February grocery challenge

filigree_2

Tiff: If your bloke demands name brand shower gel, try the special offers in magazines. Last year I subscribed to three issues of Zest magazine for £5.70, and they sent me 10 assorted bottles of Original Source. A similar offer for Company magazine provided me with 9 bottles of Imperial Leather bubble bath. These offers come up almost every month and if you keep your eyes peeled you could get your family some name brand toiletries for well under £1 a bottle.

I haven't got the hang of the new Forum layout, but there is usually a thread devoted to magazine special offers, try the Grabbit board.

A study of cheap versus fancy shampoos showed that Tesco own label wheatgerm shampoo is just as good as the expensive brands.

Edit: You might find this offer useful

Originally Posted by colliecrew
Subscribe to Zest magazine for £3.00 for 3 issues and receive an Original Source gift set worth £40.
https://www.subscription.co.uk/zest/SA18
offer closes 7/2/5
Alternatively call
01858 438844 quoting SA18

Bogof_Babe

Does anyone know whether the 2-in-1 shampoos (i.e. shampoo and conditioner in one) can be substituted by mixing ordinary shampoo and ordinary conditioner and shaking it up?

I have some rather drying cheapo apple-scented Sainsbury stuff (reduced to 50p due to cracked top) and some conditioner which I never use, as I shampoo in the bath and rinse off under the shower and it all gets too complicated and long-winded , so I was wondering about mixing the two together.

I just wondered whether they would cancel eachother out or something, and I'd be left with a yukky mess on my head .

MATH

Don't mix them. It won't work!

Janeryan

Well car failed it's MOT and will cost £150.00 plus vat to fix plus the £40.00 mot fee so will need to be even more careful with shopping bill.

What do you think would be a good(realistic) figure for everything(cleaning products & food) for what is basically 3 adults for a month.

My freezer & cupboards are both pretty well stocked.

Any ideas?

elona

I came across a tip in a beauty book - put a tiny amount of conditioner in your hand rub palms together and then stroke over hair and leave in ( I would stress this really does mean TINY) .

You do not rinse it out - just dry your hair as normal.

tiff

Thanks Filligree, will have a look at that now.

Jane, not sure what your budget should be, I spend around £45 for 2 adults and 2 kids. I could cut it back more but I dont want to buy value things for all of my shopping. I am happy that I have cut my bill by half, but I'm still going to see if I can meet my target over the next couple of weeks. Whatever you spend now, try and reduce it by £10 and see how it goes.

spidystrider

Well I am going to do my first February shop tomorrow. I have looked through my cupboards and freezer and I'm determined to use up all the food stuffs that have been lying around for ages. I do my shopping twice a week and normally struggle to stick to a £40 and £35 shop ( I did spent over £40 on Monday ). My aim tomorrow is to spent no more than £25, I'll let you know how I get on. I am feeling very determined to make this work as I am sick and tired of throwing my money away on over processed, expensive and mainly unhealthy food stuffs. I am even more annoyed at making these multi- billion pound companies even richer and am determined to get as much as I can off them, for as little as possible!

Janeryan

Thanks Tiff-I'll let you know how it goes next week when i hit the shop again.

spidystrider

Well I did my first shop of February today. My aim was to spend no more than £25. I actually spent £20.13 and used £5 worth of coupons, so total was £15.13 but I did not buy that much. Here's my list:

Kingsmill Whole White 76p x 3
6 Free Range Eggs 84p
Hartley's No Bits Jam 64p but bought 2 for £1
4 pack Chocolate Ring Donuts 98p
500g pack Asda Bourbon Cream biscuits 48p
Bananas 74p/kg 47p worth
New York bagels £1.24
Asda value food bags 43p
2 Carrots 15p
Gala apples 98p/kg 49p worth
Quorn Chicken slices £1.07
Pot Noodle 68p each but bought 3 for £1.50
12 tin pack Asda Dog food £3.78
Asda 6 pints milk £1.51 x 3

This is the best I've done in ages, still a couple of things in there I don't really need but don't want to be too mean!

System

Well done spideystrider.