July 2011 Grocery Challenge

20somethinghousewife

I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT!!!

Okay so I still have 9 hours left of my 'month' but have no reason to spend any more money now

My month was 5 whole weeks and my budget was £250. I came in at a few pence under :j I managed to have a BBQ, people over for dinner several times and even lunch out with that money as well as everyday food, drink, cleaning supplies and toiletries for 2 of us.

I did it by stockpiling and and whoopsie hunting like crazy for the first few weeks and then keeping away from the shops as much as possible in the last few weeks. I've only actually spent £16 this week!!

Right, so next month starts tomorrow (1st Aug) for me and runs for another 5 whole weeks, ending 4th Sept. Please put me down for £250 again.

Doom_and_Gloom

Total spend - £99.89 leaving us with 11p left over out of our £100 budgeted for July, lol. At least we came in budget!
I will put my budget for August up later.

(Sorry about the total not being in a different colour, I'm using my phone, as the laptop is being funny, and can't work out how to do it)

Craftyscholar

Checking in at £73.33/£85 for July

Surprised at how far under I was then looked in the freezer - I have obviously been running down my batch cooking more than I had realised. So will need to stock up which will probably blow next month's budget.

JayJay14

I'm declaring £199.77, close but beautifully on the right side of £200 even if only just. It's the first time I've managed to come under in months and is probably due to really making an effort to use up some of the food stocks.

Thanks to all who make this challenge possible and will see you all on the August thread.

rej-c

I'm so impressed by everyone's results, and especially by the way those who haven't managed to hit their budgets are dusting themselves off and starting again. Great stuff :T

I haven't been on for several days [life getting in the way again], so I'm adding spends of 8.49 [Waitr*se on the 27th], 7.54 [Mr S on the 29th], 15.65 [Aldi yesterday - first ever visit so we wanted to get several key 'sample' items to try out to see if it was worth making it a regular shop, given the bus rides involved], 5.35 [whoopsie-fest at Mr T this afternoon] and 40.47 [Mr S delivery, also today], taking us to declare a total of £183.48/£250 for July.

It's under budget, but, as some others have, I deliberately set my target a bit higher than I really wanted in order to avoid my 'inner idiot' getting rebellious when I started feeling hard done by. However, my inner idiot had the brilliant idea of spending my pocket money [and then hitting my savings] for unnecessary things I wanted [like sweets, biccies, bought work lunches] that I couldn't justify from the grocery budget So that's another thing I've got to get a grip on.

Just to cheer myself up, in the spirit of Rosieben's comment [I think it was Rosieben - apologies if it was someone else] that we should try to look at how far we've come rather than get hung up on how well or badly we've done this month, I've dug out my old 'spends log' from when I was doing my own version of the GC, inspired by these threads but before I'd signed up to join in in person. July 2008: £555.16. July 2009: £286.52. July 2010: £297.72. I'm suddenly really chuffed with this month's sub-£200 :j

Right. Onward to the August GC thread. Well done everyone, and my best wishes to all

helen_jelly

Afternoon everyone

Benn MIA as life has got in the way but have kept track of spending and have come in under budget!!!!

Declaring £195 against a target of £275 - well chuffed

See you on the new thread

Helen x

Mrs_Money_Penny

Hi Everyone a spend yesterday at MrS of £46.08. Off on holiday next Thursday so got enough to see us through a few days.

Could you please put me down for £150 for August as I'm away for 2 weeks.

Natty68

Hi all, I managed to keep to my limit and only ended up spending £183 of the £190 I was allowing.

Can I be put down for £300 in August please, am including DH's spend on the weekly shopping as well as my contribution to the food.

PennyGrabber

Hi all, hope you've had a good week. I've been on holiday for a week, in beautiful weather, relaxing and generally taking stock of my life. I've come home with renewed vigour...

August is going to be the month where my life changes. I WILL be under budget for the GC. I WILL finish decorating ds room (started in Feb!). I WILL sort out all of the carp in my house and give everything that's left a home, so that things aren't left lying around. I WILL lose weight so that I can fit into all the pretty things that have been hanging in my wardrobe for years...

Please set my total for £200. I've always had £150 and failed, so this time, I'll take it slightly higher, but there will be no room to manoeuvre then.

PG x

Sue14

Last spend of the month of £3.43 in Mr T's yesterday, so way over budget this month at £147.82, but considering I was spending between £180 & £200 a month before I started on the grocery challenge it's not so bad.