January 2020 Grocery Challenge

Kinga

Jacs205 wrote: »

Newbie here, how do you all do this - is it a case of drawing cash out and keeping to that? My background is still have two grown up kids and one of their partners in the house but really I am just buying groceries for hubby, pets and I (well bread and snacks get used by all) but I still go shopping like I'm feeding a family of five. I'd really like to stop buying for a siege since I've got a freezer, tin cupboard, 2 dried food cupboards and snack cupboard rammed full. I'd love to just spend £200 until I get paid in four weeks and wonder if I'd be better just taking that out then going out with no bank card?

I use my tesco credit card for shopping, but I meal plan and make a shopping list before I go and I try to stick to my list. I'm quite new to this, I spent a fortune on grocery before mainly because of impulse buying and going to the shops without a meal plan. I hope planning will help a lot.

I spent £55 in the shop today, if everything goes well, then we only need to buy milk and bread during the next week.

Jacs205

Thanks Kinga, I think the only way I won't be tempted is to pay in cash. I've pulled out a diary I was given free and will tally up all my daily spends in that for the month and maybe keep my cash in it too. I think I need shocking out of my habits, I do meal plan for five days a week but keep stockpiling things like tins, shower gel etc.

baggins11

Quick question about the grocery challenge? I would like to reduce my overall grocery spend but I tend to buy in bulk when things are on offer that I use. For example today I bought 4 jars of alta rica coffee as it was half price and it is the only instant coffee I like. I only ever buy it when it is half price and it is never wasted so in my mind I am money saving but buying like this makes it very difficult to do the grocery challenge.

Does anyone manage to do the grocery challenge when they buy in this way? Or does the grocery challenge suit buying little and often more. I don't use many brands but the ones I do like I want to stick with.

Purplebonnie

£24.61 spent today in Sainsburys and the Farm shop. Stocked up on fruit, salad, tofu, tempeh etc. They also had some good offers with long use by dates for Veganuary. That should keep me going for a couple of weeks.

jam2019

That's what I'm trying to do more of this year!

I think it works better with an annual spend rather than a monthly one, but you could always increase your budget for months where you've done a lot of bulk buying and then reduce it for the next month. I've got a big shop coming in tomorrow - for me it's less about catching offers and more getting in loads of sp things my local asda doesn't actually stock

sausageelza

Went to Lid l for freezer bags, peanut butter and dishwasher tablets, but they didn't have the bags so spent £4.08.

Spent the afternoon using up stuff from the fridge, so did 3 soups (cauliflower, butternut squash and vegetable), vanilla ice cream from out of date but perfectly fine double cream, and doggie biscuits! I even roasted the pumpkin seeds; I'm feeling very virtuous.

I've now run out of onions and garlic :doh:

baggins11

Yes jam I think doing an annual target might work. I think it just might be a bit harder keeping motivated so maybe like you say borrowing budget from other months might work.

madwife28

£51.72/180 spent on weekly groceries and includes £17 on medicines for oh and dm as both have a nasty virus.
Hopefully will be enough supplies to see them through:o

Dinner was 2 portions of chilli out of the freezer and I have meal planned for the week using up a lot of food that has been frozen so groceries today was mainly for lunches and breakfasts for us both to take to work next week, including a fair amount of fresh fruit.

I am hopeful that there will be no top ups shops needed before weekly shop next Friday.

Thanks for running the challenge Elsipac:T

Midwife 28

Herbyme

baggins11 wrote: »

Quick question about the grocery challenge? I would like to reduce my overall grocery spend but I tend to buy in bulk when things are on offer that I use. For example today I bought 4 jars of alta rica coffee as it was half price and it is the only instant coffee I like. I only ever buy it when it is half price and it is never wasted so in my mind I am money saving but buying like this makes it very difficult to do the grocery challenge.

Does anyone manage to do the grocery challenge when they buy in this way? Or does the grocery challenge suit buying little and often more. I don't use many brands but the ones I do like I want to stick with.

It's a dilemma isn't it? What some people do is have a separate budget for such offers, over time they all come around again, but if you can do(say) one offer a month, that may be all you need.

Herbyme

Jacs205 wrote: »

Newbie here, how do you all do this - is it a case of drawing cash out and keeping to that? My background is still have two grown up kids and one of their partners in the house but really I am just buying groceries for hubby, pets and I (well bread and snacks get used by all) but I still go shopping like I'm feeding a family of five. I'd really like to stop buying for a siege since I've got a freezer, tin cupboard, 2 dried food cupboards and snack cupboard rammed full. I'd love to just spend £200 until I get paid in four weeks and wonder if I'd be better just taking that out then going out with no bank card?



Sorry for long post! Thanks for any replies

Hi Jacs, welcome to the thread, tons of wise advice here! A place to start is the first page of the thread, I refer back to it all the time and it's saved me a fortune over the years. I worked out what I often run out of, and made sure I bought plenty to avoid that 'just popping to the shops and came back £20 lighter' problem... Keep reading/posting and others will be very happy to help.

If you really want to stick to your budget, then only taking out the cash you can afford that week is a good start. Different approaches work for different people, its important to find out what works for you!