September 06 Grocery Challenge

Julieboo

I'm really chuffed in last week, (I'm taking my last week as the rest of the month a 10 day week), only spent £12 last week and have freezer full of stuff from cooking and bulk buying. Fodwise been cooking a lot more and we've all been eating so much better. have around £50 left of my £200 budget for September for 4 kids and moi...can't believe how much money I've wasted in the past.:T
On the wider part I can't beleive the differenec in finances since coming on here, I've saved, made and bought all xmas pressies, saved up money for xmas getaway holiday and paid deposits for next years easter and may holidays (keycamps-bargain prices for large families in France)

shell2001

Well I have about £3 left till Friday but all I need to get is a few veggies from local shop (still got 12 pints of milk in freezer and enough flour etc to make bread). I have started doing my meal plan up for next month and plan to go through and check I have all the ingredients I need and then get them from my Tesco home delivery. I have found that going into the local somerfields for a couple of bits has worked out expensive so gonna try and get as much of the stuff in as I need for the month. It will be tight but I think as the weeks roll by it will get easier.

I batch made up a load of lasagna's earlier in the month and as SIL came over last night we had them with some homemade rolls and veggies - was well impressed used fresh lasagna sheets and they came out yum (much nicer than any readymeal one I've ever had, plus they had hidden veg in the mince too!!).

cheletastic

Hi all, just though I'd better update on my grocery spend for September as got paid again yesterday so my month is up. Did a last shop of the month on Thursday (only some bits n bobs) and out of my £200 budget I was left with £5.05 so kept in budget:j

Karb

Well, I think I'm going to make it.

7 (and a bit) days to go, and still almost £90 below target. I've got almost half a tank of petrol left, so that will last me until the end of the month.

Freezer is looking a bit sparse, so I'll probably need to do a decent sized shop this week, but I'm going to try not to spend any more than £50 this week including the emergency pinta and loaf.
I'm away next weekend for the Great North Run, so need to keep a bit aside for that.

benjacksmum

Oh dear, I have already blown my budget by £4.33! Think I might have been a bit too ambitious at dropping it to £200 for a 5 week month making it only £40 per week. Think I will raise it to £45 per week for October so next month I'm aiming for £180. In my defence this month I did buy a huge joint of beef ready for Christmas (£10) and a couple of bottles of Schloer for the kids at Christmas.

Now I have a major challenge not to spend anything this week. Technically it's do-able but we will have to see. The freezer is still fairly full and the cupboards aren't bad either.

Here goes!

Deedee73

Well I am doing soooooo well, Grocery challenge, in the bag I rekon!
Doing great on my patches, slight hiccup involving some wine, but only a little one!:A
I was planning on defrosting the freezer once I had emptied it, but I have filled it with free meat from Mr T's

This week I will be trying to use it all up, but in an economical way.

The most expensive things on my shopping list are Cat food (fussy !!!!!!$)
and baby formula (my boobies never worked! :rotfl: )

So onward Super Savers one week to go!! :T :T :T :T :T

Murtle

I have set a budget of £50 per week including, all food, cleaning, toiletries and cat food/kitty litter

So far we have managed to stick to it through the end of August and so far this month, although we have had occasion of visiting costco and spending two weeks amount in one week. But there was enough to last and we didn't hit the shops again for an extra week!!

Very happy that after a while, OH is now joining in and realising that having a budget reduces the amount we spend, so clearing the need to throw out food when it goes off, or having the freezer full of things he doesn't fancy eating!!!

THanks

x x

kiwi88_2

kiwi88 wrote:

Hi All,

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

Just an update for now total to be posted at end of month

Wk 4 (23-29 Sept) Tescos instore after BOGOF and vouchers £35.68 :T
Farm shop for veggies & fruit £8.86

Total so far £336.83 Monthly Estimate £400 Left for month £63.17

Good job we are under budget as our fridge freezer has a fan problem which will cost us £130 to fix :eek: However our months shopping used to be £520 so purely because I'm doing this challenge we now have enough money for it :rotfl:

BusyGirl

This has been my first attempt at the grocery challenge and I have gone over budget. But hey, you learn from your mistakes!

What I have achieved is...

I have tried various cheaper places to shop (especially Aldi).
I now take my own bags to the shops (so much greener).
My meal planning is a success.
I have paid with cash everytime and not used plastic.
I have tried lots of new recipes thanks to this site.
I now own a breadmaker (£14.99 Cookworks, last one in the shop) and we all love home made bread.
The list is endless, but I'm aiming to stay in budget next month, especially as it will only be 4 weeks long!

flourgirl

Well done BusyGirl.

I don't think you have failed at all. Looking at what you have achieved so far, you have done brilliantly. It's hard to change your shopping habit's, but done slowly and positively (sp?) it does work and it makes you feel so much better when you know that you are in control. So well done, keep it up