Did my first 'budgeted' shop last night..

SeaSmart

cam to 94.31 eek! Shopped at asda. £6 of that is coming off the clothes budget because we bought som babygrows for our daughter. So 88 quid on groceries.
Bearing in mind we bought shed loads of toilet rolls and washing up liquid and washing powder that will last us for the month. Also loads of nappies. A lot of household stuff.
The next shop should be around 40 quid for food only. We bought lots and lots of fresh vegetables. MY wife isnt keen on the meat at ASDA so she is going back to tescos for that. We maximised on any BOGOF or 3 for 2 stuff that we could and we did buy quite a bit. Although it could most definitely be cheaper probably.

Thos of you who didn't read my other thread we are a family of 4. Me,my wife and 2 kids (4 years and 8 months).

Whilst we were queueing up we saw another family buying JUST asda smartprice stuff (their bottom of the range items). We only bought asdas own brand stuff (smart price is even cheaper than asdas own brand) apart from a couple of bits. My wife doesn't want to buy all smart price stuff due to the tatse and quality being rubbish. I do tend to agree with her on this.

FYI my monthly shopping budget is 300 to start. We have never budgeted before. Once we get it under that we will try and shave off 20 quid or so a month.

Thanks for reading.

LittleL_4

Well done! You're doin great.... :T :T :T

L
xx

dave318

It's a start. Even recognising what you spend is of benefit. It is only then that you can realise where the money is going. How long do you think that £88 of groceries will last? Is that for a week or maybe two?

If you have looked around this board, some people are trying to get by on £60 a month. I wouldn't have a chance of getting to double that let alone £60.

A few people will direct you to the Old School board as this can contain ways of stretching that budget, cheap meals etc.
Follow some of their ideas such as bulk cooking and freezing meals. You will get some good ideas on there and soon see that spend coming down a bit.

Well done and keep it going.:T

bikerqueen

The thingb with smart price is that some is crapola and some is indistinguishable from brand stuff.

Chopped tomatoes are great, kidney beans are nasty. Smart price crisps are ace (and less in a bag so better for the diet! washing up liquid is a false economy. Their tinfoil is a fraction of the price and the only difference is it comes without a box - well, you'll already have a box from your last roll. I wouldnt buy smart price meat, but the veg (mushrooms and peppers) are great for cooking and cost nothing like the asda own brand stuff. I wouldn't buy their loo roll but the thin bleach is absolutely fine. Instead of just blanketly saying no, perhaps swap in a couple of items, find out which of their items work for you.

SeaSmart

Thanks everyone.

BIkerqueen. We did buy smartprice veg and we bought their peppers. My wife spent ages sifting through the packs though checking them over until she was happy lol.

We can get things like foil and wipes at 'good deal' down the high street. This place is DIRT CHEAP for this kind of stuff. 49p for a can of deodorant (ok it smells like wild horses but it means people wont bother me at my desk at work about silly things . If they come to me i know its important!)

We did buy asda chopped tomatoes (not the smart price ones) as they were 3 for two and we use them a lot in chillis and spag bol which we all love.

The more and more we do this the better at it we will become

thanks for all the advice guys.

KatrinaC_2

This week's shop came to £88, but then next week's shop will be much lower. Try viewing your spend in terms of an average. Some weeks it will be higher and so long as the next week's spend is lower you're doing fine.

Have you joined the Grocery Challenge type threads? They're a great way to get moral support and to get advice from others who are doing the same as you.

Kat

Wonder_Girl

Well done you! that’s a great start and you did get a lot of stuff in bulk:T

However if your wife doesn't like the ASDA meat and is going to go elsewhere for it then why not go to a butcher? much better quality, fresh and cheaper too :j

mrs_mug_2

Good start you'll be down to £200 in no time.

We're a family of 4 too. We did our first shop in Lidl this week and I was pleasantly surprised. I've got enough stuff to last us all week and the total came to £33. I buy my meat from the butcher (8 blocks of mince for £5. 1 block is enough for 8 meals for us - we cut down on the meat and eat lots more pasta or potatoes) and I've been getting toiletries from the £1 shop - they are all well known brands too.

Also have you considered using cloth nappies on your lo? We use them and reuseable wipes. Save ourselves about £15 a week this way (got 2 in nappies).

Well done with your shop though. Bet it feels good to be in control?

SeaSmart

Good idea wondergirl about the butcher.

Mrsmug yes it feels great to be in control like you wouldn't believe. Even the kids had a reasonable time shopping last night. Its normally a mare!

bikerqueen

good stuff. I cant emphasise how nasty the kidney beans are enough though.

dave318

I use both smart price chopped tomatoes and smart price kidney beans in chilli. And it tastes great (imho). We use two tins of each, but mash up 1 tin of beans, to give it mre texture. HMMMMM, chilli!!!:rolleyes: