April Grocery Challenge

moggins

I agree, but I don't let the kids on there, I just register them and whip the vouchers when they arrive, £2 will buy a month's guinea pig food.

I think I have blown the months budget too, popped into the Iceland sale and spent £48 and half of that was on ice lollies! I am never shopping with the kids again

And that was after spending £65 on new clothes for them and £22 on shoes.

nicki_2

I'm going to have to join in this month as I've just spent £20 on daughters birthday party which has come out of this 4-weeks housekeeping money. So I'm down to £100 over 3 weeks for 3 of us. This is to cover:
- £0.75p a week "snack money" for daughters nursery.
- All household cleaning stuff
- Toiletries
- Food / drink

I usually spend £10 a week on fruit/veg/salad, another £10 a week on chiller items (cheese, cold meat, milk etc). I always try to buy the minimum amount of stuff but every weekend there are complaints from OH that there is nothing to snack on and if I didn't buy him a bottle of Diet Coke-a-Cola he moans even more.

I've just been through the fridge/freezer/cupboards and I have a complete list of what I've got in. Going to try and work out what meals I can make from what I have. This could take some time.

Curry_Queen

moggins wrote:

I agree, but I don't let the kids on there, I just register them and whip the vouchers when they arrive, £2 will buy a month's guinea pig food.

I can understand that as we all want to watch our pennies and that's the whole reason of us being on this site

It just appalls me that a national company would stoop to that sort of level in an attempt to communicate with children though, and I also find it very patronising :mad:

One of my major gripes is the increasing level of "text speak" I see written across forums with younger members (and it's not always kids writing it!) and wonder what damage is being done to their education. While it has it's place when sending text messages on phones, and maybe even in chat rooms or instant messenger type things for speed, it bugs me no end to see it used in written communication elsewhere and there's no excuse not to use proper written English that everyone can understand, even if the spelling or grammar isn't perfect.

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now

Lillibet_2

Curry Queen, is there room for another on that soap box?

carpool72

hi loobyloo1980 - I'm just the same.. 1 week into the new month and I've spent 1.5 times the week's food budget. Great start, eh?! I did spend £10 in the butchers on quality meat & sausages though... Guess we'll be playing Ready Steady Cook with the contents of the freezer next week while I try to feed 3 on £15! Hubby's already moaning that there's no carrots - things are not looking good!:eek:

x Caro

moggins

You'll have to make room for me on the soapbox too

I can't stand text speak, it really annoys me.

My eldest spotted the Pets at Home site last night when I was checking something. She was amazed at how bad that was and told me so in no uncertain terms! The funniest bit is that she is 20!

scared-i-jellyfish

I started my own grocery challenge in january, before I was introduced to Moneysavingexpert.com. I gave myself a budget of £100 per week. Any savings on that budget I could use for money saving elsewhere.

My mortgage was my greatest outgoing, with interest calculated daily, I decided to pay anything off it, as and when I could.

The way I have done it (this is for two adults and two very hungry kids!) - and this is by no means the best way, but it works for me ... so far! - I order my shopping on-line with Asda.com (the cheapest online shopping i have found to date, even though I pay £4.25 delivery (shear convenience).

I start compiling my shopping list a few days in advance of the booked delivery slot, and it comes to the usual £100 total.... then i go down the list and nibble bits off here and there. I manage to get it down to anything between £65 and £85 per week, including delivery and most of all including wine!!!!!!

As soon as the food is delivered, I transfer the 'balance' from my £100 budget into my mortgage account. This makes me feel as if a small part of that huge mortgage has gone. So far I have paid off between £80 and £100 per month extra off my mortgage, and with very little effort.

I would welcome any further ideas on what do do with my 'weekly surplus' of cash.

Mrs_Thrift

Hiya s-i-j, and welcome to the Boards!

It sounds like you've made a great start, and I just wanted to add that I'm definitely with you on the mortgage overpaying. We're managing to do it this year too, and I really don't know what else would give me such a feeling of satisfaction (OK, smugness, hehe!)

There is a thread on "Rewarding Ourselves" that has some of the things other people are doing with their savings.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=41507

VickyA_2

Bit late in the day, but I've just popped into our local Netto for the first time. Wow! What a bargain haven. Milk is cheaper than Tesco, fresh produce cheaper than Tesco blah, blah, blah. I only went in because we had a leaflet through the door saying that Heinz Baked Beans were 19p a tin this week (we normally get Tesco own brand). I'll definitely be going back for more!

jaymac_2

nabowla wrote:

Then, on the way home, I suddenly realised that I'd forgotten to hand over the money off coupon for the tea!!!! I was so excited at saving money that my brain must have fried! Now I feel really silly! Has anyone else got so carried away with the excitement of moneysaving that they've forgotten to do something, or is it just me?

I was stuck behind someone in asda yesterday who must have had about 30 coupons. I was convinced that I'd go over my 2 free hours parking while I waited, sure enough I ended up paying, just 50p but it probably wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for all those coupons.