February grocery challenge

jazzyjustlaw

Thanks for the invite Tiff your a star, I really appreciate it.

Not much happened on this thread today.

Janeryan

A big Well Done to everyone-you are all doing so well with the challenge!!

My freezer is looking very bare but have managed to avoid doing a "big" shop this week.

Purchases have been as follows

4pts organic s/skim milk £1.30
Organic bananas £1.39
2x 9" ham & pineapple pizzas £2.48 (were originally £2.49 each and also on multibuy so got a further 98p off
2x Scotch Pancakes £1.08(multibuy so 8p off of that-it was Pancake Day after all)

Total £5.19

plus bread & milk bought at corner store on Sunday for £1.89 and flowers bought on Monday which should have been £2.99 but got them for 75p so total spend so far for this month is £44.62.

So I have £55.38 to last me the remaining 19 days of Feb

In defence of the flowers it was the anniversary of my Mum passing away so I bought them to cheer me up and to put by her picture as I couldn't get to visit the cemetry(and they were a bargain!)

Hoping not to need to go to shop again untill Saturday

tiff

Jane, you had every right to buy the flowers!

Dont forget to use coupons against your food shopping everyone, it might sound obvious but not everyone is in the habit of doing it.

Janeryan

The trouble with Sainsburys which is where I do virtually all of my shopping(apart from the odd Iceland order) as it is on the doorstep is that they will only take a coupon if you are actually buying the product-which is very annoying!!

They used to take them as long as they sold the product even if you hadn't actually bought it but that stopped about 2 years ago if not more.

I know Tescos take lots of vouchers but for what it costs me in petrol to get there-not to mention the temptation of everything else that they stock I don't think it would be a good idea for me to go there!

tiff

Living in a city I forget that not everyone has access to all stores. I have a Sainsburys and Tesco both very close by and an Asda near my kids school. I've had to switch to Asda from now on as they take three coupons at a time whereas Tesco only take one if you're not buying the item on the coupon. Worth it if you can get hold of high value coupons.

swizzlebabe

Think I am well on the way, to £140 for 2 adults and 2 kids. Spent £77 inc del on Tesco online, 1st time I`ve used them. Got £10 off by using a code from this site.
Cupboards and frezzer full. £15 a week to spend on milk fruit etc, will go to local lidl, so will not be tempted.
Their nappies are only £5.25 for a large pack and really good too, the size of pamper etc at £8.99. Use pre folds in the summer, but find too hard to dry in the winter,must get that potty out again!!!!!!!!

Janeryan

Had to go today as have emptied freezer virtually and it is half term next week so will have at least one humgry boy at home all day-not to mention his mates!

Now I only had £55.38 left for February if my target was to be £100.00(bear in mind this time last year I spent £187.41 and that was only for 3 weeks as we were away at half term)

Anyway spent £59.51 in Sainsburys as follows

organic apples x 2 bags £3.58
organic bananas £1.39
Potatoes £2.49 (reduced to £1.49)
Peppers x4 £0.99
Frozen veg (stirfry chinese
peas
brocoli
stew pack) £5.80 total
Oven chips £0.99
1litre organic s/skim milk £0.60
Rustlers burger x2 £1.51 each (on offer 2 for £2.00)
Pork stirfry £2.59 (reduced to £1.79)
Turkey steaks £2.99 (reduced to £2.49)
Sour cream £0.41
3 x Crunch corner yogurts £0.38 each (buy 3 for 0.99)
Sausage rolls x 10 x 2 1.59 each (reduced to 1.09 then on bogof as well)
Porkinson sausages x 6 £2.45
Cheddar cheese £2.27
2 x quiche £1.69 each(buy 2 for £3.00)
Tomato Al Forno £3.19 (reduecd to £1.59)
Guinness x4 £4.99
Punnet plums £1.49
Organic tomatoes £2.09
6xSnickers £1.75
6 x Mars £1.18
Anzac biccys £0.99
reduced bread £0.49
reduced cheese scones £0.65
Simpsons choc bars £0.79
Wagon wheels x2 packs £0.98 each(buy 2 for £1.50)
Chocolates & card(housewarming present for friend) £6.23 chocs should have been £6.50 but were on clearance
Batteries x4 £2.97
Paper & magazine £2.30

So not too bad considering that I normally wouldn't have bought the house warming present! I know how much I spent last year because I keep a record at the top of my diary.

So I won't make the £100.00 because we will still need bread & milk etc but the rest should last us up untill payday(28th) and I will easily have reduced it from last year. Will keep you updated on how I'm doing!

nabowla

Well, I'm coming to the end of my first month's grocery challenge as I get paid in the middle of the month.

I've not quite managed to hit my £80 target but was fairly close - not bad, considering that I used to spend around £120 per month. I've switched to more 'own brands' (dishwasher tablets, washing powder etc) and not noticed the difference (apart from the price!). I've also cut back on the amount of fresh stuff that I'm buying and then throwing out because it's gone off.

I started off using cash only but slipped into bad habits mid month by using my debit card. This month I think I'll take out £80 cash at the start of the month and then not take out any more money or use cards.

I've just discovered that there's a Lidl that I can get to on the bus. Several of you have mentioned bargains from Lidl so I might try it next week. What sort of products does it sell? Is it just frozen foods or fresh as well? Would I be able to get my fruit & veg there? Does it only sell own brand stuff or does it have discounted brands?

Hope you're all saving money on your groceries too!

tiff

Well I only spent £29 this week, so I'm still on target. I'm really pleased as we used to spend over £400 a month!

crana999

I didn't join in the challenge exactly but since 20th Jan I've spent £28.58