July 2010 Grocery Challenge

Kadeeae

This is just the second month I'm trying one big monthly shop of any non-perishables and still building up the store cupboard so may very well go a bit over and possibly again next month. Then I should be down to just 'replacing' items and in theory the bill will come down . . . quite a bit I hope

Anyhooo, Mr. A delivered the big shop for July yesterday which came to £208. Now, to stick to the "if it wasn't ordered for delivery, we ain't havin' it this month" mantra

bumpybecky

£ 375 for july for me please

we came in under £400 for June and I've got one daughter away for a week at the end of the month, so hopefully this should be ok!

muffin_man_7

kadeeae you made me laugh "if it wasn't ordered for delivery,we ain't havin' it this month" i will have to give it a try except it will have to be if its in you can have it of not tough i always ask if they would like anything specific within the limits of budget the reply is just the usual now that could mean anything right wrong i always get moaned at over something i got wrong or forgot

tracey12_2

Hi everyone

I am back for my second month of GC. Please can you put my down for £350 again for July.

Last month I spent £388.56 so was over by £38.56, I don't think this was too bad as it was the first month and had no idea how much I was spending and also had my dd2 birthday party to cater for.

Good luck

Tracey

doelani

All organised for July, having a NSD today and have put my £350 budget into current account taht we only use for housekeeping. Will be no £10 here and there for things form this accoutn going to try and use it ONLY for groceries lol Will see what happens :rotfl:

fedupandskint

Thanks for adding me to the list and for all the hard work that goes into this thread which is a lot!

Here we go with a determined sense of sticking to the budget and 'use it up before you replace with some more'

ally18

Hi,
I'm a newbie but an avid reader of everyone's success stories so I wondered if I could join too please.

I need to desperately stick to a budget because I seem to be continually dipping into savings and this pot won't last much longer so help is needed!

I have a budget of £210 per month for groceries, this is for 1 adult and 3 children (15, 14, 11). Its a five week month for me so I hope to limit myself to £35 per week and the rest on toiletries, freezer restocking and meat. I have always gone to Tesco shopping purely because I have to use a credit card to pay (no money until end of month) but I have now taken the plunge, put the last savings in the bank and will use debit card each week so I can go to Aldi or Lidl. Hopefully this will make a difference. I'm going to start and menu plan as far as I can and even plan to start baking!! In the past all I have done is buy ready meals and stick them in the oven so this is going to be a complete change. I'm also going to try and start following SW meals as i've got a lot of weight to shift.

Oh dear, what have I done. I hope I can change my ways.

muffin_man_7

fedupandskint liked the "use it up before you replace with more i always say i will do this but then i get worried i might run out. My eldest always says use the four no more rule or less is more meaning buying less means more money in kitty or more space in the cupboard

Winged_one

I have been bold and started already. I had to get milk last night, the wine was on special (I had waited from the weekend for my white) and got 12 bottles (but got 4 free, and the rest were just over €5 each). And I'd taken a sneaky trip to Mr T to get beer and pringles (also on special - have a BBQ coming up) and cereal. So I must add a few quid to July before I start.

Will toddle off to update sig. But we have stuck to this week's menu plan so far, and I expect that, apart from farmer's market at the weekend, we will spend almost nothing for the next 2 weeks as DD won't be here and I am using up all sorts of odds and ends still. Last night, I even managed to have a second night of salad with DD (using leftover chick) so couscous is almost gone too, and DH used the rest of the chick (apart from the sambos) with a jar of thai red curry we got for free to trial (just as well, as it was QUITE hot!).

Menu plan is:
Tonight: Spag bol from freezer
Tomorrow: Gorgonzola pasta or mac'n'cheese
Fri - probably straight to MILs (for whole weekend)
Mon: Fish risotto
Tues: IKEA meatballs and chips
Wed: Chicken Tagine
Thurs: Smoked salmon and cream cheese pasta
Fri: Prawns, rice, sauce
Sat: (Probably persuade DH to eat out - tee hee!)
Sun: Christening party so getting treated

Winged_one

Actually, I have just realised that I am slightly under budget for half the year. Which is not too bad seeing as how I haven't been good always. And it includes quite a bit of alcohol which will be used up over the next 2 months or so!!

And the HG veg season is only just coming into its own....

I also just realised that, by using the carpark in Mr T's but only spending less than an hour there, I saved an additional €2.20 as they take 2 full hours off your shopping cost now rather than doing anything to the card itself!! Happy days!! I might get a few things there again when I want to park in the town, as that would be useful savings too.