January 2012 Grocery Challenge

Honey_Bear

Mondysaver13 - A dermatologist I met recommended Aqueous Cream, which I always have to ask for in B**ts as they keep it behind the counter near the Pharamcy section (ALL other chemist also sell it). I've used it for years, it's about £3.50 for a 500ml tub and it also functions as a soap. Fabulous stuff.

quintwins

i use no7 creams i do think they take awhile to soak in, i have 3 of those no7 vouchers i wanted to stock up on wipes but they we're sold out in my store :O i find simple mouisterisers the best personally

rising_from_the_ashes

Kylieminoag wrote: »

II'm having a rotten time at the moment being made redundant, broken ankle and and and.... its been one thing after another. Coming on this site every night and catching up with all your antics and meeting you lot has really made me feel like I'm not alone and there are others who are having just as tough a time, facing up to it and getting on with it. I think you are all really brave and have some fabulous ideas.....thank you so much. I'm proud to be associated with you.:T:T:T

Awwww Kylie - sorry to hear what a tough time you're having atm - virtual (((hugs))) flying through cyber space.

chirpychick wrote: »

I've never used the grocery challenge before but in February's pay i want to only spend £10 on food and use up my store cupboard.

I've been debating about whether to use some of my stocks up but my job is unfortunately not what you could call secure (have no idea what's happening at the end of March yet) - so think I'll hang onto them & keep buying just now and they'll be there should the worst happen.

moneysaver13 wrote: »

Spent £21 in b**ts today. Naughty but they have electric oral b toothbrushes at half price so spent £17 on that and then had a £5 no 7 voucher

Sounds like the one I got at the start of the week - I will say it's fantastic:D I also managed to get a 4 pack of heads off E*bay for less than £4 (incl p&p) and I've just tried them (compatible ones so was a bit worried) and they fit fine:T They arrived really quickly - drop me a PM if you'd like the sellers ID.

I incl toiletries & all household cleaning stuff in my budget - really to try to keep a grip on my spending and I buy a lot of stuff at the sm so find it easier to "log" these together on my spending spreadsheet, rather than having to keep changing tabs as I'm working through the receipt!:)

PennyGrabber

NSD foodwise, but I did need to get some woodshavings for the guinea pigs. I can't remember if I include this in my gc or not, so I'll have to have a think and get back to you...

PG x

LisaJane

£4.64 and 79p spends today...I am putting Jan down as a disaster! Roll on Feb and a more realistic target!

meg72

moneysaver13 wrote: »

Spent £21 in b**ts today. Naughty but they have electric oral b toothbrushes at half price so spent £17 on that and then had a £5 no 7 voucher and have run out of face cream and I am struggling to find a nice cream that will not leave your face feeling sticky or greasy. At £9 before the voucher I hope this will be a nice-ish cream. I use mineral powder makeup but my last cream didn't completely sink in (does that make sense?) and the mineral powder could slide if rubbed, one day I noticed a dark brown mark and it was where I had rubbed my face and the makeup had shifted, not vey fetching. Never had a cream do that before but it was cheap. If anyone can recommend a good moisturiser for a lady in her mid 40's then I would be grateful. The other thing I was wondering is whether I should create a second budget for toiletries? I don't really want to include these bits in my grocery budget and wondered what others do?

If you do not want to include toiletries in your grocery budget, then dont, its your budget and can include or not as you decide.

As for a moisturiser for a 40 year old I have for the last 25 years (I am 66) only used a cheap coconut butter and have pretty ok, not too many wrinkles, skin. I have found its not so much how much you spend as doing it regularly that counts.

Florenceem

sonastin wrote: »

spent £20.60 in A!di last night so total is up to £183.39 / £200 for the month. £16.61 to last me 11 days? I reckon it is do-able as we've got most things in stock now. Might need to top up on a few veggies next weekend for the last few days of the month but I'm hoping I can make what we've got in last. I've got a sort of meal plan in my head but the detail keeps disappearing - its a bit like when you can see a poster on a wall but its just a bit too far away to read it properly! I should really write down the meal plan and check where we're up to but I just know if I commit it to paper, OH will make me change it. At least if I keep it vague and out of his way, I can adapt without feeling too bad about veering off track!

Can't you write the menu in your diary - I take it - OH doesn't look there.

medsdemon

oh dear:o. Spent £8 in Poundlan* on shampoo, conditioner, facewipes, deodorant and crisps. though that should see us through into february hopefully. Also OH spent £2 in Ald* on 2 x milk and a jar of marmalade and I nipped into MrS to buy uch craved wine and also bought 12 eggs for £2, a tin of basics rice pud 25p and a carton of spread for £1. Spent £7.96. Will update total.

meg72

adelight wrote: »

Right I've gone well over this month, think £40 for two when i barely even had any meat or cheese in was a bit too much of a challenge. Spent about £8 at Lidl a few days ago and £5 in Mr S just now (couldn't resist 4 for £1 salmon fillets). I'll probably need to buy a few bits of veg early next week too, £3 or 4?

Crikey I am sure given your limited stocks that £40 for two of you was way to much of a challenge. You have done extremely well. So pat yourself on the back and carry on. Good luck.

supersally01

Hi, quick update.
£8 in home bargains, mostly on medicine/tissues etc as DS05 cut his mouth badly in a fall.
£10.50 in ASDA, eggs, sugar, cake cases etc to make a cake for my neice.
£20 in Mr T's, no whoopsies or anything useful, really bad shopping as OH is home for the week and he leads me astray!!!!
Hoping to come in somewhere near my budget, as I plan to do a fair bit of shopping from M&S using their vouchers this weekend, and the next.
If I can fill both my freezers, and restock my wine, I will be happy. Hope all are doing well. Next month should be better as no OH holidays!!!