January 2008 Grocery Challenge

Mollymop5

Evening everyone.I asked my mum to pick me up a few items in asda today to save me going.She rounded it down as she usually does so it only cost me £20 off to update sig.........................

rosieben

Happy Birthday Tranquil _party_

I had planned on some shopping locally but the weather for the last few days has put me off. I'm amazed at how my stock cupboard is holding out though, so I'm going to see if I can last till the end of this week.

Looks like its been a good month for most, well done!! And those who've gone over budget - cut yourself some slack and do the best you can for the rest of the month. February is a new start!

tattycath

Mollymop, where do you and your mother live??? Can I borrow your mother to go shopping for me coz she always rounds it down???:D

cuddlymarm

Hi

I learnt very early in our relationship not to take my OH food shopping unless he is paying because we always end up with a basket of biccies, cake, sweets etc and nothing for tea.

Mind you I am quite fond of the odd biccie (or six)

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Keiss_21

Evening all

My DH is pretty good shopping-wise, though I haven't quite got him trained to remember to look at the reduced areas every visit. He tends to stick to the list, and rarley gets extras, I am usually the culprit there, though I am now a reformed woman (can I be reformed into two small and perfectly formed ones, there's plenty of me!!!:rotfl:. Actually, that's a good idea, then I might get everything done then!)!

Had a NSD today:j.

The sweet'n'sour chicken was scrummy, the boys loved it, but there didn't seem to be enough for everyone, despite all the extra veg. So I rustled up a chocolate sponge pudding and chocolate sauce in the microwave...very yummy! That went down well!

Off to bed now..dentist first thing, a filling...aaargh, so won't be eating much tomorrow morning!

Night, night.

M

Mollymop5

tattycath wrote: »

Mollymop, where do you and your mother live??? Can I borrow your mother to go shopping for me coz she always rounds it down???:D

She's a star that's for sure.She always rings or texts when in asda and thats not just me its my brother and sister too lol.She saves me a fortune
We're in the North East, prob too far from you eh? when do you want her

nopot2pin

cheerfulness4 wrote: »

I'm a tad worried about the loo rolls so I'll be positioning myself outside the loo and listening out for anyone reeling it off and wrapping it round their hand a dozen times before 'doing the deed'. :rolleyes:

Whhoooooaaaahhhhh
Tooooo much information there cheerfulness4
I am all for <ahem> not wasting things too , and think you should <ahem> enlighten you family to money saving ways Goooood Luck :rotfl:

Jacks_xxx wrote: »

:wave: I really want to kick the bottom out of the GC for January to set us up well for the year - but for goodness sake isn't this just the longest month ever?

Ohhhhhhh wooooowwww..... It has sooo been the longest month
I am glad you said it, and a few agreed, so I knew I wasnt actually mad ....
Well I mean really crazy mad .... allegedly

frankerooney wrote: »

Oh help, dh has been to Mr T's this evening. He flirts with the RTC ladies and talks them into yellow stickering things! He just came back and is now trying to ram the fridge and freezer full of all his goodies. He appealed on freecycle last week for an extra freezer so he can buy even more... Problem is I can't keep track of all this food! :rolleyes:

:rotfl: :rotfl:

:shhh: :silenced: :whistle: Dont tell every one your secret ... we will all want one :rolleyes: :whistle:

Sola

I'm at the end of my first monthly challenge and it's been an eye-opener. I set the budget at £200 for 2 adults, 2 occasional teens, the odd guest for dinner, and 6 cats, and it came out like this:

Catfood = £67.00
Basic food = £100.00
Food treats = £30.00
Household/toiletries = £23.00

That gives me at total of £219, so slightly over budget but because I logged everything in categories, I can easily see where I overspent. Most of the 'food treats' were things like shopbought frozen pizzas on the way home because I was too tired to cook, and the odd chockie bar or bottle of lemonade. Out of the £100 basic food, we spent £19.00 on meat and fish which is much less than I expected (although we did have some stuff to use up from the freezers); meat has definitely moved to being an 'accent' in meals rather than the main component. I shopped weekly and mealplanned weekly (although didn't stick to the plans 100% but did far better than I've done in the past). I was also much better at taking work lunches from home instead of heading for Prets.

On top of the monthly budget, we started replacing bedding and kitchen equipment, which came to another £180.00 for one-offs like a Panasonic breadmaker, new duvets, and a bulk order of natural cleaning products from The Soap Kitchen. I don't mind this because it was long overdue (some of my manky old kitchen equipment I'd had for 20 years), and it gives me a really good basis for the months to come.

So all in all it was a great month for giving me a benchmark figure. I'll continue logging receipts on my spreadsheet in the same categories, and have a comprehensive list of store cupboard food supplies to be used up; some of these I'll replace as we need them, some I'll just use up and won't bother getting again.

It gives me a good idea for what to set as the budget for next month. I expect to come in at less than £200 next month for food and catfood, as I won't have to buy any toiletries, cleaning or laundry stuff for the household (just loo rolls really), plus I restocked the herbs and spices from scratch out of that £100 basic food. I aim to increase the amount of veggie food I cook and limit meat/fish to 2 main meals a week.

So I'm really glad I joined this thread My new month starts on the 25th so I'm up for the February Grocery Challenge.

MRSMCAWBER

Morning everyone

Another NSD planned for me today :j -mind i did go shopping in my dream last night (how obsessive is that!!!)....still at least that doesn't cost anything :rotfl:

On the Loo roll front -if you squash them slightly so the tubes are creased top and bottom-when the user pulls on it, the roll won't spin round and round like usual .....I found it works n this house -and would probably stop little ones who just pull and roll off reams of the stuff

My hubby isn't one for throwing stuff in the trolley -thank heavens for that, but i would still rather go on my own... i am quite willing to look at the price per 100g on every single product but hate making hubby wait around whilst im doing it.. so on my own works best for both of us

Im going to sit today and start making plans for February..just an idea of what meals we are going to have and what i will need -mind we are both mad on salads... but im going to sort out some melas to use up some things i have in allready. Although I have run loads down :T .

Because i will have no toiletries, cleaning stuff to buy-im going to re-stock the HM Sausages, which will last us quite a while once made... and keep hubby happy as he loves them -which is good as they cost a sight less than the decent shop ones :T -think i will have a look at some different ones -although I draw the line at "squirrel sausages":eek: and yes the recipe book has them in there :rotfl:

right -off to plan.... keep up the good work folks

aytch

Well, what an eye opener this month has been. I have never actually added everything up before and it is scary how much goes on impulse buys, especially when I just pop into a shop for a couple of things. I am going to come in under budget, but more by luck than good judgement.
I have taken to making lists of meals, then buying what I need - an excellent idea. I am also making much more use of my freezer, breadmaker and oven, instead of buying ready prepared meals, got to be healthier AND cheaper.
Thank you to everyone on this thread for keeping me focused and giving me recipe ideas.
:j :j