March grocery challenge

Curry_Queen

MATH wrote:

Love the John Wesley quote Curry Queen - very funny

He he he ... I love it too! It is actually my home town too before anyone accuses me of insulting those ova t'hill

moggins

My monthly budget is normally £200 for 5 of us plus 2 cats and 2 guinea pigs, I'm going to try reducing that to £160.

I've never really kept track of exactly how much I spend because I always use my debit card but I'm going to take out the whole amount in cash and put it away and shop weekly.

It helps that I've just got my car back on the road so I don't have to shop online anymore.

Tanya_3

Hello

I've set aside a purse for this purpose (starting now) with 5 pounds for the week!

It seems a small amount, but I grow my own lentil sprouts which cost hardly anything and count for protein, vegetable and carbohydrate as well as containing those wonderful live enzymes I'll also start using my soya milk machine again.

Recently my diet has lapsed into the expensive an unhealthy student diet of processed food with that awful mentality 'need food to study; bored of study - need food; don't understand - maybe I will when I eat something; have done no study and feel miserable - need comfort food; lack of sleep - but food will keep me going etc.

This is, of course, all a load of rubbish.

Anyway, good luck everyone! I'll report back when the week is over!

xxx

allycat_3

I like this board!!
We are two adults and 1 child. I tried the having money in the purse for the week thing but am not strong enough...money never stays in there more than 24 hours, however much goes in!
We are trying to stick to £40 per week to include lunces taken to work. You are right, bought sandwiches are way too much (especially from the deli just down from work- yum!).
We had to think hard about whether we do an online shop and 'stock up' for next month with the remainder of this months money - impossible. That would have meant using our overdraft. Interesting...we think we are being good by not going to the supermarket but consider spending money on delivery and we end up spending just as much to avoid the empty cupboard syndrome.
I find checking our bank balance online every morning crucial to staying in touch with our finances. We would be lost without it now.
Have just done a double batch of spag bol to stretch this week. Bit boring but hey ho.
xxx
Thanks for the inspiration
Allycat

elona

Allycat

Have a look at some of the slow cooker ideas as it will save you time and fuel. It only costs as much to run as a lightbulb.

One idea that is very popular and cheap is a large home made yorkie filled with veg and gravy.

Mads13

Hi

Ive been reading through some of the posts with delight and enthuiasm :eek: . I am disabled, unable to get out the house etc, my daughter is also disabled and my hubby is our full time carer...poor guy..lol!!

Anyway, I depend on home delivery for food shopping etc, but what I did do 4 weeks ago, is go through my freezer and realised with shock, that I had enough meat etc for meals for about 5-6 weeks. I allocate £60 a week for 3 of us which I thought was pretty good, but reading through the posts made me realise this was alot each week to live on, but this does include everything and because of my disability I do incur a few extra costs.

So anyway cutting it short...today I moved £120 of my left over food allocated dosh for the past 4 weeks to my savings account as I hadnt needed it, coz i had so much food in the freezer and still have enough for another 2 weeks. I have spent about £30 a week for all other stuff I have needed. So I have saved £120 these past 4 weeks and am so happy and shocked :eek: .

Im going to stick to a menu plan and keep moving the left over money every 4 weeks to my savings account and hopefully I will save enough by the end of the year to save for a conservatory so we dont have to move!

Im also gonna get hubby to take me well wrapped up to the market in 2 weeks time in my wheelchair and get some good quality cheap meat joints/chops/mince/chicken etc. Bagged and marked well into meal sized portions and freeze the lot. I will probably buy enough for 2-3 weeks at a time as I have a big freezer and hopefully be able to get a better deal the more i buy!

DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT I CAN GET FOR MY MONEY AT MARKETS BUYING MEAT ETC?

I am very chuffed with myself and would like to thank you all for your great suggestions and advice...YOU LOT RULE!!!

I now only use white vinegar to clean...big savings here as well.

Thanks
Mads13
XXXXX

fazer6

Mads if you're going to buy a months meat have you thought of doing a months worth of cooking at the same time? https://www.organizedhome.com advises that to save time you cook all your meals for the month in one day and then take out the frozen portion each day. If your disability gives you good and bad days then you could do the months cooking on a good day, that way even on bad days you've got a healthy meal in the freezer. With your husband and daughter at home you could set up a production line! From now on if I buy a load of chicken portions I'm going to cook it all at once to save time later, the same goes for mince, make meatballs, spag bol, chilli and lasagne all in one day.

I supose what you can get at your farmers market depends on where you are and what the local farmers produce. If you already shop online make a note of how much you currently spend on things so that you can see if things are actually cheaper at the farmers market. Some meat may not be cheaper but the quality is better, so you could perhaps buy smaller cuts of meat but buy better quality and cook more veg and potatoes to make up for it.

MrsMW

Hello to everybody.
This is my first post, but I'm an old (middleaged) hand at money saving, seem to have done it all my life.
I was interested in what Mads13 said about going to the market for meat. I too am disabled but I discovered when I went to our local market that a lot of the butchers/farmers would deliver free if you made a minimum order.So now I collect orders from my friends and neighbours and we have a free delivery of the most delicious sausages, pork etc. I'm also lucky in that we live fairly near the coast and have a lady who delivers fresh fish every three months.
I should also confess that I have two freezers which I feed and then forget about!!!

elona

Mads 13

If you need to shop online then look at the vouchers thread on this site as you can get free delivery and £10 or £15 off at tesco , Iceland etc.

I did this before christmas and saved £15 so what should have been over £45 was actually £30 - very pleased.

The slow cooker thread is also useful as if you have a bad day then once it is loaded up you can forget it all day and still have a hot meal in the evning.

I dusted my old slow cooker off from under the sink and have used it so much and I am becoming a bore on the subject.

Hubby reckons he has not been fed so well for ages. :):)

md123

I got a slow cooker delivered a few weeks ago and have been busy making meal plans for starting the March challenge. I also am going to order from Tesco using the £15 off voucher.

I must say I am enjoying all this planning for saving money, hopefully I will manage as well throughout the challenge. I normally start off the month fine but as it goes on I find I get lazier, so it will be a challenge!