February 2014 Grocery Challenge

pinkparrott

Hi all , its the first month I've done the challenge for a couple of years and so I've set a budget of £500 for 2 adults 2 kids aged 5 and 8, and 3 cats.

Just wondering what you all include ? E,g food , pet food, household cleaning etc,

What about alcohol ? And also do you budget separately for special things? For example it was my ds 8th birthday so this weeks shopping included a
Cake and 6 Lego mini figs ,would you include these??

What about toiletries ??

Just trying to set some budgets for different things :
Shopping / birthdays /Christmas / going out - entertainment/ clothes /kids stuff
Would anybody be willing to share their budgets or tips for general budgeting as I just don't do it currently and hence never seem to have any money when things happen - am cluless:eek:

kayester

pinkparrott wrote: »

Hi all , its the first month I've done the challenge for a couple of years and so I've set a budget of £500 for 2 adults 2 kids aged 5 and 8, and 3 cats.

Just wondering what you all include ? E,g food , pet food, household cleaning etc,

What about alcohol ? And also do you budget separately for special things? For example it was my ds 8th birthday so this weeks shopping included a
Cake and 6 Lego mini figs ,would you include these??

What about toiletries ??

Just trying to set some budgets for different things :
Shopping / birthdays /Christmas / going out - entertainment/ clothes /kids stuff
Would anybody be willing to share their budgets or tips for general budgeting as I just don't do it currently and hence never seem to have any money when things happen - am cluless:eek:

i include all food, toiletries, cleaning, birthdays, takeaways and eating out in my budget.
christmas/clothes/trips i have started to put money away weekly for (everything in signature) so not a big hit when something pops up.
im doing 52 week money challenge, £10 a week, virtual sealed pot, £15 a week for holiday spending money and £20 a week for what I owe my mum, (for some beds just before christmas) once thats paid in the summer this will also be towards christmas oh and £1 a day too, whatever is left at the end of the year goes in a pot towards a mortgage and start again in January, my parents have kindly opened an icer for me a few days ago and kick started our 'saving for a deposit' and have gifted us £5000!!

cw18

pinkparrott wrote: »

Just wondering what you all include ? E,g food , pet food, household cleaning etc,

What about alcohol ? And also do you budget separately for special things? For example it was my ds 8th birthday so this weeks shopping included a Cake and 6 Lego mini figs ,would you include these??

Mine's for food and drink for me, food and milk I provide for DS1 (7 main meals and 12-20 pints of millk every 2 weeks), and food for OH when he's here (every Saturday, 2 out of 3 Sundays, and an odd extra day such as tomorrow). It'll also have to cover food when we take my GDs and his niece away (a long weekend with my two youngest GDs, and a 5 night break with the elder 2 and his niece), which will include a special cake when we have the eldest as we go away on her birthday. I'm not adding any extra to my budget for those trips away, but I'm currently working my way through the food mountain in my house which means I should have a fair bit spare in my budget. If I were catering for a party then that would almost certainly be in it's own budget.

Anything non-food I buy in the S/Ms (clothes, books, magazines, toys, greetings cards, birthday/Christmas/Easter/Valentines/anniversary presents) get deducted from the total bill and filed against their respective budgets.

I don't include alcohol as I'm teetotal (if DS1 or OH want they provide their own), but if I weren't then I'd probably include it.

I don't have pets anymore, but when I had a dog and did this challenge his expenses came out of a different budget.

Toiletries and cleaning also have their own budget.

mrs-moneypenny

just spent £8.79 from my budget in Ts i spent more but the rest was on a bottle and some chocs for DH tomorrow

MrsCautious

pinkparrott wrote: »

Hi all , its the first month I've done the challenge for a couple of years and so I've set a budget of £500 for 2 adults 2 kids aged 5 and 8, and 3 cats.

Just wondering what you all include ? E,g food , pet food, household cleaning etc,

What about alcohol ? And also do you budget separately for special things? For example it was my ds 8th birthday so this weeks shopping included a
Cake and 6 Lego mini figs ,would you include these??

What about toiletries ??

Just trying to set some budgets for different things :
Shopping / birthdays /Christmas / going out - entertainment/ clothes /kids stuff
Would anybody be willing to share their budgets or tips for general budgeting as I just don't do it currently and hence never seem to have any money when things happen - am cluless:eek:

Hello, I include toiletries, pet food, household cleaning stuff/cling film, foil etc, but not eating out or stuff for birthdays. My GC budget is £150 this month but it's usually £200 for me and two daughters.

I have budgeted for £50 a month for eating out/entertainment, and have a separate figure in mind towards holidays and a budget for birthdays/Christmas. So if I buy birthday cards/cake/presents I think of this as coming out of a different 'pot' and don't count it as part of this challenge. To be honest, as the other challenge I do on here has been 'Make £10 a day', I've got into the habit of thinking my grocery spend is taken care of that way!

When it came to working out budgets for different things, it was a bit of a stab in the dark, but I was able to see what's going out each month, £50 a month on eating out/entertainment can mean trips to theatre/cinema etc which cost more or nothing from month to month. It's a year or so since I worked this all out and it has been very helpful. It also shows me where I can cutback if needed.

Good luck with your budgeting.

craigywv

Nsd today too cold to go anywhere

charlies_tribe

Should not go shopping with the dh! £41 spent today in mr T and most of it was ready meals for dh:(
Updated my ticker.

Ladyluck1

NSD today... Pleased with that.
Hopefully tomorrow too as don't need anything and have dahl for dinner tomorrow

bmma

today's spend £1.55p
Feb's running total £42.50
NSD'S 3

Ches

NSD again for me.