January 2007 Grocery Challenge

nattybone

I would love to try the grocery challenge for the first time!

I will try for £200 for the month ( 3 adults and 2 kids )

Is there any help out there with meal planners???

kiwi88_2

nattybone wrote:

I would love to try the grocery challenge for the first time!

I will try for £200 for the month ( 3 adults and 2 kids )

Is there any help out there with meal planners???

Hi there nattybone :hello:

There's loads of help re meal planning on this site but try looking at my post on Pg8 (Post 142) which has links included, that'll get you started :rotfl: From there check out the old style threads for loads of advice and recipes Hope that helps. Have fun and let us know how you do.

rach

i spent £32.59 today, which included a (perhaps stupid) £12.49 bargain litre of famous grouse (in sainsburys)

got 12 UHT skimmed milks whilst i was in the car (yoghurt making and porridge) plus loads of veg for soup. was still surprised it was quite expensive for a few basics (minus the scotch!)

redspot24

rach wrote:

was still surprised it was quite expensive for a few basics (minus the scotch!)

I know exactly what you mean abou being expensive for the basics- spent £17-odd this week just on veg, dairy bits and a chicken (couldn't get it in the freezer so couldn't get it in the on-line shop!). Am so annoyed with spending this much; we get conned as don't have a proper supermarket nearby, only 'local' or 'express' ones and can't get cheaper ranges (couldn't get cheap coke - only premuim stuff - which I wanted to clean the toilet with. :mad: Will have to think imaginatively about where to go for that!). Had a phase of getting veg from a local stall (fruit wasn't too great from there though) and think I'll start going back there to save some valuable pennies.

Also think that I overspent on our online shop. Tried to only really get stuff I planned for, but where there were offers, I got extra and don't think that's helped. At least means there should be some left over for next month.

On the plus side, was reading today that having milk in your tea cancels out the health benefits, and seeing that we were running short of milk we decided to give it ago - couldn't tell the difference! That'll save us some money :j Another bonus of this is that tea is now quicker and easier to make, hence dbf is keen to do it! :j :j

Anyway, determined to stick at it and see how it goes. Can always try to redeem any extra spent next month...

earthmother

redspot24 wrote:

...was reading today that having milk in your tea cancels out the health benefits...

Think I might try to get hubby to try that (don't drink tea or coffee myself) - milk is a big chunk of our weekly budget, so anything that cuts it down is fine by me (and he could do with more of the health benefits too).

chewy62

i spend a fortune on milk each week, usually 2.5 litres a day! Mostly for the littlies though.
My grocery challenge isn't going as well as expected and I have only £60 for the next 2.5 weeks. (maybe that's not too bad?:rolleyes:
Thing is, I had quite a lot of food in the freezer from Dec. so shouldn't have needed to buy much.:o
I have done menu plans which I have stuck to so far, so I think I'll check my till receipts to see where the money has gone!:o

House_Elf_2

Popped to supermarket this morning for Milk and Cat food. Spent £12.37 on half price offers! Oops!!

vivw_2

My challenge hasn't gone too badly so far but then I am cheating. Spent Thurs and Fri last week in hospital and OH has been buying most of the food, which has meant I haven't been spending!!!!!!!!!!!
last time I went shopping was last weds when I spent £36 on food. Think OH has spent about £20 but since that has come out of his money it can't count on my budgeting....can it?

kezia

Hard as I am trying I am not doing so well at this. I seem to need one or two things everyday ( bin liners, loo roll or eggs etc) and each visit costs about £15 more than I intended it to As this is my first month at the challenge I am trying to remind myself that it is a bit of a learning curve and I have to be more organised and plan meals better. I am determined to keep going though. Do you find it is cheaper to do one or two big shops a month or lots of little ( but well planned!!!!) trips?

kiwi88_2

kezia wrote:

Hard as I am trying I am not doing so well at this. I seem to need one or two things everyday ( bin liners, loo roll or eggs etc) and each visit costs about £15 more than I intended it to As this is my first month at the challenge I am trying to remind myself that it is a bit of a learning curve and I have to be more organised and plan meals better. I am determined to keep going though. Do you find it is cheaper to do one or two big shops a month or lots of little ( but well planned!!!!) trips?

Hi Kezia,

Welcome and well done so far :T

I find it a lot easier to do three big shops online and one smaller one in shop. That way I can meal plan and buy for that and use the in store one as a catch-up/emergency one but each person/circumstance is different.

As you've said the first month is a steep learning curve but it's worth perservering with. This is my fourth month doing it and I've gone from £520ish :eek: (for 2 adults, 2 children and a dog) down to £350ish and I'm determined to get it down further

That's just my way though There are lots of other ways of doing it on here with loads of advice and encouragment so keep letting us know how you're doing.