October 2010 Grocery Challenge

JayJay14

Well one glance at my sig will tell you that spendinf £100 in costco last saturday was not a good idea:o

In my defence OH has started a job after 8 months out of work so we have treated ourselves to a few odd things (like ben and jerrys - asda 2 for £3, now have six in the freezer but saving for Xmas) But the costco trip was a bit over the top.
DS has had to move back home as he has had to give up his room so we now have four adults at home instead of 3 so that is taking a bit of getting used to. I do admit to feeling a bit out of control, but I will spend the weekend sorting myself out so that I can make a renued effort for November.

(Oh and I suppose the xmas gammon and the beef joint probably didn't help....)

katholicos

Haven't updated siggy yet but spent £13.50p on grocerys today...bought long life milk x 12 cartons and 4 x 500g of butter....the butter was on offer at tesco 1x 500g lurpack for £2.80...or 2 x packs of 500g lurpack for £3. That's what i call a no brainer! Had to stock up!

Flat_Eric

Hippeechiq wrote: »

I just have to congratulate you on how well you're doing mongmoney :T

.......I on the other hand am not doing so great this month.

It's really messed me up this month only doing the one big online shop, which I forced upon myself by doing such a big one at the beginning of the month....I wont be making that mistake again!!

Out of interest, why did doing one big online shop mess you up ? Me and home delivery shops = disaster! (see my post above). I love the flexibility of HD but overspend and know I need to reign in. I used to work on the basis that I would do one HD a month and shop accordingly. bulk buy offers and stuff I needed for the month except two weeks later, I would find myself doing another "monthly" shop. I canceled an order I had planned for tomorrow but did initially think of only ordering the items needed for the week with the plan that I did another order next Saturday. but if I did a HD every week, I would be spending at least £24 in delivery charges.... which is a lot

I used to share a delivery with a friend and might go back to doing this - but only ordering basics such as spuds, milk - things that are heavy and that I can't carry. Ive also decided to try to eat up as much as possible thus making room in my freezer for xmas and saving some pennies. Would be interested to hear how others get on with HD. Do you overspend ? Do you have any tips on how to make HD successful without breaking the bank ?

~moneysavingnovice~

£51 on the final Oct shop, which ought to mean I finish £19 under budget.

Must stay out of the shops. Must stay out of the shops. Must...

CupOfChai

Hi there, have done my big shop and spent £20.07. I'm not declaring yet in case I have to or decide I want to get bits during the week, but I pretty much have in what I need for all my meals, so am beginning to think that I really can get in under budget this time... :j

Just have to be careful not to go completely mad and start buying things for no good reason!

cw18

Flat_Eric wrote: »

Would be interested to hear how others get on with HD. Do you overspend ? Do you have any tips on how to make HD successful without breaking the bank ?

Refuse to use it anymore - and haven't for several years.

After several 'OK' deliveries from Mr T (normally included at least one substitution I wouldn't accept), I was then let down badly on the only one I ever placed that was time critical. Booked for early evening on a Friday, and included mushrooms to make a bolognese sauce that night (plus the garlic bread to go with it) for the following day as we were going out early and coming home at tea-time. The delivery turned up on time, but minus ALL my chilled items which included the mushrooms (and garlic bread) as well as milk. They couldn't redeliver that night - the best they could offer was Saturday lunch time - so I had to take the car up to the closest store to get what they'd forgotten, pay for it all again (it had been picked and charged, but left at base), and wait for a refund of the items. Luckily I had enough to cover paying for it again, but they wouldn't even partially refund the delivery charge or offer any other form of compensation :mad:

I then decided to try Mr A, and placed an order which included loads of meat, fruit, veg and milk (for a family of 4 for a week, with the boys being teenagers so a substantial order). When it turned up they'd substituted the 4x4pt milk with 4x1pt milk, and all the fresh stuff that had dates on it (all the meat and all the pre-packed F&V) was best before the delivery date !!! To be fair to them though, they refunded me the cost of all those items and the delivery charge and I got to keep everything as well..... just as well this was back when I used to have space in my freezers I just didn't feel I could trust them to get it right in future, even though my daughter used them regularly without any problems


Have never tried any others - total loss of confidence in the system, and the prices/availability of goods at the others didn't seem anywhere near as good.

CupOfChai

I doubt I'd ever want to do an online order/home delivery shop. I like to go in myself and poke through what's there, pick out precisely which carrots, onions, whatever I want for example, and rifle through the shelves to find the items with the longest dates. Mumsie has taught me well :rotfl:. Plus I sort of like food shopping (weirdo, I hear you all cry!).

I am beginning to suspect home delivery pickers might (in some cases, not saying it's a blanket company policy) be instructed to purposely pick the shortest dates there, so as they get sold and reduction/waste losses from the shop are minimised.

sofababe

CupOfChai wrote: »

Plus I sort of like food shopping (weirdo, I hear you all cry!).

Weirdo!!!!! If you like it so much can you do mine as well? You can keep the change for going! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

mooomin

cw18 wrote: »

Not up yet....

Normally goes up a day or two before calendar month end, so probably next weekend

At least that explains why I couldn't find it

I'm trying to be good this month and keep the spending low, anything I don't spend will be going on my credit card payments

I have a freezer which is fair groaning with meat, and will be getting mutton brought down from The North by my parents at the end of the month, so it's a good excuse for eating our way through the freezer this month.

I have enough catfood to last until next payday thanks to some good Pets At Home bargains last month, so only cat litter will be needed for them. I have groaning cupboards, so the question is, can I rein in my stockpiling urges?

sofababe

Oh I forgot why I logged in! I spent £4 on 2 Chicago Town Takeaway pizzas in A$da, and very nice they were too