February 2007 Grocery Challenge

kiwi88_2

2nd shop of the month for me and it's only the 4th :rotfl:

Needed to top up bread, milk, fruit and some lunch bits total £77.29 :eek:
Lots of deals though so no need to buy loo rolls, kitchen towel, yoghurts, cheese or fruit and veg for the rest of the month :T

Will need to top up milk and bread at end of month so still on target for £300 budget :rotfl:

Also did a necessary Tesco clothes shop (school uniforms, socks and pants for ds & dd, tops for dd) and used up coupons. Ended up getting £66.52 worth for £31.52 :T

Budget £300

1st shop £120
2nd shop £77.29 + £31.52 = £108.81

Left for month £71.19

EagerLearner

Wow Kiwi - that's quite a challenge you have there to get to the end of the month on £71.19 - here's cheering you on! I am trying not to shop until I really have to - the theory being that if I can delay it by one day each week, that's 52 days a year of savings agaist the shopping budget, if you see what I mean! My spreadsheet (below) is the only way I can keep track of it all (and my sanity). Good luck!

kiwi88_2

Thanks Eagerlearner :T

I should be able to do it as the first shop was a months storecupboard, basic and meat, the second shop was a top up fresh and now should be ok for everything :rotfl:

Like you, I'm adjusting the way I shop, instead of extending by a day though I've dropped one shop a month. By meal planning I also stop those impulse buys, well most of the time, some bargains are too good to miss :rotfl:

I used to do 2 online shops using loads of codes and one instore but at the moment the codes have dried up so I'm back to in store 3 times a month and more temptations :rolleyes:

If I do it this month I'll be well chuffed as I will have dropped from about £520 to £300 in 4 months I will try to drop by £20 each month from now on as I want to find a decent comfort level.

Lydia.42

Hi guys

Is it ok if i join this month. Bit of a late starter, but really need to sort this.
Our salaries clear the joint account today, so it's an ideal time for me to start.

Also i spent last night putting our Jan 07 spending diary into excel (first time i have managed to keep the diary a whole month), and am horrified to say that we spent £436 on food & drink last month (not including the £46 saved in vouchers/points, or the pub/restaurant meals we had too), so a total of £482 in supermarket shops alone!!!! :eek:
And that is for 2 adults and 2 cats (and i know i didn't buy any cat food last month either - i buy bulk as our cats are on special vets diet, and have that to pay this month).

Our first baby is due in May, so i need to sort this before then, otherwise our debts will begin spiralling the opposite way again!!!!

Any advice greatly appreciated. And please feel free to kick my proverbial behind, as we will be in serious nasty stuff if i don't get a grip!!! :rotfl:

Thanks peeps

newlywed

Lydia.42 wrote:

Also i spent last night putting our Jan 07 spending diary into excel (first time i have managed to keep the diary a whole month), and am horrified to say that we spent £436 on food & drink last month (not including the £46 saved in vouchers/points, or the pub/restaurant meals we had too), so a total of £482 in supermarket shops alone!!!! :eek:
And that is for 2 adults and 2 cats (and i know i didn't buy any cat food last month either - i buy bulk as our cats are on special vets diet, and have that to pay this month).

We used to be the same. Spent hundreds on food for me, OH and 2 kids at weekends.

Main tips - check out prices. I used to buy expensive fish and say well it's cheaper than eating out - whereas if I had compared prices, thought for a minute, and bought a cheaper type of fish it would have been much better!! Think how many meals you can make out of the meat/fish before you buy it. Think how you can bulk out the meat (add extra veg in to s/pie etc).

and MEAL PLAN!!!

Planning helps you to use things up (or freeze the extra) instead of throwing it out because it went bad.

Honestly - our shopping bill is now down to approx £200 a month from just doing those few things.

There's also a cheapest meal ever thread and a meal for 50p thread with some great ideas for a few cheapy days which should help even it out!!

I never take a trolley when shopping either. Always choose a basket. Builds up the arm muscles and you have to think whether you need it/whether it fits in the basket!! Using a trolley my shops were always £70. Now they are £30-£35 a time and so I'm trying to get it down to one shop a week

EagerLearner

Hi Lydia & welcome - never too late to start! Our budget is just for the two of us, eating healthily and making most from scratch (and enjoying it). Used to be £40 a week and is now £30ish.

Step 1 is to definately download my spreadsheet and keep track of spending as-you-go (see my siggy)

Step 2 once you have decided what your budget for the month is, is to get BOGOF offers, bulk buy and bulk cook. I used to make a meal each night from scratch (I never buy ready-made anyhow). But making one meal a night is tiring and expensive too - so I started to bulk cook say 2 meals instead of just the one, and freeze one for another night. Or I cook 4 meals, then freeze 3 of them. Costs less and is less hassle when you come round to 'oh I have to miss 'Property Ladder' or 'What Not To Wear' so I can go and cook'. Instead, you might only miss 10 minutes!

Step 3 is to make a weekly menu - I know it sounds naff and something your mum would do, but if you;re going to become a mum soon, why not meal plan now and get into the habit..?! I never did it before until joining this thread & seeing that people on here are much more efficient than we used to be... As a rule of thumb, my weekly menu is say: one pasta meal, one fish meal, one chicken meal, one stew type meal, pork meal, curry meal and then a lazy day with pasta or something like that. I include veggies with most meals. I went OTT and actually bought a whiteboard for this very purpose, which I hide when friends come round... :cool: I start a new menu every Saturday as that is the best day for shopping for me.

Step 4 would be to try and shop at the greengrocers, butchers etc more, rather than the big supermarkets. At the smaller shops you are likely to get much nicer, fresher food, and also support your local economy more rather than a bunch of fat cats in London (or Seychelles or wherever they lounge by the pool... )

Hope this helps and the steps are mix and match!

EagerLearner

newlywed - I do the basket trick too - no trollies as you spend way too much. As the basket gets heavier, my budget rears it's ugly head and I head for the checkout (not before grabbing a nice treat for myself for being soo good )

newlywed

EagerLearner wrote:

newlywed - I do the basket trick too - no trollies as you spend way too much. As the basket gets heavier, my budget rears it's ugly head and I head for the checkout (not before grabbing a nice treat for myself for being soo good )

Yeah, I still can't stick to JUST what's on my list - this way I have to sacrifice something that wasn't on my list to fit in the things I really need - although today I mastered the art of carrying a basket in one hand, a pack of loo roll, two loaves of bread and a pint of milk in the other :rotfl:

Old people often give me strange looks and cashiers tell me I should have got a trolley - I say nope, that makes me spend more!!

spiddy100

I am not doing too well........... partly cos I stocked up on meat which I hope will last us well into next month but still..........

Loads on the shopping list for this week already - argh! Including nappies - double argh! Haven't updated my sig as I need to check DH's receipts but he went to Tescos on Friday and did a shop, and I picked up some stuff over the weekend at a garage cos we needed milk. Will be cooking a special meal for valentines day (might not include this though as in previous times we would have gone out, therefore not spending anything on the groceries but probably spending £50+ at a restaurant :eek:). Then we have DS2's birthday and thanksgiving service party to host too.

Still, I will do my best to stay on track, and even if we break the budget, it's better than going back to spending £350..........

Lydia.42

Right, had a rummage and scratched my brain and this is what i have come up with so far:

Mon: stir-fry (chicken/rice/beans - left over from last night)
Tues - carrot and corriander soup/bread
Wed - chilli & rice/pitta bread - gonna make x 2 portions and freeze one
Thu - jacket spuds/HM coleslaw/salad
Fri - chilli beef/noodles/spring rolls
Sat - not sure if we are out
Sun - sausage casserole/HM bread

Brekkies - cereal or toast - have plenty of milk and bread at the mo

Lunch - sarnies/soup/jacket spud/pasta/ depending on whether i am in office or working from home, and whether OH is working a shift or not. Got plenty of sarnie fillers too. I also have various bits of fruit that will last this week for lunch/snacks too.

We may even be over my Mum's Sunday for a roast, so may get a free meal, and maybe save the sausage casserole for next week as we are usually stuffed after Mum's roasts .

I reckon i have everything i need for the above, so will try and stay out of the shops this week. :rolleyes: