August 2007 Grocery Challenge

lil_me

www.pigsback.com in the freebies board there is a post about it, piggypoints earned for clicks, buying through site, signing up to emails etc. I should go on myself, must be months since I last logged on If you register via someone elses link who is registered (for eample PM dlb or me and we can send you ours) helps them earn points then you can recommend friends and earn aswell.

millionaire_in_training

Was working today and my niece was watching the kids. My DD made a choc cake which has way too much cocoa in it and is inedible. They made chocolate crispies which for some reson have not stuck together!! Last night when I was out for an hour she made a victoria sponge and for lunch they used a pound of cheese to make macaroni.:mad: :mad: . I hate wasting food now.x

Rachel021967

I'm going to try and budget £400 for the month on groceries including nappies. I would like to eventually halve it but for the moment if I can stop it escalating I'd be happy. Do I include the kids magazines in the total?

nearlynewbie

Hi . In again for this month. Aim £280 for all food (but excluding other items for the time being ) for 6 of us- 2 adults, 2 teenagers 2 large children and one dog. Will be tough as going away on hoiday self- catering and having guests the remaining time. Really please with last months total as came in under budget.

Rachel021967

Just tracked down my receipts.
01/08 Groceries £10.09
01/08 Eating out £11
02/08 Groceries £21.29
02/08 Chocolate £0.69
02/08 Drinks £1.40
02/08 Nappies and sanitary towels £5.94

Total spend so far £50.41
Budget left for the month: £349.59

I can't believe I've spent an eighth of the budget in 2 days. Need to take another look at my receipts and check my store cupboard.

miss_empty_piggy

lil_me wrote: »

www.pigsback.com in the freebies board there is a post about it, piggypoints earned for clicks, buying through site, signing up to emails etc. I should go on myself, must be months since I last logged on If you register via someone elses link who is registered (for eample PM dlb or me and we can send you ours) helps them earn points then you can recommend friends and earn aswell.

thanks Lil_Me, have just sent you PM, can't wait to get on and start earning!!!

thanks again.:j

dlb

Make sure that when you do use your vouchers you use a boots advantage card with them so you get extra money off too.
Also try Brain Jucier money made from this convets to amazon vouchers to buy xmas presents with, and sign up for lightspeed points (throught piggypoints site) you get to do surveys and i exchange my earnings into my paypal account.

And dont worry about having to keep changing your buget, i do this all the time, only found this site a year ago and it has changed everything, took me a while to master meal planing but the hard work soon pays off.

Off on hoilday tonight so good luck this weekend and wish me luck too, 4 kids and a big kid of a hubby at the seaside is bound to mean i spend too much!!!!!!
Take care Donna

FBThree

Oops, couldn't help myself and went and bought a bottle of wine yesterday so didn't manage to stay out of a shop and spent money on luxury. Not good.
Meeting up with friend today, halfway between us in Woodstock. We meet up every six months or so, and have lunch and a good old natter. So no guilt on that spend! Since I'm out in the car will tie in a Mr T visit and get kitten food and some fresh food, so spending will happen.
Ciao for now

mouche

I've been doing a grocery challenge on my own for a few months but only just came across this thread. It feels so good to know that other people are doing the same thing and I've picked up a bunch of tips by reading the thread. I hope I can join in and get to know you all and support and be supported!

August may not be the best month for me to start this as my parents will be visiting us from 9th August to 17th September so our household will swell from 2 adults to 4. Also, since they haven't been to the UK in 20 years, I know we'll be spending a lot on luxuries that we wouldn't normally buy. On the other hand, from previous experience I know that my parents often go to the shops on their own and pay for the groceries they buy so it may not be as much of an extra expense as it could be. Either way, I don't care - I'm so excited about their coming! :j

Anyway, our grocery budget for 2 people is £100 and I'm not going to increase it for this month. We stay more or less within that most months but I'm going to monitor much more carefully this month.

Right now the strategies I follow are:

• Weekly meal planning and buying only what we need once a week (though this often fails because my husband loves to eat out and I hate to cook!)
• Taking the budget amount out in cash at the beginning of the month and spending only from that

Any other suggestions will be very welcome!

[Deleted User]

Everything has gone haywire in my house. I felt so positive when i started the challenge as i felt in control of my life for once. Cleaning, house, kids, money, work i had organsied. Then my husband tears a muscle at cricket and my control has gone. We run a business together so i have to do all his work, my work, kids etc. My MIL has come to give us a hand until Sunday so i went out this morning and got some essentials tfor the weekend. Stuff that i really didn't have to get as we were working well through our freezer. Unfortunately the chicken breasts i had left out to do Chicken a la king with have been thrown out by my MIL thinking they were rubbish. I'll update my budget when i have a minute