October 2012 Grocery Challenge

flubberyzing

Yeah, I'm aware you can get cheaper washing up liquid elsewhere. I just prefer Fairy.

liz-paul

Hi theatregirl, approx 10-15 adults, beer & wine. Looking at tesco my plan is to buy 30 cans of Stella, 3 bottles of white & 3 bottles of red = approx £50. Probably people will bring drink with them as well but we don't have a lot of parties and I really don't want to run out! Nobody will be getting roaring drunk as almost all adults will have kids in tow.....

My remaining grocery budget until the 31st is about £90.

WantToBeSE

Liz-paul, if you are any good at haggling, it may be worth going to an independant off-licence, and telling them what you need, and asking if they would do a discount for that amount?

Also, to increase the chance of getting a discount, you could work out if you need any alcohol for Christmas, and include that in your order. That way, the order would be higher, but you'd be more likely to get a reduction.

just a thought

EDIT to say- make sure you check out SM prices too though

[Deleted User]

liz-paul wrote: »

Hi theatregirl, approx 10-15 adults, beer & wine. Looking at tesco my plan is to buy 30 cans of Stella, 3 bottles of white & 3 bottles of red = approx £50. Probably people will bring drink with them as well but we don't have a lot of parties and I really don't want to run out! Nobody will be getting roaring drunk as almost all adults will have kids in tow.....

My remaining grocery budget until the 31st is about £90.

Hmm. I had a look myself, don't know if you have a preference for wine but the white looks to be between £4-5 a bottle, and the red wine starts at £3-4 a bottle. If we go with that you're looking at £25ish for wine.

Re: the Stella in case you havent seen, they have a 3 for £21 offer on the 10 pks of 440mls, that includes the 12pk 440ml Cidre and the 12 pk 440mls (4%) ones too.

Works out to £46-£50 as you mentioned.

BUTTTTTTTT.....

Looking at Sainsbobs (dont know if you have one near you) however they have several offers on (white) Chardonnay at £5 for 3 bottles, same with several of the Red wines as far as I can see.
They also have 15pks of 284ml Stella at 2 for £19.00.

That would be £29 altogether - which is a vast improvement with regard to money

pinkypig

popped into SM on way home from work as we were out of milk and spotted packs of pork loin steaks down from £4 to £2 so bought all three packs :eek: Meant I spent a bit more but I now have the basis of three good meals in the freezer for four of us so maybe it is excusable

Spent £7.10 and don't really need much more this week but will be going to Ald* tomorrow for bits and pieces and a pile of super 6 veg.

Hope everyone has a good weekend

PP xx

Honey_Bear

Oh whoops! I've spent my entire October budget and still have to get through to the 31st! I can forgive myself the £1.68 over as I bought a 5kg sack of white onions in Lid1 today for £1.99 because we use so many, but I am really loathe to start the second purse system because I'll just get myself in a muddle with it. Hey ho, if it isn't in, we can't eat it, can we? It'll be interesting to see if I can go 12 days without spending a penny piece on food - that would be a first and it's a really interesting challenge.

I think in future I'll stick with a monthly budget of £140.00, which is tight but realistic. I've stocked up on the things that I think are going up and that's come out of the budget I've set for the three months I've been doing the GC.

meg72

Deleted_User wrote: »

Hmm..

Looking at Sainsbobs (dont know if you have one near you) however they have several offers on (white) Chardonnay at £5 for 3 bottles, same with several of the Red wines as far as I can see.
They also have 15pks of 284ml Stella at 2 for £19.00.

That would be £29 altogether - which is a vast improvement with regard to money

I cannot find the offer for 3 bottles 5.00, but am wondering if these are the small 18.7cl ones, in which case they are cheaper in Asda. Can you post a link please.

tattycath

xx_Jo_xx wrote: »

Hey tattycath,

Its difficult to tell you how much you should be spending because every household is different. I only have me and DS (10) here so its hard to compare. I base my budget on available cash! And obviously would still like it to be less, so that I would be left with more available cash

If you think that you are spending £400 + takeaways, why dont you set your budget at £400 this month and then make sure you count every penny you have spent (inc takeaways, or you can count them up seperately if you want.) Cutting out takeaways will save you a fortune right away, so maybe pizzas for the freezer, or make your own curries?

As you go through the month, take note of what you have at home and think pratically about what you actually NEED to buy to make meals. Make a meal plan and a shopping list of what you need and when you go shopping, Stick To It! (Thats my biggest downfall). Or buy online, then you cant be tempted by what you see instore. If you do go to the SM, I would also advise you go shopping alone...

Because you are more aware of what you are spending, you will be able to spot ways that you can save/cut back etc. Then when you get to the end of your first month, you will have a better idea of what you are spending and what you really need to spend.

The first month is the toughest, because unless you count up all your receipts for the month, you dont actually know what you are spending... You think you know! But my experience was that I didnt know at all! So dont worry too much about your figure for this month... See how much you have spent at the end of November and make a plan then

Hi. Thanks for this. If I actually go through my cupboards properly, I have actually got pasta and rice. Thanks for the advice re-shopping, think I need to be more ruthless and by more meat and veg and less junk.

Save_Dosh wrote: »

Personally, i think you can feed a family of 5 on £200 per month, so if you usually spend £400 without giving it any thought, maybe drop it to £300 and see how you do. If you do a stocktake and mealplan, it will help greatly. There are some fantastic recipes on the front page and also suggestions on how to pad out meals to make them go further, eg grated carrot or lentils etc in mince. You could have a cheap meal once a week like pasta, the value stuff is only about 30p a bag last time i looked. And there are not many things that smartprice vinegar will not clean. Anyway, good luck whatever you do and post if you need help with things.

Thanks for this, you're bang on with the stock take and meal planning. I do put a handful of porridge oats in my minced beef to make it stretch and I occasionally add chick peas (I think it's chick peas-can't quite remember). I do have stardrops for cleaning but my OH loves flash with bleach for cleaning almost everything,. I think £300 is a good target to aim for. Embarrassingly (sp) I actually have the takeaway secrets book but have never done anything with it.

[Deleted User]

meg72 wrote: »

I cannot find the offer for 3 bottles 5.00, but am wondering if these are the small 18.7cl ones, in which case they are cheaper in Asda. Can you post a link please.

Oops, didnt look at the ml on the bottles, forgot they do little mini bottles now. *blush*

There are a few proper size bottles at 2 for £5 on both red and white wines though, think you could still find a bargain if you have a proper look through

tattycath

TheThriftyScrumpers wrote: »

Firstly well done on stoptober! I am a bit behind so you may have had some responses, but here are my ideas :

Thanks. I have actually stopped before several times. Last time I stopped it was for 3 1/2 years and I stupidly started again. :mad: But I'm determined to do it this time - for good.

I forgot to say the slow cooked chicken will generate stock. You could add potatoes, onion and frozen veg to make soup. Hope that helps xx

It won't let me re-quote your suggestions for some reason. Thanks for your ideas-that's brilliant. I do slow cook chicken-but not normally chicken portions, I usually buy a whole one. Just thought portions might be more convenient.