October 2007 Grocery Challenge

Bobbykins

Cor, ta Maire!
Was just sitting here gazing into space (well, actually, gazing at the PC screen) wondering what to have after our sausage casserole, mash, carrot/swede tonight.........STEWED APPLE it is! Thanks for the inspiration....I'd forgotten the baking apples I bought on impulse on Tuesday!.....shows you what happens when you go away from the meal plan! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

LouiseJ

Hello Again Everyone

Have been doing too many challenges this month so things are starting to slip!

Just hanging on in there under budget still have till 31st to go, these 5 week months are difficult.

nopot2pin

High_Peak_Lass wrote: »

Finding it difficult to balance the books at the moment and it's getting me down. I start off with the best intentions but always end up robbing Peter to pay Paul, (not literally though as I don't know anyone called Peter!).

So this month we'll rise to the challenge and look at it as a new start.

I think the problem is meaning well but not being properly organised and doing the 'damn, forgot to get the xxxxxx from the freezer, we'll have to pop to Tesco and get something and then ending up wandering into the booze aisle for a four back / bottle of wine! so we'll se how it goes

I know what you mean High Peak Lass ... with the robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario.

I too, start with the best intentions at the start of my month..... but always come a little unstuck the closer I get to the end of my 4 weeks ( 4 weekly paid )

And it does seem easier to just nip in to the supermarket for something quick to cook... or even the takeaway shop for something already hot and prepared on the way home.

But once you start planning and being a little more organised... it does become easier and easier.

As many peeps on here will say... organisation really is the key to being successful at this .... I am just about to go and make a mini batch of fish pie and maybe a veggy pasta sauce for the freezer....So hopefully that will help me over the next 2 weeks:o

I know I haven't been doing the GC long.... and I have already gone over my GC budget amount.... but I have spent much less so far this month, than I would have normally.

Reading all the other posts and following how everyone else is doing really is truely inspriational... and bizarrely makes you want to do well.

Good Luck when you start....I look forward to hearing how you get on

High_Peak_Lass

Thanks nopot2pin. Just making a list now for the High Street. We've got friends up this weekend so am trying to entertain slightly more thriftily (sp?) than usual.
I am really wanting to do well to start with but am not going to beat myself up if I go slightly over, but as you say I think it'll make us spend less than we were doing before.

Hope the fish pie turned out well, wish the OH would eat fish as i love fish pie !!!!

oops_a_daisy

OOOOPPPPSSSSSSSS - completely blew my October budget so am trying a different approch this month - am going on hunger strike :rotfl: .
I have put my total budget into my grocery budget to include going out and toiletries. Also I get paid on the 25th so will start to calculate my month from then. So my total budget for Oct/Nov is £136.60 which is to include all them naughty treats and cups of coffee that I didnt realise add up to so much. This is for myself, DDog and DD is at home for a few days this month too. We have a weekend booked away in London in November but most of the meals are covered by Tesco Clubcard Deals so we will be shopping around for cheap breakfasts and lunches.
I have enough in for meals for the next week so will just need fresh milk so lets see how I get on this month. Please Please Please let me come in on budget just this once :A

Hollysan

Hello everyone, especially High Peak Lass, Liberty 9515, the Bees and Kaleoma - and any other newbies I have missed.
Another hopeless week for us, and there are still 5 days to go till our month end! I guess I will have to add Week 5 to my sig for Friday to Wednesday, but I don't intend to spend any cash - we will have to manage with what is in the cupboards, the fridge and the garden (more leeks, anyone?)
I don't know quite why we did so badly, but the wholesale order didn't help.

I am going to do a Tesco order this weekend to arrive Monday. This is for November, but the delivery is cheaper Monday, and I will be here all day. A bit of a cheat, but it is all storecupboard stuff.

Husband is away all next week. I will miss him, but at least it means less cooking, and the kids and I can have baked potatoes and pasta all week!:rotfl:

Roll on the November challenge.

Hollysan

kaleoma

Think £250 is going to be a struggle for us as we are going away for a couple of days and I just know I am going to be tempted by the bright lights of Tesco rather my local co-op; I'll just have to be firm and leave Al in the car so no extra bits get in to the trolley whilst I am not looking!

freyasmum

Hello.

I got my tesco shop but they sent the wrong stuff and my mum signed for it, not knowing that it wasn't right - I got it sent to hers as I wasn't going to be in. I complained that I had ordered the organic stuff and had been sent more expensive, unorganic (not that that really bothered me, but I didn't let on, lol) bread flour. They are refunding me the difference, they are also refunding me half of my delivery cost AND I ordered some of the johnsons products as they have the 100 points offer at the moment which I didn't get so I complained about that, so they gave me a voucher for £6.00 off my next shop with them So I ended up getting £30-odd of shopping for just under a tenner
So that's another £11 that could come off my total for October, but I'm going to put it into my saving instead as I wouldn't normally have gotten it back.

Thanks all, it's been a great month and it means that my total is £69.00. So under budget, but the rest of the money will go into savings for a house (every little helps !! Yay!

Lx

jess444_2

Hi all,
Well have overspent by £20 this month. Not too disheartened though as this includes 2 pub lunches for me and OH last week, as we were both had a week off work and had a few days out. Keep up the good work everyone, I don't know how some of you do it. Will try again to keep to £300 next month.

meanmarie

Spent €73 in Lidl on Saturday, but €20 was non-food stuff, about €5 was November food, but it means that I had to call in some of the €30 I spent on Christmas stuff earlier in month, am just going to say that I have barely come in on budget, next month the money is going in a separate purse and if I spend anything out of another budget I will immediately repay the grocery one....ok, ok, I'm a confused old woman...but I know what I mean.

Marie