November 2011 - Grocery Challenge

LittleMissHappy_2

Hello all - I was away at the weekend so no grocery spends for me however my DH decided to go to the shops rather than use what I had left for everyone at home so he spent around £4 (he didn't even save the receipt :mad: although he did by the own brand pizza, so he is learning ) and then yesterday I spent £5.43 on some whoopsied bread, bananas and a poinsettia I need to get more bananas as they are all gone already :eek: so will have a wander down there today to get them and a few other bits for xmas Off to update sig x

ebayqueen_2

tessie_bear wrote: »

hi....hope all had a good weekend...very mild here in our bit of the mids....small spend in lidl this morning...they have in the loveliest sharon fruit/persimmon which are great chopped up and served with yogurt....very nice

going to do fish and chips for tea tomorrow...hm oven chips as i dint own a fryer....nice looking cod from costco

question for julie gorgina....how on earth have u done a confirmation for a tenner ????are we talking confirmation in the catholic church...the child taking a name ??? when my son was done we spent about £3000 on clothes/party/gift...what are u doing and all respect to you...im impressed:cool:

tess

Oh my goodness Tess £3000 ... thats alot of money. £200 would have covered ours. Always got the child something to wear new but we just wore our Sunday best clothes and went out for a meal after with immediate family granny, God parents etc. Others would have given money as gift. We gave little medal or prayer book. You must have a big family Tess. I don't envy you. Do you have any more kids for Confirmation?

Take care E

ebayqueen_2

CompBunny wrote: »

Thankyou to those who sent your best wishes to my Grandfather.

Sadly, he passed away on Friday evening. I was priviliged enough to be holding his hand as he slipped away. He was more like a father to me than a Grandfather in my adult years, I miss him terribly already. He was a gentle man who was devoted to his wife and family, served his country and his faith.

Adding £19 to total spend, most of it lazy comfort food

Hi compbunny

I am so sorry for your loss and the grief that you are feeling. I lost someone very close to me a few years ago and it still hurts. You have super memories of him and his love.

I am comforted with the knowledge that my relative doesn't have to suffer any more and she is with all family and friends gone before her in Heaven:A

God bless you and your family:A

ebayqueen_2

Have £20.88 to add to my GC total spent since last friday. Got some fresh food for over weekend and snacks plus milk over the last 2 days. As*a groc delivery tomorrow and have had to buy washing powder this week but am happy enough with what I have got in so far.

So here is the dinner menu for the next few days.

Tues. Roast pork (whoopsied), own spuds and veg (carrots and parsnips) cauliflower that needs to be used.
Wed. Saugsages, own spuds, beans
Thurs. Spag bol (whoopsied mince)
Fri. Fish from freezer, own spuds and veg (carrots) and frozen peas.
Sat. Home-made pizza and salad
Sun. Home-made Indian and Chinese Style chicken curry, rice and home-made chunky chips.

That's me sorted for a few days. Today is to be an NSD and hopefully so will Thursday.

Thank you to all who post here, it is a great help to us all.
take care
E

prepareathome

Well I have blown my budget already but this month is my first and a learning curve for me. I have gone for so long now GS with what we have left that following a budget is so hard. I spent a massive £76 in Sains on Saturday admittedly picked up lots of whoopsied items mainly lamb, sausages and rump steak (all very reduced if not would not be bought) that, if we had meat every night would do us 2 weeks. Its funny when hubby was off sick for 8 months in 2005 we only had his SSP plus my incapacity to live on and that left about £20 a week for food and we lived on it and ate ok, but once he went back to work I spent as usual what was left. I need to learn to save and its like something in my head goes bonk in shops and I have to buy - only food not interested in clothes etc. I am 55 years old and I have to learn to save. My oldest son is getting married in Australia in March 2014 and we have nothing towards it. I know if I was to live out of my cupboards and freezer we could manage for at least a month if not longer, but empty cupboards scare me, think its to do with childhood, dad only gave mum money to buy daily and many a night we went to bed hungry as price of something would have gone up and dad had not upped mums money so she had to buy less and there never was anything in the house except that days food apart from seasoning's, and porridge for next mornings breakfast, eventually tea and sugar ( but when you still could buy any amount - like an ounce of tea or sugar - mum had to buy just a days amount of them, or I did as mum hated shopping so as soon as I was 4 shopping was my job, you would have thought it would have made me a careful shopper and I can be when I have very little money).

Putting everything here is making me face up to the fact that I am no good at saving at all. My bills are paid and what is left I spend on food. I cannot even buy any treats for Christmas that go in freezer as there is no room, so I must clear space in it. I know my past is just an excuse I am a grown elderly woman who should be in control. In a way its a shame hubby gets paid weekly, if it was monthly I would only have the excuse to go to shops once a month but weekly I am always having to pop in for fresh things and I go mad.

So even though budget totally blown will continue to record everything and see how bad it is at end of month, only good thing is all paid with cash, so not a debt.

I am not only keeping a record of spends ( everything not just GS) but a list of everything I buy as well in the hope that looking back over the month I can make a list of the things I must buy and things I must leave on the shelves, whoopsied or not.

hanging her head in shame

CompBunny

To
prepareathome,
Quintwins,
pipersky,
JackieO,
recovering spendaholic,
meg72,
Spigs
and
Ebayqueen

I just wanted to say thankyou for your thoughts, kind words and for sharing your experiences.:grouphug::kisses3: I never thought I'd end up sharing life and death online, let alone on a grocery challenge on a money saving website, but you are all so supportive and lovely. Thankyou. We are all very lucky to have this place.

Adding £4.13 - unnecessary spend on some nuts, seeds, biscuits and bananas.

Hope you all have a productive and FUN:D day, and thankyou once again.

CompBunny

prepareathome wrote: »

Well I have blown my budget already but this month is my first and a learning curve for me. I have gone for so long now GS with what we have left that following a budget is so hard. I spent a massive £76 in Sains on Saturday admittedly picked up lots of whoopsied items mainly lamb, sausages and rump steak (all very reduced if not would not be bought) that, if we had meat every night would do us 2 weeks. Its funny when hubby was off sick for 8 months in 2005 we only had his SSP plus my incapacity to live on and that left about £20 a week for food and we lived on it and ate ok, but once he went back to work I spent as usual what was left. I need to learn to save and its like something in my head goes bonk in shops and I have to buy - only food not interested in clothes etc. I am 55 years old and I have to learn to save. My oldest son is getting married in Australia in March 2014 and we have nothing towards it. I know if I was to live out of my cupboards and freezer we could manage for at least a month if not longer, but empty cupboards scare me, think its to do with childhood, dad only gave mum money to buy daily and many a night we went to bed hungry as price of something would have gone up and dad had not upped mums money so she had to buy less and there never was anything in the house except that days food apart from seasoning's, and porridge for next mornings breakfast, eventually tea and sugar ( but when you still could buy any amount - like an ounce of tea or sugar - mum had to buy just a days amount of them, or I did as mum hated shopping so as soon as I was 4 shopping was my job, you would have thought it would have made me a careful shopper and I can be when I have very little money).

Putting everything here is making me face up to the fact that I am no good at saving at all. My bills are paid and what is left I spend on food. I cannot even buy any treats for Christmas that go in freezer as there is no room, so I must clear space in it. I know my past is just an excuse I am a grown elderly woman who should be in control. In a way its a shame hubby gets paid weekly, if it was monthly I would only have the excuse to go to shops once a month but weekly I am always having to pop in for fresh things and I go mad.

So even though budget totally blown will continue to record everything and see how bad it is at end of month, only good thing is all paid with cash, so not a debt.

I am not only keeping a record of spends ( everything not just GS) but a list of everything I buy as well in the hope that looking back over the month I can make a list of the things I must buy and things I must leave on the shelves, whoopsied or not.

hanging her head in shame

*hugs* I'm fairly new to this too, so can't offer much advice...although have you tried taking money out at the beginning of the week and saying "Right, this is ALL I have to spend on groceries" and sticking to it? You could also have a seperate allowance for once-a-month to make sure your store cupboards are very well stocked so you don't feel that panic of empty cupboards?

It sounds like you are trying so hard and thats your first step, I bet you will learn so much from your spending record for all areas! You haven't failed this month, at the beginning of the thread it says somewhere that we do not fail. If you weren't doing this GC you would most probably have spent even more! I'm not suprised that handling groceries stirs up all sorts of feelings after your experiences when you were younger, but you are tackling this head on by the sounds of it!:T:T

Really sorry that you are feeling sad about all of this especially with christmas coming up and saving for your sons wedding, but you said it yourself that you have managed on far less before! Therefore you most certainly are not "no good at saving at all", and just identifying where money goes will really help you. The fact that you are not using debt to pay for food alone is fantastic!

Another idea to help combat your hubby being paid weekly, could you set up a direct debit of a small amount to go straight into an instant access savings account every single week? That way, you have that same (pretend)pressure of "this is how much I have to spend", but with the savings easy to access if you need a little extra, plus the beginnings of a nice wedding fund!

Sorry if this is a load of waffle. Didn't like to hear you putting yourself down when it sounds like you are trying hard and doing well. With a freezer full of cheap meat! Excellent!

Take care xx

retepetsir

Managed to make my target for October and on track for the same in November. It certainly helps the savings! I need to update my signature....lol.

LittleMissHappy_2

I'm so sorry about your Grandfather compbunny take care of yourself x

findingmyownway

Hi everyone, I am new to this thread but it seemed like a good place to start.

A review of our finances revealed we (ok, I) spent over £400 in the supermarket in October! No real idea how this happened as I don't remember eating particularly decadantly!

So tonight I am going to do a review of the freezer/cupboard and then try meal planning (I used to do this years ago when money was tight but have slacked off lately). I get paid in the middle of the month (yesterday) and so going to run my 'month' from today until 14th December and try stick to £200. Does that sound sensible?