August 2007 Grocery Challenge

x_raphael_xx

Today I wrote out my meal plan for the next two weeks, and made a list of only the things I needed for the plan.

I thought it would be £25-£30ish, then I started picking up things that weren't on my list (frozen mince, spagetti, fresh mackerel as a treat for tonight) and was gobsmacked when it came to £18.68! I added £2 onto my Asda Xmas card, and 30p in the charity bucket as the scouts were doing the packing.

Very pleased as so far I have spent £46.36 for 3 weeks shopping, and I remember when I used to pay £40 a WEEK! :shocked:

Off to pat myself on the back and grill my lovely mackerel.

redsquirrel80

toontastic wrote: »

Decided it was time to join in here because I'm simply spending to much on shopping since I live on my own (GF pops round but still only me to buy for really) I can spend upto about £100 a month pretty easy which is not good so that will be my starting point and I'm going to try and work it down much lower.

So this month I have already spent:

6th August 23.64
8th August 31.14
(that's the dates they came out of my bank but I didn't go on those days and there was defiantly more time between the shops, basically once a week)

My problem seems to be I have a really small fridge, its like the size of one of those beer fridges, but I have a 5 shelf freezer. Because of the small size I end up going to the shops loads. I probably buy the wrong stuff as well because for example I can't fit carrots, a lettuce tomatoes as well as milk, milkshakes etc in the fridge so I buy the packed salad which saves me room from the proper salad. This of course only last about 1-2days before it turns brown which is a waste because I don't even get all the way through a packet of it. Granted I do buy the 60p packets to try and bring the costs down. So any ideas on the salad would be great (can I freeze it ?). I'll do a proper list of what I bought next time I go, I may also have a receipt at home so I'll have a look at that and list the items.

I cook mostly just for me as well and I've pretty much given up on buying bags of salad for the same reason. Don't think lettuce would freeze well. I tend to buy a bag of baby spinach and freeze some to use in cooking whilst using the rest of the bag for salads for a few days - depends if you like the taste of that though! Otherwise, hmmm.. could you fit a couple of the Little Gem type lettuces in your fridge - they usually sell them in packs of two and I've found that'll do me for about a week, and they seem to last well.

You can take advantage of that freezer space by buying reduced meat, fish, and veg (fresh veg can be chopped up and frozen).

Good luck! I used to spend more than £100 a month, and as you can see from my signature I've got that down a lot - the advice on here has been invaluable.

mikeD

Angelraesunshine wrote: »

Lol Mike think you might need to add some tuna to that salad of yours, me thinks you might need some brain food.:)

Funny you should say that, I ended up doing pasta (penne) with tuna and a nice tomato (tinned) and basil sauce. It was delish!!! :j

cheletastic

Hi all

Had to go out today and get some bread & milk which came to £1.80 but quite pleased with myself as I managed to resist temptation to get anything else:j

JillD_2

Went to Asda today armed with shopping list done from meal plan, and intending to last shop before my month ends on 20th. I easily bought enough to last til then and spent about £106. A bit more than intended but I didn't have kids with me so I stocked up on a few things and was able to fit more in troley LOL. And I tell you I got TONS for £106. I love Asda.
The £106 was after about £5 off in coupons :j So I am still in my budget for this month. I have also been able to batch cook a couple of things and bought enough to do same this week, so theoretically my 3 week post holiday budget would have fed us for 4 weeks so we are bang on. I know this makes no sense to noone but me!!
Must remember to transfer this months leftovers to maternity leave fund.

Thanks to AngelaRaeSunshine for reminder - I must take my Bounty form things to Asda or whatever and claim my freebie pack, bound to be some coupons in there !

Kerfuffle

Hello everybody

Have bobbed in to edit my signature. Am under budget for the week however still over budget on total spend so far.

I've broken down the catagories and how much I spent if anybody is interested. I'd be really interested to see where other people are spending their money to see how I compare.

Here goes:-

WEEK ONE
Food (eaten at home and work) 77.07
Eating/drinking out 46.20
Cleaning (body and home) 4.97
Entertainment (ie mag and tv guide) 3.20
Flowers 7.00
Health (ie ibuprofen and paracetamol) .48
Gifts 6.00
TOTAL SPEND £145.35

WEEK TWO
Food (home and work) 31.77
Eating/drinking out 11.50
Cleaning (body and home) 7.45
Entertainment 0.00
TOTAL SPEND £50.72

WEEK THREE (so far)
Food (work and home) 34.02
Cleaning (body and home) 2.81
Pet 4.11
SPEND SO FAR £40.94

This is for 4 Adults and 1 dog. And am also using stuff out of the freezer and store cupboards so I know next month there's not going to be much in there!!

Oh well, here goes comes another week!!!

dlb

I have just done my shopping list and meal plan throught until the 25th aug, and if this goes to plan i think i can do the next 14 days shopping on £75 .
Which will bring me in well under budget, i have worked out i have approx £12 a day left to meet my target and if tommorrows shop goes right i will have only spent approx £6 a day for the next 14 days that includes toiletries!!
Fingers crossed!!

Mrs_Pinkerton_Trunks

Got back from our jollies yesterday and went racing to ASDA to stock up and spent £68 - which wasn't TOO bad as we got lots of nice bits for the week and some BBQ food (I am overtly optimistic about the weather!) to have as treat. I am determined to stick to my budget this month - even if we end up with beans on toast for a week;)

lil_me

Mrs_Pinkerton_Trunks wrote: »

I am determined to stick to my budget this month - even if we end up with beans on toast for a week;)

I think even if we live on beans on toast the last week I'll still end up over budget blimey, I'll remember not to try to reduce spending over the summer hols when my oven breaks :rotfl: Never mind, if/when I fail it'll be the first time since December!

redsquirrel80

Was very lazy today and just went to local Spar shop instead of Tesco - bread, cheese (massive bit mind you) and some chocolate came to just over £4 Need to do some proper shopping during the week but I think I should be OK to stay under budget as I've only got 10 days to go.