March 2008 Grocery Challenge

fallen_angel_shelley

Platinum_Horse wrote: »

oh, I'd like to join this one! £50 a week for us.

Funny thing for us, if my Wife or I shop by ourselves, we'll spend less, than when we shop together - because we like to buy things for each other!

Anyway, £50 will be a challenge with Friends and family planning to visit us for a few days across the month!

Quick question - does anyone do this whilst still shopping 'Ethically' (local/organic/free rn
ange produce)? if so, how do you find it? Is it a lot harder? At this time we're wanting to eat organic foods, as my OH is breastfeeding -so we want as little chemicals etc to go into his system as possible!

i some times go food shopping with my ex-OH and still end up going over my budget . your Q about ethical sopping, i have stopped buying the mr t's chickens 2-4-£5 chickens so they have now become a luxury but i must say the FR do taste better and i only ever buy FR eggs.

mhe

WELCOME NEWBIES :hello:
Another month already - must do better than i did last month for my first challenge but i am determined to come in under budget this time.

Went to Mr Ts and Somerfield on Tues and spent so far £64.05. Will only need fruit veg and milk next week. Bought a doughnut maker today ala D&DD so no more bought weekend treats for DSs.

Good Luck everyone for March

Looby_Lou_7

Hello everyone, :hello:

MrsMC please put me down for 100.00. Thank you. Good luck everyone.

Looby xxx

debbiedebt

Hi Everyone

Please can I join this month. I've been reading the previous challenges and I am really keen to join in this month.

I would like to keep my spending to under £200 so please put me down for £200 that's for 2 adults, 1 teenage daughter and her many friends!!, 2 dogs, 1 cat and an hamster.

I won't be starting my month until Saturday - I get paid on Friday.

Good Luck to us all! :j :j

brummiebabe

Hi all...back in again!:T

Have adjusted my budget to repay my overspending in February. March's budget is therefore £340!!! This is for 2 adults, 3 children (including 16 month old in nappies) and includes all toiletries, packed lunches and contact lens solutions (although am considering putting them in a separate budget as they're SO expensive & difficult to get any cheaper!)

Had my 1st Tesco delivery yesterday..stocked up on essentials, used my vouchers (I know you can use them for Clubcard deals....but decided not to!) and went for the cheapest delivery slot of the week. Came to a grand total of £86.26. With vouchers, multibuys etc, I ended up saving over £37!!!!:j :j :j

Will probably need to get fruit, stuff for packed lunches at the weekend and top-up bread/milk, but will try REALLY hard to come in under budget this month - luckily it's only a 4 week month anyway!

Good luck everyone!!:D

december

Hi all,
I have been lurking and getting fab ideas about how to cut down my shopping budget.:T Our normal budget (for OH,2 cats, although one is missing at the moment and me) is £250. This month I'm setting myself a budget of £150, seeing as it's a 4 week month.

Thanks

December

bails

Hi all, my goodness there are loads of people in this challenge! Thanks for adding me Mrs M, look forward to trying again this month! Good luck everyone.
That's £160 for 2 adults, 3 cats and 2 guinea pigs, all food, toiletries and household stuff.

fallen_angel_shelley

december wrote: »

Hi all,
I have been lurking and getting fab ideas about how to cut down my shopping budget.:T Our normal budget (for OH,2 cats, although one is missing at the moment and me) is £250. This month I'm setting myself a budget of £150, seeing as it's a 4 week month.

Thanks

December

a cut of £100 might be a bit much for your first go, just try cutting down £20 -£30 for your first go. good luck

Mortgagefreeforme

Quick question - does anyone do this whilst still shopping 'Ethically' (local/organic/free rn
ange produce)? if so, how do you find it? Is it a lot harder? At this time we're wanting to eat organic foods, as my OH is breastfeeding -so we want as little chemicals etc to go into his system as possible![/quote]

Hi Platinum horse, we converted to buying more organic, ethical, chemical free produce and products when we had our first child 9 years ago. We reckon it saves us money in some respects (no air freshners, or fabric softner for example). We don't eat a huge amount of meat, but where possible we bulk buy it from local organic producers. We buy most of our free range eggs from a local lady, and we have an organic veg box delivered. I make all our own bread, and I also make a lot of the kids treats, especially the packed lunch ones. We hardly ever have to get shop bought cakes or biscuites, and it actually costs less. The key to it all is being organised, and not wasteing anything. I'm aiming at £250 this month, but in the past I've never really gone over £300. The OS board has loads of brilliant ideas. Good luck.:D

galacticgreen

Well I've arrived in the March challenge. Please put us down for £200 MrsMc. Decided to keep the same as the last couple of months, although we now have used up everything that was lurking in the cupboards/freezer, so will have to start getting more creative. Last month did one big shop and just topped up with milk etc during month, so think we will try to do the same. I'm going to do my order on my supermarket then take the list to Lidl and see if I can reduce the spend there. Anyway enough waffling. Good luck everyone:o