September 2019 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

peony40 wrote: »

Hello, please can you put me down for £180. This is to cover food and household for two adults. Needs must as salary is being reduced by £200 per month from next year, so I am trying to manage on the reduced budget early and save more in the rainy day fund.

Forewarned is forearmed, peony40. At least you’ve been given time to plan for the £200 decrease.

May I suggest that you quarantine some funds each month for Christmas food and bulk purchases, so that your budget doesn’t get knocked sideways by them? Our total household budget for 2 adults is per month is £220, so I’ve been thinking what I’d do in your shoes and this is how I’d split it up:-

£ 120 - Supermarket spend and general groceries (this is what I track in the Grocery
£ 30 - Meat Fund (butcher shop spends quarterly. Normally £40)
£ 20 - Bulk Fund/Garden (normally £10 garden, £40 Costco spends)
£ 10 - Christmas (for the goose/turkey and other treats)
——-
£180
====

(NB: This is pretty much what our household budget was when my husband was unemployed last year.)

HTH

- Pip

ceb1995

Hello, I've tried and failed to cut down our food budget every month this year, we've recently had an aldi open up so though august could be the month but again it's not happened.
Aiming to £190 which is £10 less than the past few months for two adults and a cat.
Any tips greatly appreciated? we both have to take lunches into work. I'm teetotal and dh has alcohol once every few months and i always meal plan so we don't waste much so no money is going there.

peony40

PipneyJane wrote: »

Forewarned is forearmed, peony40. At least you’ve been given time to plan for the £200 decrease.

May I suggest that you quarantine some funds each month for Christmas food and bulk purchases, so that your budget doesn’t get knocked sideways by them? Our total household budget for 2 adults is per month is £220, so I’ve been thinking what I’d do in your shoes and this is how I’d split it up:-

£ 120 - Supermarket spend and general groceries (this is what I track in the Grocery
£ 30 - Meat Fund (butcher shop spends quarterly. Normally £40)
£ 20 - Bulk Fund/Garden (normally £10 garden, £40 Costco spends)
£ 10 - Christmas (for the goose/turkey and other treats)
——-
£180
====

(NB: This is pretty much what our household budget was when my husband was unemployed last year.)

HTH

- Pip

Thanks Pip for this, very kind of you. I hadn’t thought of splitting the budget up like this, and I really like the idea, especially for Christmas treats.

Yes, we have been fortunate to have a period of time to adjust. Just hoping that food prices remain stable.

PipneyJane

peony40 wrote: »

Thanks Pip for this, very kind of you. I hadn’t thought of splitting the budget up like this, and I really like the idea, especially for Christmas treats.

Yes, we have been fortunate to have a period of time to adjust. Just hoping that food prices remain stable.

Glad I could help.

- Pip

PipneyJane

ceb1995 wrote: »

Hello, I've tried and failed to cut down our food budget every month this year, we've recently had an aldi open up so though august could be the month but again it's not happened.
Aiming to £190 which is £10 less than the past few months for two adults and a cat.
Any tips greatly appreciated? we both have to take lunches into work. I'm teetotal and dh has alcohol once every few months and i always meal plan so we don't waste much so no money is going there.

Hello. Welcome to the Grocery Challenge.

We need to know more about you before we can help, so I’ve got a few questions:-

1. Have you read all the tips, etc, at the start of the thread?
2. You meal plan, so what are typical meals for you and your DH? What do you like to eat?
3. What are the contents of your pantry, fridge and freezer?
4. Where and how often do you shop?
5. The grocery challenge isn’t just about food. Are you buying/wasting expensive toiletries? Could you trade down? Or use less per dose? Have you read the original [URL="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/826963Ways[/URL] thread? Or it’s replacement,[URL="https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2426287Lots More Sneaky Ways to Save the Pennies[/URL]?

Hope this helps.

- Pip

hamish222

Went to Aldi and spent £39.58, got meals sorted for rest of week with exception of some salad bits.

£39.58/£400

Cheapskate

Morning everyone, still using August's budget, but please can I go down for £350 for September?

Thanks for running the thread, elsiepac.

A xo

PipneyJane

Elsiepac, I've found a thread to which it might be useful to link: Plinzen, Tartiflette, and Dum Aloo.

- Pip

hamish222

Spent £1.99 in Aldi on some fresh bread and some sherbet lemons for the car.

£41.57 / £400

fairy3

Please can I join for September? Would like to set a budget of £200 for 4 adults and a dog. Would like to start on 1st September - 30th September. This is for everything although the three other adults are my adult children - they work odd shifts and buy their own stuff/takeaways sometimes so will be interesting to see just what is being spent and on what. Will do an inventory of freezer and cupboards although they are not overflowing. Looking forward to re reading the recipe index again and trying out some different recipes as in a bit of a rut.