June '06 Grocery challenge

Bellie_2

I am definalty in, with all the money I have going out this month I really need to keep cotrol of my ASDA obsession. Planning to go shopping every sunday so that is 4 shopping days this month with a budget of £20 per week for 2 people and a fluffy cat. Here goes

skystar

jayarr wrote:

i would include cleaning items but not toiletries as i would be unlikely to buy them at the supermarket, i'll just see how it goes..another £1 down so i'm on £212 now....how do you set the little qoutes at the bottom of the box like..
"May Grocery Challenge = £150 Actual = NO idea
June Grocery Challenge = £160...."

jayarr, to get the quotes at the bottom go to the option "User CP" (which should be just above the thread) and from there you can add a signature.

Redrose

Me too gonna do this months Grocery Challenge. Did a big shop at the end of May so cupboards and freezers well stocked. So for this my first challenge gonna budget £20.00 per week. Then see what i have left to spend at the end of the month for my monthly shop.

If i really think about it I am only shopping for 2 Adults (me and hubby) as my two teenagers are often at college (during the day) they get there own lunch, and more times than enough they are at work. One in a resturant, the other in Asda, so again both get fed.

nicki_2

Already posted over in the "storecupboard challenge" thread but this thread is more applicable when it comes to sticking to a budget! So what I said over there :

I'm doing the challenge this month. I've spent £80 on a big shop but it was bulk buying of stuff like soap powder (1 months worth), toilet roll ( about 3 months worth - big 24 pack), frozen veg (less waste than fresh) , and a couple of treats.

The other night I mentioned to OH that I wasn't happy with the way the grocery budget had crept up from £120 a month to £160+ since DD's birthday in April He then said "If we can't afford it tell me!" :mad: The fact I then get "We never have any coke/actimel/biccies in" apparently doesn't come into it :rolleyes::mad: He has suggested that I implentent the storecupboard challenge (blimey..maybe he has been listening to me these past few months after all :rotfl: ) and only buy fruit, milk & bread for the rest of the month :shocked: This is what I do to some degree everymonth anyway but for it to come out of OH's mouth...I nearly fainted :rotfl: So, I have a rough inventory of my cupboards/fridge/freezer so I'm determined to do it this month...how long to pay day? :rotfl:

I should also mention that he then sat with the receipt and said "we can do without that, that, that and that" - mostly stuff for him...but I will admit that it took us a good 30 minutes to realise that "Shades" was the tissues we bought and not the toiletroll that was listed at the bottom :rotfl:

So, budget of £160 (cutting back slowly) and £80 already gone. I need to go to shops today and get more fresh fruit, unfortunately I have to go to Asda for it as the local fruit shop is hopeless if you want stuff to last the week. If I bought something from there today I can guarentee you it would be off by Monday While I'm there I'll pick up some more bread (3 loaves this week I think, then some baking ), some more tissues (I can't cope with toiletroll!) and I've got a £1 divi voucher for the co-op so I'll get milk from there when I need it.

Chell

Nicki, do you have Home bargains near you? Their tissues are very cheap. You get a large pack of the handbags packs for approx 45p. I refuse to buy Asda tissues.

I include nappies, toiletries and cleaning products aswell as food. I must admit that occassionally we buy something out and I don't include it. For example we spent £8 on two pints, juice and crisps at the weekend. I class this as 'leisure' as we really don't spend much on having a social life.

nicki_2

chelltune wrote:

Nicki, do you have Home bargains near you? Their tissues are very cheap. You get a large pack of the handbags packs for approx 45p. I refuse to buy Asda tissues.

The tissues we bought this time around was the boxed, usually I only buy the smartprice but DD and I have both had stinking colds so I upgrade then to save sore noses (didn't stop mine though :mad: )

I have got a home bargins sort of near me so if I'm going in I pick up the smaller packets (they're great to grab a few tissues to put in DD's pocket for school rather than trying to fold normal ones ) but the "bits" shop near me sell 12 packs for 59p usually. Just depends on where I am and who has what in stock as to what ones I buy now:rotfl:

nicki_2

(What on earth is up with me today, I keep forgetting to put things in posts )

Well I've been to Asda and my weekly shop came to £5.12 including 32p packet of sweets for DD which she then gave me the money for - she even tried to pay for all the shopping with her pocket money, all £2.01 :rotfl: Very impressed with myself, I bought

1. SP potatoes - 66p
2. SP Apples - 65p
3. SP Citrus - 85p
4. SP Boxed Tissues x 2 - 32p each = 64p
5. SP toilet cleaner - 26p
6. SP Brown loaf x 2 - 28p each = 56p
7. SP White thick slice loaf - 28p

:jThen DD's Fruit Pastilles as well (32p). I didn't even look in the clearance sections :eek:


Has anyone else noticed the lack of medium sliced white SP bread in Asda? Ours hasn't had any for weeks :mad:

So far thats a total of £77.90 on Sunday (big shop) and £4.80 today giving me a total of £82.70 leaving me £77.30 but only £30 in cash left in my bank account to cover it

jayarr_2

ok, been spending again today, but only on some fruit and veg-and from market rather than supermarket...grand total of £2.20..total spent getting higher but so far i am happy because the big spend this week really filled the freezer and the spending for the next week or so will (hopefully) be minor items, like sandwich fillers and salad for packed lunches
am also starting a month long placement so the idea of having a proper organised menu in place to organise us is a good one

Ajax18

I'm in. We are two in our household and in order to control the spending I have made a food money envelope with £ 86 for the month!

Whenever we buy food we have to use the cash on the envelope and make a note on it (how much was spent/ how much is still in the envelope) so that we have an overview. So far it is working quite well...

We're vegetarian so food wise we're on the cheap side I guess. Loads of fresh veg and nuts and seeds are really cheap and last for days... tesco has a 5 for the price of 4 deal on vegetables right now. if you buy cleverly you can save quite a bit. for example, choose the five most expensive packed veg bags in your basked and buy them separately so that you make the most of the free pack, rather than saving 24p on half a cucumber...

jayarr_2

ok..i can start to see a pattern emerging, had to go shopping again today..hoping i'll be more organised when i'm back in work next week!!

dont see how i could avoid it tho realistically-i hate muffins that have been frozen and sunday morning's not right without bacon butties..also i needed salad stuff for packed lunches...and i was really strict about only buying what i needed, also got salad items rather than my usual ready made salad..

todays spends-
lettuce, spring onions, cherry tomatoes £1.90
Cucumber 40p
muffins 94p-saved money by buying same make as i get from asda from local market, would have spent far more if i'd just 'popped into asda for them
2 bags of egg pasta from m&s, luxury but saves me buying dinners will last for at least 2-3 weeks, probably more like 4