Shopping-Monthly vs Weekly or daily (merged)

Alison_Funnell

Bit of both. Mostly monthly with a small amount for extras/fresh.

Lindy_-_Loo

Weve just done our second monthly shop, last month we saved £30, but this month should be more as havent had to order some items which I over bought last month. We just buy fresh things each week as we need it. Shopping like this means I dont see the online offers each week and buy them because their there. Plus its cheaper to buy beans, spah tins etc in the bulk packs which I probably didnt when buying weekly.

In terms of nappies my 3 year old just wears for bed so buy them when they are on offer and stock up

wssla00

It's monthly for me too! It requires a bit of prep at the beginning of the month but once I have meal planned, I then do a monthly shop. As the garden is still producing I don't usually need a lot of veg but in the depths of winter I will do, and then I will only get that stuff on a weekly basis. It takes some getting used to but my rule of thumb is if I run out I run out (except certain essentials of course!) and have to look for something else to eat

notjustlaura

This is only my second month of the Grocery Challenge so I'm still working out what works for us.

At the moment, I have a monthly budget (£250). I shop weekly (with top ups as necessary for F&V etc) and try to stick to a flexible weekly mini-budget (£50). I don't worry about this too much though so if there's a good offer on a bulk item I will overspend to get it and then pull in the reins the following week in the hope that it evens out by the end of the month.

Hope this helps - I'm finding it really interesting to hear how other moneysavers do it.

redlady_1

I am now weekly. I shop with a calculator too. My monthly budget is kept in cash in a jar. Then I just take out the weekly amount. That way I know if anything happens I will always have enough cash to feed me for the month.

seafarers_wife

I tend to to stock up as and when needed. I have a budget of £200 a month for 1 sometimes 2 adults. some months i spend an absolute fortune when i stock up things from costco like loo roll and meat. other months i spend practically nothing other than bread, milk, cheese, fruit and veg when needed so for us it evens out.

ive found that for me as oh works away, im best to stock up when he is away on booze as that is what bumps our shopping budget up when he is back, and we eat alot more meat from the butchers which puts the shopping budget up, but overall it works out on average.

p-pincher

HI

We have £160 per month for groceries, at the beginning of the month i do a big online shop and spend about £80 stocking up on tinned, frozen, storecupboard food, toiletires, cleaning stuff, meat to be frozen, stuff for kids pack up etc, the spend between £20 or £30 for the remaining weeks on things like bread, fruit, milk ,youghurts etc. I fing this is the best way for us and i swear buy a big online shop as it removes the temptation to fill the trolley up with rubbish. My laptop wasnt working last week so had to do it instore at tescos on a friday evening and it was a nightmare, packing it all (17 carrier bags) and trying to get it from the car to the house nearly killed me x

Pitlanepiglet

Monthly but I average my Costco meat, fish and bulk stuff shop over a quarterly or half yearly basis as it doesn't fit in to a monthly cycle.

gillian62

I buy wash powder and loo rolls etc in larger amounts so I don't need to buy them so often, and save money. However the rest of my shopping is done on a weekly budget, and I shop at different places to get the bargains. Aldi in the next town on a Wednesday (which is combined with another place we go each week), Morrisons or Tesco on the way home from work, and bargains from Asda or Sainsbury's at the end of the day - fruit, veg, meat, bread. It is time consuming but it saves money.

exlibris

Lindy_-_Loo wrote: »

Weve just done our second monthly shop, last month we saved £30, but this month should be more as havent had to order some items which I over bought last month. We just buy fresh things each week as we need it. Shopping like this means I dont see the online offers each week and buy them because their there. Plus its cheaper to buy beans, spah tins etc in the bulk packs which I probably didnt when buying weekly.

In terms of nappies my 3 year old just wears for bed so buy them when they are on offer and stock up

If you do buy bulk packs, try"selling them to yourself" as you use them. If you use the individual price and the bulk price is less you will build up extra cash to bulk buy something else.