March 2014 Grocery Challenge

lynnejk

Florenceem - that's quite strange as we had eggs, beans and chips for tea today as fancied a change


Spent £20.04 in Al*i today, but that did include a chicken and 2 packs of Aberdeen mince so that's base for 6 meals for us. Think I'll just roast the chicken but need to make a batch of chilli for freezer tomorrow so bought peppers as well


Hope you all have a fantastic Friday
Lx

smokies

Morning all,


lovely morning here in the North East, but after reading the news could turn later today, so going to enjoy it for now.....


reporting in to say the last 2 days where NSDs - on track for target of 15 days ...


going way with the girls tomorrow so will have to get a few bits in for the coach journey...... hoping to keep it to a minimum spends.


but on the positive side - will not be spending anything on food over the weekend, as all spends coming out of another budget.....


So have a great weekend everyone.


Smokies

craigywv

Hi,just on to see how everyone getting on, I still doing fiscal fast that ends tomorrow one week. Thinking I shall do it for another week as have lots of grub in house just need some milk and fruit. Good luck all with your challenges.lovely sunny morning over here too so opefully will get wash out on the line.

lushlifesaver

Managed my NSD yesterday - very happy (and surprised) that I've managed to exceed my target of 15 NSD for two months running so I think I will up that next month.

Off to the market shortly with the last of the cleaning/toiletries kitty from this month's budget as bf wants more hairgel. Going to use some of my personal budget to get a few secret treats in (baking bits and sweet treats probably haha) to push through the last of the waiting for labour to start/when we get back from hospital.

Technically my GC month ends on the 25th as that's pay day but as we should only need milk and wraps I'm hoping to stretch that week out of the few pounds I have left from this month which will mean that April is a four week month for us. I won't worry too much if I can't though as I'm sure labour etc could throw us off in which case the plan is to exclude the week from either month's budget as it's a one off increase - although in theory we have loads in so should be able to do it on minimum shops (especially if the in laws cook for us like they intend to hehe)

GC budget drops from April but I don't need to budget for pet food as I got bf to buy a huuuuge 15kg bag with some money he would have paid me for something else. We use just under 2kg a month so it should last until I go back to work if not a little longer. Or bulk purchases as we've stocked up on most things we buy in bulk this month - we might need mince but I can pick that up on a '3 for £10' deal next time I get meat/fish - we have enough for 8 meals in the freezer though so that won't be needed too soon! Chicken we have lots of but I can easily work a tray in to the budget if we need it.

kayester

NSD today, HM lasagna for tea.
my toad in the hole last night was a success and will be having it again in the near future

WhiteSnowdrop

Did my last shop of the month and have £10 to last…eek! It should be possible as I have everything planned for and a couple of meals at relatives so should limp over the line next Thursday. I think next month I will stretch myself a little further as I have still been a bit slack in places and try and fit the kids nappies/pull ups into the £300 budget I have. I would like to try and fit in 2-3 NSD each week, hopefully these might slow down some of the small spends that happen each month.

icontinuetodream

Totally blew the budget this week...got a new job and decided to celebrate by buying a whole side of salmon (on offer at t*sco), asparagus, a mango and a papaya (for salsa) plus a bottle of sparkly!! Not feeling too guilty though...it was lush!!:D

Decided to run the budget on a monthly basis from April now that my £15pw challenge is almost at an end...despite my failure this week, I have managed to keep to it since january and am pretty proud of myself! It will be interesting to see if a monthly budget will be as easy to monitor...;)

SazzleDazzle1

Hi all,
I know it is incredibly late to join this month but I have been reading for a while and only just got organised enough to get my logins. I have pre christmas been spending in excess of £650 a month, and throwing away so much food. January I decided to cut back and monoitor what and where I spending and then set a budget of £400 a month to follow from March. There are 4 of us, children 7 and 2. I hope to cut the budget further by following some of the great tips on here but slowly so no one really notices, so far this month I have spent £291 so I am on track.

I am not sure how to manage my budget dates though, we get paid weekly and I shop on the weekend. Should Sat 29th shop be included in March or April? I am hoping it is a small one as I have slowly been building up stock so this week I should get by on a few fresh items but we shall see. I have recently swapped from Wa1trose to A1di and that has cut my spending hugely.

Any tips/advice most gratefully received and I look forward to getting to know everone over the coming months

cw18

Welcome aboard SazzleDazzle

Which month to include the 29th spend in is totally up to you. Personally I'd count it as a March spend as it falls in that month, but as most of the week it's supposedly to supply is in April I can see why some people might consider counting it as an April spend.

Some people work payday to payday, even if that means mid-month switch overs. Others work with weekly budgets, but I know that wouldn't work for me as I bulk buy a lot of stuff during an 'every 3 weeks' visit to Costc0. My only income is on 'the next to last working day of the month' which means it's not even a fixed date - so it's calendar monthly budgets all the way for me

tattycath

£16 yesterday on a top up shop-bread, milk, loo rolls etc