January 2008 Grocery Challenge

LouiseJ

mumzyof2 wrote: »

i have spent £2.28 in aldi... on potatoes and some cordial..do you think that was expensive???? i did! i was so shocked! If i had walked a bit fufrther id of gone morrisons and got potatoes for 89p instead of £1.49 at aldi and cordial for about 60p instead of 75p at aldi...but i would of prob spent more
whats everyone think/

I have noticed also that Aldi can be a bit pricey for some things and is definately not the cheapest for everything. Fruit & veg are usually a good buy but I do prefer Lidl.

I think that shopping around is the key if you tend to buy similar items every month. I have a spreadsheet with my regular items on them and which shop does them at the best price. I also take a print out of it when I go food shopping just in case I spy a special offer in another store.

windowshopper100

I've been umming and arrring over whether or not to get a slow cooker/pressure cooker for a while.

Thanks dlb for the idea of getting one off freecycle. I've just signed up to my local group (a bit complicated innit) and put the word out for one (slow cooker) - none currently offered in my area or on 'free2collect'..... a belated thanks go to lil-me for that as I got those details from a link in one of lil's flylady posts a while back. We got rid of a telly that way - saved it being dumped and the collector seemed v. pleased with it.

Thanks again girls.
WS100:T

lil_me

Price book - I have mentioned them before, great for comparing prices and a must if you're shopping around, I have a diddy note book which I carry in my handbag, I've just redone it because of recent price changes but it contains prices of items I buy in many shops so I know when something is on a good offer etc, like when a BOGOF offer is worth it, if a bulk buy is etc. I have the prices down as per kilo/litre so I don't get conned into buying smaller packs for a slightly cheaper price. My partner laughs when I get my little book out if we're in Costco or somewhere, but then I explain the cost difference and he shuts up.

Yes sometimes I do find Lidl and Aldi to be more expensive for some things, hence why I shop around, but as a small pointer I do find their products which are a little higher priced than 'value' items much better quality. Cordials etc are a good example of that. Our's does a bag of potatoes for under £1, I seen them today but remembered I have some left, wonder if the store that was visited just had them out of stock or doesn't do them.

azjh77

I think I may be doing this wrong...I got paid on December 21st - so I start from then?

So I have already done 2 weeks of my budget without spending anything! We have £70, so week begining:-
21/12 - £14 - spent £0
28/12 - £14 - spent £0
4/1 - £14
11/1-£14
18/1-£14
25/1- pay day!

If I don't spend it one week can I carry it over? I wouldn't normally try to live on a budget this small (there are 6 of us!) but we are really short and I won't use the credit cards as we are paying them off. I think with all the excess food we have in the house we can actually survive on this for the month - but I won't be making a habit of it!

lil_me

azjh77 completely up to you if you carry it over, I would because I prefer to budget monthly as there are many things you don't buy every week.

Little_Miss_Naughty

Hi All

I did my 1st shop of the GC today and i must say it was a bit of a shock. I have never looked at prices of food before when shopping but today because of the GC I did and i can believe how much i used to waste on branded food.

It was also a trip to tesco's and not waitrose for me. My question is it there any of the Tesco own brand / value products that you would not recommend buying over branded goods eg tesco own bread, tinned toms etc.

Thanks for your help.

malvena_2

Had to break into my budget today to get some basics. I spent £14.45 but I shouldn't need to get much else for a couple of weeks.

Got a dilemma though. I was given 2 x £2 coins in my change. Do I save them or keep them in my budget and wait to see if they are left at the end of the month.

Frugaldom

Only Me!!

I was just on checking my ipoints account and they have a slow cooker for, I think, 5400 points. Will need to go back and check, cos I have a memory like a hen and have forgotten already

Just back, it's - Delonghi CKS510 5L capacity stainless steel slow cooker - 4200 points

mumzyof2

we have a cheap freezer shop here, morrisons,aldi,spar (i never shop there) and thats about it..i only go tesco or asda when my partners mum is able to take me,

shaaark

Hmmmmms, well, we did a pretty huge shop tonight and have meals planned for the rest of the week and mid way through next.

Although I went over my budget by £6!

Got so much stuff for lunches and teas though, so I think I might amend my budget to just take off amounts instead of doing budgets per week. (e.g.: £175 budget, spent xx, £xx remaining)

Next week I'm definitely not going to spend anything near what I spent today, will probably only need bread and milk.

*toddles off to amend her super-duper long signature* I'm also going to remove the part about my frugal boyfriend helping me save..... he was VERY spendy spendy at the supermarket - I will have to beat him down to my way of thinking! :A