September 2014 Grocery Challenge

Bluegreen143

First spends of Sept budget today in Mr M's - £11.23

M**dow park milk 84p
Greek yoghurt 85p
Savoy cabbage 69p
Signature sausage 6pk x2 £5
Sunflower seeds £1.85
B**rneville cocoa £2 (on offer)

Bought the cocoa on a whim as I don't really need it but I'm thinking of adding it to my breakfast milkshake to mix it up a bit

Tesco-shopper

My financial week starts on a Thursday, so this evening marks the end of my first financial week of September. I had got £70 budgeted for groceries per week, and I am pleased to say that in week one of September I have come in under budget at £69.29. :j
I feel I have had to work quite hard this week to achieve this. We are a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 teenagers) and so it works out at £2 per person per day. Several times I have been to two supermarkets in the evenings to pick up reduced items, and I have been ploughing through free apples that have been given to me, not to mention being creative with cooking to make cheap meals and trying not to throw anything away at all.

I am now looking forward to week two of September's challenge.

[Deleted User]

Hi
Can you please put me down for $400.
Thanks so much
Kiwi

mooomin

£6.53 spent in Asda last night. I did only go for milk and bread, but got:

Grapes reduced to 20p
Fish fillets to 71p
Mince for £1.05 (Should be £4) x 2
Yoghurts for 30p instead of £1+
A reduced loaf for me

Not a bad haul! I really need to behave for a few weeks as the freezer is groaning :rotfl:

craigywv

Moomin i know how you feel regarding groaning freezers mine are refusing to close without gentle persuasion..........................my foot! So i on a compulsory stay out of sm for a good while. Will use corner shop for milk as thats all i will buy in their as its sooooo over priced. Well done to all you folks keeping within your targets and good luck all.xxx

merzal

Am not off to a good start as have already spent £24.04 on reduced meat, fish, fruit and bread, just can't seem to stop myself and is even harder now my OH is a yellow sticker convert-he encourages me! Really need to only buy fruit and milk for the rest of the month as huge chest freezer and freezer inside is full! I'm wanting to buy some wine while it is on offer in Tesco so will have to be strong and not buy groceries!

SOMam

Good morning all!

Did a freezer top-up shop (I have a huge chest freezer) that came to a total of £35.40 but should be all the frozen food I need for this month.

Total for the month so far = £78.11

...and it is only the 4th...:doh:

dumpling

Updated siggy to include a small top-up shop of £11 for bread and milk and icecream and other bits. I only needed the bread and milk so I feel a bit cross with myself. We are having Chinese takeaway for tea tonight so that will be another £30odd gone. Slaps myself on the hand and says I must do better!

Caterina

Today and tomorrow will be NSDs (grocery wise - there might be a need for other spends, builders stuff and journey to see family in Italy). But on Saturday we plan to have fish and chips with some friends and we invited them so we are buying. Luckily 2 portions share well for 4, done it before and it works.

What's the norm for planned treats e.g. Fish and chips, should I incorporate the expense in the grocery budget or in the entertainment budget?

I know that each of us does in our own way, but I am curious to hear others' opinion in this. In spite of being a long time OSer on this forum, I have never tried to do it in a structured way, but the time has come (DH retirement approaching) when I really need to get to grips with proper budgeting.

Thank you for your contributions.

Coxy11

Morning all,


Budgets list updated to here


Welcome/welcome back to:
foolsgold01, fairy3, merzal, Keen Young Learner and applejack07


Bluegreen143 - nice to see you back too


Some small spends in Ts this week. I have rejoined SW so have been shopping for little bits and bobs to make some of their recipes. Seem to have been using lots of garlic which is great but I'm off to an interview later so am frantically chewing gum lol


Can someone advise about beef mince. I have some steak mince in the freezer which was part of a large pack from Costco which I split. I have no idea of the fat content because I split it into 5 portions weeks ago. How do I remove the fat? Is it just a case of dry frying and getting rid of the liquid? I don't want to be wasting what I already have in. TIA.


Right, off to try on various outfits and shoes to see what a)looks smart and b) fits!!!!!


Have a good day all
Coxy