January 2012 Grocery Challenge

tessie_bear

hi...just eaten the last bit of christmas meat...it was all nice the only thing i have left is a tub of double cream...any ideas ?

going out for tea if im speaking to oh...could be touch and go...trying to think of revolutionary easy money saving ideas for 2012...if i come up with owt ill report back

take care tess

Coxy11

Hi, please may I join the January challenge. My target is £500 which is up until 23rd Jan.

We are a family of 5 - me, DH, DS1, DD and DS2. We also have a dog, but we have a large bag of dog food which should last a few weeks.

My first job is to cancel the milkman which I feel really bad about - he only comes 3 times a week as so few people use him, but needs must. I simply cannot justify 68p/pint.

Two younger children are switching to packed lunches from the start of term. Older DS has a cashless system at school, and is very good with his budget, so we will leave him as is for now.

Coxy

[Deleted User]

I managed to get 6 boxes of Philly cheese reduced on Christmas Eve with long dates on them (feb-march) and various flavours.So If all else fails I can use them on the stack of crispbreads I seem to have accrued (reduced of course)to help reduce my waistline after all the rich food at Christmas.No shopping for me to get this side of New Year at least .I decided to stay another day at home to do some housecleaning(well-overdue)I am going to try to see how long I can actually go without going to the shops.
3 x litres Long life milk in the fridge
at least a loaf of bread portioned up in the freezer
a lot of veggies in the freezer
a dozen huge oranges bought on Christmas Eve in the conservatory
lots of portions of mash in the freezer
plus lots of odds and ends that I had given me left over from DDs Christmas night party all sorted and frozen.So no real need for any shopping just yet fingers crossed
I have just done all my bill paying online so I don't even need to go to the bank.
Last shop I was in was on Christmas eve to buy food and so it means that I am now on my 4th NSD and I am going to see how long I can last before I actually have to go to a food shop I think it will be possibly end of next week It will be interesting to see how far I can go and what food I can conjour up out of the stocks I have got
Watch this space, or better still join in as well :):)

FairyLight

Hello! I have been watching the GC and doing it without joining up for a few months now - would it be ok to join please for January? OH and I have a budget of £150, only the two of us! We're on diets, so plenty of fruit and veg, which I've found quite expensive so far. We're trying to save up the deposit on a mortgage, so every little helps..! If we could come in under the £150 I'd be delighted.

Thanks to everyone who runs the thread, I'm off to do my first proper meal plan for January...!

SpagBol

So...I went to the shop to buy a few bits to tide us over until a big shop on Sunday...however they had good reductions so I also got a quiche, a pork joint, some chicken pieces and some other bits which are now all sitting in the freezer. I also bought some wine for us and sweets for the kids to take to friends later so I think to focus the mind I will count this as the start of my challenge. £34.75 out of £275 how exciting!:j

tjak

Well, I am determined to keep on the straight and narrow this time. So I did a freezer and cupboard stock take, and then made myself sit down and meal plan onto my calendar for the month. There was loads of meals in the freezer so these have been included, which will create more space.

I then made up my shopping list, checked it on my supermarket, then went to sainsb's and MrT with my split list.

Today I have made a double batch of cheese scones and of carrot and pecan muffins for lunch boxes. As I sit here, DH and DS are making potato and leek soup together for lunch. My MSE halo is positively glowing. :A

I have spent £95/£250, but am feeling good! :j
Good luck everyone x

Dragoncry

Hi there, would love to join this challenge as I need to sort out my shopping budget this year along with other aspects of my home life !

Target till end of January is £120 as I have a chest freezer full of goodies and a smaller one in the garage too. Normal monthly budget will be around £200 but there are 5 of us and 2 cats so I will have to try for a few months and see how it goes

DC xx

minipenny_2

Room for one more? I am trying my hardest to cut our grocery bill as we simply cannot afford it. I'm trying to eat what's left in our cupboards and as I am a bit of a spreadsheet geek I created a spreadsheet with every item we ever buy and its price from where we buy it when I totalled all this up to see how much we would usually buy a month I'll fell off the chair.....So I picked myself up and said right Minipenny its time to change your ways! So here I am and I'm aiming for £250 for Jan.....thats just over half of what it would appear we've been spending!:eek: theres 4 of us, one is under 1 so his costs should be low anyway just nappies. Nappies and toiletries are included in my budget as I buy at the same time.
so £250 here I come.

lynneee

hi all, hope you had a good christmas and are ready to start a prosperous new year!!

time to tighten the purse strings for the next few months as we didnt have a holiday last year and I really want to take the kids away somewhere this year. So I am going to be REALLY frugal and say £200 for the 5 of us for January, starting January 1st.
Good job we still have turkey leftovers

Pixie_Fairydust

Have just declared over on the December thread, went over but not too bad, I'm semi happy with myself

Would like to try £200 for January please.

Thanks for all the hard work that goes in to keeping this site updated, its much appreciated :T

Tea tonight is veg samosas, onion bhajis, mini Christmas puds & cream and a bottle of alcoholic ginger beer :beer:

I am determined not to set foot in a sm until 2012! So wierd leftover meals it is!

Happy 2012 to you all, Pixie