January 2011 Grocery Challenge 25 December 2010 at 2:15AM edited 29 December 2010 at 10:09AM in Old Style MoneySaving 2.6K replies 293.9K views

Sunnyday

Well i`m fresh back from the shops

I shouldn`t be shopping until next week but i had to nip out for some eye ointment for the little old doggie and some bird food as our feathered friends are eating us out of house and home :eek:

I popped into sainsbugs for some of the red leicester thats on offer (1kilo for £4) and came out with butter and bacon too. I wanted the bacon but didn`t need the butter just yet. Never mind at least it will keep.

I`m another who can`t do the purse thing I`ll cheat I also find that if i take money with me everywhere then it just slips through my fingers so i always use plastic. This does mean that i can overspend but its usually on a decent offer when i do so usually a good saving. If i didn`t take the card then i`d miss out on the offers or waste fuel going back for them. I tried the jar thing last year and that didn`t work out for us either as we were always dipping into it for one thing or another, when time came to do the weekly shop it was always empty :rotfl: Oh well at least i get cashback by using the card so it does have a couple of benefits Its interesting reading all the different things that everyone does.

Spiggle - Sorry to hear about the accident :eek: Thankfully no real damage was done although it must have been a real shock for you both. (((HUGS))) for you both. Hope it hasn`t knocked OH`s confidence too much.

Flat Eric - Happycrafter had a spreadsheet that she would email out to you if you sent a pm requesting a copy. It looks really good as the meal plan listed the ingredients and at the end it made your shopping list for you. I`m sure that if you asked you would receive a copy. I`ve played around with it a bit but haven`t had time yet to tailor it to my needs.

Gammon in the slowcooker for tonights tea *drools* i shall have a nosy in the fridge later to see whats in there to accompany it

Siggy will be updated later when i`ve seperated my spends. Bet i`ve spent almost as much on bird food as i have on food for us :cool:

SD

shinydriver

Hi all, can I come and join you? I really need to get my food costs lower and more to the point figure out how much we are spending on food each month as I spend out in dribs and drabs and don't count at the sec.

I have set a budget of £200 between 24 Jan & 23rd Feb as that is our pay month. I get paid weekly and the groceries will be coming out of that.

So far I have spent £53 and wont need to be doing a shop until Monday where I will go to L*dl. Can I just ask if there is a reason that the Supermarkets aren't written about by name? Eg MrM etc

Mummyroysof3 do you have a Dunelm near you? They seem to do a range of budget silicone. I mostly use 2 x 6 muffin trays the most for muffins, brownies and mini yorkshires and toad in the holes (half a sausage or a few slices in each).

Winchelsea

I'm going to end my January challenge here, as I'm a bit low on things in the fridge and store cupboard, so will start on Feb's money and have a bit of a stock-up. It's as broad as it is long actually, as I'm making my January 28 days, and bumping my Feb up to 31.

My January spend was £48.50 so will be able to carry over the £1.50 that remains in my purse to next month.

Hope you are all fine. Have been very busy myself this month so have not been on very much.

kippers

jack0212 wrote: »

Please could I join in for February. After alot of consideration, I have finally ordered myself a bread maker too. I can't wait for it to arrive. It's like Xmas all over again but without the expense!!

Welcome to you:j I love my breadmaker and i wouldn't be without it. I've had one for 10 years now.

Spiggle wrote: »

Welcome alicemskinner, :wave:

As has been said by our fellow challengers, there are far too many variables. You will find that some people have in their signatures what they include and or how many they are feeding. The important thing to remember is that it is your challenge so comparing to anyone else would be pointless as there is no competition here only support.

I agree with you spiggs. Is there anyway we could put one or two more details in our signature to help people ie

Feb=£143.30/£300.00
2 Adults & 2 DD's
I incl. food, toiletries, cleaning items, allotment items


Only a thought to give new people a really rough idea?

prettypaula wrote: »

im going to try aldi in Feb always been a bit of a food snob but will get fruit etc and see what else they have tin wise as nearly run out of all tins.. bet youre glad its payday!

I sometimes use aldi for fruit and veg but i don't really find the other things alot cheaper so make sure you can compare prices. I do always get my turkey crown from there for xmas as it is lovely and it's a good price.

Spiggs-OMG:eek:I'm thinking of you both. Lots of virtual hugs are heading your way.

Today my DH is coming home for lunch to treat us both to a bag of chips ...he knows how to treat a lady lol.:rotfl: Anyway it means i'll only have to cook for DD's. I have two leftover jacket potatoes for them and some whoopsied chicken in breadcrumbs which i'll serve with coleslaw and whoopsied broccoli and cauli florets which i froze from xmas eve. So thats the food sorted for the day.

I love Fridays as i have two days that i don't have to makeup pack lunches (i always make pack ups the evening before). Simple things make me happy lol

Anyway, welcome to all the new people that are joining the Feb GC

Sunnyday

shinydriver wrote: »

Can I just ask if there is a reason that the Supermarkets aren't written about by name? Eg MrM etc

I think its to stop giving them any freebie advertising and also to stop them from being ranked higher by the search engines. Many people also alter a link if posted to a particular shop from the long version to just one word.

Welcome to the GC, you will love it here

SD

Winchelsea

Declaring £61.50 for February please. Was going to say £10 less, but remembered that I'd reduced Jan's target as I had so much storecupboard stuff to use up. Need a bit of a stock-up now, so common sense says I should up it a bit.

Still far less than I WAS spending!

Flat_Eric

well my morning off has been spent glued to my pc doing my tesco order for tomorrow and planning my menus for the next two weeks. Its worn me out !!!

For February, I would like to set a budget of £350. actually, I want to spend no more than £300 but I am giving myself a bit of breathing space hence allowing £350.00.

I'm not sure how I manage to spend so much on home delivery but my order is £170 odd at present. :eek:This does include stock cupboard items that I have run out of and I have taken advantage of lots of the offers and I have meal planned ! I shall go on later when I'm less brain warped from it ! and see if there is anything I can remove...

CRANKY40

Gorgeestwo wrote: »

Hi
Haven't posted for a while, have totally failed this month had an operation a couple of weeks ago and its my sons birthday today, so I've totally lost track of what I've spent though am sure its over my target.
So going to start February with a totally clean slate and make sure I get myself organised in theory being a shorter month I should be able to do it for less, so could I be put down for £250 for Feb please.

There is no such thing as a fail on this challenge. You can choose between "Think how much I would have spent if I hadn't been doing the grocery challenge", or "I will try again next month", but you cannot fail.

SilverBird_2

I've been in M&S and spent £23.27 which is the last of the voucher plus 2p in cash.

~~~ Total GC spend for Jan 2011 is £68 (£18 cash & £50 voucher) ~~~

There's food in the freezer and cupboards to take forward into February

Spiggle

CRANKY40 wrote: »

There is no such thing as a fail on this challenge. You can choose between "Think how much I would have spent if I hadn't been doing the grocery challenge", or "I will try again next month", but you cannot fail.

Spot on Cranky!!! :T

Georgeestwo, you haven't failed and I'm sure a lot of us would have pulled out for a few weeks if we had been having an operation! Just buckle up and start again for Feb. It's a learning curve on this challenge - sometimes the upward curve can be steep and slow us down but none of us ever fail. :cool: Hope you're giving yourself the time and space to get over the op and look forward to seeing you on the Feb challenge.

Thank you all for the good wishes and hugs for me and the OH - Hippeechiq, rosieben, sunnyday, kippers, cranky (and apologies if I've missed anyone). You are all so kind and thoughtful. :A He's still in pain but I'm worried now about the mental effect. He's saying he doesn't think he can cycle that route again but that will make a huge difference to his ability to get to work as any other route will take him 'off course' by a good distance and add at least 10 minutes, probably more, to the time it takes him to normally get to work. We'll see how he goes over the weekend but he is having the flash back to it quite a lot.

Good luck with the extra challenge you've set yourself sazzledazzle! You say 'lil bro', is he a child or an adult you'll be feeding? A fifty % increase in mouths with no increase in budget sounds like one heck of a challenge!

If you don't mind me asking Flat Eric, how many are in your household?

Welcome to all newbies joining us. The names I can remember are shinydriver, outdoorlass, wannabrich (don't we all!:rotfl:) but I must have missed some. You don't have to wait until the Feb link is here. Just post your budget now but remember to post the amount and the month in big bold red numbers/letters like this: Budget for Feb £*** and then MrsMcCawber :A will easily see you and add you to the list. She doesn't come on as much as some of us (she is a volunteer like the other people who keep the thread going rosieben :A and Pink-winged :A) and as the thread is growing at such a speed it's essential that you do this to assist her in spotting you.

The same goes when you've finished your month and want to declare your total spend you would do it like this: Declaring Feb £***. It goes a long way to making a hugely appreciated job a lot easier.

Ok, I went and got a bag of spuds earlier so will update that on the sig in a while.

See you all later,
Spigs