January 2017 Grocery Challenge. NEW BEGINNINGS!

summerlady_2

Spent £18.99 today. This included milk eggs vegetables and fruit plus bin bags, cleanser for my face and paper hankies. As I was shopping locally I paid more than I would have done at Tesco or Aldi (I only have Waitrose near me), but I walked so saved on petrol and got some exercise.

Dizzy_Imp

I did my first big shop of the year to restock the cupboards and spent £131.39/£350. Happily, much of this was reduced food (mainly meat) so I've flung it in the freezer for future use. I had some money off vouchers that made a dent in the cost too.

redmel1621

Finished my first week on £53 yesterday, however we did have a trip to Ikea and went for a full dinner and pudding for 5 of us in the cafe there. This came to £28 so I am going to take that out of my food budget too. This means I spent £81 on food last week, so still under budget

This week will be a true test because we have almost eaten all the Christmas goodies now. I am going to get my thinking cap on before we go shopping tonight.

I need to start using a list....

WantToBeSE

Hi, i posted this in my DFD (Debt Free Diary) but thought i might get more advice/responses here, so i hope it's ok that i post here too.


The boys (17 and 13) are back to school today, so that should mean i can spend a little less on food! We've run out of snacks and the boys are constantly asking when I'm going food shopping. I am hoping not until Friday.

I feel so mean. We have plenty of food for meals (breakfast, lunch and dinners) but no snacks at all. Am i being mean? They are constantly looking for food (and by 'food' i mean snacks) in the kitchen..even straight after dinner.

I am trying a new thing where i ONLY go food shopping once a week (Fridays) and if they eat all the snacks in the first day or 2, they will have to go without until the following Friday.

Someone tell me i am not being a cruel mother who starves their children? My 17 yr old was saying that he is starting to get fat last night...he told me this while moaning that we dont have any unhealthy snacks in the house.

Snottycat

So first main shop of the month complete. Popped into Morries and ended up spending £67, should see me through to back to work next week. Only prob I have next week is 6 year olds birthday which we are holding in the local church hall. I am hoping to make up lunch boxes for each child and get the bits from Aldi, I am thinking cheese/ham sandwich, fromage frais, chocolate biscuit, crisps and a fruit shoot type thingy. Sound about right?? I bet this is going to cost more than an all in package at a play barn, but wanted to give it a try
I am already picking up lots of ideas from all you frugal peeps, it is a joy to feel like I am gaining back control!

Islandmaid

WantToBeSE wrote: »

The boys (17 and 13) are back to school today, so that should mean i can spend a little less on food! We've run out of snacks and the boys are constantly asking when I'm going food shopping. I am hoping not until Friday.
I feel so mean. We have plenty of food for meals (breakfast, lunch and dinners) but no snacks at all. Am i being mean? They are constantly looking for food (and by 'food' i mean snacks) in the kitchen..even straight after dinner.
I am trying a new thing where i ONLY go food shopping once a week (Fridays) and if they eat all the snacks in the first day or 2, they will have to go without until the following Friday.
Someone tell me i am not being a cruel mother who starves their children? My 17 yr old was saying that he is starting to get fat last night...he told me this while moaning that we dont have any unhealthy snacks in the house.

I remember those days, my boys are now 18 (at Uni) and 23. They still eat me out of home when they are here...

I used to buy a 6 pack of crisps for each of them (Aldi own brand) and I mean give them the 6 packs - when they are gone they are gone

Also, as all teens eat like horses, buy an extra loaf of toasting bread, and they can snack on that, and again let them know that's what it is for, even add a couple of cans of own brand beans if they are very active.

Be honest with them, tell them you are cutting back on food costs, so they will have to think before they eat, and the kitchen isn't a bordem buster.... good luck

lynnejk

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Hi, i posted this in my DFD (Debt Free Diary) but thought i might get more advice/responses here, so i hope it's ok that i post here too.


The boys (17 and 13) are back to school today, so that should mean i can spend a little less on food! We've run out of snacks and the boys are constantly asking when I'm going food shopping. I am hoping not until Friday.

I feel so mean. We have plenty of food for meals (breakfast, lunch and dinners) but no snacks at all. Am i being mean? They are constantly looking for food (and by 'food' i mean snacks) in the kitchen..even straight after dinner.

I am trying a new thing where i ONLY go food shopping once a week (Fridays) and if they eat all the snacks in the first day or 2, they will have to go without until the following Friday.

Someone tell me i am not being a cruel mother who starves their children? My 17 yr old was saying that he is starting to get fat last night...he told me this while moaning that we dont have any unhealthy snacks in the house.

I don't think you being a cruel mother at all :rotfl:

At 13 and 17 I think they are more than old enough to understand budgeting. I would get them involved, explain what you are trying to do and get them to help. Unfortunately teenage boys usually have hollow legs and would eat the plate as well :rotfl:

You can either continue to buy the same amount of snacks and tell them they have to make them last a week. Or, you could not buy any snacks and give them the equivalent money - then they decide what to spend it on. I presume by 'snacks' you mean things like crisps and biscuits etc.

Snacks in our house used to be a piece of fruit (bananas fill up more), a hard-boiled egg, a glass of hm milk shake or some toast and spread. We had marmite and peanut butter. We had five boys in our house between us and a year between each of them

Maybe you could try making some hm veggie soups and they can have that as a first course every lunch and dinner, with a slice of bread. A pudding such as rice pudding or banana custard would help fill the corners as well.

Sorry such a long post but HTH
Lx

dumpling

First shop of the year delivered from Asda. I mainly needed bread and milk and some ingredients for dinners in the week. I had a good substitution though with chicken as I had originally ordered a small pack of thigh fillets which were on offer and I got sent 5 chicken breasts instead. I am going to change my meal plan now to use them tomorrow for Spanish chicken and roasted mediterranean veg.

kkffoo

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Hi, i posted this in my DFD (Debt Free Diary) but thought i might get more advice/responses here, so i hope it's ok that i post here too.


The boys (17 and 13) are back to school today, so that should mean i can spend a little less on food! We've run out of snacks and the boys are constantly asking when I'm going food shopping. I am hoping not until Friday.

I feel so mean. We have plenty of food for meals (breakfast, lunch and dinners) but no snacks at all. Am i being mean? They are constantly looking for food (and by 'food' i mean snacks) in the kitchen..even straight after dinner.

I am trying a new thing where i ONLY go food shopping once a week (Fridays) and if they eat all the snacks in the first day or 2, they will have to go without until the following Friday.

Someone tell me i am not being a cruel mother who starves their children? My 17 yr old was saying that he is starting to get fat last night...he told me this while moaning that we dont have any unhealthy snacks in the house.

Takes a while, but the 'when it's gone it's gone policy does work in the end. I agree with Lynne above, that a toaster, and keeping up stocks of toasting bread + marge (wholemeal fills them up more) is a good test for 'really hungry' or just nibbly?
Also cereal can be a snack, and it doesn't need to be fancy. Wholegrain will fill them up more and is less likely to be overeaten. Aldi lookie-likie weetabix + skimmed milk is probably the ultimate deterrent.
You need to be able to eat it in front of them though, or they will spot a loophole in your argument.
My son used to eat dry crackers just to annoy me and prove that I was a cruel mother. Heating up value beans in a microwave was apparently too much to ask.

Cheapskate

I'm a bit late to the party, but please can I go down for £300 for January? It's a lot less than I've tried before, but I don't need to shop until Friday or Saturday and we have loads of meat in the freezer.

I have a lovely new range cooker with 2 big ovens, plus my faithful slow cooker, so am planning lots of comfort food meals (with LO to freeze for quick meals) to take us through the next few weeks. Hoping to have quite a few NSDs thismonth, too.

Thanks for adding me, and for running this thread so well!

A xo