April 2018 Grocery Challenge

PennyGrabber

Lynnejkthank you for all of your work behind the scenes helping us all to help ourselves spend less! I for one really appreciate it, and I have taken many ideas from the recipe lists, and am pleased to have added one or two too. Hope all is ok with you. X

I'm still in March until the end. Im keeping my April budget the same, even two weeks of it is the holidays, because I plan on hitting the stocks hard as I'll be at home more to organise and cook more. At least, that's the plan!!

PG x

indigowarrior

£1.66 spend brings my total to £42.44

debtfreeforlife

Hi all!

Aiming for £200 again this month (with the goal of actually coming in under for once) and 10 NSDs. Good luck everyone!

[Deleted User]

Hi, can you put me down for my usual £80, I will need to do some stocking soon. I won't be posting 'till after Easter, as i'm a bit swamped. Have a lovely Easter everyone.

Maisie_M

Hi

Joining in again for April and see if I can manage to stay in budget this month Right £250 again.

April could be a really good month as I am off on two weeks holiday for the school holidays which could mean that I am able to plan and also to get stuff out the freezer etc during the day if I forget to do it the night before but it could also be a curse as it's too easy to nip to the shops if I need something.

ScotinLondon

Morning all. Thanks Elsiepac for starting the thread.

Can you please put me down for £130 commencing yesterday.

Will update March totals during the course of today, if/when i get a chance.

Have a good rest of the day all.

SILx

indigowarrior

Yesterday £7.12 spend. Which comes up to £49.56

Lydia42

Hi
New to the grocery challenge but soooooo need to get a grip on our food spending. Totally ashamed.
I tried to keep all receipts i could last month and tallied it up. I know i am missing a few from hubbie and from buying a few bars at slimming world (i intend to keep a track of any i buy from now on).
So my total for last month was £922.72 without the errors i mentioned above - so easily over £1000 for 4 people (2 adults and two children 7 & 10) - totally shocked and ashamed .
So my month will run from pay days 23/3/18 - 24/4/18 and i hope to spend no more than £500 as a start. I will then try and reduce spending further each month if i can but i think halving my spend for my first month is pretty ambitious for now.
Wish me luck and any tips would be greatly appreciated before i bankrupt myself!!!!

thriftwizard

Please can you put me down for £450? I have to look on this as a 5-weekend month, as payday happens this Thursday, then not until 27th April. There will be extra expenditure as we go up towards the Big Day - the London Marathon on 22nd - which by chance also happens to be DS1's 30th birthday weekend!

ETA: just adding that my budget is for feeding 5 adults (3 of them highly physically active, 2 of them pescatarian, 2 under the impression that they are obligate carnivores) 2 cats (shortly going up to 4, all genuinely obligate carnivores) 2 cockatiels and 12 chickens/bantams (total omnivores) plus cleaning materials and basic toiletries.

YorksLass

Lydia42 wrote: »

Hi
New to the grocery challenge but soooooo need to get a grip on our food spending. Totally ashamed.
I tried to keep all receipts i could last month and tallied it up. I know i am missing a few from hubbie and from buying a few bars at slimming world (i intend to keep a track of any i buy from now on).
So my total for last month was £922.72 without the errors i mentioned above - so easily over £1000 for 4 people (2 adults and two children 7 & 10) - totally shocked and ashamed .
So my month will run from pay days 23/3/18 - 24/4/18 and i hope to spend no more than £500 as a start. I will then try and reduce spending further each month if i can but i think halving my spend for my first month is pretty ambitious for now.
Wish me luck and any tips would be greatly appreciated before i bankrupt myself!!!!

Welcome to returners and newbies, especially Lydia42. Wow, that's an eye-watering total! :eek: Don't worry, you've recognised you need to tackle this and you're certainly in the right place here. Take a look at the recipes at the beginning of the Grocery Challenge. You might find the Love Food Hate Waste board helpful too.

My tips would be:

• Keep all receipts as that will give you a true picture of where your money is going.
• Take stock and make an inventory of what you already have in the fridge, freezer and cupboards. It may take some time but it could be an eye opener!
• Meal plan before you go shopping, using as much as you can of what you already have.
• Be inventive if you're missing an ingredient - try to use a substitute rather than nipping out to the shops.
• Make up a shopping list and stick to it. (Easier said than done, I know )
• Use coupons - but only if it's something you'd normally buy.
• Get to know your supermarket and look out for reduced to clear or yellow sticker items.
• If you have a choice of supermarkets you could get to, try a price comparison site for the best prices.
• Downsize i.e. try sm's own instead of branded. Doesn't always work but it's worth a try.
• Batch cook and freeze half for another day.
• If you regularly buy takeaways perhaps you could make your own instead?
• Remember that you can spend an awful lot on the odd coffee, sandwich or snack at lunchtime. Can you/DH/DCs take packed lunches from home?
• Don't be disheartened if you can't stick to your budget straight away - it takes time and practice to get it right.

I'm sure there must be loads more tips but hopefully these will start you off.

Good luck and keep us posted on how it's going!