April 2012 Grocery Challenge

p-pincher

Well i'm declaring at £208 so a whole £2.00 under. Really ran down the freezer this month as i really want to defrost it at the end of the month. Spent £15.00 today and bought bits to go for next months dinners so trying to get a head start. Off to post on the May thread now x

Fiasco55

Last post for this month's challenge. At L!dl today and spent £10.26 on Bounty offers, peppers and choc bars.

This brings my grand total for April £131.02 and I am under budget

angelatgraceland

I must update sigs but before I do any more I thought Id point the way to some low cost items for spag bol.
Tesco have got their value spaghetti (dried variety)on offer as BOGOF at the mo-2 500g packs for 35p. Thats enough for 10 servings of 100g each which is what I use. I do weigh out pasta and rice to avoid waste!
Lidl do pasata cheap-last time I looked it was 29p for 500ml but may be 39p now. They also sell dried oregano in a glass jar for just 49p and garlic granules(not horrible garlic salt)real dried garlic also 49p approx. I keep these as staples. Add whatever whoopsied mince, soya(dried)vegimince or just veggies to this and you should get a serving for 50p per person. Top off with strong chees(you use less of it). Tesco have Australian cheddar on offer at present for under £5 per kilo.
Ive had another App foods delivery today(stuff boxed under the dtairs now)and the cupboards are totally chocca!
They have minced beef 2 kilo on offer(well 2 days ago)and chicken 2 kilo also in the big foil bag. Got some lovely rich fruit cakes-like Xmas cake but no icing. Very good quality for £2.99 each.Yorrkshire t bags are on there at 49p for 80 but this only came on today so I missed that one! Good job really as Ive got enough tea for a couple of years! OK-third world war is not on its way(ahhh don't disagree)and Im not feeding the troops either but Im hooked on bargain shopping!
As a result of my good spending I may treat myself to this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0055HSEOC/ref=s9_simh_gw_p79_d0_g79_i3?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1YTQ6XVPJ4MHJ5JQW6TM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294 If you have one do let me know!
Got all my old music and unwanted films up together the other day and sold to a game shop for just under £12 so then spent the credit on a wii game for dd. A space in the cupboard and a happy dd. Normally they just end up in the charity shop so not bothered about low return-just glad to get something for them.

fozziebeartoo

craigywv wrote: »

whats BP?:D

Baking Powder!!

franby64

Just eggs to add to April so total now £403.21/£400.00. (I have started my May budget though so I'm bending my rules a bit!).

lula_moneybaggins

I have been slightly awol and neglectful and greedy this month, and have only just plucked up the courage to look at my total spend :mad:

Frankly, I smashed my £120 budget...spent £190.54!!! :eek: Admittedly, £73.85 of that was on takeaways/eating out. Must. Try. Harder. So for May, I'm sticking to my £120 budget (it's only me I'm feeding, for crying out loud!) and banning takeaways. There, I've said it. Keep me honest, please! See you on the May board!

fozziebeartoo

Is there only me left here now? Good job I dont mind talking to myself :rotfl:

I just had 3 NSD making 13 in April.

Had to go and post an Ebay parcel today and that lead me to look in the shops......oops

£3.96 at the Post Office.

£1.00 at Superdrug (3 boxes of soap powder and 2 bags of bin liners, so cant complain about that)!!

£3.96 in the 99p Store.

I forgot to include £2.64 for Milk and More (I have had loads off them but they keep ringing and giving me credits, hence the low spend).

I also spent LOADS on 1/2 price Yankee Candles but that will come from my 3rd Purse I think, certainly not the grocery budget anyway.

Yesterdays lasagne has provided enough for today too AND a big chunk in the freezer

Instead of buying something in Greggs while I was out, I am defrosting 1/2 a pack of puff pastry, a pack of YS bacon and some chicken and will be making myself some pasty type things for tea.....well, thats the plan

jumblejack

lula_moneybaggins wrote: »

I have been slightly awol and neglectful and greedy this month, and have only just plucked up the courage to look at my total spend :mad:

Frankly, I smashed my £120 budget...spent £190.54!!! :eek: Admittedly, £73.85 of that was on takeaways/eating out. Must. Try. Harder. So for May, I'm sticking to my £120 budget (it's only me I'm feeding, for crying out loud!) and banning takeaways. There, I've said it. Keep me honest, please! See you on the May board!

:eek:

Good on you for not getting disheartened!

You have seen where your weaknesses are so can now resolve not to succumb to them.

Here is a suggestion:

As you are just cooking for one, make things that you can portion and freeze for quick meals. Soup, lasagne, shepherds pie, crumbles, etc can all be frozen successfully!
It is also less rewarding when cooking for one as your efforts go unrecognised. How about uploading a picture occasionally of your efforts to get a bit of appreciation from folk who understand your thrifty labours? It will help to motivate you quite a bit.

You CAN do it. Your budget is on a par with mine so you can most definitely do amazingly well this month if you keep posting and reading on these threads to keep you on track!

Another idea is to update your signature after every spend. It keeps you informed of your exact spending throughout the month so you are less inclined to spontaneously spend

All the best:)

meg72

Am declaring at £48. I am not going to draw out my £100 budget yet but will see how long i can make the £52 I have last, I have plenty of stocks still so shouldnt need much for May.

I have totalled up my spends since starting this challenge 9 months ago and find I am averaging around £55 a month, which is about half what I was spending before joining. So very pleased and grateful to this thread.

FlacosFloozie

Reporting in with an epic fail.... £250.98/180 :eek: just really took my eye off the ball for some reason this month .... still onwards to May.