November 06 Grocery Challenge

jo101_2

Hi

Ok, Im going to have another go this month, my budget is £250 for me, DH and 2 little ones, seems like a huge budget with what some people manage to do, but we are slowly getting there.

Good luck

JO

Peem

MIL just donated us some venison.

That should help. Going to cook it off this morning and then freeze it for when I can use it. (unfortunately its already been frozen raw)

Don't want to use it this week as it'll upset my meal plan and budget,:rotfl: .

Boatie_Bird

I've managed to stick to my budget of £200 for the last couple of months so this month I'm in and my monthly budget is £180 (to 25th of month).

I'm doing ok at the moment as although we've had a week's self catering holiday (Devon/Dorset) we still did it OS (packed lunches for days out etc.)

We had some holiday spending money I'd saved up from various sources so we were able to treat ourselves to some nice pub meals and we feasted on fresh crab, mussels and prawns from Brixham.

I now have £109.96 left for the rest of the month so I'm hoping that I can cover all the food shopping and maybe buy a couple of extra bits in for Christmas.

Good luck everyone

BusyGirl

I went shopping yesterday and spent around £40 so I've got £60 left. I'm going to now count this month as a 4 week one as it is DD2's birthday during the first week of Dec and we are having an early party for her at the end of this month.So I will do an extra shop for her party food during the last few days of this month and I have extra funds for that.

Pandora123_2

I didn't think it would be that difficult to stick to £60 for the week (two adults + three cats), as we have quite a lot of food in the house.

But I have to say I was surprised that I spent as much as I did (85p over the £60 budget).

A third of the budget went to fruit and veg (we're vegan and eat quite a lot). Another £7 to cat food (treated them to organic chicken which was reduced, and there's still some in the freezer. Also Organic Whiskas. Lucky little furballs!)

Eating out was almost a tenner, but it was poor value for money as it consisted of two pieces of rather dry cake and two very bad lattes on one day, plus a coffee & flapjack to supplement DH's lunch another day (note to self... MAKE flapjacks!)

Let's hope the coming week is not as much of a struggle.

hazzie123

Newbie to this challenge!

I dont really have a clue what I spent last month,but it`s shed load less than what I used to spend,I know that much.

So this month I`m giving myself a budget of £200,which seems to be roughly what I think I should spend for myself plus 2 kids and an ex husband which I still seem to be feeding????

I am going to do a months meal planning before my shop on monday,so my month will be from the 13th to 13th.

I have the odd thing already in the freezer which will give me about 3 days of meals,freezer is that low:eek:

I do all my own cooking from scratch and batch cook as much as possible,I have a bread maker but sadly no slow cooker,but it`s on my christmas list.I admit to buying Asda`s smart price stuff as much as I can,as in their tins of beans+sausages,tinned veg,tinned tuna,corned beef.Basically as much as I can.

I was thinking about doing two big shops,the first shop would be to buy all my meat and fish for the month.The second shop what will be the following week will be for all my tinned stuff and flour and tolietries.

Not sure if that will work out ok? Maybe just try and get the lot in one go?

With some careful meal planning I`m hoping to knock off at least £25 off the months bill.

EagerLearner

£120 again for us this month - not doing too badly so far. Next shop is today - hopefully on the cheap.

I have found the following has helped me reduce our spending:


- Get Mr EL to agree that I handle finances, he doesn't enjoy it, I do - job done.
- Meal plan before I even step into a supermarket or butcher etc - only buy exactly what I need
- Always get toothpaste, loo roll, kitchen towel etc on BOGOF or in £1 store if it works out cheapest - rarely get them from supermarkets unless they are BOGOF.
- Have a slow cooker - as a woman it's a lovely feeling when you come home to a warm meal after a long days work! That's me being cheeky, Mr EL cooks too...
- Buy veg, meat, eggs etc from local stores not supermarkets (I take £10 each Saturday for this).
- Look at the lower shelves in supermarkets - we used to just buy chopped tinned tomatoes without thinking, now we get the £0.14 cans and there's no difference.
- I have stopped buying fresh milk from supermarket every few days as every visit caused us to spend much more than the value of 2 pints of milk! Now we get long life packs which are just as good, cheaper, and keep us out of harms way as they're right there in the kitchen!
- I go to LIDL twice a month for: sandwich meats, honey for hot drinks, tortilla wraps, peanut butter, rice pudding, crunchy cereal and parmesan cheese. Saves a fortune - rice pudding is £0.19 for example, big bag of crunchy cereal is £0.99 with much more in it than the supermarket packs and more nutritious (without tasting like wallpaper paste!)
- Now when I go to supermarket, because I have already bought stuff from LIDL and meat/fish/veg/eggs from local stores, all I need in supermarket is basics like cous cous, cheap pasta, long life milk etc so spend much less there.

Hope this helps someone!

x

pigpen

This is looking increasingly appealing!

How on earth could I make it work for us?? Where do you start?

I spend around £600 a month on food, mainly top ups of bread, milk, fruit and veg.

I get cheap meat as my BIL is a butcher.. and cheap veg as my sister works in the greengrocers round the corner!

My hubby is veggie so I end up cooking something different for him.

I buy ALL the offers.. usually in bulk as well!!
I buy the huge bags of pasta from tesco and the huge bads of rice and the huge sacks of potatoes so save pennies there.

My tins all match.. (tesco value)

The cats eat tesco premium slop in a tin and the rabbits get pellet food also bought in bulk!

We go through.. 3 loaves and 6pints of milk a DAY! at least 1 box of cereal. The fruit I can't even keep in the house it is gone as I buy it.. I did get some reduced bargains in asda the other night though.. 10p cabbages, 9p baguettes, 5p bags of salad, 25p for 8 yoghurts.. shame it is too far to go every night!!

I raid all the reduced racks.. I get quite excited when I find them!

I do not buy biscuits or sweets or yummies.. apart from the 2 tubs of ice cream I buy myself each month... I can't totally deprive myself you know!

ideas for reducing the £600 are more than welcome.. I expect a whole list of ideas when I get back from buying bread and milk at tesco... heehee

Penny-Pincher!!

pigpen-How many does that feed?

PP
xx

pigpen

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

pigpen-How many does that feed?

PP
xx

Sorry.. I always miss off something relevant.. It feeds 2 adults 2 cats, 2 rabbits and 8 children aged, 15, 12, 11, 9, 7, 6, 4 and 2. And they eat a LOT!!