February 2007 Grocery Challenge

AUNTMAGPIE

I don't know if I dare join this, we have 10 cats as well as ourselves! I shall think about it.

shell2001

Well the last few months I have stuck at the food budget we have set ourselves so I think now is the time to cut back on it, so from 350 I am gonna aim for 300.

Our main monthly shop from Tesco was delivered today as our month runs from the last friday of the month (dd's pay day). It came to £145 but that includes fruit, veg, meat, pull-ups (potty training but hope will be last time I need to get them), nappies (for nights) 24 pints of milk (in freezer) and flour for HM bread.

I need to buy a gammon ham from market butcher, tray of chicken breast and mince for burgers, bolognaise, savory mince - so probably £20. So rest should just be fruit and veg top ups.

Fingers crossed.

ilovecakes

Hello...

I've been lurking on this board for a wee while now. Can I join in the grocery challenge? Is it okay to run my month from the 16th Feb-16th March - I get paid mid-month.
My monthly budget will be £100 for just me (I normally spend about £120-140). My grocery budget includes toiletries and cleaning products.

Good luck to everyone.

comping_cat

Ive really slipped the last few months, spending far too much on food - so def need to rejoin the challenge.
Will start February by aiming to spend £35 or less per week - ive already been shopping today, so will plan to spend nothing (apart from milk and maybe a bit more fresh fruit/veg) until next Thursday, and then try going back to weekly shopping, rather than popping in and out like i do now.

cuddlymarm

Hi everyone:rotfl:

I joined the Grocery Challenge last month and haven't done that badly.

I didn't spend it all every week and rolled it over to the next week and stocked up on pasta, sauces etc (Mind you I also had a lot of food left over from Xmas)

I think I might have another month at £50 per week and see how I do ( I'll stay in my confort zone this month and knock it down to £45 next month if I manage as easily this month)

Have a good month everyone:j :j

jcr16

i'm in again. again i have £200. i spent £122.58 at tesco today (online) which sounds bad but i have bought basic's for the month. they had chicken fillet £5.99 on offer for £2.99 so i got loads of those, also i got a massive chicken for a fiver. and loads of bags of mince. plus i got new potatos , red roosters , kind edwards and sweet pot's. plus loads of veg , basmati rice , different pasta. so plenty to keep u going. i plan to spend a tenner a week( if needed) on fruit and veg.

i am now going through my meal planner along with lots of recipes on here to make sure i getting the best from my food i can.

we had a gorgeous tea tonight. home made chips( made with rooster spuds, yummy) with egg and ham. so cheap and filling. my daughter loved helping making the chips. she helped pour the oil on them and give them a good coating, and when they were ready she was so excited. bless.

Snow_Angel

Ok - I ducked out of the grocery challenge last month as it was January sales and there were too many yummy bargain things going on! :rolleyes: As such, I have a fairly well stocked cupboard so will be going for the £40 for the month for things like vegetables, milk, bread etc..
I also have a terrible habit of picking up cheap things at the end of the day....especially fish! .... and then filling up the freezer with them. I'm still not sure whether this is actually money saving because they're always on special, they're healthy and they're things I couldn't normally afford but I want to stay healthy .... or whether I should just avoid them? :rotfl:

angelatgraceland

ilovecakes wrote:

Hello...

I've been lurking on this board for a wee while now. Can I join in the grocery challenge? Is it okay to run my month from the 16th Feb-16th March - I get paid mid-month.
My monthly budget will be £100 for just me (I normally spend about £120-140). My grocery budget includes toiletries and cleaning products.

Good luck to everyone.

We all have different dates to start and you may end up doing rollovers(sounds fun yay). Just average out your weeks. I did so well last month that I know I cannot expect to do the same for 5 of us(sometimes only 4) plus cat and big dog so I'm sticking to £50 per week but that is food only. I keep all receipts and have a very detailed spradsheet which I fill out after every shop. Timeconsuming but I did learn a lot last month. The best thing I did was my kitchen inventory. I didnt know if I had any lentils for my curry tonigh so I looked in my little book-sure enough-2nd shelf on the left! That is the sort of thing that stops you overspending and you use what you have/don't waste things by forgetting them. I have bought more storecupboard things this week, pulses and grains etc which make up cheap meals. I always keep a bag of soy mince in there too as it makes the beef mince go twice as far.

Redbedhead

I am in and doing a rollover month with January having gone about £20 over budget in January while stocking up the freezer.

H has now bought in to the grocery challenge and the healthy eating regmie so life should be a bit easier. He even went on a course for work and took sandwiches rather than use the luncheon vouchers they gave him and presented them to me to use to buy 'some extra meat when it is on special' :rotfl: (his words! :T )

Janeryan

I'm up for a challenge-last February I spent £275.00 on food so this month I am budgeting for £50.00 per week.

First week started on28 January & I spent £47.03

Second week have got to pay for organic fruit & potatoes box delivery which will be £9.15 which leaves me £40.85 to spend at the store.

I really find that meal planning in conjunction with the weekly offers sheets helps a lot & I try to buy one extra meals worth than there are days in case of emergencies(or running out of money before end of month!)

Good luck everyone!