January 2008 Grocery Challenge

kunekune

Popping back on to say that I am setting my food budget for Feb at £450. It's the same number of weeks as the Jan budget month, as we started Jan a few days late. I did it for £500 this month and will do it for £450 this month. We are away for a weekend, and I have budgetted separately for meals for that, so I could maybe reduce it further, but I'm trying to change my ways slowly.

What I learned this month:

internet food shopping is much cheaper because I plan it, and we don't buy snacks
it's also better for my tubby son, as he loves the supermarket and tends to put things in the trolley (he has a learning disability and reason doesn't always work)
I am still throwing too much away but not as much as before

Amyboo

Hi all.

I've been following this thread all month, and trying to work out a budget for our family, which consists of 2 adults, 1 child at 6 years old and a 7 month old baby.

I've stopped buying baby food jars now which was costing me a fortune she now eats what we eat but blended!

I'd love to start the february challenge as we cannot afford to be spending over £300 a month and THEN buying takeaways as well:o:mad:

I have posted on mse before but forgot my log in details so had to re-register but its the first time I've been on old style before.

Uh-oh baby's awake. Will come back later on, oh and well done to all of you that was under budget:T

mama67

Sunnyday wrote: »

Jackie gibbo - would this help?

The supadog comes in a big sack about 15k for £13.99 and the vytalin the same size but around £11 i look for it on offer, the porridge is plain old value porridge oats from the supermarket and is very good especially for older dogs, the tuna is the cheapest i can find around 25-30p and the pilchards are around 45p this means i only use 2 to 3 tins of dog food per week and i buy what ever is on offer. The sacks last around 4 or 5 weeks and i think the whole lot works out around £6 or £7 per week and my 2 are big dogs and big eaters.
Hope this helps you save on feeding your dog and anyone else who finds the cost a bit high.

Don't know if any of you have a cash & carry that you can use or get a friend to take you but for OH work dogs( guard dogs) I go to our cash & carry and get 15kg sacks of complete dog food VAT free for £5.99/sack. Tescos used to sell one similar but this seems to go down better.

Bearing in mind these are a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler Cross (fairly big sized), they also get a 400g tin mixed in between them, plus any of out scraps that can't be used as leftovers and are dog friendly. I get 6 sacks and 144 tins every 3/4 months. I also get them bones from the butcher, so they get those instead of one meal some days.

aytch

kunekune wrote: »

Popping back on to say that I am setting my food budget for Feb at £450. It's the same number of weeks as the Jan budget month, as we started Jan a few days late. I did it for £500 this month and will do it for £450 this month. We are away for a weekend, and I have budgetted separately for meals for that, so I could maybe reduce it further, but I'm trying to change my ways slowly.

What I learned this month:

internet food shopping is much cheaper because I plan it, and we don't buy snacks
it's also better for my tubby son, as he loves the supermarket and tends to put things in the trolley (he has a learning disability and reason doesn't always work)
I am still throwing too much away but not as much as before

You know, your post made me think about what I have learned this month, my first since my lightbulb moment!

1. Like you internet shopping saves me money
2. I spend less if I plan a weeks meals before shopping
3. Using my breadmaker is fun and with Lidl flour cheap!
4. Keeping a spending diary has made me sit up and take notice of spontaneous spends
5. I can be frugal and feed my family healthily for less.

:T :T :T

snowball2103

I've been lurking on this board for a while and would like to join the Grocery Challenge for February as I've just been paid. I've no idea what to set my budget at, there are two of us, myself and my DD. I know I'm spending far too much and wasting too much:o. I've been reading through lots of the great advice and have already incorporated meal-planning. I have a BM and but have so far only tried the recipes I got with it, so I'm looking forward to trying others.

I've just had my first shop of the month and spent £29.35 in Asda .It wasn't very successful as there was a huge power cut in our town centre and all the shops closed, Asda resembled an episode of Supermarket Sweep with people pulling things off the shelves and tossing them in their trolleys.

Good Luck
Snowball

Frugaldom

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)

That www.spendingdiary.com site is now well and truly integrated into my challenges - it's so much less hassle than any other method I have tried in the past and I've recommended it to everyone I can think of

rosieben

I've been shopping at last! I've been ill for nearly 2 weeks and it was so nice to be in the fresh air, even though the first bus just didnt turn up :mad: and so I had to go home and came out again for the next one (lucky i live just 2 mins from the bus stop!). I got there eventually though and did loads of errands, paid phone bill and picked up some great library books. Its a good day! :j

Having said in a previous post that I expected to spend less than £10 I am pleased to report that I actually spent £9.98 :T although if those caramel wafers hadnt snuck their way into my basket I would have spent 79p less (they were reduced from £1.19 though)

I wont post my final in red for Lil_me till nearer the end of the month just in case

kunekune

Oh wow, just looked at spending diary. It's great. Much easier to use than the other things I tried. Doesn't sort problem that DH doesn't tell me what he spends, but I am going to (a) count his bank withdrawals as spends and (b) check for anything he buys on the debit card. I might now know what it is going on, but it's better than nothing.

MRSMCAWBER

Well I must be psychic..

I declared my spends for this month as hubby gets paid "in a few days" -he has just walked in from work -and his wages have gone in already -good old M.O.D

Still not going to buy any more groceries until the 1st if i can help it...
and the €450 hubby just gave me is going straight in the savins account :j -I can't believe that since we got back home after xmas that will be €900 saved :eek: -what in gods name were we doing with it before

And on the "what have i learnt" theme...

for me it is that

• those few cents soon add up to €s
• and that it really is worth using several supermarkets if possible - Icebergs vary at the moment from 55c in "aldi" to 99c in "jibi" a heck of a difference..plus the extra walking helps the "wobble":p
• it is possible to eat "proper, fresh cooked food" on a budget and lose weight
• oh and of course -finding a group of like minded folks (you lovely lot) makes it much easier to stick to that budget

right off i go again..keep up the good work folks

JoJoB

£9.40 in wilkos today on zoflora, disinfectant, mouthwash, sponges, and razorblades. And got 5 avocados for a pound from the market - guess what's for dinner tonight!