June 2017 Grocery Challenge

spendaholic

I had a £10 overspend for May, so I'm sticking with my £75 per week budget for June, and as there are 5 Thursdays (aka shopping days) in June, that gives me a budget of £375.

This is for all supermarket shopping, which includes pet food, detergents, medicines and toiletries. I'm contemplating a different budget for magazines (our only vice, really), as these *can* take a chunk out of the allowance if we're not careful.

Someone asked in the May thread what everyone does with the change, if they come in under budget. Initially, I put this towards the following week and, therefore, technically, spend less/draw less and that means more left in the bank for other things. My "other things" currently mean reducing the debt still. But I know others use it as "pin money" and put it towards treats like holidays. Those who are very good at this also include money-off vouchers and bogof deals - by using their cards and asking for the difference in cash-back. I'd like to get back to that myself one day.

FoxFace

Logging NSD for today again. Actually haven't spent anything since I went shopping on Sunday :j

Finished off the hummus for lunch, three days it lasted smallest child and I (he comes home from school for lunch)... I could honestly eat hummus every day, it's my absolute favourite

Was supposed to set up the slow cooker for this evening's dinner but forgot

So I am making a stovetop version... mexican bean and sweet potato stew. Recipe added to thread (in link)

Feeling a bit accomplished as we are out this evening (for a hobby, I don't drink) and usually buy takeaway on a Friday night. When I realised I had forgotten the slow cooker, the temptation was really there to sack it off and order in... pleased that I managed to get off my bum and make dinner instead, it smells delish and cost me nothing

ScotinLondon

Afternoon/Evening
Can we be put down for 140 again commencing from yesterday.
RL is really busy and up and down like crazy, plus have exams in a week's time. So not had much time for posting.
Hope all are well and enjoying the heat as best as you can.
SIL x

FoxFace

Breaking a 5 day NSD chain with a small spend today.

£60 food budget for the week taken out in cash, £3.28p spent on some (non-dairy) mozzarella for homemade pizza tonight and a can of elderflower pop (a little treat for getting through a 50hr work week, gotta love overtime!)

£56.72 left for the week

Cwtch22

First time trying one of these challenges but totting up much we spent in May was a real eye opener.

We have lots of stuff in the cupboards/freezer but have a bad habit of popping in for one or 2 'top up' items (usually milk for the kids) and coming out with a lot more! Our strategy this month is to do 2 click & collect orders a week - probably Wednesday and a Sunday - spending no more than £25 - £30 a time. This should mean we always have fresh milk in and fresh fruit/sandwich fillings for the kids lunches.I know that personally popping into some of the budget supermarkets would probably end up cheaper but just getting there without at least one small person and/or a husband in tow is nigh on impossible. There's only so much nagging for treats I can take!

Once we've got the meal planning/organisation part down then I'll work on shopping around more.

July budget: 8 shopping trips of £30 each = £240

FoxFace

Cwtch22 wrote: »

First time trying one of these challenges but totting up much we spent in May was a real eye opener.

We have lots of stuff in the cupboards/freezer but have a bad habit of popping in for one or 2 'top up' items (usually milk for the kids) and coming out with a lot more! Our strategy this month is to do 2 click & collect orders a week - probably Wednesday and a Sunday - spending no more than £25 - £30 a time. This should mean we always have fresh milk in and fresh fruit/sandwich fillings for the kids lunches.I know that personally popping into some of the budget supermarkets would probably end up cheaper but just getting there without at least one small person and/or a husband in tow is nigh on impossible. There's only so much nagging for treats I can take!

Once we've got the meal planning/organisation part down then I'll work on shopping around more.

July budget: 8 shopping trips of £30 each = £240

Good luck with your first grocery challenge

If you haven't already, I would suggest getting a pad and pen and doing a full inventory of what you have in. If you plan your meals around what you have in stock, it makes it much cheaper

I do a little inventory each week when I meal plan and it really helps keep the cost down.. I think it also helps to inspire me, if I have a starting point.

Also, if you put your budget in bold red it will help the people running the thread to spot it and add it to the list

Fox
x

XSpender

Please can you put me down for £290 for the 4 weeks of June. This is for all food, toiletries, cleaning, laundry and dog food but excluding booze which I am tracking separately.

I have worked this out at £80/week for 3 weeks (which is what we spent in May) and 1 week at £50 because I am out of the country for 5 days but DH will spend on lunches and a few bits so will need to leave him some cash but will also buy in some easy stuff for him to eat too. DS(7) will be eating at DPIL so don't need to worry about his meals.

My month starts on 31st May.

FoxFace

Menu plan done for week as I always do my weekly shop on a Sunday morning

Lunch
S ~ "Cheese" buns (using left over free from Wensleydale)
M ~ HM Veg soup
T ~ Beans on Toast
W ~ Hummus Sandwiches
T ~ Curried lentil soup
F ~ Veggie Finger Sandwiches
S ~ Day out so having lunch with a friend

Dinner
S ~ Slow cooker (vegan) Sausage casserole
M ~ Spinach & Mushroom Risotto
T ~ Samosa potatoes w hummus
W ~ Pasta with med veg
T ~ Chimighangas & Rice & Corn
F ~ Burger & chips
S ~ Pizza

Will pop on after shopping with my spends
Have a lovely Sunday everyone

Fox
x

Cwtch22

[STRIKE][/STRIKE]

Cwtch22 wrote: »

First time trying one of these challenges but totting up much we spent in May was a real eye opener.

We have lots of stuff in the cupboards/freezer but have a bad habit of popping in for one or 2 'top up' items (usually milk for the kids) and coming out with a lot more! Our strategy this month is to do 2 click & collect orders a week - probably Wednesday and a Sunday - spending no more than £25 - £30 a time. This should mean we always have fresh milk in and fresh fruit/sandwich fillings for the kids lunches.I know that personally popping into some of the budget supermarkets would probably end up cheaper but just getting there without at least one small person and/or a husband in tow is nigh on impossible. There's only so much nagging for treats I can take!

Once we've got the meal planning/organisation part down then I'll work on shopping around more.

July budget: 8 shopping trips of £30 each = £240

OK, I've decided to start this challenge early. It'll run from May 28th - June 28th so I'm upping the budget to £300 to account for the extra time.

The kids are on HT so will be eating me out of house and home and I'm picking up my first collection today. £26.59, most of it should last for longer than the week except for the fruit and milk. I've borrowed a mincer from a friend so to try to avoid waste I'm going to look into seeing what leftovers I can put into pies for my OH to take into work. It'll be a good way to use up some of the MANY spices/sauces we have hanging around in the cupboards.

YorksLass

Welcome to all the newbies :hello:, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading what everyone has to say and hopefully find inspiration plus hints/tips along the way.

First shops for June's challenge done on Friday.

A market shop came to £34.50 but this did include £16 on a kilo bag of frozen prawns that are now split up into portion sizes in the freezer. We get these from a fishmonger who gives a discount if you buy in bulk.

The other shop was an online sm delivery that came in at £66.95. This is for all the heavy/bulky stuff (various tins, bread flour, rice, teabags, sugar etc) and should last at least for the whole month. I've stocked up on items that we use a lot of and happily quite a few of them were on promo so that's saved quite a few pennies. And it looks like they haven't charged me for delivery but, if they realise their mistake and do charge me, I won't begrudge it. Not having a car makes life a lot easier with a home delivery.

There was also a packet of biscuits (the expensive, caramelised ones that you sometimes get a small pack of with a coffee) that normally cost £1.49, on promo at £1. But there's a "try me free" sticker on them that I can use to claim back the £1; just need to input my details, the promo code and an image of the receipt onto their website, so I'll be doing that when I finish here. After all, every little helps!

So, barely into Wk1, I've used half of the month's budget already, leaving me with £98.55 for the next 5 weeks but, given the amount I have in stock, I'm sure it's do-able as it will be spent on fresh foods only.

Meal planning session this afternoon - not necessarily meals for specific days, just meals I can make with what I have with as few "new" additions as possible.

Stay well everyone and enjoy the Bank Holiday.