January 2013 Grocery Challenge

CRANKY40

Everyone has different methods Annie 99. It's whatever works best for you. I generally stick close to my budget so don't need to work on a cash only basis. I actually pay for my grocery shopping on my Amex nectar credit card every week then transfer the money to pay it when I get home. That way I get nectar points from my credit card that I save to use in Argos at Christmas for my son's presents.

I am now using stuff from my very full freezer. I'm hoping to only buy fridge stuff and maybe some veg to go with what is in the freezer during January. I will probably need some bits for ds's school lunches here and there too.

Yesterday I made cheese palmiers, chocolate macarons and mince pies with stuff from the stores, and took them down to my friend's house for a party tea. We had cheese and crackers, mini steak pies and sausage rolls too. All the things you buy for snacks after your Christmas dinner but that you then find you don't have room to eat. It was fun and the children enjoyed it too.

Hope you all enjoy your Christmas:rudolf::rudolf::rudolf:

CupcakeLisa

Annie_99 wrote: »

Hmm, Have been having a think about how to do this challenge and wonder how it works.. I the following questions!
1. When we say we have 300 for the month, do folks take the 300 out of the bank and have actual cash and use that or do you divide it up and take out weekly amounts.
2. Do you use other money for sale items etc
3. Why do some people prefer Yearly figures to monthly?
Happy Christmas x

When we did a weekly budget we took the money out the bank as it meant when we went shopping we couldnt spend over. Then we changed to monthly and I started batch cooking and stock piling but have now changed to annual budget as I feel I will be able to save more buying in bulk when on offer

For example I will buy a years worth of most toiletries when they come on offer this year

cw18

Annie_99 wrote: »

Hmm, Have been having a think about how to do this challenge and wonder how it works.. I the following questions!
1. When we say we have 300 for the month, do folks take the 300 out of the bank and have actual cash and use that or do you divide it up and take out weekly amounts.
2. Do you use other money for sale items etc
3. Why do some people prefer Yearly figures to monthly?
Happy Christmas x

1. As I often use my debit card I don't take cash out at all, I just keep track of what I've spent in a spreadsheet
2. sale items?
3. I have an annual budget based on 365 days in a year (for the Frugal Living Challenge), but I split it down into monthly chunks for this challenge (based on number of days in the month for me, weekdays for son and weekends for OH as I cater for different people on different days of the week - means I rarely have 2 months with the same budget!)

Kittenkirst

So far we're doing okay ish so far. Spends of £55 so far which includes se stuff for freezer & January. We spent £35 in Sainsbobs yesterday on christmas food (bought our beef before the challenge) then £5 in poind shop on milk & chocs then a bit in our tescos express on reduced sausages (15p a pack of 8 yesterday so bought four packs and halved each pack so 8 meals for 60p!) also got some reduced veg for meals as well as cold & flu stuff!

The boyfriemd is signed onto the challenge and knows we need to not buy lunches in January and for me I need to stop buying skinny vanilla lattes fr the coffee shop at work (1.40+ a time!)

Flask is out of the cupboard, food flasks are out and blank meal planners printed ready for Jan :0) we can do this!

Merry Christmas one and all, hope you are all having lovely days with your loved ones xx

kittiej

Hi Everyone

I think I need to join the grocery challenge so can you put me down for £100 for Jan please?

I must start making savings as this is the easiest way to earn money.

Thanks and good luck everyone

mossy

Annie_99 wrote: »

Hmm, Have been having a think about how to do this challenge and wonder how it works.. I the following questions!
1. When we say we have 300 for the month, do folks take the 300 out of the bank and have actual cash and use that or do you divide it up and take out weekly amounts.
2. Do you use other money for sale items etc
3. Why do some people prefer Yearly figures to monthly?
Happy Christmas x

1. As Cranky said everyone does it differently so it's entirely up to you how you do it. I tend to use cash and my debit card HOWEVER I find it much better when I use cash as I'm far less likely to overspend. So cash is my preference as it keeps me focused and accountable.

2. If by sales items you mean reduced items (also know as whoopsies or YS - yellow stickers) then I think most people tend to include those in their food budget. This is also the case for BOGOF and other offers. Although some people run a second purse (see second purse challenge) where they have a separate purse so that they are able to take advantage of really good deals in the shops. They then buy them back from themselves at full price from their shopping budget rather than paying the supermarket full price but that is a different challenge, one which you're also more than welcome to join if you want.

3. I prefer to do mine monthly. If I did it yearly I'd run out of money by August lol!! I'm guessing that some people feel they can have a much better idea and control of how much they are spending when they watch it over the whole year and as someone said they can take advantage of great offers and buy a years worth which you'd be less likely to do if you were working on a monthly budget as you'd blow that month's budget even though you were getting a good deal that would help you throughout the year. That is the great thing about this challenge, you can make it fit your requirements. It's all about helping you and so you can pick what ever way works best for your circumstances.

HTH's :rudolf:

blue_eyes_2

Hi there, merry Christmas everyone, I think that my challenge with groceries will start Jan 1st till Jan 31st and just do month by month. Lots of leftovers and a freezer stocked. Looking forward to my £200 challenge, any money left over at the end of the month will be going in our sons piggy bank!!!!

Tales17

Hi there!

New to all this forum / challenge lark so just learning the ropes now!

I'd love to join this challenge, we definitely overspend when it comes to shopping - £700 a month on average this year but that does include a lot of non-grocery items (i.e. clothes, presents, etc.).

I am making an effort to create a database or spreadsheet to track what the money in each shop is spent on from now on!

I would like to put down £500 for my January budget until I can get a grip on where the money goes!

This will include household items (i.e. cleaning items, toilet rolls, beauty products) as well as food.

I assume the information to track it should be written in the signature?

Thanks! :j

cw18

Tales17 wrote: »

I am making an effort to create a database or spreadsheet to track what the money in each shop is spent on from now on!

It does more than just groceries, but I have a budgetting spreadsheet I made available to anyone who wants a copy. The details on where to grab a copy are here

I assume the information to track it should be written in the signature?

The thread organisers won't pick it up from there - post on the thread (in large red) at the end of the month so they can update your final spend against your target. People also tend to post about how they're getting on during the course of the month as well

Tales17

Thanks for info, I already have a fairly comprehensive spreadsheet for tracking my accounts and general budgeting but I don't break out my grocery spend to track the different areas I spend in, hence why I will need to update it so I know where we need to make the savings! Plus I need to keep up my spreadsheet skills since becoming a stay at home Mum!

I will log in and join in as much as possible, I like the idea of the forum keeping me motivated!