March 2012 Grocery Challenge

bodmin789

Well, with only some milk and bread to buy this week, and 1 week of groceries left, I think we will make it. Been interesting, and eye-opening, can't believe how much we spend on the cats, will be £50 before the end of the month and there's only 2 of them and that's not including the £40 per month on tablets for our oldest, hey ho not a lot you can do about that I guess.

Had a lovely dinner yesterday, Lentil quiche, DH made it for the first time, managed the pastry and everything, this is someone who when we first met thought cooking a meal was throwing a pizza in the oven - how times have changed.

Going to spend some time analysing what we have bought over the month, as I've been listing them individually, one thing I've noticed is that we've spent over £20 on cheese, now I know we're veggies, but that can't be healthy can it!

Well have a good evening all.

LavenderBees

bupster wrote: »

Lavenderbees, I think that was me! You've inspired me now, but I'm not as brave as you - I'm going to drop my budget for food and for entertaining to £80 each. That's surely more than enough! Like you my cupboards and fridge and freezer are full, and I'm buying things because I've run out, rather than thinking "what have I got and what do I really need?"

Ah, it's your fault, is it? :rotfl:

I'm only intending this really strict budget for one month to try to get myself in the swing of things a bit better.I haven't included entertaining in mine. I'll just keep that separate, I think as I just want to concentrate on what food I'm spending money on (but I'm too lazy to keep an indepth spreadsheet!)

Not sure how I'll cope with the anxiety when I get down to my last 4 tins of tomatoes though! :rotfl:

Good luck!

LB xx

sistercas

NSD today as ive been at work and hopefully it will be the same tomorow

i made a base mince tonight and had half as a spag bol tonight , and the other half will be a chilli on wed, the remainder of the raw mince i made some burgers for tomorrow , they are only little but with salad and HM wedges it should be enough

Need2bthrifty

LavenderBees wrote: »

Well (big sigh!)

I've been having a good old think about this challenge over the weekend. I'm not happy with myself as, although, I am being more frugal and definitely am a lot better than I used to be, I still feel like I could and should be doing better than I am. Without a doubt, I'm very much looking at the budget limit as being something to aim towards instead of coming in under it. And once I've exceeded it, well, there's no point in worrying about it is there? Might as well exceed it a bit more! :mad:

Ah, yes, I know myself so well.

Also, some wise person on here over the last few days mentioned that £100 for a single person is rather a lot...(sorry I didn't make a note of who I can credit that comment to...but it's true!)

My "food" budget usually includes things like cat litter and toilet rolls, and I think I'm coasting by on thinking "ah yes, but I didn't really spend £140 on FOOD for myself in March". Well, no I didn't, but it wouldn't be far from it...probably in the region of £100-£110, which is still a lot, given that I still have a store cupboard full to the rafters, and a freezer that will go "pop" if I try to put anything else in it.

Like Rising, I'm also concerned that my spend doesn't really include any meat at the moment as the freezer is full (just 1 chicken), so where exactly is the money going? Em...yes, ok, I've bought some whisky and wine...but even so, what have I spent £80 odd on foodwise??

So, radical thoughts to get me in line -

1. I'm going to halve my budget for next month (which for me starts on Friday 23rd as that is payday). £50 budget for me, which should mean that only essentials get put on my shopping list instead of the usual..."I've finished it so I must restock again immediately". I'll just keep a note in my siggy, Helen.

2. Apart from cat litter (the pusses will only use Mr M's own woodbase :mad:) and Tbags (I really like Mr A's own brand fruity tbags), I'm only going to shop at Lidl. Using cash there (I'll withdraw the £50 on Friday) will really heighten my awareness of what I'm buying and why, so no chance of "little" treats falling into my basket...

3. I will just use the little shopping trolley only...

I already monitor my NSDs, and meal plan to the nth degree, and will hopefully manage to work through the freezer/store cupboard a bit more successfully in April. I have started and have become a bit more inventive in using things up thanks to help on this thread and my own queries on the OS board, ....but...hardly made any inroads.

Sorry for the long post, folks, but I've been mulling all weekend and I know you'll understand, whereas friends and family just look at me like I've lost leave of my senses. Perhaps I have.... :rotfl:

Off to update my siggy now. Hope the sun is shining where you are

LB xx

Hi Lavenderbees, don’t beat yourself up; I think you are doing well on the budget you have set. I think what a lot of people don’t get is that it can be quite difficult for “singletons” to live a frugal/thrifty lifestyle, especially when the SM’s gear all of their offers at families (we don’t all have huge freezers/storage)

I also know for a fact that no matter how lovely they are CATS COST A FORTUNE. My grocery bill dropped significantly when my two elderly cats passed away, but then I did indulge them with fresh fish and chicken once a week.

I’m working on a £50 monthly budget but that only includes food & household stuff, plus seasonal extras like seeds, compost, weed-killer for the garden – I’m only having to include these in the budget now.

Thanks to MSE and the info shared on the bargains available I have stored up enough washing powder, wash-up liquid, shampoo, shower gel, toilet roll & kitchen roll to keep me going for a good 6 months if not more. This however did have me overspending for a couple of months but evened out in the long run. How sad am I, but I have started noting how long things last (eg 1 well-known toilet roll = 1 wk) so that I can budget out money for more bulk buys before I get to the situation of having to pay full price. At the moment I am keeping an eye out for bargains in fabric softener as I’m going to run out of that in the next 2-3 wks.

I also see my freezer as being only one third full but that’s because 50% of the food is in its raw state – if I cooked up the mince, chicken breast, chicken thighs, pork chops, pork joint then I don’t think I would be able to get it all in.

Apologies for the long post.

meg72

LavenderBees wrote: »

Well (big sigh!)

I've been having a good old think about this challenge over the weekend. I'm not happy with myself as, although, I am being more frugal and definitely am a lot better than I used to be, I still feel like I could and should be doing better than I am. Without a doubt, I'm very much looking at the budget limit as being something to aim towards instead of coming in under it. And once I've exceeded it, well, there's no point in worrying about it is there? Might as well exceed it a bit more! :mad:

Ah, yes, I know myself so well.

Also, some wise person on here over the last few days mentioned that £100 for a single person is rather a lot...(sorry I didn't make a note of who I can credit that comment to...but it's true!)

My "food" budget usually includes things like cat litter and toilet rolls, and I think I'm coasting by on thinking "ah yes, but I didn't really spend £140 on FOOD for myself in March". Well, no I didn't, but it wouldn't be far from it...probably in the region of £100-£110, which is still a lot, given that I still have a store cupboard full to the rafters, and a freezer that will go "pop" if I try to put anything else in it.

Like Rising, I'm also concerned that my spend doesn't really include any meat at the moment as the freezer is full (just 1 chicken), so where exactly is the money going? Em...yes, ok, I've bought some whisky and wine...but even so, what have I spent £80 odd on foodwise??

So, radical thoughts to get me in line -

1. I'm going to halve my budget for next month (which for me starts on Friday 23rd as that is payday). £50 budget for me, which should mean that only essentials get put on my shopping list instead of the usual..."I've finished it so I must restock again immediately". I'll just keep a note in my siggy, Helen.

2. Apart from cat litter (the pusses will only use Mr M's own woodbase :mad:) and Tbags (I really like Mr A's own brand fruity tbags), I'm only going to shop at Lidl. Using cash there (I'll withdraw the £50 on Friday) will really heighten my awareness of what I'm buying and why, so no chance of "little" treats falling into my basket...

3. I will just use the little shopping trolley only...

I already monitor my NSDs, and meal plan to the nth degree, and will hopefully manage to work through the freezer/store cupboard a bit more successfully in April. I have started and have become a bit more inventive in using things up thanks to help on this thread and my own queries on the OS board, ....but...hardly made any inroads.

Sorry for the long post, folks, but I've been mulling all weekend and I know you'll understand, whereas friends and family just look at me like I've lost leave of my senses. Perhaps I have.... :rotfl:

Off to update my siggy now. Hope the sun is shining where you are

LB xx

Please dont be so hard on yourself, I think you are doing well
and I personally dont think a £100 for one person is a lot. Its around £3 a day, which is not excessive at all. Plus you are providing for a cat.

elsiepac

Hi everyone

Just updated my stores spreadsheet and I'm beginning to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel... There's a teeny gap now in my freezer shelf (rest of freezer is mum's) and in my tins cupboard I'm nearly down to one layer - well, the whole bottom layer is tins and led on top is tons of spaghetti and some passata.

Annoyingly found I'd managed to miss a couple of things being used when I did my inventory last night, so had less passata, chickpeas, tinned toms than I thought. But I still have tons in!

I have now scrapped my meal plan for the rest of this month as it was too focused on buying new stuff. Instead I need to try and have a couple of meals where I'm ONLY using stores stuff.

I need to make lunch today, and so to use up some odd bits I am going to fashion a soup from odd bits, I'll report back later!

Tonight I have the leftovers from chickpea stroganoff and noodles which is yum, and then tomorrow I'll need to make something new.

*Thinking cap on*

LC

mh2361

tigerfeet thanks for the idea, i do have a slo cooker. will go to shop today and get some meat and some packet sauces, i usually make my own but buying them will be cheaper than a takeaway. it'll get me back into the "groove" xx

tjak

Someone had asked for the recipe for Spiced Marmalade Cake - I found it at the start of this thread in among the cake recipes. Recommend it, I made double quantity as a tray bake, and it has gone down very well.

New month starts for me today, and I have a first spend of £33.29 /£250.
It felt very strange not doing a big stock up on pay day as I have been doing, but I am hoping this change of tactic will keep me on track. I have treated us to a veg box this week which arrives Thursday, but should have two NSDs before then.

Good luck all

tessie_bear

hi...going to make a casserole for tea...i got a huge box of mushrooms in aldi yesterday so need to use them up and not mess about...still havent been to shops i might try tomorrow

going to try and do a bit of baking later...flapjacks and dundee cake

have a nice day tess

bodmin789

elsiepac wrote: »

Hi everyone


Tonight I have the leftovers from chickpea stroganoff and noodles which is yum, and then tomorrow I'll need to make something new.

Chickpea stroganoff sounds lovely, are you able to let me have the recipe please??