SunnyGirl how do you do your HM flatbreads?

I spent £3.50 today on two lots of milk, butter and some pitta breads. DS (age 2) and I made a chocolate cake for DH's birthday and I think I will have to pop out in the morning to get some cooking choc for the icing.

Dinner tonight will be haddock mornay with mash and cauli or leeks. Maybe ice-cream and froz blueberries for pud.