February 2016 Grocery Challenge

Frugal_life

Evening all - happy Friday! :beer:

I'd like to join in again but, after messing up January's budget and deciding I'm most definitely in this for the long haul, can I move across from a monthly budget to an annual budget of £3,120, please?

Figured this will help me cater for any big shops that may last a couple of months and will also help even out those pesky 5 week months.

Looking forward to seeing how this goes! :T

Will get a meal plan for the next week or so pulled together and will keep you all updated over the course of the month which, for me, will begin on Monday

XSpender

I would like to set a target of £285 this month please.

I missed my target by a fair bit last month but did spend less than I had done in November and December so I am reducing my spends month on month.:)

Ideally I would like to spend under £250 but have a while to go before I can manage to keep my spends that low. Under £300 is a challenge at the moment.

Picked up my prescription foods tonight so that should keep me in bread, cake and cereal for February, just need to find the time to actually bake it :rotfl:

lynnejk

jlhmd666 wrote: »

Food waste has been reduced significantly in January although OH has been wasteful as he suffers from 'eyes bigger than the belly' syndrome. This, I need to tackle without him getting into a strop because I'm nagging

Do you 'plate up' in the kitchen or put all the food on the table ?? I found that 'plating up' a medium portion in the kitchen, and then saying there's more if you want some, actually seemed to mean my DH just ate what was on the plate. This means the 'left-overs' can be used for something else instead of thrown away

Horwich_7 wrote: »

What I do know is I want to reduce our spending, I want to save and I want to be successful like all of you.
I'm in a right muddle.
Help!!!!

Could I suggest that you keep every receipt this month on a large paperclip somewhere. Then, at the end of the month, sit down and look through.


What did you buy that you didn't use ??
What was really expensive ??
Which shops did you use - sms, discounters or £shops ??
Check some prices on mysupermarket.com - could you have bought it cheaper ??


I'm sure you get my drift. Please ask on here if you need any more ideas as there's lots of people better at budgeting than I am but HTH
Lx

Dizzy_Imp

Hello all :wave:

Had a rubbish January but dusting myself down to try again in February. Slightly shorter month, although it is a leap year, so I may be lucky this time.

Can I set a target of £350 again please x

so_very_confused

Hi still working on January's budget which is going well. I'm aware that my store cupboard/freezer could be a bit depleted so I am allowing myself an extra £20,
So budget for 1 - 28 February will be £120.00.:)

Urchhhh

Lost track of last months, we didn't spend loads but more than we wanted. Not sure exactly. I kinda lost it when work was mucking me about (was still on maternity) and I just couldn't be bothered anymore. Luckily I start my new job soon its more pay and loads better so very happy!

Going to aim for £100 this month. This is for 2 adults and an 8 month old.


No more packet food. Lunch boxes bought so we can start bringing our own food. Everyday I'll have to pack 3 lunch boxes and one tea box. My daughter likes to suck the food out of Ella's kitchen's pouches which at £1.40 a pop aren't cheap. She refuses to be spoon fed and struggles a bit with tea related finger foods (fine with sandwiches etc.) so I've managed to get reusable pouches. Box of 6 reduced from £20 to £2.49 So my plan is to just put some of our tea from night before into a pouch so she can bring it to nursery:) My lunches are going to be soup made from the soup maker my auntie bought me for Christmas and my OH will have sandwiches as we get bread for free as my dad works for a big name bread company. He gets a loaf for 30p but he gives it to us for free!

Off to start meal planning for Feb so I can get organised!

jayII

Can I make my February budget £300.

We'll have one less adult because he's doing finals at uni, so won't be home at all for the next few months.

jlhmd666

lynnejk wrote: »

Do you 'plate up' in the kitchen or put all the food on the table ?? I found that 'plating up' a medium portion in the kitchen, and then saying there's more if you want some, actually seemed to mean my DH just ate what was on the plate. This means the 'left-overs' can be used for something else instead of thrown away

OH prefers the food to go on the table so that he can decide how much he wants to eat. I have suggested plating up and for meals where there are set amounts, such as sausages or chicken breasts, it's fine but if I cook something like a chilli he wants to help himself

MoneyMission

Please can I be in for £400 for February?
January's challenge was great for us as I really worked hard and came out the end with spare money. Just goes to show how I'd taken my eye off the ball. So, have reduced budget to £100 per week (2 adults, one teenager who eats more than the adults, a child, plus a cat).
I'm also going to be buying one or two items of long shelf life food per week to take on our self catering holiday in April so that we have more spending money whilst there.

herbily

Count me in again for February, again for £160. I just just managed it in January, and this is to start from Jan 28th to Feb 27th.