March 2007 Grocery Challenge

nodwah

Got the month off to a bad start: big garage bill for the MOT as well as a whole lot of hassle - one garage says car is fine and MOT testing garge says it isn't. Wish we didn't need it and we could walk to work!

Been to Asda tonight as I'm afraid we needed alcohol badly (and I know it isn't the answer) but pleased with my buys. They still have frozen chipolatas from Xmas reduced to 50p for a bag of 60 (my kids love em)also got a fz turkey roast for £1 and burgers for 50p/6.

So freezer is looking quite healthy when I actually want to defrost it!

ti1980

I've been reading this for a bit and wondering whether to join in but feel a bit of a fraud as I work at M&S and sometimes use the staff shop so could get my spend down loads if I really put my mind to it.
I don't know, what do you guys think?

EagerLearner

Of course you can join - a saving is still a saving!

Off to do 1st shop of the month, but as we are moving at the end of the month I really want to not buy too much this month as I hate having to move packets of open stuff etc. Much nicer to do a fresh shop when we have moved in...

Redbedhead

Well, we didn't manage to hit our budget for Jan & Feb combined and were over it by £38, although most of that was in January.

So we are going to try again and go for £180 for March.

While we haven't hit target I am still quite pleased as we have cut down and it is making us think about what we are buying more and whether we actually need it. H has even started looking for bogof deals as well:j

EagerLearner

It's great when your OH gets into it as well - Mr EL now checks our whiteboard for what we are eating that night and I underline any ingredients we are missing so either of us can remember to buy them next time we are out. If we have the full meal in house already, I put a tick at the end of the line. It means he can start cooking before I get home if he arrives earlier without either of us having the 'hmmm what are we eating tonight' shuffle through the cupboards. Whiteboard was only about £3, best thing we ever did when starting this challenge and I highly recommend it.

liz545

My total at the end of Feb was £107.92, and I'd hoped to get to £100. I'm going to try again for £100, as I really think that should be manageable for me; it seems that well over half of my spend this last month was food consumed away from home, and I don't really know what to do about that. I've been quite good at bringing packed lunches to work, but a lot of my socialising involves meeting friends for lunch/dinner, and I prefer to do that than meet them in the pub or go shopping, so I'm not sure how I can reduce this spend without becoming a bit of a hermit! I already try to go to inexpensive places and use deals, but it can be tricky...

This month I'm also going to try harder at meal planning, and maybe cooking in advance.

skint_spice

Hi

Hope you don't mind if I join you, I usually spend £160 on shopping for me and DS (he's 7) but now feel motivated to try cutting it down. So this month I'll try and survive on £120. Have loads in the freezer so may be cheating a bit!

mikeD

ti1980 wrote:

I've been reading this for a bit and wondering whether to join in but feel a bit of a fraud as I work at M&S and sometimes use the staff shop so could get my spend down loads if I really put my mind to it.
I don't know, what do you guys think?

Why not eh! It's just a matter of setting a budget; and then comes the hard part - Sticking to it!!:D

ti1980

Well I did a big shop (don't usually do that anymore) on the 28th Feb so I'm going to include that as if it was March.
I have already spent £23.60 so far this month (including the money I spent on the 28th Feb) and I am going to aim for spending no more than £50 this month.
I should be able to come well under that. We will see.

Elise1

Going to give this a try for the first time .
Not sure of exact usual total food shop bill for a month but I know that I spent £90 at Sainsburys last time I went & didn't really seem to get a lot for that ! Have set a target of £200 for March for me , husband & 2 boys (1 & 3) .
Not sure about anyone else but have come to the conclusion that being organized goes hand in hand with money saving ! Have just sorted through the contents of the cupboards & the freezer & listed them . Good planning forms for this on https://www.organizedhome.com . Laminated them (with my bargin laminator!) & used a OHP pen to write out the lists . Easy now to see at a glance what is in the cupboards for planning meals - just mark off items as they are used . Makes shopping lists easier too (perhaps won't end up with 9 tins of chickpeas in my cupboard again!). Meal planning forms also available from the same site .
Discovered Lidl the other day & worked out that on 6 basic items I usually get at Sainsburys I could save £2.66 by buying them at Lidls .... frightening how much I have probably wasted over the years!
Oh well , March will be different .....