January 2012 Grocery Challenge

Linz4383

dobs wrote: »

Hello all, have lost some of my receipts and hubby who does the shopping had bought extras (grr) but have put down 130.00 as our spends so far as that seems pretty near, does include a birthday cake in that as well. Need to start to meal plan and batch cook though, so unorganised lately! Wondering if internet shopping if worth trying, does anyone do that? Only thing is if you can get everything online that you can at the supermarkets? We are spoilt here we have a big Asda, two sainsburys, tescos, Morrisons, 2 lidls, tesco expresses and in the nearby town a waitrose! Need to get some milk today or tomorrow, the container split and i have put in into a gravy jug but worried it will go off and can't do without my cups of tea! I have seventy pounds now for the rest of the month, for five of us and two dogs (won't include the hamster, rabbit or guinea pig food!), am determined to try and do it!

i personally love internet shopping, you can keep an eye on what your spendin so you dont go over your budget which is good, you can also remove/add items up until the night before you have it delivered, i no mr t do £10 off your first shop, maybe the other supermarkets do too??? you could perhaps take advantage and do a shop with them all over the next few months?! once signed up they also every now and again send you free delivery vouchers and things (i keep gettin asda ones), make sure u take advantage of the loyalty cards too

tracey12_2

mumwithamission wrote: »

Problem is I'm setting up the 2nd purse system and am drawn to half-price or less offers on anything (that isnt perishable) that we use regularly. I spent the weekned clearing out more of the loft to make room for it all, and it's giving me a real buzz, but buying those offers in the first place is costing a fair bit....am I doing it all wrong?

I have been doing the second purse system for a while now. I started last year and when I got to December I took all the money out of my second purse apart from £10 and put this towards my christmas food.

When you first start your second purse system it is easier to stock up on perhaps one item which will be used fairly quickly so that the money you pay for it goes back into your purse quickly. For example I bought cat food which was BOGOF as my cat goes through a box fairly quickly so that I have extra money in my second purse.

If you bulk bought an item with your first £10 which you do not use often then there would be no money in your second purse for other items. It is about baby steps at the start until you have a decent amount in your second purse.

As you start to build up your money that is available in your second purse then it is easier to bulk buy items which you would take a little longer to use.

I hope that makes sense, sorry to waffle on

HTH

Tracey

tigerfeet2006

dobs wrote: »

Hello all, have lost some of my receipts and hubby who does the shopping had bought extras (grr) but have put down 130.00 as our spends so far as that seems pretty near, does include a birthday cake in that as well. Need to start to meal plan and batch cook though, so unorganised lately! Wondering if internet shopping if worth trying, does anyone do that? Only thing is if you can get everything online that you can at the supermarkets? We are spoilt here we have a big Asda, two sainsburys, tescos, Morrisons, 2 lidls, tesco expresses and in the nearby town a waitrose! Need to get some milk today or tomorrow, the container split and i have put in into a gravy jug but worried it will go off and can't do without my cups of tea! I have seventy pounds now for the rest of the month, for five of us and two dogs (won't include the hamster, rabbit or guinea pig food!), am determined to try and do it!

As you have Lidl nearby then I would do as much of your shopping in there if you can. Then Go to the other SM's.

It could be worth your while doing a meal plan, then write a list of what you need. Then go onto the SM websites and find out what their prices are. Then go into Lidls get the stuff they have that is cheaper, then go to the other shops and get what they have that is cheapest.

I can only get to a small Tesco, so all my main shopping is online and I can get just about everything I need. I do Tesco online and go through Topcashback to get a few pennies back.

majjak

Hi everyone

Will be having yet another NSD here :j

The temptation to go and seek out reductions is sometimes almost too much to bear, but the fact that my bank account is staying stagnant, is beating the going cold-turkey on whoopsie hunts hands down

Talking of turkey, dinner tonight is turkey curry. We've still got another 2 bags to use up in the freezer so our rather large xmas bird has done us proud. I've got another 2 whole ones in the freezer after this (told you I can't resist a whoopsie !) Ohhhh dear that sounds bad ! :eek: :rotfl:)

I'll probably have to do a small shop tomorrow as we're just about out of squash. I rarely buy fizzy drinks as they send my son a bit doolally ! Will pick up some milk while I'm there as what I've got won't last the week. If I go in the evening I might be lucky and get the milk a bit cheaper.

wannabehermit

dobs wrote: »

Hello all, have lost some of my receipts and hubby who does the shopping had bought extras (grr) but have put down 130.00 as our spends so far as that seems pretty near, does include a birthday cake in that as well. Need to start to meal plan and batch cook though, so unorganised lately! Wondering if internet shopping if worth trying, does anyone do that? Only thing is if you can get everything online that you can at the supermarkets? We are spoilt here we have a big Asda, two sainsburys, tescos, Morrisons, 2 lidls, tesco expresses and in the nearby town a waitrose! Need to get some milk today or tomorrow, the container split and i have put in into a gravy jug but worried it will go off and can't do without my cups of tea! I have seventy pounds now for the rest of the month, for five of us and two dogs (won't include the hamster, rabbit or guinea pig food!), am determined to try and do it!

I only do an online shop when I'm desperate. i.e. I know I have no way of getting to the supermarket that week. I'm also like you where I live, at least 10 big supermarkets within a 10 minute drive, not forgetting all the smaller ones! I find that when I do an online shop:
1. I buy more,
2. I forget things (quite often there'll be something you haven't realised you need until you walk past),
3. I don't always get the offers because I just put in my trolley what I know I want, whereas if I'm there I may substitute something if a similar product is on offer.
4. I send a lot back - Tesco substitutions are very good, they will price match, e.g. I ordered the value handwash, they were out of stock so sent 2 bottles of carex and only charged the 36p for the value. Which would be great from an mse pov, but carex dries our hands out, so it had to be sent back and I still had to walk up to the nearest supermarket to get the hadnwash. The other supermarkets substitutions are crap. You can select no substitutions but then you obv. find something you really need is missing.
5. I still need to go out and buy fruit, veg, bread & meat. They squash the bread and don't choose the freshest, same with fruit. I've had to take a lot of veg etc back in the past because it's been mouldy or something, plus the meat they choose always seems to be the worst cuts that were on the shelf. So I don't bother with any of those anymore.
6. I find it's actually more hassle having to do the shop and wait in for it (actually to be fair to Sainsbos they always come within the 1st few minutes of a delivery slot), Tesco however always come within the last few minutes.

All in all, I don't find it's easier at all, and I always spend more money those weeks (by a long way), but it is very useful for emergencies.

If you do decide to online shop. Be a supermarket tart and use http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/ Their substitutions aren't exact, so if for example you do your shop at MrT, then check the basket in the other 2 (MrA &mrS) and make the necessary substitutions to get the things that you would buy, not what they've shoved in. That way you'll get an accurate price of your entire shopping at all 3, and can choose the genuinely cheaper one. (Interestingly having done that for 2 years (I do it, then go to the cheapest shop/s) Asda has only come out cheapest 3 or 4 times).

tracey12_2

djhops wrote: »

I'm in going for £100 pcm please, for the record here's my tips (I would welcome anyone else's)

- Never shop at the same supermarket twice (they all have their own specialisms/ bargains)
- Always cross-question branded (what are you getting extra for your money)
- Cook food from scratch (healthier too) and make in bulk (use for lunches etc)
- Remember with food, it's 'best before' not necessarily 'throw away after'
- Eat less meat
- Try to reduce portion size if you're overwight (also heathier too)
- Don't automatcially buy two for one (sometimes you just end up being a gutton)
- Finally and I appreciate it's not for all... brew your own beer!

I agree with these.

Don't assume that larger packets are cheaper for example pasta 500g and 1kg. It is sometimes cheaper to buy 2 small packets then 1 big packet.

I don't stick to one brand on most items, I always do a price comparison to find cheapest as it changes weekly.

Don't assume that value, smartprice etc are cheaper/better value. Mr T. have Brans*on beans 4 tins for £1.25 or 4 tins of value beans for £1.24 so in this case value would be cheaper but the quality is a lot different for 1p more, always worth checking.

Never shop when hungry.

Tracey

Linz4383

has anyone got any ideas of what you can do with mayonaise :S i got 2 BIG jars when it was on bogoff as i do use it to do tuna pasta and mayonaise and was expectig a gd summer full of bbqs but we never had it so could do with some ideas to use some of it up!
also just opened some pate (got a few days on it) but if its not used has anyone got ne ideas of what can b done with that?!?!
thanks

tigerfeet2006

Add some crushed garlic to some and make garlic mayo. Then you can use it to dip chips into

sproggi

Just done my main monthly shop and it came to.......GULP....... £96.47:eek:

On the plus side, this does include meat, stocking up on coffee while it is on offer, butters/spreads that were on offer and fabric softner on offer.
I will need more milk before the end of the month, but I did get some long life in to try and put off visiting the shop for longer. Will also need to get eggs as I couldn't balance them in the overflowing trolly:o

I have to admit, not so long ago, I would not have batted an eyelid at spending that much and doing it twice a week plus top-ups of between £20 and £40, but now!!

Off to update my sig and then make myself a big mug of coffee to recover.

Sproggi

PolkaDotsAndLace

Hoping for an NSD today since I'll have to shop tomorrow for milk top up and cheese (which is cheaper in Scotmid) - I plan on going armed with my Asda list which is all priced and seeing if there's anything else I can get cheaper at the same time.

I'm wary of online shopping because of the substitutions and early useby dates I've heard people talk about, but feel it would be better for my budget since I'd have all the control and see how much it was coming to. Not sure whether to give it a go at some point.