February 2015 Grocery Challenge

miss_try_to_save

today will hopefully be a nsd as this month I am running down my freezer to defrost it and determined I will do this and not fill it again till empty but this will mean a big shop on the final week of challenge hopefully this way all the bits and bobs will get used and I can go to the market butcher and get a bulk load of meat I no this sounds silly but I did a recent stock take to see what was actually in my freezer to find 4 roasting joints I had completely forgotten about the chicken I brought and a pork joint but on the plus side I don't have to buy a Sunday roast joint this month was going to do fish chips and beans for dinner tonight but as its so cold I may do a stew instead I have all the stuff in freezer so wont have to buy any extras

Tidy_Up_Tash

Good morning!

My weekend was ok, spendwise. Yesterday was the first NSD of the month. Saturday's takeaway came in under budget at £18.50. I think the highlight was Oh going to Mr T's and actually calling me about YS bargains before picking them up. I was so proud. In the past we would have ended up with a fridge full of stuff we wouldn't use. Total cost was £7.46.

Small spend day today. Need to grab some bits for the kids.

Hope you all have good days!

mrs-moneypenny

Morning all
Will need to buy milk and postage stamps later.

fairy3

Morning everyone, would like to join this month please as did quite well in January using up freezer and store cupboard and not using SM's. Would like to aim for £150 for four adults and the dog, this includes breakfasts, evening meals and some lunches (DS1 and 2 are sporadic and DD works odd hours) which will mean being a bit creative but am up for the challenge.

Good luck everyone

Mumof2_2

Just been shopping and spent £65.03 - that includes £10 for a huge bag of 480 Yorkshire Tea teabags so not bad at all!

laura_hoggle

Hi all! I've been off the GC bandwagon for a few months but would love to join back in please!

I'd like to go for a target of £180 for Feb please, of which I have already spent £102.60!

£55 of that is a HUGE online meat order which is coming today however, using a good offer code and should last well into March!

Our cupboards and chest freezer are well stocked, so all we *should* need is fresh stuff and probably some more cat food.

I need to do a full meal plan today for the month, DH is working odd shifts next week so want to make sure he has meals to take with him rather than buy anything while he's there (already got a roast dinner from last night to freeze!).

dangers

Ok, so my month started yesterday. We spent £5 in sainsbugs on eggs and deodorant and then this morning I have just spent £25 in lidl. This did include a stock up of their poppadums - a fair whack cheaper than the branded makes. Luckily I have plenty of space to store them but I do wish that I had bought more - I've only got enough for 2 months and I don't know how often They have their Asian offers.

JustStartingOut

Thanks for the welcome money savers!

What is a good monthly budget for 2 adults please? This is only for food. I've a good stock of food at the moment, so shouldn't need much this month and have fruit and veg being delivered tomorrow from a local community garden so is cheap.
I have plenty of cleaning products at the moment so cant see us needing anything for at least a month. We have separate budgets for toiletries, meals out etc.

Forgot to mention, needs to include food for fiance's lunches.

joedenise

JustStartingOut: Everyone works out their monthly budget differently. It depends of lots of things; such as the types of meals you eat - lots of meat meals; vegetarian; how often you eat out; whether you include alcohol or have separate budget etc etc. Have a read of the first few posts to give you some ideas.

Best to have a guess of what you think you probably spend (or if you always use a card work it out from your bank statement).

There are only 2 of us but I always use £250 per month which is quite high for just 2 people but we eat a lot of meat meals and buy quite a bit of fresh fruit & veg. Also anything I don't use I transfer to a savings account to bulk buy stuff when I can get to an Asian and/or Chinese shop to stock up (usually only manage to get to one about once a year or so).

I've had my first shop of the month today with yesterday being a NSD. Spent £18.83 split between Mr T, Ald! & butcher.

Denise

Mrs_Cheshire

Had a few vouchers to use in Mr T so popped there on saturday, got everything I needed and only ended up spending 93p.
We also went to a friends for lunch on Friday so I picked up a pack of mini doughnuts to take with us as she was providing lunch £1
Did a birthday tea party for my niece yesterday and spent £2.17 on 2 pizzas and a bag of fries.
All spends up to date, so far have spent £47.73/£240, feeling really good about this month - freezer is full to the brim, store cupboards is full as well. Spends this week should be low as I only need coffee, sugar, greaseproof paper and maybe some milk to end the week.