Bogof?

Mirtos

Hi Gang,This is the first full month that my meal planning has been in action, and yesterday the months shopping arrived courtesy of the nice tesco man. Now, up to now, we've spent about £120 per big shop, which lasts us 4-6 weeks with far too many takeouts and top up shops thrown in!This month, the OH and I sat down and rigourously planned our meals, and planned to spend about £80 for the month, with £20 allowance for fruit and veg and milk/bread (if I haven't had time to bake from scratch) top up shops from the market.Now before you all shout at me, I KNOW that this is still way too much for two of us, but I'm trying to ease into it gently and learn as I go along, then the plan is to cut back an extra bit each month.The thing is, I ended up spending £93 because there were so many BOGOF offers that were too good to miss -- so although I'm over budget this month, we'll save next month (in theory!) as long as i remember to deduct what extra i spent from next months total.This is what I tell myself, but I'm wondering if using BOGOFs is false economy as you actually end up spending more. What does everyone else do? Stock up, or stick rigidly to budget? I'd also really like to know how much everyone else spends per month, and for how many people - what is a realistic figure for two of us? EVERYTHING is home made (my family are all chefs so luckily I can cook!) so we don't overspend on highly processed and over packaged food.OK, that's enough of a ramble on the trivial subject of my tesco shop - but it was keeping me awake last night wondering!

all_hours

£100 -£120 per month for two adults sounds very good.

As long as you stick to bogofs for shopping that you usually buy it will save you money in the long run.

dumpy

It all depends on the BOGOF, if it was for say, loo rolls which you KNOW are going to be used then fine, shove them in the trolley (I NEVER buy loo rolls unless there is some kind of offer).

If however it's for a packet of biscuits that you weren't going to buy but "hey look they are BOGOF" then it's a waste.

By the way 100-120 sounds not bad considering you've just started doing this.

debbycatz

100 - 120 a month is really good for two of you.

I'm afraid I struggle to get mine below £200 a month which is *way* too much as there is only two of us. I'm not much of a cook tho' but I will keep trying. I did actually manage to get it to £190 this month, only a small improvement but it all helps:rotfl:

Imelda

Hi Mirtos,

I think £100 - £120 per month for 2 is fine. I budget £70 for me (and an OH who stays round at least once a week). I tend to try to spend about £40 on a big monthly shop and then about £5 per week on fresh fruit and veg. This then leaves a buffer for BOGOFs and the dreaded 5 week month. This month I had £15 which had mounted up so I went off to Wilkos and stocked up on toiletries and cleaning stuff (got loads for £11). Maybe you could budget £2/£3 per week for offers and if you don't spend it put it in a little pot for another time (or a treat!)

lynzpower

I think the amount is fine really me & Oh do 100, which is comfortable now, but in saying that, I wont leave a yellow ,abel behind if its something we'll need later adn stick it in the freezer.

I guess it all depends what it is, and whether truly its good value. One example I always use is that shower gel like Imperial leather etc is usally on some sort of bogof I used to think this was good value. BUT look more closely at the shelves, we get a tescos own shower gel now which is much cheaper than the imperial leather on bogof. 2 for £2 type deals on S gel are not that great value when theres one of thier own for 59p. IYSWIM.

Do you have ANY waste? Do you have stuff faling out of the cupbaords, as I did a few weeks back? If you have, you are overspending if theres stuff lurking in the cupabards you wont get round to using. even if you got it down to a fiver a month, if you still havethings you have bought you are not using you are still overspending.

But if you are not then its fine

benbenandme

I try and stick to £100 a month for me and my 3 year old. This includes all cleaning and household stuff too. I am looking at trying to cook more from scratch next month.

I do try and be careful with bogof's ... often it maight be ice cream or something else that isn't a necessity, and even though you get 2 for the price of 1 it often is still way more than you would pay for one of your normal brand iykwim.

Having said that, I do check every single bogof I can find!! If its something that can be frozen then I'll usually go for it.

all_hours

How good is online shopping at Tescos for the bogofs and other deals?

I used to buy from sainsburys but I found if an item on a deal was out of stock they'd replace it with something that wasn't part of the deal and I could end up spending more than I'd planned. For example if I ordered 2 quiches for £2.50 and the broccoli one was out of stock they'd replace it with their taste the difference broccoli rather than a 2nd tomato one?

I could refuse the replacements but often just took them to save on a bus trip to get more shopping.

LookingAhead

I think that £100 - £120 is good too.

I agree with lynz about the bogof on shower gels etc. You think "whoopee!" when you see you can get 2 gels for £1.99......then realise later on that you could have actually gotten 3 or 4 unbranded ones for that if you had stopped & looked & done some quick mental arithmatic :rolleyes:

I am struggling to keep the monthly bill for two adults below £160 consistantly for the month....but this is because I am still meeting some resistance from my BF...grrrr.

However I have a feeling this may change soon.....he has just agreed to borrow some money from his Mum to buy a newer car (ours is on it's last wheels...and he can't do without one unfortunately) so he will be paying back extra each month soon. So maybe he will join up to MSE himself soon....I even got him to let me set him up a quidco account last night in preparation for buying car insurance but he was reluctant to even do that.

Ooooer I have gone off on a rambley tangent....sorry!

Errr.....keep up the good work Mirtos!

grown_up_girlie

I agree as well, £100-120 a month is very good.

There is always room for improvement and i'm sure that you will get your budget even lower as time goes on and you become more shopping savvy! BOGOF's are brilliant but don't buy the ones that you wouldn't normally buy just as they are BOGOF.

Cleaning products on offer are always a big saver in the long term - just work out what you're going to need and stock up! Over 2 months I spent £160 by doing this so it can be done! I never run out either which is another big bonus.

Well done and keep up your hard work. :T

Mirtos

Hi guys, My thanks button isn't working again, so you'll have to accept this general one instead. The problem bogof was tescos own mature cheddar. We eat tons of it, so I stocked up. I would never buy a bogof for something we didn't want anyway! - its tescos own brand shower gel for 58p for us!!! I suppose I just got frustrated at being over budget, as theis is my first month of being so stringent and I wanted to get it right! Lynz - I don't chuck stuff away, but we generally do have a storecupboard well stocked with basics like flour, pasta and tinned toms etc, so the cupboard is never really bare IYSWIM? On a slightly annoyed note, I used the bogof cheese to make my sandwiches for todays lunch last night, but forgot to put them in fridge so now i'm sitting here with sweaty stinky sarnies. Yuck. :mad: