September 2010 Grocery Challenge

mrs-moneypenny

MrsMc can you put me down for £400 for september please.

as i mentioned before july and august went to pot so im getting back on the mse wagon in preparation for christmas.

started buying morry saving stamps in readyness but realised ive leaft it so late i need to get £6 a week to have £100 by christmas.

thinking hm veggie cottage pie for tea followed by a blackberry & apple crumble or a lemon meringue not sure which i can be bothered to do yet.

freezer needs defrosting badly so will do a rundown of that to get it as empty as i can in the next couple of weeks then go farmfoods for a fill up

InTheRed

Can I try for £200 for Sept please.

SherlockFan85

Hello,

Can I please be put down for £250 again this month? I will write off August as a unfortunate starting point! I'm going from 1st-30th.

the fridge and freezer are both full as well as the cupboards so hopefully I should succeed this time. I must update my sig and not forget things though...

Thanks and good luck to everyone taking part.

mummyslittleboy

I am back in this month can you put me down for £300. please.
This is for 1 adult and 3 kids. I missed last month as it was school holidays but kids are back this week and i need to cut back or santa wont be coming here:D

I do have a freezer full of stuff as managed to get a lot of whoopsie meat from the local co-op I am going to start going daily at about 5 just to get any bargain meat they have in future;)

Cupboards are quite full to but DS starts full days at nursery next week and I need to give him packed lunches this shouldnt add to the budget though as I will give him things he would have if he was home.

jackie_w

Hello everyone,

Between yesterday & today, another £11.87 spent.

dont think im doing very good so far.

The money I spent on between yesterday & today was:

F/foods - bread x 2, bottle of squash x2 = £3.29

A*da - fabric softner x 2, deoderant x 1 for Dh & oranges x 1 = £3.50

Local shop - cider for DH and sweets for the kids (must remember to stop taking kids to the shops with me).

Im really hoping that I wont need to buy anything else until the weekend now, and that should only be cold meat fruit & possibly veg.

Jackie

redcoltraine

Afternoon All

Can I re-join, I've been very missing in action, but I need to get a grip.
Can you put me down for £100, cupboards and freezer are full so I should be ok.
Just something to ponder but why is it when i am on a budget my other half wants to spend spend spend...??

Wish me luck/ Good Luck All

Red

PS today is a NSD

welshkaz

MY months started last friday so £70.01 asda,£6.00 food co-op for next weeks fruit veg and eggs,and £3.00 in coop on bits and pieces over weekend so until today £79.01/£290.00 hmmm i have to start reigning in the bargains i think ...

wssla00

£30.35 spend on an asda shopping order to be delivered next Tuesday. That should be me for the rest of the month actually. You never know I might be REALLY under the amount this month.... But I suppose these are the famous last words!!!

Have a good day all

potz

I am really getting into this GC.

I have decided to start tomorrow as I go back to work (6 weeks off goes in a flash).

In the meantime I have been rediscovering the food processor and the freezer. I turned half a loaf of starting-to-go-stale bread into breadcrumbs yesterday, made part into a plum charlotte with some plums from the garden, and froze the rest. Today I picked up a couple of blocks of mature cheddar on offer and grated and froze them (I never get through a whole pack of cheese before it goes off as it is only me that eats it). I also boaught a reduced pack of stewing steak, bagged it into 2 lots and froze them. If things go on this way i'll be looking up the price of chest freezers!

I have also done a stocktake of my freezer and cupboards and planned the next week and a half's meals - thai green curry tonight!

Oooh i'm loving this - can't believe I haven't tried it sooner!!!
:j:j:j:j:j

Hippeechiq

Hi claire1234 and all newcomers :wave:

claire1234 wrote: »

newbie!
could i join in also please?
im going to aim for £40 per week shop at mrT and £5 per week for a top-up of milk/bread or things we run out of,
also do take into account a budget for stocking up?
how do you guys work it out? im quite tempted to withdraw £180 out of the bank and put into a seperate purse or do you just collect recipets and at the end of the month see how you`ve done?

What you include in your budget it up to you Most peoples budgets may include different things to what you've chosen to include in your own, but then we all live in different circumstances, with different amounts of children/adults/pets per household.

I see the challenge as being about individuals setting their own budgets and trying to live within them and getting a bit of moral support along the way

My budget is £275 per month, but I have a £25 floater in my bank, giving me a total of £300. We can really only afford £275 without it affecting other things, so I'm doing my level best to get it down to that.

I leave £200 in the bank for my online A$da shops (I do 2 per month) and withdraw £100 cash. I split that into 4 x £25 and put into envelopes with week 1, week 2, week 3, and week 4 on them. This is for my meat, fresh f&v, milk, bread, and any items/bargains that are cheaper in the Te$cos or £idl - which are within walking distance to me - than they are when I do my online shop with A$da.

I am quite strict with myself about not dipping into the envelope of the next week if I'm running short of money for this week IYSWIM, that way, I know I have £25 cash at my disposal at the beginning if each week....it's also a good exercise in discipline, even if I don't always manage it

I like the system and find it works very well for me, but it's a learning curve, and it's all about finding what works for you personally

ETA Oh, and I open Notepad on my pc, and create the simplest of documents and call it e.g. September Grocery Spends I put the date, the store, how much I spent, and what the running total is and add to it every time I buy anything. That way, I don't have the excuse that I don't know how much I've spent at whatever stage in the month. I always know precisely what I've spent. I think it's easier to add a couple of things to it daily, than save up all receipts weekly or whatever, but it's horses for courses, and my way may not appeal/work for others