March 2007 Grocery Challenge

ti1980

My total before was £26.14. Today I spent £6.70 in Aldi so now my total spent this month is £32.84. I have £17.16 left to spend this month and its only the 6th! I've got loads of food in so that isn't the problem. What I'm buying every few days is fresh fruit, namely grapes, tangerines/satsumas/clementines or mandarins. I am going to have to cut down on them if I want to come under budget. Don't think I can do this again! I could probably spend £50 a month on just fresh fruit!

Boatie_Bird

I'm approx half way through my month (payday to payday) and I've got £95 left of my £170 budget. The cupboards are well stocked with pulses, rice and pasta so I should be okay.
Although I've just looked at my Aldi email newsletter and they've got loads of organic stuff in from this Thursday - pasta, baked beans, tinned chick peas, olive oil, ground coffee - so I think I'll stock up on these while I can. Lets see if I can do that and still stay within budget!

poohbear59

ti1980 wrote:

My total before was £26.14. Today I spent £6.70 in Aldi so now my total spent this month is £32.84. I have £17.16 left to spend this month and its only the 6th! I've got loads of food in so that isn't the problem. What I'm buying every few days is fresh fruit, namely grapes, tangerines/satsumas/clementines or mandarins. I am going to have to cut down on them if I want to come under budget. Don't think I can do this again! I could probably spend £50 a month on just fresh fruit!

I usually spend a huge amount on fresh fruit too but I have got together with a friend and whenever we see a BOGOF we buy two and share. Just can't miss a bargain!

Janeryan

Janeryan wrote:

Like newlywed I find it easier to budget weekly as well

My weekly budget for March will look like this

Food £49.66(I know it's a strange amount but overspent last months budget by £1.69 so am taking it this months)

Petrol £20.00

Personal spending £20.00 (£10.00 each for me & DH)

I am in week 2 of March as last Friday was payday so did a shop then for this week & have already shooped this week for next week(there's logic in there somewhere)

Week 1 spent

£71.17 food(big shop to fill freezer & cupboard as they were a bit like Mother Hubbard's-bare!)

£20.00 Petrol (hope fully this will last at least a week and a half)

£20.00 Personal spending

Week 2 spent so far

£17.00 Food

Have got £11.15 left of this week's food budget if I want to stay on track and have a quarter of a tank of petrol left which I hope will last untill next Tuesday.

Good luck to everyone & welcome to any newcomers-you will find loads of hints & tips on here as well as encouragement!

Ok at the start of week 3

Total spent on food so far £96.81

Total petrol £20.00(Hoping to get to Thursday now!)

Personal spending £77.69(what does that tell you!!)

So I'm under budget on food & petrol but well over on personal spending(stuff like going to the pub,phone top ups,the barbers & newspaper/birthday cards) at least I know which are the areas I need to watch my spending on!

Hope everyone is having a good MS month so far

Sarahsaver

I know in the past people have posted shopping lists for a £15 budget (Black_Saturn) and a £20 budget (meself) Can I see a list from someone who spends anything between £50 and £100 a week :rolleyes: Unless this includes petrol I am slightly bemused! We are still at the max. £30 a week for 2 adults 3 kids. Had a lovely chicken in gravy today - got the chicken from the co-op for 99p:)

redspot24

Janeryan wrote:

Ok at the start of week 3

So I'm under budget on food & petrol but well over on personal spending(stuff like going to the pub,phone top ups,the barbers & newspaper/birthday cards) at least I know which are the areas I need to watch my spending on!

Hope everyone is having a good MS month so far

I don't know if this will help you with with the spending on birthday cards, but at the beginning of every month, I go through my diary and calendar then go and get all the cards I need in one go - saves me having to spend a fortune on rubbish cards at garages etc and stops that 'have to break a tenner - oops it's all been spent' scenario.

I've found that has saved me lots of money over the past year. Also means I'm less likely to miss people's birthdays!

miss_pink_4

Hi this is my first grocery challenge!
I have converted to doing all my shopping at Tesco.com and am aiming for a budget of £250 for 2 adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs, 1 rabbit.
Usually i.ve been spending nigh on £400+:eek: a month on food and toiletries this is way too much considering the amount of people on this site doing it for much less!:mad:
Well here goes, first lot gets delivered today, fingers crossed!




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£2 savings £20
grocery challenge
March aim £250
week 1 £71
week 2 £62
week 3
week 4

ti1980

Hi Poohbear59.:)

When buying fruit I usually go with the BOGOF offers or the half price offers, I'm really into my orange citrus fruits at the moment (but not oranges themselves), namely clementines, satsumas, tangerines and mandarins. I don't have a preference for any of them, which is good as at least one of them is always on offer when I buy them.

I did however buy some oranges yesterday as they were the only orange citrus that I see on offer in Aldi and I was determined not to go to Sainsburys or M&S which are my usual haunts. They were 59p for 6 of them. That was half price.

Today I went to a newsagent and bought 3 drinks, they came to £2.19. £32.84 + £2.19 = £35.03.
This means that if I want to stick to £50 or less this month that I only have another £14.97 to spend for the whole month.:eek:

I am going to have to source out a cheaper place to get my fruit. I will make sure I check the staff shop more often for bargains there.
The local fruit and veg shop to me is rubbish, not particularly cheap and a lot of the stuff there looks as though it needs cooking/using up straightaway.

poohbear59

Hi Ti 190,
I agree with you about being careful buying from some shops. I would rather buy local and keep shops open but I have to admit I find supermarket BOGOF offers are usually fresher. I wish I had a local market to try but nearest is about 18 miles away. I will give Aldi a try. Thanks.I tried value apples last week and had to cook them because had no flavour. I put them in rhubarb crumble! My friend who lives alone usually buys BOGOF and gives to me the extras, which are usually things that are perishable. I got sweet chilli dipping sauce, dijon mustard, and worcester sauce from her shopping trip yesterday-cost me nothing! I have 5 hungry mouths to feed. Good luck with the citrus fruit search!

patentgirl

Hi everyone

After a good start then a disastrous weekend just gone(I was unwell threw things into trolley without sticking to list plus OH was with me and put in quite a bit of alcohol for himself),I think I am back on track to keep to my budget I have a £100 left to last me until Fri 23 March (3 adults 1 teenager and a cat) cupboards are fully stocked just need meat and fruit and veg. I found it easier to keep totals for the month rather than the week.
In answer to Sarahsaver I expect it is probably alcohol which bumps some peoples budget up as I found out this week!