February 2011 Grocery Challenge

Lola76

Many Thanks for your posts and tips everyone, I feel it is more difficult this month to stick to my budget,

Had my big shopping done last weekend and have less than 60 pounds to last me till the end of the month. I am determined to stick to this challenge, with meal planner coming very handy.

It seems to be psychological for me, thinking that I only have so much to spend and it is not going to be enough, however careful I am... I hope to break through this feeling .

debtfreewannabe321

I've done my shop for the week, and for the first time last night used mysupermarket and it was really helpful actually it saved me £13 as i was going to just go to te$co but saw on there that the same basket of food was £13 cheaper at A$da

I ended up spending £47.44 -it should have been £39.-- but i decided to treat us and picked up some donuts &lemonade & also some nappies as i hadn't spotted yesterday we were on the last few!

I also spent an hour or so on sunday emptying out my freezer & re-organising so i have a veg drawer, a meat drawer etc...and i made an entire weeks worth of meals (well wrote down a meal planner) from it! All i needed to get was sauces, potatoes, rice etc & juices fresh fruit & veg....I hope i can keep up this low spending as i should come in for the month UNDER £200 (we shall see though lol)

94.44/250 running total

Linda32

Hello all,

I'm going for £260.00 for this month, came in at about £266.00 last month, so here goes.....


Previous £43.98

Asda £38.36
Co-op £12.27

New total £94.61

Month will run until after shopping on 25th February 2011

modern_millie_2

Hello all,
my budget for this and every month is £150 for 3 of us, all veggies. Bit despondent last month as over by £3.50, but loooking better this month. Think it has helped buying all cat food and loo roll at start of month - got 24 tins Felix for £10. Also bought some frozen veg so don't always have to pop to shops for fresh. V. pleased today as received a £6 off voucher from Mr T, so will go there
for next shop and hopefully won't need much after that.
Lentil soup and cheese for dinner tonight, and cooking spag bol (aduki beans) for tomorrow. Have found bulk buying from AF really good for coffee and couscous, also chocolate! Have £65 left in budget, think I can do it this month.

russetred

Just a quick dash in to update my sig which I keep forgetting to do.Picked up lots of whoopsies yesterday in the co and mr T . Got my naans 15p in the co and my chicken bhunas 45p in mr T nice of them to co ordinate wasnt it?

Helen my deepest condolences on your loss.

kookgekje

Just updated my signature. Not doing too badly I think. Nearly halfway (my month started on the 25th) and my spend is ok. I have pretty much all the stuff for this week in the house. A friend has given me his fruit & veg box as he is away so no spend on that at all :j. Let's see if I can avoid going to the shops at all before the weekend...

miecherox

:j NSD for me today - first of many this week I hope. Have just enough money in my purse for a cheap gammon joint from the butcher and some more milk. Like I told the kids once it's gone it's gone!! My cash cards are on the shelf so no temptation to just "nip" in somewhere and totally ruin my budget with what I think is bargains. :T

nessie216

Hi All

Need to update my sig - not going well this month - amazing how much you can actually spend!

Need to get a couple of cheap purses and allocat different amounts in for each thing eg GC, uni days and social etc.

Spending more at Uni atm as i am staying over the lunch period and staying longer than i used to!

Once i know how much i have spent this month i can make a better decision on what Marchs budget is!

mummyjane

Did the weekly shop today, hoping to stretch out meals for the next 10 days or so if I can. Delivery driver said there had been a small spillage so I was refunded for that item and told that I would be refunded for dh's steak as a small compensation :T Worked out cheaper than last weeks too, just need to try and cut out the little shops and I'll be sorted.

So an extra £62.19 added to my total so far for this month. Don't know what I'd do without all the great advice I get from all you good peeps

martafdz

rachbc wrote: »

[...]My only downfall is I hate collecting the receipts and adding them all up - any tips for this one - its boring!!

I have a big 2011 diary, one of those almost A4 size. I staple every receipt I get in the column with the day as soon as I get home. Then I just add them up when i have time.

Thanks rosieben for the threads on bread. And thanks Mothership for the info on how you did it. I keep having problems. Do you have a BM? I don't and I can't get it right. Idk where I am going wrong. It is not fluffy or light, I get a block of dough with uncooked middle and hard outside. I wonder if I need to knead more or leave it to rise for longer or maybe have the oven at less/more temperature! If anyone out there does it without BM, could you please let me know exactly what you do, so I can try to repeat it? I have strong white flour and I would love to do bread like breadrolls or french baguette.

Help with hair dye, plz. Somebody mentioned that have bought hair dye for £15, how many packets? MrM and B**ts are doing 2x £10 in L'Oreal Excellence. Btw... I tried to make my roots yesterday but I tool a different shade "to go a bit darker". My natural hair is dark brown-black. I had it blonde yellowish after managing to get it almost orange with bleach. Well, I tool the 9.1 Ash blonde... and it turned grey!! Fully grey! Like my grandma's! I was in shock! Lol I just threw on top a 6-8 washes light brown I had and now is toffee greenish :rotfl:Idk what to do without going to the hairdresser. Maybe put a brown on top? Or go for a golden blonde? Has anyone gotten this problem before?