May 2012 Grocery Challenge

Coxy11

Welcome newbies :wave: good to have your company.

Well famous last words in my previous post about coming in on budget. I'm here until 31st so another week to go and I've only got £25 ish left.

I balanced my books this morning. This month I have used 44% of my budget buying back stock from my 2nd purse. The other 56% has been spent in SMs. I am going to try to reverse these figures in the June GC. Don't like giving my money to the SMs now!

Anyone else noticing how rubbish the YS/RTC markdowns are lately? I went to MrT last night at 8.30pm for milk and checked out the whoopsies. They had a lot of stuff but only 10p/20p reductions ??? Good news is I only spent £1 on the milk :A

Doris65_2

Hi

Ive been lurking on this thread for about 3wks, we really needed to reign in our food budget, spending way too much, which really isnt like me, I love to cook and bake an am normaly quite thrifty, I think I just got caught up in other stuff since Xmas and it all went a bit haywire, so I thought Id follow the thread for May and join in June, but although Ive been sticking to my budget and meal plans most of the time, I have lapsed a once or twice(maybe 3!!!) so if its ok i would like to post an amount for the rest of May, help keep me foucused,

I think that I only need £25.00( hoping to come in under) till the end of the month, meal plan done till then and it is only weekly stuff like bread and milk that I would really need, It would also be great to get to payday and not have to do a mad shop because we have run out of things, I get paid 28th, and meals planned till 31st, bit of a personal goal.

Thanks
Dx

valerie57

Hello Doris65, Mrs Cookie, frooglefraggle and savesummore. Welcome to this thread. There is great support and loads of tips here to help you here.
My month goes to the 31st and I have about £45 left so I am expecting to come in under. Hoorah. The thing that has made the biggest difference for me is not going to the SM at all. I am using the local market for FV and am using up stuff in the freezer for the rest. The stuff I am buying in the market is delicious and much cheaper than the SM. It doesn't last so long so I need to shop more often but I wonder if it is because it is kept more naturally. Typically I can get 10 oranges or pears for a £1. Butternut squash is 99p each irrespective of size - obviously I get the biggest I can. 3 punnets of 350g cherry tomatoes for £1. Two lettuce for 20p. I won't bore you with the lot but I am sure you get the picture.
So next month my plan is to do a stocktake of the freezer, a big shop at Costco and then use the market from then.
Good luck all and I hope you are enjoying the nice weather. Off to update my signature.

Doris65_2

Hi
Should have said, we are a family of 5, me OH, 3 teenagers, 1 girl, 2 boys.
Dx

Mrs_Cookie

Okay first daft question what's YS/RTC pretty please? I'll probs kick myself but I'm clueless!

cleggie

Mrs Cookie.
YS is 'yellow sticker' (which means reduced items, normally the best ones can be found about an hour before a SM-supermarket-closes).

Not sure about RTC?

jumblejack

Mrs_Cookie wrote: »

Okay first daft question what's YS/RTC pretty please? I'll probs kick myself but I'm clueless!

YS means yellow stickered goods that are RTC (reduced to clear).
Sometimes they are referred to as whoopsies.

Also, HM means home made. LO means leftovers. SM means supermarket.:)

abitofhelp

Hello Doris65 you will have a great time joining this thread, i have, i'm not always succeful, but i do have very well stocked cupbourds.

cleggie

Hi guys.
We have a local farm shop near our town, and it has opened up a new shop in town, just a 5 min walk from me. It opened up today and i am trying to stop myself from going to have a look and buy some yummy stuff!
I think it sells fruit, veh, meat and a few dairy things.

The thing is, its not a 'buy it now before its gone' kind of thing...the shop wont suddently disappear overnight, and i NEED to rememer this! It'll still be there when i next need fruit/veg/meat etc

Does anyone have any nuggets of wisdom in regards to farm shops? Do they normally cost more/same/less than SMs? I can imagine the quality is better, but if i cant afford it,it makes no diference!

Mrs_Cookie

Thanks Jumblejack & Cleggie, guess I have a lot to learn, will do some research re yellow stickers etc :beer: