March grocery challenge

tiff

Duh, oh yeah! lol I knew that.... lol

£36,000 is even worse when you think of the money we have wasted.

stellagypsy

I am abandoning my chaos method of budgeting and trying to do a challenge - to use up some of my vast stock of tins/packets and also to make a meal / spending plan and stick to it - March started for us on Tues as we both got paid then and we are 4-weekly paid so we have 13 months in a year. I will strt my 4 week plan from this weekend.

I have used loads of tips from here and made a 4 week meal plan, costed it out at £50.00 per week (3 adults) and I intend to stick to it. I hope to save enough to make the spends for my skiing holiday in March. And if I can do it one month, I can do it every month. Estimated savings = £200 per month x 13 = £2600 - that will pay son's Uni fees, cover one of our 2 planned holidays (we go to brother's appartment in Spain in summer so its flight only, car hire and spends) and a there will still be some left over.

So in 10 years that is £26K - not quite as good as Tiff's £36K but it makes you think, doesn't it?

moggins

Can I join in this one? Due to the forthcoming loss of our CTC I need to start finding an extra £100 a month from somewhere.

fazer6

I got paid on wednesday so I guess I'm the first one to start on March then. I went to Netto and got 5 packets of seeds for 95p.

Then went to Aldi and got
6 plum tomatoes 1.02
cling film 0.99
freezer bags 0.99
2 rubber gloves (3 pack) 1.98
4 soup in a mug 1.26
sugar 0.73
plasters 0.49
liquid soap 0.79
marg 0.59
seeds 1.45
propogator 2.79
black forest ham 1.19

The cup a soups are for my other half to keep as a standby at work, he's busy so he can forget to have lunch or pick something up from home so I get him these as a standby to stop him either buying something from greggs or just forgetting to eat altogether.

The propogators were an impulse buy becuase I don't have that many seed trays and egg cartons, and I only have so much window ledge space in the sunroom so this will use it a lot better and look better and be easier to clean round than lots of plant pots. Now I've got them though I can use them each year so I think it was a sensible purchase. I must admit it was funny getting it home though as I was on the motorbike and my rucksack was already full. I had to wedge it between me and the tank.

The seeds were some flowers, lettice, radish, rocket, basil and corriander. There wasn't any chard left so I'll have to hope they get some more in as I fancied growing some. Tomatoes will come from my mum's friend and beans from my mum so it'll be a good summer. I resisted getting parsley as I'm sure my mum has some I can nick. I've ordered other herb seeds and started taking cuttings from my rosemary. I'm planning to give herb gardens as prezzies this year so the seeds and propogators will actually be even more money saving.

Bargain-Babe_5

Hi,

This is my first post although I have using the site for a few months (since buying Martin's book). This my favourite forum and I tried to follow the feb challenge and spend £40 a week (2 adults and 2 kids) but got sent sainsburys vouchers £5 off £50 so have been using these at asda (never knew I could use them there before this site). I hope over the next few weeks to stock up with stuff so in April I will only have to buy fresh stuff.

This site and everyone who posts their tips have been a godsend, I am course to being debt free at the end of the year. My husband has taken a lower paid job and I have found that food shopping on a budget has been the most fun way of saving money, I feel more creative and cooking healthier meals has made me feel like a better mum!! Actually I feel like I'm turning into my mum (no bad thing!)

I'm going to stop going on now, so thanks to everyone on this forum .

MATH

Count the MATH's in for March. Weighing in at £40 per week for 5 all in.

Love the John Wesley quote Curry Queen - very funny

r.mac_2

welcome Bargain Babe and good luck with the challenge.

r.mac

nickytv

i'm going to try to spend less than 100 quid for two adults. my husband has just lost his job so seems like a good time to cutback. unfortunately he' s the biggest spendthrift and often tops up the groceries midweek without even looking at prices. i'm hoping he won't be worse now with more time on his hands! any ideas for getting him to keep to budget without turning into a nag?

Sarahsaver

have a jar or a purse which the money goes into. When it's gone it's gone!

Elven_Princess

Hi everyone,

firstly thanks for the great tips! An also for the sense of having friends to go through difficult times with.

I am trying really hard to cut back in all areas of our lives but shopping is really difficult. Let me explain:

I am fairly intolerant to wheat, eg I can eat max 2 slices bread a day
I am highly inolerant to milk, eg can have max one cup of tea with milk/day
My youngest daughter is very highly intolterant to milk and can't have any actual milk, although she does manage a few things with milk proteins in etc
My oldest daughter won't eat food with "bits", eg onions, mushrooms, tomatoes
My son is a 14 year old and could eat us out of house and home
My husband doesn't like pasta or rice but will eat if made to!

Lunchtime means sandwhiches for all but me, although the youngest has now declared she doesn't like bread and has stopped eating hers! Not too surprising as I buy value brown bread from Tesco and it isn't much good!

I don't buy biscuits, crisps or chocolates or fizzy drinks, in fact cordial is a treat in my house!

I do nearly all of the cooking and meal plans which I don't mind too much as my hubby works long hours. But I am in my final year of a full time degree so can't spend a long time in the kitchen.

Currently we spend about £70 / week on groceries all in but would love to cut this down to £40-£50.

I could do with some sample meal plans for the week so that I could make a definitive list and then just buy what I need.

Help me I'm desperate!!!!