October 2013 Grocery Challenge

cattysmum

Hello and thanks for new thread,Im going on hols on saturday so my gc budget for october will be starting from 6th October when I get back so going to try a reduction of another £10 so for October can I be put down for £180 please.

2childmum

May i join you? Although for us October doesn't start until 7th i would like to get into the swing of things now,

We are 2 adults, 2 children (including teenage son who eats like a horse) and 4 gerbils (the 2 boys also eat like nothing you have ever seen). DH has a high risk of heart disease so we try and eat a low fat, lots of fruit and veg type diet. I'm lactose intolerant so need different milk etc to everyone else (which is quite a bit more expensive),, The budget includes breakfast, lunch for myself and packed lunch for DH, 'snacks' for my son to take to school to eat alongside bought lunch (he wouldn't be able to carry an entire lunch alongside trumpet/ games kit/books etc) and dinner for us all. It also includes all toiletries and cleaning stuff.

I've always budgeted and meal planned but I've noticed over the past year that I'm always over budget so now I've decided to try and get down to the actual budget. In a years time we may have a large monthly outgoing for a couple of years so I need to get on top of things now ready to really cut back then.

So my budget is going to be £450, which is what it has supposed to be for the last year!

I tend to do a main shop on Monday and a top up on Thursday. I have access to a Mr T (who does the best range of lactose free stuff) a Mr M and a Mr S and also a Lidl.

So that's us. Sorry for the long post. I don't know where to find info on stuff like posting in red so if someone could point me in the right direction I would be grateful.

I have a week to come up with a plan, so I shall be reading all the great tips on here.

MinnieMousesMummy

Please can I join in with this challenge for October, as I really need to get on top of the finances. My budget needs to cover 2 adults, 2 children, 1 baby, a hamster, a cat and 2 chickens. I'm not sure how much I actually spend a month on shopping but I will set a budget of £250 (£50 per week).

I used to meal plan a while back and I will aim to do that again for October making use of some of the great recipes that are on this thread.

K9sandFelines

2childmum wrote: »

May i join you? Although for us October doesn't start until 7th i would like to get into the swing of things now,

We are 2 adults, 2 children (including teenage son who eats like a horse) and 4 gerbils (the 2 boys also eat like nothing you have ever seen). DH has a high risk of heart disease so we try and eat a low fat, lots of fruit and veg type diet. I'm lactose intolerant so need different milk etc to everyone else (which is quite a bit more expensive),, The budget includes breakfast, lunch for myself and packed lunch for DH, 'snacks' for my son to take to school to eat alongside bought lunch (he wouldn't be able to carry an entire lunch alongside trumpet/ games kit/books etc) and dinner for us all. It also includes all toiletries and cleaning stuff.

I've always budgeted and meal planned but I've noticed over the past year that I'm always over budget so now I've decided to try and get down to the actual budget. In a years time we may have a large monthly outgoing for a couple of years so I need to get on top of things now ready to really cut back then.

So my budget is going to be £450, which is what it has supposed to be for the last year!

I tend to do a main shop on Monday and a top up on Thursday. I have access to a Mr T (who does the best range of lactose free stuff) a Mr M and a Mr S and also a Lidl.

So that's us. Sorry for the long post. I don't know where to find info on stuff like posting in red so if someone could point me in the right direction I would be grateful.

I have a week to come up with a plan, so I shall be reading all the great tips on here.

If you click on advanced instead of quick reply when you are posting, the formatting bar will show above the posting window. Hope that makes sense, and good luck with your first month.

sefilby

Afternoon everyone - meal plan from today until next friday shop (next friday hopefully)

Today - at my dear old grandmas (so whatever I can rustle up out of here cupboards)
Friday - off to Licoln to visit my great-aunt - so again not a clue what we shall be having
Saturday - the same as above
Sunday - Pasta - as it's just me & Kiddies
Monday - HM Chicken & mushroom Pie - LO from freezer
Tuesday - HM Pizza
Wednesday- Shepards pie
Thursday - Stuffing crusted pork

Its a good job it's lunch time becuase meal planning makes my tummy rumble!!:rotfl:

Billie-jo

Still in Sept until Tuesday but we will be under budget due to DH being in hospital and also mum not being well (she has been staying with us for a few days) So far only spent £147.07 out of £220 so plenty left for shopping in next day or two before October starts on Tues.

Can I go for £250 please for October its a 5 week month for us and this amount seems to be where we are sticking with £220 for a 4 week month.

Good luck to everyone old and new and thanks to all that keep the thread running.

ditsykitchen

Can you put me down for £150 (from monday) please?

meg72

Billie-jo wrote: »

Still in Sept until Tuesday but we will be under budget due to DH being in hospital and also mum not being well (she has been staying with us for a few days) So far only spent £147.07 out of £220 so plenty left for shopping in next day or two before October starts on Tues.

Can I go for £250 please for October its a 5 week month for us and this amount seems to be where we are sticking with £220 for a 4 week month.

Good luck to everyone old and new and thanks to all that keep the thread running.

So sorry to hear OH is back in hospital,
you really seem to have your hands full, with Mum as well, has she recovered from her fall?

Really admire you for sticking to the challenge, think I would have given up and bought everyone a take away. Thinking of you.

want2Bfrugal

Just had my first NSD today and I'm really pleased and revv'd up. If I can come in on budget in October I'm going to bite the bullet and lower my budget for the coming months, Xmas might be tough though!

meg72

Just been to local shop to get the mirror for the Aldi voucher as need Wine and stuff for christmas presents.

soFound 2kg bags of Maris Piper potatoes for 60p and bought 5, I still have a lot from the last reduced lot so these should see me tthrough the next couple of months and will give DD some.

So 3.00 spend today, the 50p for the paper will come out of Xmas fund as I am buying for presents.