April 2011 Grocery Challenge

RhiBi

I lost my way with the challenege during the month, I think I am below budget, but there were a few times I didn't account for things at the time, and then forgot! Being a part of the challenge did make me think more about what I bought though!

This month, I'd like to give myself a limit of £450 for May I am going to take the cash out of my account over 2 days, so that I am not suing my card to pay for things, hopefully that'll really reign things in for me!

Good luck to everyone else. My challenge will start on 1st May xx

tessie_bear

hope eveyone is well and doing well with their budgets....i seem to be spending more and more...need to get a grip...need to get the freezer down it is very full...i have purchased a few bags of the 9p pasta so that should do a few cheapish meals

might have a bbq at some point over the bank holiday depending on the weather ....got some reduced fresh tuna in the coop the other day so that would be nice on the grill

take care
tessa

scotsaver

A spend of just over £20 today as my May GC has started. Dinner tonight will be pasta with a tomato based sauce and I've also defrosted some Courgettes and peppers from the Freezer - thought I'd better finish them off as they are from last years Crop.:eek: Will top it off with some grated cheese and serve some Garlic bread on the side.;)

Must also get some baking done to replenish cookies/cakes supply.:D

Good luck for those still to declare for April.;)

espresso21

Had another No Spend Day yesterday so that was good. However, have just done my online ship with MR T and was shocked at how much it jumped up once I added cat food! My cats just won't eat the cheap stuff at all.
Not sure how to work out my April / May spend now as the online shopping bill includes items for a meal plan up to the 7th May so it goes in to the next month. I guess since I bought it today I will put it down under April which means I will be over for April but under for May hopefully.
And since we are talking about May could I please be put down for £310 for May.

prophecy_grrl

Have just totalled up receipts and I'm declaring at £182.34 for April, an overspend of £2.34. I'm deducting that off my May budget, so please can I be put down for £177.66 for May please, thanks MrsM

I put £60 into my savings for a rainy day / Disneyland account today, most of which is my underspend for 2011 groceries, so I don't feel too bad about my £2.34 overspend

Looking forward to a low-spend May!

shell2001

Well gonna end this month now with a total spend of all my £425. Am pleased with this as it is what we allocate per month and this is the 1st month I have stuck to it. I also defrosed my freezer so had no stocks of anything built in.

I have just done a big tesc@ shop to be delivered on Saturday £6 delivery but at least I know what it will cost me plus will save me a good 1 1/2 travel and shopping time. Also includes all the smellies and laundry goods for the month so will update that once I get a final price.

Going to aim for £425 for May please. Would love to get below this and am hopeful that the girls being back at school will help somewhat.

Hippeechiq

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

Had a lovely dinner last night. I did sweet chilli sausages as per Hippeechiq's recipe in the collection on here. Nom! nom! nom! served with mash and caramalized onions.

Thank you funnily enough, we also had that for tea last night.

Right, I've scoured the GC threads and have found Motherships description of how the 2nd Purse works, and I'm pleased I did, because I've been doing it all wrong :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I thought you bought stock out of the 2nd purse at the offer price, and then paid back the non-offer price each time you used an item of stock, thus making a profit.

That's what I've been doing, and I am making a profit, lol, but have found it very difficult to pay back the full price out of my weekly envelopes each time I use something, and thats WHY! For the simple reason, that I wouldn't have bought the things I buy at the full price to start with.....jeez, I'm so ditzy! :rotfl:

I intend to reduce my GC budget by £10 so that I can add £10 to my 2nd Purse every month (it's the only place I can get £10 from) but I think it'll be a while before I get to the "Wish List" phase

Anyhoo, I've found it to be a big help - here it is:

Mothership wrote: »

I thought this might be a good time to tell you all about my OTHER Purse. I'd have told you before but I didn't have time to sit down and explain how it works.

About 30 years ago I started putting £10 per month in a separate purse in my handbag , that I keep JUST for special offers and bargains.

Its saved me many a time when funds have been low especially when the children were small (4 of them).

The purse works like a BANK, if you do it like I do and build up a good stock, that stock effectively becomes your own STORE, for eg; if you buy three bags of sugar that are usually £1 each and you get them for 50p each, you've saved £1.50. What I do is when I use one of the bags of sugar £1 goes in the purse along with any other money I owe it.

If anyone would like to know more about the PURSE/BANK and would like to start doing it, and need any help I'm happy to help.

At first I kept a list of all the stock I had and ticked off as I used one, then I knew what was running low. Once a week I would pay the PURSE/BANK what I owed, once a month the £10 was paid to the purse.
So for example if I had used £5 worth of my stock, the following month there was £15 in the PURSE/BANK.

I buy as many as I can of what's on offer, usually in multiples of three.
This month sugar was only 50p a bag so I bought 12 = £6. A years supply (check items will be in date by the time you use them.
Last month it was teabags on B!!!F I use 1 a month, but had 3 in stock , so I bought nine of those, think they were £3 each full price.
The month before that, coffee was on offer I use 1 jar every two months so a years stock is 6 Jars, if it has a LONG date I would buy more maybe another 3, so I would have 1 1/2 years worth of coffee.
The month before that it was the pasta we use all the time it was 3 for 2 normal price £1 per pack. I use about 1 bag per month. I only had one pack in stock so I bought 6. 7 months pasta all dated Aug 2012, so will be well used before then.

When I first started doing this I just bought 3-6 of everything. Up to the value of what I had in the PURSE/BANK.

After about a year of doing this I had a great stock. There was about £150 in the purse. At the time that was about what I spent to feed the whole family for 2-3 months. And the things I needed on a weekly basis became less and less. Until all I had to buy on a weekly basis was meat fresh fruit and veg and perishables.
Occasionally if an unexpected bill came in or one of the kids needed shoes in a hurry, I took the money from the purse, I didn't ever pay this back .
At one time I had around £1000 in the PURSE/BANK I put £900 of that in a safe place, leaving only £100 in the PURSE.

Heres the good bit.

After my shopping lists, I have a wish list, and a never in my wildest dreams list.
It meant if I saw something I would like I could buy it for eg: I LOVE Le Creuset, so I'd maybe buy myself something from the range. That was on my wish list.
My TV ariel got struck by lightning and blew up my TV, I got £500 from my insurance to replace it. I took £500 from The PURSE/BANK. And purchased a TV that I would NEVER have been able to buy so that was classed as being on my Never in my wildest dreams list.
This was my REWARD for being thrifty. And I'm still ENJOYING the TV:D

When I joined MSE I had £900 in the PURSE/BANK. I was able to take advantage of any GRABBITS or GLITCHES I found. I had a grand old time LOL. It took my STOCKPILING to a whole new level, as before I only really used the PURSE/BANK for groceries/ household /supplies etc.
I now have a great stock of toiletries/ makeup/gifts, all things that will be used within a year.

I've never spent so little and got so much. Or had so much fun doing it.

I used to visit the old style threads and read the posts, I LOVE the idea of the grocery challenge. I had been taught all the basic survival skills, all the old school ways, and stopped using them. I had become what the BIG boys had made me, the rebel in me played them at their own game and my family got the benefit of any profits.
But I hated what I'd become, there was a time when you couldn't buy convenience meals, and I would never have dreamt of buying them. But little by little I ended up buying what they wanted to sell me.

In spite of my PURSE/BANK cushion I was still not doing it right, but I'm getting there, with all your help and support, thank you for that. All of you.

guccigoo

mrs mccawber can you put me down for £260 again please.
havent added up my spends yet so will declare in the next couple of days. Had my Donald and Russell delivery today so nice goodies in my freezer, placed another order which is coming 5th may and i got free delivery. Bought my royal wedding cake in mr t today, cant wait to watch it tomorrow
Have a nice long weekend everyone..

espresso21

O dear, I have been very very bad! I went to Costco this evening and stocked up on loads of stuff. In the long run, this will mean lots of savings but right now it means a huge outlay. I spent £193 which is a huge amount of money BUT for that money I managed to purchase the makings of 28 whole meals and lots of extra products (for example one of the meals uses 2 tins of chickpeas but I bought in bulk so I have 12 tins - there are a lot of examples like that). I also bought cat food and an enormous bag of cat litter. So overall it's not bad, but it does mean I have completely blown my April budget many many times over!

Pink.

Hi everyone,

Just to let you know that I normally try to put the new thread up on the 28th but unfortunately my internet connection has been very hit and miss today.

Unfortunately getting all the posts in the correct order requires a decent connection for at least half an hour so I'm going to stop trying for tonight and try again in the morning.

Apologies to anyone who is waiting for the new thread, hopefully it will be up and running tomorrow morning.

Pink