May 2007 Grocery Challenge

jswaminathanuk

Hello all.
mind if I join you? I want to cut some cost and spend that money on more useful things.But first of all to cut on few things.
I don't know how much I spend each month and thus I can't set my target.
I could see
Grocery ,
toiletories ,
Baby food ,
baby nappies ,
fuel (I travel only 15 miles a day to and fro work and to tesco on weekend), Flowers (my other half purchase fresh flowers in every 10 - 15 days
sometime I have to buy meal at work(most of the day I carry from home).

I have bought loads of stuff from Asian shop bulk rice and lentilsI also have got enough nappies etc. Now only usual grocery and toiletories shopping requiredfrom tesco

I am setting a target of spend 50 pound per week on 2 adults and a todler and 225 in total. I think I am bit harsh but lets see how it goes.

I think my target can be achieved but I need a mentor who can guide me on how to cut the cost in Groceries.
1st thing I am planning is to order online through Tesco and use thier 15 pound off 50 pound codes. this will effectively save me fuel money and I will spend less as I noticed everytime I visit Tesco / Sainsbury I spend additional 15 pound on unwanted things
Wish you all good luck and any suggestion welcome

stefejb

Right I am really going to try to keep on track this month - it all goes well for the first couple of weeks and then I lose the plot and forget to keep a tally. I have done the main shopping for this week and the bill came to £20.38 for meand one dd (oh and a waif and stray in the form of my exoh who seems to be here more often than not) although i will need to stock up on fruit, veg and milk. My target will be under 50 quid a week. right off to update signature

dumpling

Hi everyone,
I am always watching these kind of posts so I feel motivated to tackle my overspending! I am hoping that if I actually join in this month it will get me on the right track.
In our house there are me and OH, 3 DD's aged 7, 6 and 4, a large hairy dog and 2 cats. At the moment we are spending anything up to £100 a week just on grocery shopping so obviously we need to cut down.
Bearing in mind the excellent advice at the beginning of this thread I am aiming to have a shopping budget of between £300 and £340 for May.
I try and cook a lot of home made meals, 2 of the girls have school dinners but still have a cooked meal with the rest of us each evening. My littlest goes off to full time school in September so I may swap around when we eat at home....still thinking about that.
I love MSE, especially this forum as everyone is so supportive and encouraging.
Cheers Jo

oldMcDonald

Joining in for the first time, but have been doing this quietly in the background on my own:)

Have managed over the past two years to get my shopping down from £700-£800 a month pre-MSE, and now spend roughly £32 a week on food, cleaning and toiletries for 2 adults, 5 children (age 11 and under) and a dog. Each week I put aside £1.50 to spend with SUMA (I am part of a buying group and we put in around 3 orders a year - mine being about £25 worth of pulses ) and 50p which is used early summer to buy loads of PYO raspberries and strawberries of which some which are made into jam and some get frozen (we have a tiny amount left, roll on June for the new crop!)

We keep our costs down by being veggie (I'm vegan), and we also have an allotment (although there isn't much growing there ready to eat at the moment!)

Looking forward to doing the challenge

jcr16

i don't think i even gonna try this month. well i might do. last month i went over. and this month first shop of the month i took hubby and we ended up spending £140. and i still didn't get some bits i needed and i haven't got much in way of meat for meals. gggrrrrr men! but hey first time in ages he come shopping.

i gotta get some nappies and olive oil and lots of fruit today.

i think i am just gonna be careful this month and think before i buy anything. but not worry too much about my budget. then next month it will start all over again and i will be good.

jovichick123

Hi all,

As some of you might have read in my previous posts, last month did not exactly go according to plan! Out of a budget of £300, I spent a grand total of £372!! :eek:

I know why though, so it's not all bad news! We did stay away from takeouts and I cooked all food from scratch (a totally alien concept to me prior to becoming addicted to this forum!). The overspend came from buying the raw ingredients needed to make many of the meals (having had a very 'convenient' attitude to cooking before, I had hardly any herbs/spices and the thought of buying them was a bit pointless!).

I have now mended my ways, I have a storecupboard full of pasta, rice, herbs, spices.... pretty much most things I should need! I have also bulk bought on toilet rolls etc.

This months budget is set at £250 which is intended to buy fruit and veg (large box - £18 per week, delivered), meat at the butchers and nappies etc for DS. Plus obviously any additional items needed through the month should we run low on anything.

I really can't see any reason why, armed with cupboards full of raw ingredients, I should be struggling to stick within budget this month, so here goes!

Good luck to all who are taking part and thanks to lil_me for starting the thread, was looking for this a few days ago wondering when everyone elses month started!

Sarah xxx

Lydia.42

Well April went to pot, and i lost track of what we spent in the end. I am going to try and work out a rough figure at some point this week though, from our bank statement.

I am definitely in this month. I am on holiday this week, and begin my maternity leave next week - gulp!!!! Really have to get this shopping lark under control!!!!! :eek:

I am going to try a different angle this month. I am going to try and spend no more than £5 per day. I hope that by getting the cash out at the start of each week in £5 notes, i may be able to control the food spending a little better. So in preparation i took out £30 in fivers yesterday for the remainder of this week, and have an old purse i am going to put this into. Hopefully seeing the money there, and handing it over instead of my card it will hit home a little more exactly what i am spending and that once it's gone for the week, that's it.

I am also without a car at the moment - we have decided to tax only one for the moment due to my maternity leave, and OH has taken that to work today - so i will be less tempted, whilst he is working, to go to Mr T's and stock up on goodies!!!! :rotfl:

Good luck everyone - especially with the 2 bank hols this month!!!!!

sammy_kaye18

Hi All

Think Ill join from now on. I have had to stick to a strict budget since Xmas but now i can afford to loosen the purse strings ever so slightly - we seem to have alot in the hosue still - god knows how but we do!

Anyway i think for a family of 3 plus pooch ill set our budget at £100 - ive been gettign us by on £80 but thats not takign into account the odd pint of milk here and there so i think £100 is a pretty safe startign bet for us.

I love having to be creative and we have 3/4 different foody shoppign outlets near us so i can wander round all of them happily wiht little one (we have iceland, tesco,poundland, local market and a lidls if i fancy an extra bus journey)

ok fingers crossed ill update you when i do my shop

Tracey04

I'm definately in this month. I have been using up my cupboard stuff and freezer ( still half full) since I dare say, the beginning of the year. Why have I had this much food I do not know when there is only me and two children aged 8 and 6. What would you think is realistic. They have packed lunches for school, and we always have cooked mainly from scratch. Some help would really help me get sorted, to also include cleaning and toiletries.
Also am I being thick but carn't get my head round(too early in the morning!)- - is it cheaper to shop at Asda as I get 10% off as I work there( not 10% on online orders), shop at Tesco and get money vouchers, shop Tesco online use codes, or dump it all and go to farm shop/markets, put cannot use GE card to get cash back on food.
any help appreciated. thanks Tracey

Tracey04

also how do you put your figures in colour at the bottom of your posts. thanks