May 2010 Grocery Challenge

slowandsteady_2

Hiya,

have updated signature, ended up buying more groceries today-the bacon i have been trying to remember for about a week, and some eggs from the butchers, then Mr T on some bits i forgot in town and then to Mr A later because dh is working for an agency at the moment, which was originally just for one day last friday but each day they say they want him in again tommorow, which is great, but i havent planned for his lunches. He is driving all day delivering all over the North West, so have to make sure he has plenty to keep him going, cant have him heading for the nearest motorway services and blowing cash! So went and stocked up on snacks from Mr A which we dont normally have in cos im dieting and he doesnt bother!

So altogether spent a little over £35 today. I might go over a bit this month, but thats ok because i know where the money has gone and its ok, plus had a random WTC and CTC payment so have a little spare money, must have had an underpayment or something last tax year, they havent wrote to me since i did my renewal though-very confusing system!

Only have another week left of my month, i will be doing my weekly 'proper' shop at weekend where i get my main meal stuff, so think i will be going a little over but hopefully not as bad as last month!

Night xx

looie

hi all, just popped on to update my sig. Spent £7.94 in Mr S tonight.

Not going too bad at the moment but it could be blown next week as I am off work for a week. I just hope it's not by too much

Winchelsea

Updated my sig earlier with a little £3.34 shop, but didn't deduct today's veg box (£11.65), so will do so now.

Went to Mr S. and got money back from eye drops supposedly bought on Sat (but got an empty box)!

Will put the money in my sealed pot, but not yet, as need some change tomorrow for parking (going to Stroud to meet DD3 and DGD3 - having a break while DH is looked after by Crossroads carer).

Winged_one

Have made good progress in sticking to the plan this week, and using up freezer stuff. The beef pie on Monday was actually more edible than I expected, and DD wanted more of that than her own chicken nuggets. I used the whole pack of sausages last night (5 between DH and I in tom sauce with pasta, DD had a whole one beside plain pasta) and they were tasty too - whoopsied to half price; and I remembered to cook the garlic bread too (which everyone loves)!. I have a slice of lasagne for tonight, and a mini-pizza for DD, as DH is out.

Won't be at the shops again until Sat, and then it should be the butcher, F&V and local corner store rather than big supermarket.

Herbaholic

Like Winged one I'm also doing well this week , changing the meal plan today, still having sausages but decided to do mash, and onion gravy with the spring cabbage and carrots we have in that need using up instead of the sausage casserole and wedges I was going to do, which is a change for me using up what we have before it goes manky and ends up in compost land! I noticed yesterday that the rhubarb plant in the garden has given us a lovely crop this year, so I'm going to pick some this afternoon and make DH a crumble for pud with it, noticed it was £2.67 in A$da yesterday for a 400g pack and something like £6.60 a kilo :eek: Didn't buy anything though just picked up the prescription as planned so another NSD yesterday 2 so far since I rejoined GC :T

Can I ask... Some of you have things like NSD 5/16 in your signatures, is this the number of days that you've achieved and a target number for the month or somethingh? How do you all keep track of your NSD's? I'd got back into the habit of going to the local supermarket almost daily whether we needed anything or not and I always came out of the shop with a bag full of stuff. So I want to try and achive at least 14 NSD's a month.

Also Spiddle... I have a soap, shampoo and shower gel mountain and really have to learn to say no to buying more and use up what I have, what challenge are you doing to curb your bubble buying urges?

Herby x

FelineFantastic

Morning All!!

Am in a v good mood as still at target weight (just) last night even after all the chocolate and mini-milks!!

Spiggle- no scientific way to beat the mountain! I go by date, amount left in previously abandoned bottle and then get two of everything out so that I can rotate and not get bored!! Biggest hurdle is the bottle of L'Ocitane shower gel that has been going strong for 8 months and still has no foreseeable end! :eek: I too only but one lot of toothpaste now- its much easier! I am actually quite pleased that I haven't been buying face stuff at the rate of knots I usually do- I am the advertisers dream audience I think!

Herbaholic- NSD's- I stick my finger in the air, guess and then try to beat the target! Having a milkman helps so that I don't buy bags of stuff when getting milk which is what used to happen!

Have library book, lunch and will sit and avoid the shops today :T

have a fab day everyone!

bevan840

Currently at £135.75/£250

Got some lamb mince from the butcher who delivers to where I work, 1kg for £4.40 Split it into 3 bags. Made a spaghetti bolognese at the weekend which was lovely. Got 2 tubs left over in the freezer. Making Shepherd pie this weekend which should mean 1 leftover meal for me in the week. Hoping to do Lasagne next weekend with the 3rd portion of mince

Last weeks shopping was rather high due to deals in A*da, 11 fusion blades for £20, checked last night and for 6 blades its £13.50! And the brita maxtra cartridges a box of 4 for £10, a box of 2 is normally around £8 so snapped them up too Came to £70 last week which is way higher than usual due to the bargains so needed to make sure this weeks was little and only spent £14.76

I don't have to buy any shower gel/bath bubbles for me for a while as I went a little bubble crazy when I worked at a Boots shop for a Christmas lol As well as John Freida shampoo lol But I don't have a shower at home so can't use that shampoo at the moment as I can't get all the soap out Hopefully moving soon where I will have a shower so I can stop buying shampoo

Got £114.25 left, should be no problems with that this month

greent

Winchelsea wrote: »

Will put the money in my sealed pot, but not yet, as need some change tomorrow for parking (going to Stroud to meet DD3 and DGD3 - having a break while DH is looked after by Crossroads carer).

totally non GC related - but just had to say that that's by me - I live in Quedgeley and like Stroud Farmer's Market


greent x

ETA : POst has just arrived and Mr S have sent me 2 more £8 off £40 shop vouchers - lovely, but I have to use one by month end, and the temptation when in there to spend more is too much.... Shall avoid it this week (she says!) and then next week I *should* be ok budget wise to use it if I just stick to my list this week........:whistle::whistle:

Keiss_21

Herbaholic wrote: »

Can I ask... Some of you have things like NSD 5/16 in your signatures, is this the number of days that you've achieved and a target number for the month or somethingh? How do you all keep track of your NSD's? I'd got back into the habit of going to the local supermarket almost daily whether we needed anything or not and I always came out of the shop with a bag full of stuff. So I want to try and achive at least 14 NSD's a month. Herby x

Hya Herby

I post regularly on the NSD thread, where there are lots of wonder people offering loads of help and support..we are a bit loopy too, having monthly virtual "nights out"!

Spoon keeps an eye on NDSs posted, and updates the list on the front page daily. Personally I keep track of all my spends on a spreadsheet, including NSDs. It's nothing fancy, and I tend to tweak it every month or so. I started on 10 NSDs a few months ago and have upped my target to 15, reasoning that it is a good idea to try and not spend for half the month. Looks like I might beat this target this month, though not sure if I want to up the total for next month.

My NSDs happen when I (and DH) don't spend anything at all (excluding DD and SOs), others do it differently. It is up to you, just so long as it is a system that works for you and helps you to reduce your spending. I now try and combine spends all on one day...which works quite well, though I do have keep an eye on how much I spend!

I am hoping to make my GC target this month, but it is going to be tight! I have also dropped it down by £50 from last month. Compared to others, ours is quite a high-ish monthly GC total (including all food and household stuff), considering there are ony three of us (DH, DS2 and myself) and the dog, with the odd visit from DS1 from Uni (he tends to go to GF's though!). In my defence, DS2 is diabetic and a serious rugby player (in Scotland U-17 team this year), so there is a lot of baking and feeding going on (he eats about 5000 calories a day! :eek:). This way I can keep the sugar and fat down, and hopefully cut costs.

Doing both the GC and NSD challenges has certainly reduced my spending, which is sooo much less than I was doing a year ago. So although we may be able to go even lower in the future, I am pretty pleased with what we are achieving at the moment.

Hope this helps, sorry for the ramble!

boultdj

Been to Mr S and on the market + baker's so grand total spend of $12.64.