September 2018 Grocery Challenge

Hopeless_Case

Just back from a week away so catching up with where I am with this month and my challenges - I've spent £62.58 of my £240 budget so far, and my new week starts on Friday so I have done really well so far, but the £240 is a full month's allowance so i should have adjusted it down down for the week away

I'm still happy with just over £30 per week for the first 2 weeks though, and I'll set myself a lower target next month

flubberyzing

smiling_saver wrote: »

That's seriously impressive. What have you been doing? Or not Well done.

I'm a single person, which helps with keeping costs down, as I only have to cater for my own tastes and what I know I'll eat.

Otherwise, I've done quite a lot of eating out of the cupboard and freezer. And I've also been militant with meal planning and shopping only for what I need, using a list.

And I've actually really enjoyed it!

I think next month will be harder though, as there isn't as much in the freezer and cupboard to use up any more!

Oh, and I also found it helped a LOT to withdraw my £70 budget in cash, and keep it in a separate purse. It made it loads easier to keep on track and being aware of what money I had.

JingsMyBucket

There are so many great impressive totals this month! It's great seeing them roll in. Well done everyone.

Yesterday was a NSD for me. I think today will be as well, but I'll wait until tomorrow to report just in case.

TOTALS SO FAR:
8/12 NSD
€526.78/€500.00

candygirl

flubberyzing wrote: »

I'm a single person, which helps with keeping costs down, as I only have to cater for my own tastes and what I know I'll eat.

Otherwise, I've done quite a lot of eating out of the cupboard and freezer. And I've also been militant with meal planning and shopping only for what I need, using a list.

And I've actually really enjoyed it!

I think next month will be harder though, as there isn't as much in the freezer and cupboard to use up any more!

Oh, and I also found it helped a LOT to withdraw my £70 budget in cash, and keep it in a separate purse. It made it loads easier to keep on track and being aware of what money I had.

I wish I was that disciplined.I'm struggling to stick to £120 a month, n it's just me n the 3 pooches :eek:

luckofthe_irish

flubberyzing wrote: »

I'm a single person, which helps with keeping costs down, as I only have to cater for my own tastes and what I know I'll eat.

Otherwise, I've done quite a lot of eating out of the cupboard and freezer. And I've also been militant with meal planning and shopping only for what I need, using a list.

And I've actually really enjoyed it!

I think next month will be harder though, as there isn't as much in the freezer and cupboard to use up any more!

Oh, and I also found it helped a LOT to withdraw my £70 budget in cash, and keep it in a separate purse. It made it loads easier to keep on track and being aware of what money I had.

This is SO impressive! I was proud of myself for reducing to £125 for a single person! You are deffo my inspiration for next month - I have just done my budget and I already feel anxious about money even thought I just got paid today! So need to make the October challenge fun, will be looking out for your posts for sure.

PipneyJane

Evening All

Hello from France! I have one last spend to declare for September, £6.99 on Sunday, which brings the final total for the month to £95.43/£133.50, leaving £38.07 to roll forward to October.

I’m declaring now because all food shopping until we get home will be paid for out of the Running Away Fund. It does feel like cheating, though. I’ve done plenty of grocery shopping since we left the UK but very little of it - beyond garlic - will make it home with us. One spend that will make it back are multiple packs of twin blade razors which will come out of my personal Beauty/Clothing budget. For the last 40 years, I’ve been shaving my legs with a Gillette G11 razor and own-brand blades are no longer sold in the UK, while the branded ones are £8+, so I’ve been using up my stash. (A couple of years ago, I cleared the shelf in Boots at Glasgow Airport of their own brand twin-blade razor blades.)

If you want/need them, SuperU supermarkets sell own-brand twin-blade razor blades in packs of 10 for €1.80.

- Pip

[Deleted User]

So nice to see so many people coming in on target. Well done to LuckOfTheIrish & flubberyzing. They are really good totals. When I first started out, it took me years to reduce spends, I was so addicted to shopping. I too mostly only buy for myself and find that being vegan really keeps the costs down if I cook from scratch, though some things cost more. I don't hunt ys, but if I'm in the supermarket, I know where to look. Last week I got 7 swede for 54p n 7 huge leeks for £1, which went to make stews with lentils n other veg, plus singing swede, mashed n frozen. I buy wonky veg which used to be 35p kg carrots, think its gone up slightly. haven't bought houmous for a while, as I now make a garlicky red lentil dip n a spicy brown lentil dip, which I love, for a fraction of the price, buying pulses n legumes usually in my local Asian supermarkets. When I get a ton of cheap veg, I make soups, currys, stews n freeze. I hope that is of use to some people starting out. I find the tips at the front of this challenge amazing.



Today I spent £18.50. £7 in the market on a ton of veg, huge bowls, yellow cherry tomatoes, 6 courgettes, 6 avocado, 2 x lettuce, 2 boxes grapes, long sweet peppers (must be about 30) and sweet potatoes and £11.50 in Iceland on junk stuff mostly, wanted to try their new 'No Bull' range, also some fine beans n spinach.


Anyway, declaring at £57.36. Leftover monies will be added to my bulk fund. See you over on October everyone.

thriftwizard

Well done to all who managed to come in under budget, and heartfelt commiserations to those who, like me, didn't! I'm not declaring until tomorrow, and have just had two NSDs, but I can safely say I'll end up at least £35 over. I'm panicking slightly about October already; I've had to empty one of my store-cupboards thanks to a small furry visitor (now dealt with by the now-almost-full-size kittens) and have a fair bit to replace! That said, some of it won't be, as it's no longer relevant, but some of it will have to be. I shall be visiting the Grocers of Eastern Promise (i.e. the Asian supermarket) when I take DS3 back to his university city on Friday and will need to spend rather more than I'd like to. But it will all be good useful stuff with long dates, possibly even some "festive" supplies - their pomegranate Turkish Delight is to die for, and very reasonable!

thriftwizard

£9.01 spent on bread (2 loaves) bananas and vanilla today. I'm still not quite in a position to declare for September as we're low on butter & apparently "need" some goat's milk yogurt for something one of the girls wants to make. But I'm £34.66 over target already & reluctant to buy anything else until payday on Friday! Sigh... I'll have to find out how urgent it is, i.e. whether it's something being made for someone's birthday, sort of thing.

Hopeless_Case

£27.71 spent today making £90.29/£240. My new month starts on Friday but I'm not declaring yet as I might need a few bits tomorrow