April 2010 Grocery Challenge

savingforoz

I'm declaring at £60.97 for April - well pleased with that!

Trinny

Hi All

From my signature - you can see that March's good work was rather eclipsed in April. OH did the shopping and a number of extra "treats" appeared in the weekly shop - including 4 large bars of chocolate and some posh beer!

HOpefully will do better in May

Trin

Maisie_M

Hi all

Well total for April was £142.50 which I am pleased about. I had it at £133 until yesterday but did a shop in a couple of shops I don't normally go to so stocked up on some goodies they do that I don't normally get in Mr T's. Still pleased as its under target although in saying that I am still using up stocks in my freezer which is making it easier. Think I will drop to £150 next month as I have been able to do this over the past three months.

positivelypurple

Declaring my final total as £354 this month - £14 over budget but I'm fairly confident about May.

I'm aiming for £340 for May.

Well done to all those under/at budget, excellent work and very inspiring for the rest of us :T:T:T

earthmother

I'm declaring for April. My month isn't over until Sunday, but I've done all my shopping now. I'm £33.95 over, at £383.95.

I can account for the spends though - I've had a few long term household bits need relacing (mop, oven gloves, a few utensils), DH had about £15 for when he was in hospital at the start of the month, and (naughty mummy) I forgot to budget a bit extra for DS1s birthday this weekend.

Take those spends out, and I would have been under this month I also clocked up 15 NSDs - which is 43% - aiming for over 50% next month.

scotsaver

Sorry I've not been around much this month but I have kept a close eye on what I've been spending £249.68 for April please put me down for £250 for May thanks MRSMC. Have kept up to date with all your posts, well done everyone, see you over on the May GC.;)

rachbc

I STILL haven't done my reciepts but we had £40 over in the jar - best comment was from hubby who said - wow this money saving is easy, we have cash left over and I've not noticed any difference in how well we're eating!

as if it had all magically done it all by itself!! I am pleased he thinks we are eating well but a little miffed he doesn't see how much work it takes!

jackieglasgow

Decaring for April. Drum roll, please............................

£463.64 of which £280 is petrol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew it would be bad but OMG, unfortunately OH's work demanded it, the only good thing being he can claim it against expenses on next year's accounts. We don't take it out of the "business" account, even though he's using it for work, though, which means I am out of pocket til it's claimed back. Need to have a long hard think about that one. Hmm.

So my food budget is great £183.64 for the month, but it's all meant to come out of one pot, which is why the figure's so high. Will post this months on the May Fred.

Jackie X

cookiemum

Well pay day has eventually arrived so I am declaring April at £308.04.

I'm quite proud of myself and it has definitely given me the nudge I needed to get more organised so a big thank you to everyone for their advice and support.

A special Thanks to hex2 - the upside down sheep went down very well!

Have a great weekend and good luck to everyone for May! :T

Spiggle

Hi and well done to everyone for the dedication and hard work in April. :A

Well payday is here and the money is in my bank so I'm declaring at £212.82 for April please MrsMc. I'm very pleased with the result and just managed to achieve my target of 18 nsd too. But it was very very tight on those so not increasing my nsd target for May and sticking with 18.

OH and I just had a chat about the target for May and how much we should reduce by. The strange thing is that for both of the two months we've done this now we've come in at around £45 under even though the target was reduced by £20 for the second month. I suppose there is probably some sort of psychological thing going on but don't know what. :think:

So, we've decided to reduce our budget by another £20 for this month and see how we go. Please put me down for £240 budget for May MrsMc, thank you. :T

We've had a lot of big extra spends this month, car tax, car service & MOT, car insurance, new lawnmower, new hosepipe and OH's birthday at the beginning of the month. Whilst the GC has remained on target, the extras, most of which are annual, have hit our ability to save this month which is a shame but manageable.

On the upside, I got my first ever payout from Quidco and that was a help when I was shelling out money on the car.

Last year, my daughter moved into her late father's house and we provided her with tubs, compost and plants to grow her own. She did it quite successfully but doesn't want to do it again this year so we're having all the pots and tubs back and going to grow some things on our patio.

Already bought some cut and come again salad leaf seeds and have three of the cherry type tomato plants (I only wanted one as the last time we grew these many years ago we were inundated with tomatoes but OH fancied a variety!). I'm going to get a few of the potato sacks and put those on the patio and gradually earth/fill them up as they grow. Watching the Edible Garden the other night OH actually started softening towards my desire to have some fruit plants and maybe some veg amongst our borders too. We'll see if that feeling remains!

Does anyone grow courgettes in planters on the patio? We used to grow them in the ground and I'm wary of the effect of wind blowing them over with the big leaves. But they are so decorative and we buy a lot of them. Similarly, there are a lot of pepper plants around - again something we buy and eat large quantities of - does anyone have any success growing them in pots on the patio or do they need the shelter of a greenhouse?

Oh, maybe I should add that we garden totally organically and so any tips regarding fending off slugs and snails really appreciated - we have just bought the copper tape for my clematis pots so I'll see how that goes and let you know.

Ok, time to stop the essay! :silenced:

Once again, well done to everyone and especially those who like me are newbies, welcome to those joining us for May and good luck all,
Spigs