November 2007 Grocery Challenge

belfastgirl23

Oh and kbl I am so impressed that when you're down you clean the house :T:T:T

personally I eat chocolate and watch repeats of Sarah Beeny which is a lot less constructive!

I think you should try to do a little challenge next month but set a realistic target, don't try to set it too low. This will give you a good feeling going into january, knowing that you can stick to a realistic budget.

And on the chocs etc M&S have some good offers at the mo. I stocked up on them and I can hear them calling faintly to me down the hall...I suspect the calling will get much louder later

Good luck anyway

freyasmum

I have spent another 1.38 on milk and 1.98 on grapes for the monkey.

So that brings my total so far up to £15.45.

I still have a house literally bursting with food so I can see another low budget coming next month. Yes, even with Christmas!

Lx

izoomzoom

Hiya all

Well, I have updated my signature, and I can see I am gonna blow my budget :mad: . Admittedly it is my first month, and having just had a baby, DH has been at home with me for the past two weeks, and well, we have made trips to the supermarket almost like 'days out'. DH would do his nut if he stayed home all day every day.

Anyway, I know that I am gonna have to get top ups of bread and milk, and margarine (Tesco's don't do our brand) and probably a few other things so will unfortunately go over, but hopefully I can control myself and not do it too badly.

On a good note, my freezer is still full of ready cooked meals as well as quite a bit of raw stuff too - so at least I will have a choice on whether I want to cook or not (depending on little Sam's mood). DH has also agreed to take lunch from home - I just have to make them interesting.

Have no idea what to budget for next month - as I am not sure what we are doing for Xmas just yet, but I know that I won't be able to budget anything less than what we ultimately spend this month :eek: .

nopot2pin

mikeD wrote: »

Thanks nopot2pin, so what do you do, copy it to a Word type file?

It really doesn't matter if you leave your wine for a few days when it seems to be ready, just bottle it when you've got time. If it's still bubbling it aint ready to bottle anyway. I dare not make my own wine these days as I would be permanently hissed. I used to, and if I say so myself, it was very drinkable. :beer:

Now then all you ladies who have "Dishwashers", how very naughty of you. They are environmentally unsound don'chya know. Some years ago I suggested to my DW that it might be a good idea to get one. Her reply was "I've already got one......YOU" :rotfl:

mikeD.... there is a number of ways you can copy and paste...using word is one of them. Although, I prefer to just use this method....
Select the text you wish to copy
Go to Edit in your Toolbar
Press copy
Then you hit Submit Reply to post. No issues
If your kicked out... when you hit Submit Reply... you have lost your post:mad:
But if you do the copy thing before Submit Reply... your text is stored within the clipboard of your computer....
What ever you have in your computer clipboard will remain there until you copy something again....
So all you have to do is Post Reply... then paste. And all your hard work is not lost.
I guess doing it this way cuts out the middle man of copying from MSE to Word then Word to MSE

Sorry... didnt mean that to be so long and booooooooooring:o
But I do hope it helps you.

lil_me

QOTD - maybe try www.freecycle.org.uk or www.dontdumpthat.com for a breadmaker, they are one of those things some people buy then use for a few months then never again, car boot sales I've know people to pick them up from too

Haven't spent today, forgot to go and get my sons yoghurts so have had to compromise with him on something else to go in his lunch box.

egon

Hi izoomzoom

*Admittedly it is my first month, and having just had a baby, *



I am not sure, if this will be any help to you, you might do it already.
Our second son is 4 month old, and we are just changing him into reusable nappies.
We had some very good advise and tips from a mum who used to use them and is now also selling them.

For 15 nappies, three waterproof covers and a few other accessories, we paid £173.86. And the nappies should last until he is potty trained.
She also takes back all the nappies we don't need, eg if we think we will only need 12 out of the fifteen, we can return the three we don't need (unused of course) and she will refund the money.
Also, our council gives £30 cash back if you buy over £50 worth of nappies.

Count that against reusable nappies, which will cost us about £700 until potty training (if you use Lidl etc), there is a big saving!

And these reusable nappies feel lush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:A

kbl

Thanks Belfastgirl, you seem to know just what to say! Will just do my best to stick to €180 per week, cos I still have so much shopping to get (as mentioned before, chocs, biccies etc), I swear if I knew there was any in tonight I would sit up until I finished the whole box!!!! Have sorted out a few things that will help my grocery shopping in New Year, have located a wholesalers that sell to public and can buy my large chicken fillets in bulk at about €1.25 each, previously have been paying double, and IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME PRODUCT I HAVE BEEN BUYING BEFORE!!! (Sorry, doesn't take much to excite me anymore, boring eh?) Anyhoo, off to bed, got course work to finish in morning.

susan1

susan1 wrote: »

going to join the challenge and set budget at £100 for 2 adults from nov1st to 29th as we go away then! this will include everything hopefully, cleaning stuff, toiletries vitamins and cat food. should make life interesting. (have just spent the last of my vouchers, all £12 of them today)

doing quite well so far, have collected many vouchers and discount codes and have only spent £30 so far this month, have used the slo-cooker a lot which seems to help!

belfastgirl23

kbl wrote: »

Thanks Belfastgirl, you seem to know just what to say! Will just do my best to stick to €180 per week, cos I still have so much shopping to get (as mentioned before, chocs, biccies etc), I swear if I knew there was any in tonight I would sit up until I finished the whole box!!!! Have sorted out a few things that will help my grocery shopping in New Year, have located a wholesalers that sell to public and can buy my large chicken fillets in bulk at about €1.25 each, previously have been paying double, and IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME PRODUCT I HAVE BEEN BUYING BEFORE!!! (Sorry, doesn't take much to excite me anymore, boring eh?) Anyhoo, off to bed, got course work to finish in morning.

Just occurred to me to mention that the first few months I did the challenge I set an in-between target. So I think the first month was £170-£200. The lower figure was what I'd like to hit, the upper figure was a definite can't go beyond. This did help me while I was trying to get to grips with what was realistic for me without having to fail.

Are you in inishowen by any chance? Was on hol there last year and did think the supermarkets were quite expensive...

WelshWoofer

rachelmk wrote: »

My month ends on the 27th (going to Canada on the 28th) so just 11 or 12 days to go.

£100 budget for all food, toiletries, cleaning stuff and dog stuff - £48.59 left

Am going to have to admit defeat and pop to the shops today - running out of dog food and toothpaste- essentials unfortunately!
Have written a very short list and am trying to stick to it - for the first time ever I've written a meal planner to see me through until saturday with just the very bare minimum to be bought to supplement the stuff already in.

Will pop to Asda at lunchtime and report back on the damage!