January 2012 Grocery Challenge

elly2

Afternoon all have decided to stay on the jan thread till the 31st then will start feb on the 1st, have a spend of £20 to declare so far and need another £10 today for the shops i didnt get to (DS is going to pick them up for me) this amount includes hair dye (i found a grey hair tried to convince my self it was blonde but alas its not :rotfl:) and also some bloodworm for the fish (i will have to clearly mark this so i dont feed it to the kids as an ufo :rotfl::rotfl:).
I have done a menu plan for the next 3 weeks :T:T and dont need much to complete it just some veg and top ups of milk and fruit. I used £5 out of the bulk buy purse for 5 packs of the beans on offer so they should last a while i now have £35 in the purse and am going to use up the meat in the freezer and then restock in march.

aprilshower

Hi Everybody

Up to £119.54 spend todate. However, I need to go shopping but I am going to be very selective about what I buy. So really think I am going to be well on target for this month.

Also my mum is going away for five weeks in the morning and wants to turn her freezer off, so she has asked could I go around and take all the food home for us to use.

Aprilshower

mummybearx

Well I have been very naughty this month
We had a chinese takeaway last week £12.50
We had a Dominos takeaway Sat night £21.00 although in my defence it was my birthday on Sunday... and I ate leftover pizza for breakfast on my birthday.... and it was really really tasty....

MrA's - £11.32 today inc a huge pack of stewing steak reduced to £5.03, 12 free range eggs priced at £2 and a pack of pork mince reduced to £2.29

MrA's during the week - £23.62 inc butter for baking and pastry making, passata, coffee, onions, leeks etc. Made a big pot of soup that we had Wed and Thurs night, making veggie shepards pie tonight (plus a mince one for DH) that I will batch up and freeze.

I know DH has bought in Irn Bru last week as we had friends over that drink it. Even though we were drinking diluting juice, and I said we shouldn't be buying fizzy juice for them, if they want it they can bring it! Not wanting to sound mean, but we don't even get an invite to their house, never mind dinner and our favourite drink bought for us!!

Plus DH has bought bread from the local shops, odd packs of bacon cos he was 'starving'....

All in all, Im adding £83.44 to my total (totals i know and ones Im guessing for the odds and bobs) Must try harder

WelshWoofer

I've managed to finish January well under budget and am now looking forward to February's challenge.

I'm going to start Feb tomorrow and run it through to 2nd March - that's 5 weeks/big shops for me. I'm going to go for £150 for Feb, breaking it down to £30 a week. That's for just me and the dog and includes all food, cleaning stuff, toiletries, laundry, dog food and bits and bobs from a supermarket.

MoneyMission

Made it.
Managed to come in under at £322.68. :T
Next month will be bringing it down as its only a 4 week month. Will go post on feb challenge and update sig.

CherryPie

Thanks to Helen Jelly & meg72 for the Ald! advice. Didn't need any washing liquid / powder, but will defo try it when I do. Got the fabric softener at 99p for 2lt. Got the super 6 (well 5 cos I hate the thought of peeling oranges!)

Got some of the mamia? nappies. 54 for £4.99 Does anyone know if these are good ones to get? My niece has a 3 month old and money is tight so I usually pick up a few things for them while out shopping.

Only spent £27 :mad: so couldn't use my voucher, in retrospect I should have just got the guy to scan me another pack of nappies. Never mind. Still had to go to Mr T for a few bits I couldn't find in Ald!. So off to add £37.12 to my total.

:beer:

Islandmaid

Hi all

Have been spending here and there, just £20ish,s - I have saved ALL my receipts and will have a tot up tomorrow and report back.

I think the food budget is okay, but I have gone a bit mad buying other stuff, mostly for presents through the year, this is the bit I must get a grip on, so I am banning myself from Amaz@n and Ibay etc, just essentials for feb

Have a fab evening all xx

russetred

That's me finished for January too at £257.08. I'm really pleased as that's under for my monthly spend despite stocking up on beans and enough tinned toms for a year! Thank goodness DH put that shelf up in the kitchen for the OEP glitch. Also used my JTD and £5 0ff £40 to invest in 4 meal deals and should be getting another JTD for the wine back. I'll use that to stock up on something else next week. I'll be using the A***i coupon on Monday maybe stockpile the washing up liquid and powder and a few dry goods. Many thanks to the OP who showed how to stretch the page back such a relief for my eyes.

[Deleted User]

Gone over a bit this month. Declaring at £142 for Jan. Started wel, at the beginning of the month and was recording everything I spent in a little black book but that fell by the wayside nearer the middle of the month.

Please put me down for £130 for Feb. Thanks.

Aaarghusername

I do keep my budget up-to-date, therefore I had budgeted £100 for January, but overspent by £13.03. This did include a big store cupboard stock up after Xmas.

I'd like to declare £80 for February, as I'm being stricter with myself this time...