April Grocery Challenge

Curry_Queen

That's great news HQ, congrats on getting the job in the first place, and good luck for your first day :T

Cheapskate

I had meant to give this a proper go for the last 2 weeks of March, but it's sort of got out of hand! Never mind, OH gets paid 31 March, so that's a good point to be prepared for the April challenge. I have managed to do some things better, though, mostly 'cos Im starting to have a real moral problem with supermarkets. I've been doing more of my shopping in my village - the meat & bread is cheaper/better than supermarkets, & quite local - one of the bakers actually bakes in our village. I find that when I make myself shop locally, I only buy what I need & no extra stuff, so that's got to be better. Also, I know where the fresh produce has come from - mostly from within our town, certainly within the county, so it hasn't travelled too far on the grand scale of things.
We're 2 adults, 16yr old & 13yr old, no animals, non-smokers but like a few drinks, so I'm tentatively setting a budget of £100 to cover all food & groceries, but not including bills/mortgage etc. Will let you know if I succeed! All hints & tips welcome, please!

skylight

My supermarket budget will be a whooping £400 this month. There are 2 adults, 2 teens 1 toddler and 1 baby and 1 dog.

So I will fit it all in. Its going to include dog food, school lunches (they have packed ones - no cred, but hey!!) all my baby milk and nappies, cleaning stuffs and not forgetting food. Got paid few days ago, hit the supermarket today and spent £70 for a week. I was more proud that NONE of it is processed - its all fresh (I'll have to go back in 3/4 days for more veg), its all fresh meat and I will be making all my our own meals!

Poor family........................

jazzyjustlaw

Sarahsaver wrote:

I will do it again, but I dont know how much I can shave off my £20 a week. I think I will stick with that, although I have managed to have about £5 left this week and the only thing i need to buy is milk. My week starts on a Saturday, when I get £20 out of the bank and put it in my special purse;)

£20.00 that is incredible!!!

jazzyjustlaw

halloweenqueen wrote:

Well my challenge is still gonna start on the 1st April, but I got a boost today the job I applied for - i got it! woohoo!! I've been out of the workplace for a few years and this one fits round the kids so I get to be a stay at home mum still but with a job. I've just got to be more organised as i don't want to earn more money and then spend more on groceries so I'm thinking of investing in a slow cooker, which will be handy anyway.

Well done!!

Janeryan

Magentasue wrote:

I am so rubbish at this. I use Microsoft Money and break downmy receipts into Food/Household (light bulbs etc)/Cleaning and Pet Food. I average £400 a month just for food. That's four adults and two children (I'm counting 16 and 19 year olds as adults because they eat as much as we do) and includes four packed lunches every day for school/college. It also includes a few bottles of wine at £1.96 a bottle, £10 a week just on supermarket milk and an organic veg box every week.

So my challenge is to cut down to £350 for April. I felt I had to justify this because so many of you manage on so little!

Where do you get wine for £1.96 a bottle??????

Murtle

I have no idea how much we spend so I am going to set £100 for the month for all groceries/cleaning etc. this will be for 2 adults and 2 mini panthers (cats in disguise!) If i buy anything in bulk I'll pro-rata it for future months. Hopefully I'll have completed my budget by the 1st April as well....

Magentasue

Janeryan wrote:

Where do you get wine for £1.96 a bottle??????

Asda and Tesco both have a cheap Spanish red wine - used to be £1.96 a bottle. Noticed today, it's gone up to £2.06 in Asda. I don't mind it at all - so many things are either quanitity or quality - I''d rather have a (large) glass of cheap wine EVERY night than a small glass of something better every few days!

Magentasue

Janeryan wrote:

Where do you get wine for £1.96 a bottle??????

Asda and Tesco both have a cheap Spanish red wine - used to be £1.96 a bottle. Noticed today, it's gone up to £2.06 in Asda. I don't mind it at all - so many things are either quanitity or quality - I''d rather have a (large) glass of cheap wine EVERY night than a small glass of something better every few days!

halloweenqueen_2

Thanks for the congrats:D I'm half terrified and half looking forward to my new job! Looking forward to pay day!