September 2007 Grocery Challenge

Hollysan

I have just done my online shop for September (£300 budget less £70 budgeted for Tesco, less 2 x veg/fruit box leaves £200 cash for the month, so £50 per week) And I am sooooo upset, because the code I used for £10 off didn't work! Of course I couldn't check why, so decided to go ahead for delivery Monday, as I had managed to use a second code, 1000 points. On checking the thread, it seems the code I used was for Tesco Direct only. Must be more careful next time. My online shop therefore came to £78 instead of the £68 I was hoping for.

On the other hand, I managed to get through till Friday on £7, although I then went into the city with the children and ended up spending £18 on lunch because they were hungry and we were so far from home. However we did meet up with OH for lunch, so we decided to call it the last summer holiday treat, and I am counting lunch as part of the 'days out' budget.

I will have to be very careful with the cash budget for this week now, so I am off to do meal plans for Tues-Sunday.

Hollysan

Doom_and_Gloom

I'm in with my usual £40 (one day I will lower it but I just don't know how to at the moment hehe) and that's for me and 3 mice (the other 11 will not be with me as of Tuesday). This includes food, tioletries, cleaning products,
alcohol, mice food, sawdust etc.
On Tuesday I'm buying a big pack of sawdust that should in theory last me about 8 months (but probably more) which will cost me about £8 hehe. I usually spend £2.69 for 6 weeks worth so a hell of a saving if you ask me(aprox £13.45 for the amount of 8 months the way before). I bought enough coffee last month to last me nearly a year and that cost me not even £10. My usual stuff would cost £12.45 for the same amount. Not much of a saving but it does make a difference as you all know! That and it's good stuff as it's plunger kind and not instant :rotfl: .
I no longer have the worry of how to pay my bills which is good. I've got a cleaning job which pays £6/hr so that's nice as it's WAY above minimum wage for an 18 year old which is £4.45. I haven't gone shopping yet this month but will need to tomorrow as I have no fruit or juice and I am low on salad items.
I wish everyone else the best to stick to their budgets but hey don't feel bad if you don't yeah :cool: :rotfl: .

Solwaykid

First big shop of the month done last night. Really took my time making sure I spent enough to qualify for my money off voucher but without going crackers 'cos I had money in my purse!

Mental arithmetic drove me bonkers, at one point I was stood in the loo roll aisle working out (out loud) whether two 4 roll packs with 2 free was cheaper than a six roll pack with 3 free both of which worked out cheaper than own brand stuff. They don't half make it difficult for us!

Anybody else do like I do when there's money off the final bill and choose (afterwards) which was the free thing? Piece of Chaume cheese and some smoked paprika is more enjoyable than a months worth of bogroll I decided.

irishwexford

miss_saveapenny wrote: »

well done, sounds like u had a rewarding day... how good is home shopping!!!!!!you'll do well on £150 . is that just for u? oh and what is the spending diary??????? & jam jar challenge .sorry to
irishwexford thanks

The food is for two of us.Used to blow over £200 and throw out lots but not now. I typed in www.spendingdiary.com as someone suggested and now list everything I will spend during month, saves keeping receips and I can compare each month. Jam jar challange is for Christmas. save £75/£100/or £150 before dec 1st. Everything 20p and below has to go into jar or bottle. Sorry I cannot do links yet but you can enter search. :beer:

Rachel021967

Spend so far: M&S cola 70p, Music festival cola £1, 2 beers £6, Coffee £2, Donuts £2. Total: £11.70

Total left: £388.30

I'm going to have to be more prepared when going out.

juliejim

Hi All

Well it's the start of my month and I'm back in again. I'm going to take my budget down to £320 this month and hopefully I will spend less than that as both kids will be at school.

But today we've had MacDonalds for lunch so £8.38 spent. Then spent £4.88 in Asda so not a very good start!

DH has still got to go Asda tomorrow to do a proper shop - I just nipped in to get some bread and that on my way to work.

Jue

FBThree

Well I totted up August and found I'd spent ~£278 on groceries which is the best month so far this year (by a couple of pounds), and I still feel like we have loads in the freezer. I think it's having to report back here that helped me cut back! BUT I still pop into the co-op down the street FAR too much, so trying to stop that this month.

This month trying to run the freezer down so we can get rid of it and replace with a new efficient one. So REALLY Must menu-plan! Why is it so hard to do that?

Will still be buying up cat food and litter for when we're on hol later in year, so not expecting savings there.

JAMIEDODGER

irishwexford wrote: »

The food is for two of us.Used to blow over £200 and throw out lots but not now. I typed in www.spendingdiary.com as someone suggested and now list everything I will spend during month, saves keeping receips and I can compare each month. Jam jar challange is for Christmas. save £75/£100/or £150 before dec 1st. Everything 20p and below has to go into jar or bottle. Sorry I cannot do links yet but you can enter search. :beer:

thanks for that link, a great site, really simple but perfect for me to keep track!

atypicalblonde

Hi guys sorry I am a bit late but can I join in with this? There are two of us, and I am aiming to spend no more than £100 this month. Did a store-cupboard restock yesterday, and bought all the bits and pieces for packed lunches. Total spent so far £40. x

yellowmonkey

Hi

Use spending diary to keep track of my spendings. Tip top site to use and update.

ym