March grocery challenge

likabu_2

I want to start this, money is tight but we haven't ever knuckled down to try and cut back until the beginning of this year. Having read through the forum I have started to make changes, meal planning etc.

My own personal challenge started on Monday 14th as I had Sainsbury del and Iceland del using vouchers for £10 off each. Problem is, because I haven't budgeted before, I don't know how much we usually spend. There are 2 adults in household, 1 potty training 2 yr old, and 1 hungry 4 month old. Will just have to watch where every penny goes.

I agree with Sarah about the sandwiches, DP can spend at least £15 a week on lunches which we really cant afford. Going to start being less lazy when the children go to bed and make his lunches!!

Sorry if I ramble!! I put it down to lack of adult conversation, although I am getting better!!

Lisa

fazer6

Right well I got paid yesterday so I guess I'm the only one to have started the grocery challenge. Last month was £100 for 2 adults, I went over by £3 becase on Saturday Tescos had a massive 2kg chicken reduced to £2.81 which did Sunday lunch, Mondays curry, sandwiches all week, tonight's chicken and sweetcorn pizza and I guess whatever's leftover on friday will be frozen until I figure out how to make chinese style chicken and sweetcorn soup. So although I went over budget I think it was money well spent, I also got loads of meat during the month reduced at asda which has planned loads of meals this month.

So this month my challenge will be £85. I would like to be down to £80 next month and see if I can stick at that. I plan to keep going to aldi/lidl/netto once a month and when I need supermarket stuff I go mid afternoon to stock up on reduced stuff, the next town has butchers and a market on satudays so I get my veg and stuff there when I'm in town. Another personal challenge is to go to the fishmongers and do some fresh fish, I've only ever done supermarket stuff and the odd fish kebab (farmers market). I'm sure fresh fish is healthy and cheap so I'm going to give it a go.

VickyA_2

fazer, do you have a recipe for your curry? I'd like to make one, but only ever get as far as a jar from Tesco as the sauce.

fazer6

I've got a superb recipie, Sarah T came round for tea one night and I made it for her and she loves it too. Now what you do is fry an onion, add a packet of colemans chicken curry mix (35pish), and (here's the tricky bit) just add milk (1/2 pint). The packagings just changed and I think the taste has changed a bit too, but it's still a lovely mild creamy korma. It's cheap and takes up no room in the cupboard either. Oh but I can only get it in asda, safeway didn't used to have it and tescos don't either so I stock up when I got and see my parents. Have you tried their sausage casserole? It's well yummy too, oh and their honey and mustard chicken (or that could be schwartz). I do like cooking from scratch, but I'm also the queen of 'just add water'.

VickyA_2

Yes, I've tried their sausage casserole. Got a packet in the cupboard, but I'll be using that when I come back from my jaunt to Italy. We're definitely going to do the "Store Cupboard Challenge" and keep a purse just for our supermarket shopping.

Thanks for the tip on that curry sauce. I never know which packets to try and which not.

Lillibet_2

likabu wrote:

I want to start this, money is tight but we haven't ever knuckled down to try and cut back until the beginning of this year. Having read through the forum I have started to make changes, meal planning etc.

My own personal challenge started on Monday 14th as I had Sainsbury del and Iceland del using vouchers for £10 off each. Problem is, because I haven't budgeted before, I don't know how much we usually spend. There are 2 adults in household, 1 potty training 2 yr old, and 1 hungry 4 month old. Will just have to watch where every penny goes.

I agree with Sarah about the sandwiches, DP can spend at least £15 a week on lunches which we really cant afford. Going to start being less lazy when the children go to bed and make his lunches!!

Sorry if I ramble!! I put it down to lack of adult conversation, although I am getting better!!

Lisa

Hi Lisa

To try & kick off budgeting try writing your list & anticipating how much each item will cost then total it up & see if you come in near target. It might take a bit of time to start with & you might need to adjust your budget as these things have a habit of suprising you but be honest with yourself (and us!) and you'll soon see where to start making cut backs etc.

HTH
Good Luck

Sarahsaver

Lillibet wrote:

Everyone to their own Sarah! We all have different priorities.
As long as we aren't living in poverty & can afford the occasional take away we will, the trick is not to fail in your planning & find you HAVE to order them because you haven't got anything in, just order them when you CHOOSE to and can afford them!
Plus of couse many people wouldn't incude the cost of them in their grocery budgets, that just happens to be how we work it.
I haven't done March's meal plan ye tbut can't think of an occasion when we woudl be having a take away anyway but for a lot of people they are the norm on a Friday or Saturday night & need should therefore be budgeted for accordingley.
Work lunches? Well, some people just aren't together enough or interested enough to organize leftovers the night before or to get up 10 mins earlier to make sandwiches, & for them the £3.50 in Boots is money well spent. Again, as long as you have the money in your budget & don't mind spending it instead of saving it I can't see what is wrong with this? For me March will eb a mix of homemade lunches & bought lunches, I always buy lunch on a Friday as my end of week treat to myself but this is in my budget

I agree there it should be planned in, of course, but wheres the logic in spending 20 quid on takeaway pizza for the family if you could make the same for less than a fiver?

Like I said on another thread, sometimes it seems like its only acceptable to be thrifty if you have loads of money to spare! Even if i had £3.50 a day in my budget for bought sandwiches I personally would not do that, but each to their own.

Curry_Queen

likabu wrote:

Sorry if I ramble!! I put it down to lack of adult conversation, although I am getting better!!

Lisa

Join the club!;)

I have virtually no contact with adults, other than online, so I tend to post and ramble quite frequently too

Curry_Queen

I'll be joining the March challenge too, although I've yet to work out my budget as I have an extra (non-paying) house guest atm, so this is messing things up a bit and food isn't stretching as far as I'd originally planned for

I should be able to get through the month just buying perishables (milk/bread/fruit/veggies etc) as my freezer and cupboards are well-stocked now and I have more than enough cleaning materials (vinegar!!!) and toiletries (thanks to Boots ) to last me a few months!

My other problem is that being disabled I have to do ALL my shopping online which means boosting the basket to hit minimum targets so I can use the vouchers :rolleyes: ... although sometimes I can get away with this by sticking baccy/alcohol in the basket

Advanced meal-planning is a bit hit and miss too as some days I don't feel well enough to cook what I've planned and if that includes fresh ingredients they sometimes go to waste if I can't use them in time. I'm determined to get more organised next month though and hopefully try and use stuff from my freezer and cupboards which should provide 2-3 weeks of meals at least!

swizzlebabe

Still on the feb challange, but will be carrying it on into March, hubbie gets paid next week so March will start then.

Did a tesco on line shop and saved £10 by using a code found on this site.But then went to lidl to buy nappies and yougarts only to find all there frozen stuff reducded-but no room in the freezer.

Whats the best way to go about it? I did online shop to keep me out of the large supermarkets-so I couldn`t be tempted, but always pop into lidl for milk,bread and veg.Don`t get tempted much in lidl, but couldn`t do a full shop there.Is it best to shop monthly or weekly?
Might try eating out of freezer/storecupboard and then just buy what I need for the week. Hubbie gets paid monthly and I am trying to use cash-hidden the plastic away!.Trying not to use it until it`s all apid off, on 0 0/0 card but I want it gone.
I always try to be careful, but then have a bad day and spend!!