May Grocery Challenge

crazyhazy

Don't forget alot of people of here use coupons to bring down the cost of their shopping aswell. I don't use coupons at the moment and spend about 100pm for 2 of us, so I'm sure if I started using them whenever I could I would be able to reduce it by at least another 10, just haven't got around to finding coupons yet!

squeaky

Bread lasts a lot longer when kept in the fridge. I used to have the same problem with wastage until I did that. Now I make my own bread I still keep it in the fridge - but it goes faster

margaretclare

aliasojo wrote:

I hope I'm not going to offend anyone who has posted, but some of the budgets I have read about over the last month or so seem very extreme to me. What's even more concerning (to me at least) is that cleaning stuff seems to be included in the budget, so the allocated amount isn't even all for food.

I agree that we all probably do spend too much money on stuff we don't need and that economising can only be a good thing but I can't see that a diet which has been restricted to the degree that some of the tighter budgets has restricted it to, can be completely healthy.

There was a documentary on TV around a year ago which looked into this kind of thing and it confirmed that (over the long term) poorer families suffered from health related issues more than those who had more to spend on a better diet.

Personally, I know I could and should economise. I spend far too much on our housekeeping per month and I for one would be far healthier if I stopped buying some of the rubbish (crisps, biscuits etc). There's many things I could cut out but I would still need to buy basics like meat, fish, chicken, fruit, veg etc

The problem I have here though, is that quality costs. If you have a very restricted budget then surely quality suffers?

Cheap meat for example has more veined fat and sinew (perhaps amongst other things, lol). You may save money but your arteries won't thank you for it.

How is it possible to eat the recommended 5 portions of fruit and veg a day if you only have a very tight budget? My OH's job is one where he does not have a set lunch hour and he is on the road most of the day. He takes several pieces of fruit with him everyday to keep him going and the cost of this is quite a lot come the end of the week.

I realise there are many people who have no choice and their financial situation means that they do have to be careful. I just worry a little that there may be people reading this type of thread who may treat it as some sort of competition and their only goal is to reduce their financial outlay without considering the long term effects on their health, even although they may be in the peak of health at the moment.

Money saving is a good thing, please just don't take it to the extreme.

I agree with much that you say. And I hear people say 'oh, I can't possibly afford fresh fruit/veg, wholemeal bread as recommended'. Yet those same people will happily buy crisps, pizzas, pre-made dishes, frozen chips, all the 'junk foody' type things. Even the chicken nuggets and turkey bites that have been so much in the news lately courtesy of Jamie Oliver.

Some years ago (well, it must be at least 13 or 14 years ago) my late husband and I were watching TV and a programme was discussing the impossibility of poorer families buying nutritious food. And the cameras followed a single Dad with his 2 sons, on benefits, around a supermarket. The first thing they picked up was a bag of frozen chips. And my husband nearly blew a gasket!!! He was another, like my present husband, who was very good at shopping, and he could cook. 'The most expensive way to buy potatoes - if they want chips why not buy a bag of spuds and make chips properly?' That was an unanswered question, and he used to make the loveliest chips himself - proper chips from potatoes!

An old woman I used to know (not poor, by the way!) would only buy the cheapest bread, the kind that looks and tastes like white blotting-paper. We buy bread, usually Hovis Granary and when I make bread it's from Hovis Granary wholemeal flour (2 loaves don't last much beyond the following day's breakfast!)

Quality probably does cost more BUT the cost is balanced out by not buying the rubbish foods you know you don't need (buying potatoes instead of frozen chips is just one example).

Aunty Margaret

crana999

squeaky wrote:

Bread lasts a lot longer when kept in the fridge. I used to have the same problem with wastage until I did that. Now I make my own bread I still keep it in the fridge - but it goes faster

but I only have one small shelf in a very small fridge! it only just holds the rest of my stuff..no way would I have room for a loaf.. and everyone else's shelves are just as full.

It usually lasts at least a week. I get the fresher for longer bread. Probably full of preservatives and whatnot but I like it

squeaky

margaretclare wrote:

Quality probably does cost more BUT the cost is balanced out by not buying the rubbish foods you know you don't need (buying potatoes instead of frozen chips is just one example).
Aunty Margaret

Yep. I cut out all sorts of junk when I stopped working because my income dropped rather dramatically - so while my budget might be small... it's all good stuff. I think I had three whole packets of crisps in all of last year. One just 'cos I got a serious case of the munchies (and I allow myself the odd one of these ) and the other two were doritos which I used to make chilli cheese nacho's.

My treats for my sweet tooth are all home baked these days - and Rationed so I don't pig out They're all the more enjoyable when I get them too

My monthly shop is quite low simply because I can't keep a month's worth of fruit and veg in good nick - which is where my other money comes in. Most of that is spent on topping up fruit and veg and salad bits.

I just do a better job of using my money than I used to.

crana999

You know what, you can make crisps in the microwave. And they're not bad.

I only recommend doing this if you are trying not to buy ANY more food till you go home, it's 1am, and all you have is potatoes, a microwave, and some oil.

Magentasue

aliasojo wrote:

Magentasue: do all you can to keep the wine..........sitting down to a nice cheap carrot stick at the end of a particularly trying day just doesn't cut it!

Absolutely! Every now and again, I think hey, when was the last time I didn't have a glass of wine in the evening? Then I make myself go without to prove I am not an alcoholic! I could give it up but I don't want to. Whereas the last time I overslept an left the house without my usual jug of coffee, I felt ill.

At the moment I feel I can afford proper coffee and cheap wine, if I couldn't the wine would have to go. And then the coffee:eek:. Saving money on food to eat better appeals to me but not if it feels like punishment!

Daisy

April was my first grocery challenge month and I just about managed on the £80 I'd set. This even included new kitchen utensils which I'd never needed before now.

For May I'm still going to target for £80 a month but I think I'll spend less. This is because:

1) I've stopped buying cereal. I now eat porridge with sultanas (thanks Lillibet) or make my own muesli.

2) I'll be making my own bread from tomorrow which is when my breadmaker arrives (panasonic of course)

3) I've started using coupons.


If you're finding it hard to cut down anymore, instead of just keeping your receipts, why not make a list with categories like bread, cereal, dairy, meat, tins etc.. and write down the amount you spend. At the end of the month you can see how much you spend on each category. You may find you're spending a lot on dairy in which case you could then see if you could reduce it by bulk buying and freezing.

moggins

Thanks everyone for the encouragement, dh has been hogging the computer all day so I haven't been able to get back on.

Aliasojo, I think you may be missing the bigger picture just a little here. If you take this thread out of context of the whole of Old Style then it could appear a little scary and a bit of a competition. But if you then mix in all the recipe threads, the alternative cleaner threads etc, then you see the healthy lifestyles that people are managing to achieve and how cutting out the processed rubbish and cooking from scratch are helping people to reduce their expenditure to these kind of levels.

I'm frequently getting comments from my dh that we have never eaten so well as this. They're always full after tea and there is much less snacking going on.

aliasojo

moggins wrote:

Aliasojo, I think you may be missing the bigger picture just a little here. If you take this thread out of context of the whole of Old Style then it could appear a little scary and a bit of a competition. But if you then mix in all the recipe threads, the alternative cleaner threads etc, then you see the healthy lifestyles that people are managing to achieve and how cutting out the processed rubbish and cooking from scratch are helping people to reduce their expenditure to these kind of levels.

I agree completely with your comments about alternative cleaners/healthier lifestyles etc. Lord knows I would/will be much healthier by doing the same (cutting out processed rubbish and the like).

I don't think it's possible to take this thread out of context though. I do see your point, but if someone states they spend x amount per person per month on shopping, then that's a stand alone fact - not a fact that should be taken in context anywhere.

I understand that many people here economise in many ways and I daresay I could learn a lot from them. My point was that some of the food budgets mentioned over the last couple of months or so were so strict that I couldn't see how they could possibly be healthy (mostly in the long term).

I can't remember offhand (and dont particularly want to quote as my comments were general and not directed at anyone in particular), but I saw a budget of £15 per week mentioned which also was to cover cleaning stuff and toilet rolls etc.

With the best will in the world, I just cannot see how anyone could supply the body with enough quality and variety required to sustain good health for this sum.

(This amount was used an an example only and my concerns were not made with regard to this post in particular.)

I wholeheartedly agree with the cutting out of unecessary junk, but I do wonder if the drive to economise might result in more extreme action which would have an effect on a person later on down the line. I'm no expert in nutrition but I do have to take care with what I buy as a family member has cholesterol problems and diet plays a part in this.

Although a person who is healthy at present could cheerfully exist on a more meagre diet, it may be that the quality of the food they are eating or the lack of variety may well have an effect in later life.

I really dont want to turn this into an argument or a debate about the pros and cons of economising, I just was a bit concerned that health may be taking a backseat in the interests of saving. I hope I haven't been too outspoken, I admire all your efforts and I really didn't want to offend anyone.