January 2012 Grocery Challenge

totallybored

Just been to L*dl and spent a very reasonable £34 which included a couple of bottles of wine, beers and dishwasher rinse aid. Popped into A$da for the few bits I couldn't get at L*dl and only spend just over £5. My total so far this month is £44.20.

Ive decided that I will try to only use cash and it definitely makes a difference rather than whacking everything on a card.

WelshWoofer

Just back from the doing the food shop and instead of going to Mr T's I've done the F&V at two greengrocers, butcher for bits for the dogs and the nonperishables and cleaning products at B&M.
Greengrocers - £4.59 + £1.95
Butcher - £1.81
B&M - £12.24

Total spend £20.50

I was aiming to try to keep this under £20 but relented and bought two filled bones for the dogs to keep them quiet if it pours down again.;)

This will last me through to next weekend (15th) so my total for January so far is around £36 - would love to keep this to £100 to save some extra cash this month (budget is £150). The freezer is still full and the cupboards don't look too bad so I may just make £100 if I'm careful (2 more shopping weekends to go). Fingers crossed!

minipenny_2

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

If you've alternatives nearby (Al*di, Li*dl, Farm*Froods, Home Bar*gains etc) then certainly worth a look as their prices are a lot cheaper for many staples / toiletries etc.

Fab thanks Yes we are about 2 seconds from Mr T then a 5 min drive to A!di and @sd@, I dont think we have a Hand B anywhere nearby boo and about 10 mins from C0stc0 which Im debating if its going to be worth having a check in there as don't mind bulk buying.
We have an Ic3lands next to grandparents which we visit every week so might pop in there one day and see whats on offer. Gotta get this food bill down :cool: I am determined to have a thrifty year!

moonflower_2

I cant remember how much I put down for each month?

mandco

this thread is moving so fast havent had time to catch up yet but great to see so many people seeing the ny off to great start

spends of £14.99/£6.44 & £2.02 To declare

realised that sometimes i buy things that should be inc in my gc budget out of other spends( for example I brought toothpaste & shampoo on offer in boots but used my clothing/extras budget) so really need to watch that and reallocate spends when this happens.
ok means i'm gonna have to watch the grocery budget even more but should hopefully free up some funds elsewhere. also included the smoothie I brought myself I usually count spends on choc ect for myself as pm spends (was good and brought the smoothie instead of choc :A)but have decided that all food spend are now counted as gc spends and save my pm for something I really want/need rather than wasting it on junkfood I really dont need hopefully helping the waistline too

hope everyone has a good weekend

cw18

moonflower wrote: »

I cant remember how much I put down for each month?

according to the post at the top of the thread (with everyone's declared budgets) you're down for £150/month

totallybored

minipenny wrote: »

Fab thanks Yes we are about 2 seconds from Mr T then a 5 min drive to A!di and @sd@, I dont think we have a Hand B anywhere nearby boo and about 10 mins from C0stc0 which Im debating if its going to be worth having a check in there as don't mind bulk buying.
We have an Ic3lands next to grandparents which we visit every week so might pop in there one day and see whats on offer. Gotta get this food bill down :cool: I am determined to have a thrifty year!

I've just started going to C0stc0 recently and I now aim to go once a month to stock up on certain bits. They have toilet roll on offer atm, 10 4 roll packs for just over £10 which is good value as they seem to last (I don't just look at price as I've found some cheaper rolls get used much faster) and I got 12 packs of bacon for £9 last week that is still on offer. Lavazza coffee, Clipper tea bags and cans of tuna are other things I will now stock up on from there too.

annem38

hi there, another 7.01 for yesterday for me, still under budget but still got to do monthly tesc* shop for all the heavy stuff ( cat food , tinned stuff etc) normally comes in at about 80-100 quid, must try and get that down! also having the usual saturday debate as to whether to go shopping or take a meal out of the freezer, decisions decisions:D

anyhoo, can't remember who posted it but thanks for the tip, have started to keep a record of how much things are so i will know a bargain when i see it! know the price of things like bread and meat etc but not other stuff, for example, oh asked me to get some branston pickle, now i think this is the work of the devil and tend to chuck it in the basket without looking, instead looked at price at usual supermarket £1.56 but at lid* something like £1.36, now if i can make savings like that on everything i buy we can have that caribbean holiday that oh seems to have set his heart on for his 50th:eek:

anne

rachbc

off for my first full shop - can't believe we got to the 7th only spending £3. Even then I don't need meat -just a few fresh bits and some storecupbard stuff - bicarb, loo rolls, olive oil

LondonDreamer

Good morning all :j

£21.78 in M&S today (after the £5 voucher) on eggs, fruit and veg for the week plus some salmon and coffee.

Menu plan for the week:
Sunday - Roast beef (post-Christmas whoopsie)
Monday - Tempura Chicken (in freezer, on offer last week)
Tuesday - Omelettes
Wednesday - Soup (tinned, have loads from an offer)
Thursday - Chicken and chorizo stew (freezer)
Friday - Fish pie (using salmon plus other fish in the freezer from whoopsies)
Saturday - Pizza

They didn't have a couple of things on the list, so will have a small extra spend at some point. Bought a pack of pears that weren't on my list to top up to the £25 voucher amount, but they looked amazing and will get eaten so I'm pleased with that.

Off to update sig, hope everyone is having a lovely day.