September 06 Grocery Challenge

WelshWoofer

ajr wrote:

Hi
Didnt join in this month but would like to do it,is it something that you do every month?

Hi Ajr,
Yes we do it every month - the thread normally appears towards the end of the previous month.

Vickylin

I'm really pleased, only spent £143 of my £360 budget with just under 2 weeks to go. Mind you I was very generous with myself, but it is my first month!!

kiwi88_2

Hi All,

Just been to the butcher and got a large leg of lamb which he chopped in half for us for £15 and half a box of large whole chicken legs (there's about 18of them) for £5. Total £20
I can get at least 6 meals for 2 adults and 2 children plus about 2 days lunches and some meals for the freezer out of that lot so well pleased.
Just done a Tescos online shop for next week a bit ahead of myself here £76.

Total so far

Wk 1 (2-8 Sept) Tescos online £85
Wk 2 (9-15 Sept) Tescos online £101.29
Lunches 2 £10 :wall:
Butcher £20
Wk 3 (16-22 Sept) Tescos online £76

Total so far £292.29 Monthly Estimate £400 Left for month £107.71 :j

Moll

ive done great so far on the challenge ( if you go back to my original posting , youll see i didnt have much option this month )
had a run of good luck though on the food front................been given a glut of apples , and also kidney beans which have been turned into additions to meals , and surplus in the freezer.
dont know if anyone else adds stuff to mashed potatoe ......but thought id mention it , as its a nice " filler upper " with storcupboard stuff,
I "Collect" the satchets from eating places( like witherspoons )
eg. mint . tomatoe, brown sauce etc .....ideal for adding to "Stuff" . the horseradish sauce ,or the mustard ones are LOVELY mixed in mashed potatoe . and gives the meal a nice kick
plus i went into tesco as they were reducing stuff, and got 2 large pizza, at 54p each .AND they were on BOGOF,which still worked with the reduced stuff, so i ended up paying 27p each for them ,,,,,,same with 2 chicken breasts in sweet chilli sauce ( These are delicious ) and again with the BOGOF offer worked out at 27p a box.
hope everyone else is doing good

benjacksmum

Hmmm, not bad this week. £23.21 spend but just over £15 of that was OH buying more razors off Ebay for himself this week. At least they are an awful lot cheaper than in the supermarkets and will probably last him ages.

So, £61.05 left with 2 weeks to go. I have kind of got the meals planned for the next two weeks but I had a health scare this week and absolutely have to get my weight down or else (been warned by the doctor ) I just need to re-jig them to be healthy as I am of the belief that most recipes can be cooked in a low fat way.

I might pop up to Asda tonight to see if there are any reduced bits and bobs and then maybe I will get an online shop done with a £10 voucher thrown in. Fingers crossed I might be able to do it.

Everybody else - your posts are very inspirational and prove it most certainly can be done. Please keep up the good work 'cos all your efforts are proving to be a good influence on me!

Ang xx

JillD_2

Hi,
I'm fairly new on here, and trying to get finances in check.
have recently started meal planning which is helping a lot, but still need to rope in spending on weekly shop a bit more.

Have decided to sign up for this challenge for the last week or two and then into October too.

i shop once a week in Asda and buy everything, including milk and bread for the week. It goes in the freezer. I found even if I popped somewhere else for milk or bread in the week I would buy some "necessary" biscuits or something.
I also do a bulk buy in Costco once a month or so to get loo roll, kitchen roll, tinned tomatoes, pesto, pasta sauces, nappies, and some toiletries like shower gel and deodorant.

We are a family of 4 - 2 adults (one of whom, my hubby, east vast quantities and is still skinny :mad:) and 2 pre-school children. So we still have nappies to buy.

For all shopping I have the kids in tow so I have no time to think (too busy prattling to them to stop them wrecking the place) so can't be wandering around looking for BOGOF's etc.

I have some questions for you experts:

- would it be worth buying an overflow freezer (am watching freecycle for one) as ours is fit to burst with bread and milk and quorn things.

- we are veggie and don't buy meat. However I find it hard to get reduced price veggie things. We eat lots of veg but also lots of quorn for variety and protein. Any tips to save money on these ?

- what do other families of 4 spend a week ? Currently we are on around £75 I reckon but I'd like to stick to £50. Is that too ambitious ?

Planning to look back over receipts and work out what we could have saved.

I am rapidly becoming addicted to this site!
Thanks!
Jill

earthmother

Oh poo!!

Just totted up this week's shopping, and I've already exceeded my monthly budget.

In my defense, I have catered for a 3rd birthday party (this afternoon) - but other than the cake, everything is homemade, so only ingredients bought - didn't think I'd got that much


Obviously not very good at this - will try to keep things down for the rest of the month (no choice really), and start again next month

moozie_2

Well, it's getting touch now! We're just over half way through the month and we've spent £148.28 :eek: I don't know if £160 was too optimistic but I have a feeling we may go over Will come back and update

Hope everyone else is doing better :beer:

angelavdavis

Went a bit mad yesterday!

Spent £57 at the butchers and market plus £50 at the supermarket (yikes!) Got £1 off 2 cornflakes packs, £1.50 off Duchy of Cornwall desserts which are a real treat for later and got two packs of chicken livers at half price. Also bought enough meat to last us 3-4 weeks I think!

Big cooking session today:
- Sunday roast (plus lamb curry tomorrow and shepherds pie for freezer),
- rabbit stew (2 meals),
- chicken casserole (3 meals),
- lentil soup to take to work
- chicken liver paté for OH sandwiches
- fish pie x 2 to freeze (had excess potatoes and frozen fish)

Plus also have lots of uncooked meat now in the freezer - freezer is packed out so plenty of meals without any more shopping other than the odd pint of milk or bit of veg (although the garden is providing a lot at the moment).

Fingers crossed I should make it within target and not have to shop too much!

freelancemermaid

hi all,

i love the grocery challenge! my extra challenge is i have (medically-diagnosed) food allergies. i can't buy the 32p pack of pasta (wheat) or live on baked beans (sugar and sweeteners).

so i buy lots of food from online and local health food shops - which is always expensive. if anyone has any allergy-friendly or health food savings tips....please please let me know!

good luck to everyone with your budgets.

thanks.