March 2011 Grocery Challenge 24 February 2011 at 10:52AM edited 28 February 2011 at 12:01AM in Old style MoneySaving 1.5K replies 168.6K views

wmf

Declaring at £142.89 out of £160 budget.I'm sure this is the first time I've ever succeeded with the grocery budget and i've tried for years! Still, even when I don't keep within the budget, it does make me think about what to buy and what is just frittering of money.
Well done everyone, whether you've stayed within budget or not :T
W

martafdz

Sorry I have not been able to read anything as yet since the 14th of March or so. I have failed this month's challenge but not much harm done. I had too much work and that is good but was the reason I had not spent much time at home and thus I could not cook much or shop around. My fridge is rubbish so anything left there will go off in a couple of days. Even my carrots and parsnips sprout!! Idk why but it is always wet inside the fridge, I keep cleaning and drying it but I think it just does not cool enough and wets everything. It's a rented flat and the landlord has already bought a new oven and a great washing dryer because in the last 6 months both failed. The flat is not old, about 8 years, but I think we are having bad luck because we treat things well and we are careful. Anyway, I cannot ask for a fridge really and Idk what's wrong with it. It is ok with things that are protected but they all get a bit wet nevertheless

Total for March £295.16

TARGET FOR APRIL: £275, I am going to put it up a bit, I have the same amount of work confirmed until the end of June so I am quite happy about that. I will be able to pay off all my credit cards probably and be left just with the loan.

prophecy_grrl

I've done my last shop of March and am pleased to declare at £201.77, which is £48.23 under budget - this is going into the 'surplus' tin with the £3.50 that's in there so far for treats later in the year (or if DH can't get a job when his ends in a few weeks I'll use it to live off)

Hippeechiq

Declaring March at £221.99

BlimusOreilly

Oh dear - terrible month Declaring at £247.47 this is a disastrous £67.47 over budget!!!:eek:

I know what's gone wrong though - too many 'just popping in' shops and too many branded convenience goods that I bought cos it was such a miserable month for us.

Must try harder and get more positive next month!

SOT2011

Thought I might have to do a tiny top up shop before the end of today, but am now going to manage without, therefore declaring for March at £254.75/£240.

Over budget for the month, but I had set myself a very tight challenge trying to drop £60 in a month. Aimed high and fell a tad short, but still proud of myself. Have set myself the same target again for Arpil and this time I really want to come in under, but time will tell...

cleggie

yay!!!! total for march is £192.48/£220!!!!! VERY impressed with myself!!

Can i please put myself down for £190 in April please?
Thanks!!

MumOf2Beasties

small spend in m'sons today for orange squash and mouthwash £4.09, that's it for this month:D

so i'd like to declare a £220.28 march total

quite happy with this as it's only a little over (thanks to the extra trips to the shop for treats on dvd/pj days with the kids!!!!)

will update sig and pop over to april gc to put down £215 again for april and fingers crossed i'll make it under budget:D

well done and good luck to all other GC'ers:T

looie

Gone slightly over this month - I blame mr t lol !!

I am declaring at £104.84.

Can you put me down for my usual £100 please for April Mrs M

Spiggle

Hello everyone, :wave:

I can't believe I haven't posted for a week. I have been hugely busy mind and did spend most of last weekend in the garden.

Well done everyone on your sterling efforts over March - no failures here - we just learn and move on to the next challenge. :T Just think how much you would be spending if you weren't keeping an eye.

Apologies but I've had to skim over the last pages and so may well have missed some important things so please forgive me if it seems I've ignored you. A couple of things stood out though big time.

LONG TALL SALLY YAY!!!!! :T:T:T Well done honey, I knew you would do it. _party_:dance::kisses3: Brilliant, brought a huge smile to my face! :A

Great result for you too PennyGrabber, well done, you sound so pleased it makes me smile with you. :T:T:T

Thanks for your kind words angelatgraceland and sistercas. :A

Hippeechiq, I hope things are not too bad hun and you are fighting the b******ds with all your might. Keep strong, you have right on your side. :grouphug:

I saw the sugeon yesterday and I'll now be having two ops; one next Thursday and another the week after. He wants to investigate why I bled and ended up in hospital in the first place before operating on what they've found subsequently. Seems very logical to me and whilst two GAs in two weeks seems a bit harsh, I shouldn't be in for too long and will be able to do most of the recuperation at home (if needed at all).

I haven't updated the sig yet but will shortly. I got a few things on offer at MrT at the beginning of the week and OH has bought a few things over the week too. Our month ends today and I declare our March grocery spend to be £231.16. So just under. I'll work our the NSD in a while and add that to the sig but I feel like we've not done so well on those this month. Looking at the spreadsheet it seems like lots of spends rather than fewer big ones.

The £240 has become a sort of 'holding' or 'maintenance' budget for us now though that now also includes things like the specialist cat food and occasional fruit tree or garden purchase so whilst it's similar to last year it is covering more iyswim.

Ok, enough of a rambling essay from me. Better go and say hi on the April thread. Take care all.

All the best,
Spigs