November 2014 Grocery Challenge

freakyogre

£52.00 spent yesterday on a rather large shop. Stocked up on most things, so 'should' be ok until the end of November. I've meal planned for this week and will do one for next week later so I can keep an eye on what I have.

JIL

i went to bed last night full of good intentions. I left work early and popped into Lidl. I needed onions, washing up liquid, celery and cabbage. I did not need the reduced pork chops, the reduced fish or the mince that I thought would be good for tomorrows tea, that has now gone in the freezer as we wont be home tomorrow night. nor the ten packs of cous cous, bananas, bread and tinned tomatoes just in case.
Thats my problem I had £7 in cash I spent £20 on my debit card.

Prudent

Please can I join? I have used MSE for years and always prided myself on being very frugal. However since OH moved in a couple of years ago this has really slipped. I would like to sign up for £200 for the month please for myself and OH. I do have a cat, but has cannot tolerate a lot of cat foods I cannot cut the budget for her so she won't be included. I am buying quite a few groceries for adult dd just now who is very ill and can't work, so I will need go through the receipts carefully to check what falls within the £200.

PennyGrabber

Popped into co0p this evening to have a look around. Spent £1.06, and that was for three small baguettes, six sausage rolls and five mini battenbergs. Not bad going! Except I didn't actually need them! I plan to take them all with us on weds when we go for a picnic with friends though, so it'll make for a nice treaty day as well as a thrifty day.

By the way, kudos to the op, sorry but can't remember who said it, for saying Meatfree Mondays. I like it!! That will be happening in my house too. We often have a soup for dinner on a Monday anyway, as we're out until 6, so it's too late to cook something real.

PG x

Debt_Free_Desires

Evening all

My financial month started on 24th October and runs to 23rd November.

I had my first grocery spends today totalling £27.40., this was mainly cleaning staples that I had run out of and some salad bits for lunches.

Tomorrow I intend to do an inventory of all the cupboards and write my 1st ever menu planner for the week ~ any tips gratefully received.

DFD

Suffolk_lass

A quick post from me to say I have checked and balanced for the end of October and my running total is now 74.59% of my annual budget. The bad news is that the garden produce is all now harvested and so it is back to the sm and market stall for the next few months, with the exceptions of onions, garlic, potatoes, butternut squash and frozen broad beans.
Good luck everyone. Good to see some of the familiar posters are still around
SL

mr1972

Good morning,


I would like to join please.


£300 for 2 adults and one very hungry teenage son and cat.


Month from 28/10 to 27/11


Thanks

XSpender

In preparation for November I did an inventory of the 2 freezers (1 almost empty) and the larder cupboard yesterday and I have a lot of food, more than I thought, including enough meat for 30+ meals for 2. Since I am planning 2 meat free meals a week I should not need to buy any extra meat in November.


I also have plenty of different types of rice, pasta, cous cous and potatoes and frozen veg.


The challenge for me this month is only buying the fresh fruit, dairy and bread I need and not buying snacks or DH coming shopping with me and buying extras.

sushistar

Hi all, can I join in please?
£475 for 2 adults, 3 small people, nappies and wipes, cat food, cat litter, alcohol, and cleaning stuff. We're vegetarian, which helps cut costs in some ways; but we eat a lot of fruit and nuts and dairy, which ups the cost in others! We also have people round a lot, which really adds to the ££. Friends for dinner on Saturday, family for lunch on sunday. Budget includes breakfast, packed lunches for kids and lunches for adults, and all dinners - does not include once-a-week treat lunches had in cafe, but will include any takeaways etc.

At first I thought our budget looked HUGE compared to so many others, but when I list what it covers, it does not seem so massive. That's 120 adult breakfast/lunches, 180 kids breakfasts/lunches, 60 adult dinners, 90 kids dinners, 60 cat meals, plus nappies and cleaning.

I don't think we're massively overspending, but it's hard to know. We have a weekly budget which covers groceries plus a lot of other stuff, and I've never broken it down to JUST groceries - here goes!

sushistar

Debt_Free_Desires wrote: »

=
Tomorrow I intend to do an inventory of all the cupboards and write my 1st ever menu planner for the week ~ any tips gratefully received.

DFD

I save SO much money if I menu plan.
My tips:
- Check the fridge and base the first meal or two on using up anything that needs using
- Include a meal at the end of the week which you can throw anything into - curry, or soup - so you can use up all your leftovers.
- Plan quick and easy meals for busy days - eg on the evening kids have their swimming lesson, I plan a freezer-based meal with minimal cooking needed.
- I usually choose ONE evening a week to make a new recipe. If you shop online at tscos you can find a recipe on their website and add it to your shopping list.
- I don't plan lunches - I just buy general stuff we eat, like bread, bagels, tinned soup if on offer, cheese and crackers, fruit. With that and leftovers, it seems to work out.

Good luck!