March 2008 Grocery Challenge

Kaz2904

Good luck cooltriker chick!
April will be my first full proper month and I really need to start to get to grips with things again. I sort of lost track last year and was just wasting money. I've been using a cashback cc but might have to start physically withdrawing cash again so that I can repay it to the bank when I use the card.
This thread is keeping me focused but DH needs the physical reminder too. He's done well this month with me telling him that we have £so much left so lets hope we get there in the end!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Kaz2904 wrote: »

Good luck cooltriker chick!
April will be my first full proper month and I really need to start to get to grips with things again. I sort of lost track last year and was just wasting money. I've been using a cashback cc but might have to start physically withdrawing cash again so that I can repay it to the bank when I use the card.
This thread is keeping me focused but DH needs the physical reminder too. He's done well this month with me telling him that we have £so much left so lets hope we get there in the end!

same here got into a 'comfort' zone so to speak, and it is sooo easy to spend a little more every week, and 'we need a treat' but it starts happening regular, and then its the norm,

so every thursday we are getting back into the habbit of taking £120 out at the post office ( trying to use them as much as we can, to try and keep it open) then buying electric tokens at the same time...

putting petrol in the car on thursday as well ( i also have a van for the business, but the running cost there comes out of the business ) and buy coal, and what ever is left has to last us until next thursday,

for us, it is far better to take the money out once a week, put it into the 'pot' ( which is an empty ice cream container ) so we can actually see how much money is left,

if we were using our debit card, it is so easy to forget how much or how many time we nipped to the shop to get milk or petrol etc..

getting back to actual hard cash, is far better for us than writting our spend down on paper...

bring back weekly cash pay packets i say.... like my parents and grand parents used to have...lol...

lil_me

CTC we're lucky in a way, my partners income is cash, I prefer to work with cash aswell. My stuff like family allowance etc goes into the bank which covers the DDs etc. He gives me a set amount per week, rest he makes on top is his for whatever he likes, many times it's more than what he gives me, but if he earns extra he can keep it, but then he's not nagging me when he wants something (several expensive hobbies/interests) I use the cash for the weekly shopping, then what goes in the bank for bills.

I prefer to pay by cash for everything, which drives my family insane as they feel carrying cash is more of a risk, if I order anything online I still take it out of my grocery budget money that I have seperately. It is easier to physically be able to see what you have left in my opinion.

EEEEeekkkkk!!! I have to have my very big freezer emptied and defrosted, probably next week when the parts arrive, so that's a big kick up the bum not to buy any more than I need to and use up what I have.

redsquirrel80

Well it's payday for me today so start of a new month - gonna be a long one, nearly five weeks, but am trying for a new low £40 budget :eek: Got my first shopping list written up, and my plan is to go mostly veggie with some fish, have actually gone off meat lately, dunno why Think the only things I should need other than food are toilet roll, deodorant and washing up liquid.

I ended up spending £47.22 last month (budget was £45), but I think my cutting down on wine and cheese will help immensely - after all £7 is only 2-3 bottles of wine.. and there will be more experiments in cheesemaking to come!

findingmyfeet

morning ....

sitting here banging my head against the wall. Why do teenage boys ignore anything you say and do as they like????? answers on a postcard please!??? I was just about ...by the skin of my teeth so to speak about to come in on budget. Was totally thrilled with myself... until this morning . Went in the fridge( which had been beautifully stocked up for the visiting hords at the weekend), half the stuff i needed has gone.
DS has eaten half a huge block of cheese, 2 litres of milk, 2 packs veggie 'ham', half the crackers in the box and half the 12 pack of crisps i bought!!! bang, bang, bang...... He had been asked not to touch anything without asking first, plenty of baked goodies in the box to nibble on and loads fresh fruit in the bowl. not good enough for him. He was 'hungry' when he came in.... is the only explanation i got. hungry , he must have been starved for a week to consume that lot for a snack. Needless to say I have now got to replace it. 4 days to go and about to fail. If we werent having visitors i wouldnt bother and just make do, will certainly hide anything i need in future or plan in a small contingency amount!! Boys.

DD has been great all month, eating anything i make and trying new stuff , not complained much. DS has winged and whinned all through it but scoffed everything in sight anyway. well he just going to have to get used to it or find a job and pay his share. (that should sort him out!)

Rant over...thanks for listening. heading for the kettle...........

findingmyfeet

calming down a tad now...... I agree with you lot today CASH is much easier to use and keep a close eye on. when its gone its gone... easy enough to see. Looks really nice at the start of the week , makes me not want to part with it! but the gremlins soon take a hold. only using the debit card and credit card if i have no other choice (internet etc) or emergency. This seems to be working well for me but i am new to this and do get tempted.

lilme- direct debit/standing order thingy arranged from next month ex-car money straight to savings and i dont have to see it. glad i did it straight away now. strike while the iron is hot and all that stuff.

patentgirl

findingmyfeet you could be describing my house my ds and dd are both the same I come home from work and they have eaten part of a meal I had planned! my DS favourite saying any snacks? his idea of snacks is like a meal to anyone else the trouble is he is 21 and does a manual job all day so I cant really refuse him but!!!!!!! sometimes
I agree cash is definately the way to go I tried using card with points back for what you spend about 6 months ago and I still sorting that one out! soon went back to cash you do know where you are and I find you do stop yourself spending on stupid little things at the checkout my downfall was magazines which I have really cut back on just have one as a treat now

MRSMCAWBER

Afternoon all

Just a quick up date...hubby just nipped me to the NAFFI -using a works car :shhh: super frugal as it saves our petrol .... they had 3 litre bottles of fresh whole milk whoopsed... some were €1.... but i spotted 4 that were only 50c :T .. so that is at least next months milk sorted (and probably quite a bit will carry us into may:D )12 litres for €2...it should have been over €13 :eek: and then i will have to let it down to semi .... so that has saved us €6.76 -as longlife milk is 73c a litre ..now i just have to decant it into the 1.5litre bottles i have and wedge it in the freezer ...somehow -failing that -i will be giving cheese making a go :rotfl:
also picked up 2 1kilo bunches of bananas for €1 each.. and they are under ripe - so they will last me a while as i don't eat them until the skins start to go brown..mmmmm
Need to add the bananas to this months amount... the milk belongs to next month..
good job i sorted out my freezer the other day..thankyou Bails :rotfl:
Have also re-done my meal plan for April...determined to use as much as i can out of the freezer... and im looking at only needing to spend a maximum €15 a week to get salad, veg, fruit, yogs :T how sad am i that i can't wait to make a start

Triggles

We resorted to putting snacking items (fruit, extra sandwich items, lettuce, tomatoes, and such) in the drawer on the bottom left of the fridge. That way everyone in the house knows the food in that drawer is safe to munch on. Anything else needs to be checked first, in case it's meal prep. Seems to work well for us. I also got tired of finding someone had eaten something needed for a meal, so I implemented this rule.

JoJoB

Spent £32 in tesco - more than i was anticipating, but got a few packs of splenda as it was on special offer, and a fiver on a Baileys easter egg for OH. And stocked up on baking stuff, so nice full cupboards. Just over budget though, quelle suprise!