April 2011 Grocery Challenge

SOT2011

Oh dear, not looking good on the budget front, weekly shop doen today at Mr T, £63.33 spent taking spends so far this month to £215.35/£240, and my month doesn't end till the 30th :eek:

Not quite as bad as it looks at first sight though. We have everything in that we need till next Friday, when we are away for the long weekend, and not back till Monday night and there are ingredients for at least 3 evening meals in the cupboards and freezer, so with a bit of careful juggling I am staying optimistic that it can be achieved (just).

sistercas

just back from @sd@ spent £70.96 more than i wanted but what with kids on hols and DH coming shopping with me its nigh on impossible to keep to my budget. DH added beer plus some choc and strawberry muffins which i hadnt expected :cool: still he is forgiven as i cant drive at the moment because of my back and he drove me ,pushed the trolley and put the shopping away too :T
i have £50 left to last 2 weeks , so not sure if its doable but i will try really hard

hippeechiq hope things are ok
spiggle thinking of you
helen jelly thanks for asking about my back , unfortunately its no better , i may have to resort to seeing a physio

[Deleted User]

Well I did my shop this morning and it came to £58.89 so time to pull in the belts a bit more and lots of NSDs ahead.I have enough now to get me through at least two weeks so I am quite happy with that.Managed to get quite a bit of fruit as well which was good.Fridge is nicely filled up so even if the DGSs arrive I can sort them out with some goodies .made a nice HM apple sponge cake and found a reasonable lemon in the bottom of the fridge that I think I will turn into a lemon drizzle cake at the week-end.I had forgotten it was in there but its still ok for cakes. I will make some of 'twinks' cookies as well I think as the boys being home from school means they are like little locusts.Got around just over £22 to last until the end of the month so that's more than enough.

suzie_wong

Hi everyone,

I have been reading this thread (well some of it at least!) with interest. Think I will have to get involved next month, but don't really have much of an idea what I spend in total. I tend to go to the market for fruit and veg and some other food, the butchers for meat, get the occasional T!sco shop delivered, and other bits and pieces from S!!nsburys and W!!trose.

:cool: Will try £300 next month and see how I go....

123budget

One more shop to go for April but already over budget £560.69 spent. Thought I was being realistic with a £500 budget for five of us (all eat adult size meals) but with school holidays and them being in the house revising for exams I seem to be getting through loads. Still should have meat left over at end of month to carry into next month with a bit of luck. Made the salmon and dill fishcakes last night with mash left over from night before - I called them salmon surprises - the surprise being very little salmon in them!!! never mind they still went down well and good for a budget meal. So thats three meals off the recipe list on page 1 and 3 successess so thats all good.

quintwins

didn't manage a nsd in the end spent £10.50 in the farm shop on 20kg of taties and a punnet of strawberrys at £4.50 cause we didn't fancu pasta (kids are having pasta tho) so were having homemade chips and a packet of fried chicken i got reduced from the freezer still better than paying £10 for a takeaway we got fruit and spuds will last til the end of the month

debtfreewannabe321

Hmmm well not updated in a while i don't think (can't be bothered looking all the way through to check..) But this month i have epically failed :rotfl: I've kinda given up now!

I went to the wholesalers today and spent a whopping £246 :eek: I have stocked up on loadsa things such as bleach, meat, drinks, sauces, cheese etc so i am hoping next month it may be possible to stay in budget lol!

Thus far i have spent £370....and we still need to get fresh stuff each week so this total will go up! Ah well, I knew it would be hard with hubby bk from afghan and DS out of school for easter (both huge appetites) I hope everyone is doing better than me :T

Downsizing_2

ButterPie wrote: »

. I have one in nappies full time and one just at night. They have both grown out of the reusable ones, although we still have loads of terry squares, so we'll just get some bigger outers and hopefully that will cut down expenses a bit. Still need disposable for nursery and visiting grandparents though, and the older child won't wear washables (or, she will, but she goes to the loo in the night and can't get them back on).

Our local Real Nappies Project sells reusable training pants - basically a couple of layers of terry towelling inside cotton stretchy pants. These go up and down like usual knickers so I think any tot who was potty trained in the day could use them ok. Maybe have a look on ebay? Or, if you are fairly handy with a sewing machine and have terries lying about you could have a go. I am a recent convert to real nappies although I use disposables at night as baby is only 6 months. The difference in how much we spend on nappies is amazing now! And the wheely bin has much more space in it too.

Downsizing

janie-h

ButterPie wrote: »

Hi all, newbie here!
I've just sat down and made an elaborate budget (including a rotation of where we do the main shop each week, over 8 weeks, to maximise savings and get bulky things delivered - we don't drive), we are busy in the garden, I'm planning to start baking bread, cakes and biscuits again for a bit of luxury, and I am trying to persuade my husband to keep receipts and stick to a budget.
I reckon £50 a week for food, household goods including nappies and gardening expenses is a good place to start for two adults and two under fives, especially since the two adults only work part time - hence the need to budget.
We've just had a good haul from approved food, and we have good stores of dry goods, so I think this week's main expenses will be nappies. I have one in nappies full time and one just at night. They have both grown out of the reusable ones, although we still have loads of terry squares, so we'll just get some bigger outers and hopefully that will cut down expenses a bit. Still need disposable for nursery and visiting grandparents though, and the older child won't wear washables (or, she will, but she goes to the loo in the night and can't get them back on).
We have a housewarming tomorrow, but are going to try frugal entertaining - big bowl of pasta and homemade sauce from our store cupboards, bit of homemade garlic bread (have run out of garlic, but that is cheap enough) and some scones from the 1kg of scone mix for £1.50 off approved food, as well as a tray of homemade flapjack. Total cost should be in the region of £2 for feeding up to around 15 - 20 people well, which is pretty good I think Add on some tea and coffee, maybe a box of wine (although it is bring a bottle) and our collection of charity shop boardgames, put some toys out, and I think we have covered all bases
Also going to try mending and altering clothes more - the baby is fine as we have a massive selection of hand me downs from our eldest and some friends, but the eldest is getting too big for her clothes, so I'm going to try a few alterations and making her things. Will also attempt to make some plain cheap clothes and charity shop finds a bit more exciting for her.

So, watch this space!

Someone's gonna be busy!

guccigoo

Hope everyones been enjoying the hols with the kids off, mine have been eating like mad :eek: eldest dd took the youngest 2 swimming today, gave her £25 to include something to eat as well and came bk with about £4 change :eek:, costs a fortune to go out these days!!
Anyway whilst they were swimming i had to take the kitty for her checkup as she was spayed on tues then after bringing her home i went and done the weekly shop in peace (heaven) at MrT, total came to £74.02 but once i had given my coupons the total was £56.92 . Last week my shopping was £64.47 plus a shop in the week of £8,32.
Ive placed an order with donald russell which is coming on the 28th april so that will go into may budget, first time of using them so will have plenty of meat for the month.
Off to update sig, chow for now