January 2008 Grocery Challenge

kj*daisy

It looks like I'll be under budget by about £50, but it's abit of a cheat as I have used £49 food savings stamps that MIL gave me, but have not included them in what I've spent.

Am starting Feb budget on Saturday as this month is far too looooong!

lil_me

I'll start the February list once the thread is up for it, I'll just get all lost if I try and do it before

Anyone else using www.spendingdiary.com ? I'm finding it helps me keep track of all of the other outgoings (I don't include monthly set bills etc)

kiwi88_2

Evening All,

I can't believe how many posts there have been since I last posted but I have picked up loads of recipes and tips again so I'm not complaining :rotfl:

Ok shopping at Mr T's last weekend came to £143.03 :eek: We were topping up on meat, cereal and the "house" pharmacy so not too bad she says gulping :rolleyes: Had too get milk today as well because we didn't buy enough so that was another... ummm I can't remember and I didn't get a reciept.

So Budget £250 Spend so far £298.07 :eek: :mad: BUSTED Overspend £48.07

Note to self MUST TRY HARDER

Mollymop5

lil_me wrote: »

I'll start the February list once the thread is up for it, I'll just get all lost if I try and do it before

Anyone else using www.spendingdiary.com ? I'm finding it helps me keep track of all of the other outgoings (I don't include monthly set bills etc)

Yes I just found it this month and think it's great.Scary to see what I'm spending but great for keeping track.

belfastgirl23

Well I headed to sainsburys tonight to pick up some supplies for a get together on Saturday night - I offered to bring a cheeseboard. Unbelievably too I finally managed to get some 10p special reductions - 3 packs of covent garden soup at 10p each. One for lunch tomorrow and the other 2 in the freezer - luckily I had to take some bread out of it to go with tomorrow's soup .

I ended up spending £20.10 in total but I'm allocating some of this to Feb since there were a few good offers (2 bleach for £1, 8 tins Heinz beans for £3, organic weetabix mispriced at £1.59) that I won't be using until well into Feb.

So I'm declaring another £11.21 in grocery spend for Jan. I also still need to pick up some bananas, hummus and crisps on Saturday so that'll be another fiver or so.

By the way avoid sainsbury's own brand tortilla crisps like the plague. They are disgusting. So much so that I binned them after eating only a couple and they are still repeating on me. Ugh! I am actually wondering if they were off, surely no one would actually choose to eat that!

Also pleased with myself cos I finally decided to go to our new Ikea and ended up spending only £2.99 on a new milk jug that we really did need. I feel like a fully fledged moneysaver :j:j:j

And Jackiegibb, you haven't failed if you've learned something!!

rosieben

jackiegibbo wrote: »

...
as you can see i have already failed my first challenge :mad: and i still have more shopping to go to the end of the month and i am wondering if i am either expecting too much or have not budgeted enough:rolleyes:
...

Your budget does seem a bit low to me Jackie, would it help to keep the pet food separate for a few months whilst you sort out your actual grocery spend?

I've no suggestions to make re the pet food except to say that when I had a dog and he was eating well on a diet that suited him I wouldnt have changed it unless finances made it an absolute necessity. not sure what your situation is but I'm sure others will be along with advice later or tomorrow

TheBees

Been reading the last few days threads and find it interesting reading everyones tips and advice.

Spent about £7 today as we needed fruit juice (from Lidl) and some cake ingredients for my Mums birthday cake tomorrow. Made the cake this evening with DD help then did some fairy cakes and muffins to freeze while the oven was on.

We still have 10 days to go until our challenge for Jan ends as we run from the 3rd to the 3rd to coincide with our visa bill! (We pay it off in full every month and save up all the loyalty points on it for Christmas or birthday spending). I liked somebody's idea of putting the grocery budget money in a pot and using that but this would be awkward for on line shopping. However I might give it a go some time.

This has been a really long month because it's 5 weeks so February should fly
by.

My biggest piece of advice to newcomers to the challenge would be to cook double meals and freeze one so that you always have a spare meal to hand when you are in a hurry or can't be bothered to cook.
We joined MSE last Autumn after realising by accident that we were spending over £400 month on groceries. Now we have got it down to £250 fairly easily and are enjoying the challenge.

Anyway enough of my ramblings - I'm off to bed.

Pink.

Hi charliebabes,

I've added your thread to the Grocery Challenge thread where everyone has posted their grocery spends.

Pink

mhe

im new but I'll join the FEb challenge starting on Saturday - aim £200 a month for 2 adults a 9yr old who lives on fresh air, a 7 year old who eats like a teenager and a 2 year old that falls inbetween. Forgot to mention 1 hamster as well!

bebee_2

Hi,
well have had 2 NSD so quite pleased about that. lil_me please add me to the list for Feb, which i will start next Thursday as that is pay day.
although OH now gets paid weekly, i would still prefer to do a monthly budget and update spending each week if thats ok.
Hoping to just need veg and milk this weekend so i will update this weeks then.
Well done to everyone, you have really inspired me