May Grocery Challenge

squeaky

Well said. It shouldn't be about totals... money per person is good, as cranna999 just said.

MoneySaving isn't about ££'s spent directly as it might seem to newcomers, welcome as they all are, it's about using the money you have available to you in a wise and thrifty manner.

Accepting cranna999's sums I'd reckon you're already doing a grand job and will have some hard earned lessons that you could share with us.

We've loads of thrifty lessons here in Old Style and others across a number of boards that I'm sure will interest you no end.

Browse and have fun

nabowla

I nearly died of shock last night when the person at the checkout told me the total bill for this week's shop. £12.87!!!! My target's £20 per week (reduced from £30 per week) for one person so I'm a very happy bunny indeed.

In case anyone's wondering how on earth I managed to spend so little, I think it must be because I was incredibly lucky with the fruit & veg. For some reason Sainsbury's selling off all their organic veg with a sell-by date of 06 May. Virtually everything was 30p per item: I picked up a large box of organic mushrooms, organic fennel (enough for two meals), organic broccoli, salad etc. The remainder of the fruit & veg was either from the Basics range or loose (I used to buy the more expensive pre-bagged stuff). I've also found that I save quite a bit of money if I stick to buying whatever's in season. This means that I have quite a variety of veg over a period of months so I think I'm getting enough vitamins.

I saved more money by buying own-brand washing powder, loo rolls etc. As for meat/fish etc, I try to buy reasonable quality as I'm worried about really cheap meat. That said, the lady on the fish counter told me that the only difference between expensive packs of salmon & the 'basics' pack is that the bits in the basic packs are an irregular shape - they come from the same fish but aren't aesthetically pleasing enough to be sold as 'premium' fish! So, I bought a basics bag of salmon bits for £1.70, which should do a couple of meals.

Anyone else managed to save money this week?

squeaky

Ho yuss!

I normally buy a 2.5 kilo bag of spuds which this week are priced at £1.18. A bit further down the aisle were 10 kilo bags at £3.08 (Asda). They were packed in paper too which I'm sure must be better for them than plastic.

And I lost my viriginity at the checkout too! I was a coupon virgin. Not any more! Did a quids worth

MATH

I've just spent a few weeks running down my pantry so we've 'enjoyed' a few odd meal combinations. Who says brocolli and macaroon bake won't catch on!;) Cos we live out of two homes I need cous-cous, balsamic, rice, pasta, chopped toms etc at both adresses and it all gets a bit much and at the end of the year you end up with double the stuff out of date. I am now working off a a three week meal master plan, designed to limit the amount of store cupboard ingredients I need to keep in stock. The rotation of meals means everything will be reused every three weeks so hopefully I won't be throwing much away. This weeks shop was £25:D

rchddap1

I've been clearing out the cupboards and the freezer for the past month...only another 2 or 3 weeks to go and I think I can start shopping again. I never realised how much food we had in the house.

moggins

Due to being up to my eyeballs this week and not being able to get to Asda I have been using up as much as I could. I got to today and couldn't go any longer without some basics and sandwich fillings. Shopping day is on Friday so I only needed enough to tide me over till then.

Managed to get everything I needed for £9.48, picked the till that had a young guy on it and flirted madly, handed over a coupon for £2 saying that I didn't think it would go through as it was over the 10%, he grinned said we'll give it a shot and then managed to scan it twice!!

So this weeks shopping has cost me £5.48 :j

kimmie35

Well target is £120 for the month for us lot 2 adults 3 kids 1 dog....
Got my Tesco delivery today and what with voucher and BOGOF it was £53.31 reduced to £30.99... really happy just thinking of what to do with so much mince!!!!!

squeaky

Click on the word Index in my signature down below and you'll find lots of recipes both in Old Style and in Slow Cookers (which you can just casserole if you don't have one).

Hope that helps

Xbigman

squeaky wrote:

Ho yuss!

I normally buy a 2.5 kilo bag of spuds which this week are priced at £1.18. A bit further down the aisle were 10 kilo bags at £3.08 (Asda). They were packed in paper too which I'm sure must be better for them than plastic.

And I lost my viriginity at the checkout too! I was a coupon virgin. Not any more! Did a quids worth

Morrisons. £2.49 for 10kg.

Regards


X

amarillo_2004

Not counting an emergency bar of chocolate (actually - perhaps I should as when I read the back it said it was EIGHT servings!!! Eight? Not in my house) I've spent nothing on food since last Friday. Spent nothing on anything else either, as I took money out of the bank and told myself I was getting no more till the following Friday. It is an odd feeling leaving the house with 37p worthg of change and coming back with 37p worth of change, but I have discovered it can be done.

So I think I've done really well all week.

However I have NO recollection of where the week's money did go. Just that it was gone by the next day. That is NOT going to be allowed to happen this week. I'm thinking go to the ATM once, then give myself a daily ration.