October 2007 Grocery Challenge

mikeD

Oh Dear! Having done a re-total of September purchases I've now come a teeny bit over budget . I'm not bothered though although my wallet looks a bit bothered

Getting a delivery from Mr. T. tomorrow and it should come to around £70.

To all those who have just joined us good luck to you, and to everyone else also.

Jacks_xxx

wilf55 wrote: »

i know exactly what you mean about all eating seperatly and lazy cooking so to speak

good luck!!

Cheers honeybun! xxx

MrsDave

Hi guys!!!:hello:

Can I join in too please?? I have been reading and lurking for months now but have decided to take the plunge and join in. I'm hoping that if I join in it will make me more disciplined cos I am a real terror for bogofs and a bargain!!! I have got so much food in the cupboards and under the stairs it's embarrassing! But despite that, I still buy bogofs if I see them!!! I need to reign myself in big style, that and the fact that my hours at work have been cut, I need to be more careful. So my month will start on the 1st and we're off on hols on the 27th so I'm aiming for 200.00 - 2 adults, 3 kids and a mountain of food already in, that shouldn't be too hard, should it?

redmel1621

I am hoping to do a bit better this month.

I do not buy many treats at all yet I still can't seem to get my shopping bill down each week. All I treated the kids to this week were some mini cookies which were on offer at tesco - 6 pack half price at 81p i bought 2 so that is only £1.62 I just can't see where i'm going wrong I would love to just be spending about £60pw but last month really struggled at £80pw so felt i needed to up it this month to £90pw and start at a more realistic budget hopefully reducing it back again next month.

Have any of you more experienced budgeters got any tips for me please...

Mel x

rosieben

Redmel, you may just have reached your realistic budget level. You could probably reduce by making some radical changes to the way you eat but thats not the real point of the challenge (though we may be driven to this by financial restrictions).

I would guess that your various pets cost a tidy sum each month - why not take that out of your food budget and see how it looks, maybe have a separate budget for pets - I guess this is the same per week and so can be worked out pretty accurately for a 4 or 5 week month?

What sort of total were you spending a month before you joined the GC? If we look back at our pre-GC spends we realise just how much progress we've made.:j :j :j
HTH

JAMIEDODGER

been to tescos again this morning.... £23.45

yesterday i made a HUGE beef stew in the SC one for me for dinner last night and 7 portions for the freezer!

today i have made a HUGE bolognaise, not sure how many portions i will get yet until tonight.

i have also made sticky onions (base for onion soup and sausages mash and onion gravy) 6 x 2 person portions for the freezer.

i will probably go again tomorrow (its only round the corner from me) as i am planning on a massive chilli making session:D

so far i have spent 91.13 out of my 300.00

29 days left to go, i am quietly confident i will do it this month:)

MissMuppet

I'm going to make a big risotto tonight, does anyone know if it's ok to freeze the leftovers? I know rice can be funny reheated.

flossyblog

Hi everyone,

I have spent a total of €7.66 today

Meal plan for this week is
Mon- sausage mash and brussel sprouts
Tue – chilli with roast potatoes
Wed- chicken stir fry
Thurs- quiche with roast potatoes and salad
Fri- chilli with rice
Sat – chicken stir fry
Sun –roast chicken with roast veg

I seem to be more organized because I am doing this. Normally I plod along and plan at the last moment. So thank you

chaz19

Hiya guys,

Well I had a disasterous September, as you can see from my sig. But I will not be put off - I WILL DO IT!

Been through receipts and at least I know mainly where we went wrong last month, OH insists we get posh pouches of cat food but with 3 kitties I've told him they can have them as a treat once a week rather than every day. He's eventually coming round to my way of thinking! Also if there's cheese in the fridge he'll just keep eating it and eating it so I'll be limiting it to one small block a week and when it's gone it's gone.

Fingers crossed - at least my massive failure last month will make me try even harder this month IYKWIM!! lol

Chaz 19

Bobbykins

Hi Chaz - I know what you mean about the cheese - although in our house it was me that should have been born a mouse!

What I do now is buy a couple of big blocks of cheese and cut it into smaller blocks. I freeze some of the blocks as they are but others I grate and then freeze it like that.

I then take one small block out a week to satisfy my snacking "urge" and then use the frozen grated stuff for cooking - I just take out as much as I need, when I need it IYSWIM.