June 2007 Grocery Challenge

redsquirrel80

Well my 'June' is nearly over as I get paid tomorrow. Budget was £60 - spent £42.89 of actual money, £5.82 on a Tesco voucher, and was 'given' about a tenner's worth of shopping. So I made it BUT the last couple of weeks have been real 'economy' eating as I overspent on other things early in the month I've had nothing but toast and pasta for the last three days :rolleyes:

Plan for next month is to do a bulk shop this weekend then top up with fresh stuff weekly - hopefully this'll mean I have a good supply of basics all month. Also plan to have a look at some good balanced veggie meals as I'm not too keen on cheap meat, rather spend a bit more on a nice steak now and get most of my protein from other sources the rest of the time. Ooh and I now have a steady supply of homegrown herbs, salads and chillis so that should save me a little bit.

Ah well, not too bad for my first month - really made me think about what I was spending on what!

Linda32

Hello all, quick update

Aimed at £260.00 for this month, finish date 27th June,
Budget blown!!!!!!

Previous £133.09

Co-op £12.37
Tesco £11.66
Co-op £11.34
Sains £54.82
Sains £7.07

Tesco £36 'ish

The obvious result is to consolidate a weekly shop rather than just popping in every day :rolleyes:

Total £266.35

I do have meals planned though, for at least the next 8 days

gems2381

My month ends tomorrow and I've done well very smug haha.
Next month my budget will be £70 as I've just become single so only my mouth to feed now.

mikeD

Nova5 wrote: »

I am on target to finish within budget, well, that's if you don't count the last day of the month! I am due a Tescos delivery tomorrow which should bring me up to £247.12 but need to use 700 point voucher for £70 spend instore on the 30th. The groceries bought then would be for July so I think I'll count it as part of July's budget - who am I trying to convince eh?!! :rolleyes:

Technically it's still June so should it be classed as this month's spend or next month? I am going to my Mum's for a week next month. She lives in France and I always do a BIG shop there before coming home so I maybe I should cut my losses and add it on this month.

My DH pointed out last night that we haven't had any takeaways this month and that in itself has saved us about £70, and hopefully our shopping bill should of saved us the best part of £200.

I have really enjoyed this month. Eating out of the cupboard and freezer has been good as I've really had to try and be creative and have surprised myself. Tonight we're having tuna pasta bake - reminds me of my student days! We never have things like that nowadays so I am looking forward to the nostalgic dinner conversation.

Thank you all for your inspiration :T

It can be a bit awkward when bulk buying for the next month/fortnight, but strickly speaking (pay attention at the back ) the correct way would be to spread it proprtionately over the two months in relation to the number of days left in the month of purchase.

Say one purchased goods to the value of £70 on 20/6 and the next shop would be in a fortnights time then:

£70/14x10 (ie the number of days left in current month) = £50

The cost of that purchase to include in current months budget is therefore £50 and the balance £20 goes against next months budget.

Sounds a bit complicated but it really is basic maths (trust me I'm an accountant ).

However Nova5 do whatever makes you feel comfortable. :beer:

mikeD

irishwexford wrote: »

De-scaled dishwasher and washing machine with white vinegar instead of all those expensive tablets and bought stardrops for household cleaning.

I descale my electric steamer with white spirit but wouldn't know where to start with the washing mashine. I use Tesco's decaling blocks with each wash. Please help if you can!!!!!

did last fortnightly shop at Mr T online yesterday (cam eto £ 72.50) but may go a little over budget this month but not as much as last month. It does take a deal of thought and discipline when one starts to reduce one's monthly budget I find. Not great on discipline unfortunately, not much better at thinking either :rotfl:

Nova5

mikeD wrote: »

However Nova5 do whatever makes you feel comfortable. :beer:

Thanks MikeD,

Your calculations do make sense, (after I stared at the 'puter screen blankly for 5 mins! :eek: ), and I welcome the guidelines - Maths never being my strong point. I mean, I could bend the rules each month but would be doing myself an injustice in the end :A

Did lots of workings out with DH last night - looks like we will have to spend on the credit card at the end of this month. Such a shame as I've only started to pay attention to the finances (!) and keep dreaming of what I'm going to do with our savings. We had a big house maintenance bill in May which we really couldn't afford but it had to be done. We now face the consequences. The last of my maternity leave wages doesn't cover it, (I'm taking a year off).

Nevermind - imagine if I'd kept my head buried in the sand

On the + side: I had an ebay sale today for the grand sum of £14.99 which should cover most of DD new sandals (she grown out of her last ones).

Nova x

teedy23

well done to all who have managed thier budget and all who at least had a good go at it. Not buying any shopping today at all as I,m going out tonight. Won a family ticket to see Scooby-Doo live , so taking the grandkids to that, however this may include a McDonalds or the like, havent made up my mind yet, and son in law will have a fit, as he REALLY objects to that particular eatery, wish I could trust Sal to stay quiet about it but he,s 4 a will tell all. Better go now and get a shower ect. was trying to cut the grass again, gave up as it wont stay stopped raining long enough and the wire on the stimmer keeps unraveling, driving me bonkers! see you all soon

BerkshireBird

Hi, I'm a newbie, desparate to save some money and get back in control. Can someone tell me what's a PMS challenge? Also when does the next grocery challenge start? Need to feel I'm doing something concrete to move forwards!!
Have spent hours reading loads of past posts today, this site is addictive.
Looking forard to joining in.

Nova5

Welcome!

PMS = Pin Money Savings. Check out the PMS thread with Queenies explanation on how it works - you won't regret it!

Pink.

Hi Berkshirebird,

Welcome to MSE and in particular to the Old Style board.

If you click here it will take you to the first post in the Pin Money Savings Challenge.

Pink