elantan's diary

lynzpower

OK, shall we run it from the 20th then again?

Gives you a bit of time to plan etc?

elantan

yes that sounds fine to me ..gonna be skint either way ..so the sooner the better..just told hubby he's freaking:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: ..but it's gotta be done sometime and now is the best time i think ..thanks again for the invite..cheered me up a bit..better go check my cupboards and look at os board again for tips...

lynzpower

hehehe Lous OH was also like :eek: at the challenge so dont worry about it- I think she hadnt really done a challenge before, but she hasnt gone over budget yet ( unless shes too scared to tell me :rotfl:)

Im having a sterling month, but dont let that intimidate you Ive got a week left, but dont worry, I certainly wont be going out and spending whats left in my budget filling the freezer haha Ill be paying the change off my barclaycard.

Top tip, scav as many vouchers as you can. Ive saved a tenner this week cos of it, and i have another little £3 voucher in the purse.

If you are struggling for ideas, do give me a shout, its not the sort of challenge where we are that tight we want to see each other fail! See you in OS :beer: ANd on the 20th, start your sig, then we can all keep an eye on each other :rotfl:

elantan

deffinately..can't wait now..only thing is i never seem to get any vouchers? must be doing something wrong...am i better doing a weekly shop/monthly /daily..i usually do daily but am careful only to buy what i need..as we like a lot of fresh veg and fruit it makes more sense to me..but what do you recommend i do? a wekly shop may make it easier...oh i have to make food plans now yikes...telling everyone in the house in advance how they will be poisoned that will feel a) strange but b)devilish lol

newleaf

oooh, I love a bit of competition! Come on ELANTAN, my money's on you to come up trumps here!

elantan

thanks newleaf ..some how i do't think i will do that well ...but it will deff give me something to work towards and who knows i may just shock myself..just been looking on os board wow those guys and gals know what they are doing ..been busy writting down recipes...lol my family will not know what's hit em ...on the one hand they are glad i'm on here (new gas and elec plan came in £30 plus saving a month) but on the other they are panicking ha ha ha ..probably be me that will fare the worst though..

newleaf

I also recommend you look at the 'shop don't drop' board, and if you can get to a Lidl or Aldi at all they are well worth a shufty. I try to avoid shopping daily, twice a week should be all you need - one 'big' shop and one top up, mid week.

ozzyfan_2

Hope you & hubby are feeling better today & hubby's got over the shock of the approaching food challenge!
£200 sounds fair to me, we have the same budget & our family are the same size as yours + 2 cats, guinea pig & gerbil lol & I can easily get everything we need for under £200.
I usually do a monthly Tesco shop which comes to about £110-120 then have £20 a week for top up shopping which is usually done at Lidls but often don't spend it all.
As long as you do a meal plan, write a list & have a look on old style you will sail through the month
Good luck elantan, lynz & loopy with your challenge!

lynzpower

elantan wrote:

deffinately..can't wait now..only thing is i never seem to get any vouchers? must be doing something wrong...am i better doing a weekly shop/monthly /daily..i usually do daily but am careful only to buy what i need..as we like a lot of fresh veg and fruit it makes more sense to me..but what do you recommend i do? a wekly shop may make it easier...oh i have to make food plans now yikes...telling everyone in the house in advance how they will be poisoned that will feel a) strange but b)devilish lol

Where do you live? Sometimes in the free sheets if you get those there are vouchers? Where do I get mine from? Well Ive only started REALLY getting into it recently. BUT heres some ideas

1. Pinecone research is a market research survey co. Im not sure they are taking people on at the mo but I started a couple of years ago with that, and for every survey you do you get £4 of luncheon vouchers

2. LOOK VERY CLOSELY on the shop shelves. Last week I needed saome bleach, domestos was on offer somewhere, and it also had a 50p voucher attached to the lid. So I chose that instead of shops own.

3. Theres a "try me free" hunt on the top of the freebies board, some productsd "if you are not happy with the product tell us why we will refund you" so I got £3 back from surf for thier powder that didnt work. Before I would have just washed it again ( which I did) but I phoned them and got £3 back- when the powder was only 1.55 or whatever.

4. Clubcard vouchers- get involved in those as I said on my other thread. Very worthwhile.

5. Boots points, OH is on strict instructions that if he MUST buy a cold drink or anything up town then buy from boots or tescos to get the points.

6. Tescos will generally accept vouchers whether you have bought the product or not. So on the freebies board there is usually loads of free trials of stuff, and they come with vouchers, so take them to tescos and get cash off your weekly shop. 10p here and there realy does make a difference.

Do have a look round shop but dont drop theres some killer stuff there. Ive had this week about a tenners worth of vouchers through the door and also some free washing powder which will do 3 washes, saving us a bit more money.

Theres also some threads like " the great own brand hunt" " what to buy not to buy at netto/aldi/lidl and a brilliant one about tescco R&R - ie if they charge you more than the shelf or label price then they have to give you the product for free and give you the refund.

Have a good nose around. Nothing better than a real bargain!!

jessicamb

lynzpower wrote:

We run from the 20th ( my payday lol) to the 20th, so you are more than welcome to start then. Who is in your house again, sorry I forgot. In mine theres me & OH so we are looking at 100, lou is her, OH and 2 cats, so she gets 120, so how manys in yours? We can work out a figure thats not comfortable, but wont make things impossible for you right at the start. Bear in mind, Ive been doing 100pcm for a while now, so I might bring ours down a touch jsut to keep me on my toes

Sorry to hijack your thread but can I join in too? Groceries is one of my big battles so I would like the challenge.