Overspent . . .

Shelley84

Hi,

I overspent BIG time yesterday in Asda!!

Normally I shop online to save money but I needed the real Asda shop!

I spent £97 :eek: (I did save £6.50 though:rolleyes: )

I'm making the most of it all though. Making stock from the leftover chicken carcass from yesterdays roast. Using this to make Roast Veg soup from the leftover Roast Veg from yesterdays dinner!

I bought quite a few tins so I shouldn't need any for a few weeks.

Got so much veg I could start a market! My freezer is full of portioned meat and fish! We're thinking of getting a chest freezer so we can make lots and lots of meals then freeze them, just don't have the space in there at the moment!

Had to post this as I felt guilty. Since we moved in middle of Feb I haven't kept to my budget at all. But from pay day on 31st Mar I am going right back on track and be even tighter than ever!

MissEyre

Sounds like you are ready for a store cupboard challenge of your own-just do your shopping from your cupboards till your stocks are down to a more manageable level, it should help you stick to your budget for April! x

Shelley84

Yeah, thats what i was thinking. I won't need anything except fruit and veg for the next few weeks. So i'm hoping this will really reduce my April food budget!

mrdexter

I have to say it but that's a normal bill for me at tescos for the first shop of the month. Plus the top ups. I am mending my ways though since reading this board. Got a stick blender last week and already had compliments on the soup :cool: and even more surprising, DS1 who only likes brocoli and green beans in the vegetable department said the spag bog was delicious, and I won't tell him it was chock full of blended mushroom or he won't eat it next time

If you do do a store cupboard challenge don't forget to keep us updated, I for one am learning so much just from other peoples threads.

Valjk

I always think that I have overspent when I do my big shop once a month, but I find this the best way to save money as I then only need to buy fresh fruit and veg and milk etc. This means that when I go to tescos for these I ban myself from walking down any of the ailes that don't stock what I want.
Good luck on saving on your April budget!

scuzz

Don't beat yourself up about it. We did the Tesco shop last week and spent £141 :eek: However, we hadn't bought any shopping for about a month, living out of the cupboards and freezer. Pretty sure we'll be doing the same again.

You'll probably be shocked at how long everything you bought will last you.

angchris

£97 isn`t too bad for a big shop, is it just for yourself? it sounds like you got a good selection so it should last you a while.
i`ve got my delivery coming tonight, we have been doing the storecupboard challenge all month and i`ve managed to use up all the static lingerers in the corner of my chest freezer some of which i had to prize out cos the ice had grown around them

Bargain_Rzl

Hmmm - I have got into a bad habit lately, of spending £30 or £40 at the supermarket (I live alone) thinking "This isn't a lot, I won't have to go shopping for anything except fresh stuff for ages!"

And then guess what happens - I'll pop into Tesco for some milk, and will find something in the yellow stickered section, say a big pack of chicken breasts for £2. And I'll think "Oh, bargain - now I can make a green chicken curry!" But then I realise I haven't got any other ingredients for it, and rather than just buying the bargain chicken and taking it home to freeze, I will end up filling my shopping basket with an onion, a green pepper, a jar of curry paste, a tin of coconut milk and a bag of jasmine rice

Which means I STILL have a freezer full of perfectly edible ingredients and prepared meals, and I've just spent another £5 I didn't really need to spend for at least a month...

RIGHT, need to take myself in hand, storecupboard challenge here I come!

FrugalFriend

I 'd agree with all the comments so far. Especially the store cupboard challenge. Sometimes I'd think, I've nothing in to eat, then if I open my store cupboard I see plenty of tinned foods waiting to be used.

My mother used to say you can't waste money buying food in the supermarket. Although I didn't understand her at the time. She thought it was far more wasteful to spend on going out drinking, gambling and fancy items for your house or yourself. To put it another way, she felt there were far more wasteful ways to spend your money than on food shopping. She explained to me that, although she might sometimes overspend in the supermarket, if she bought quality food at least she was nourishing her family.

Over the years I've realised my mother was right and I thank her for her wise words. Perhaps they might help you see your situation differently too.

Bargain_Rzl

FrugalFriend wrote: »

My mother used to say you can't waste money buying food in the supermarket. Although I didn't understand her at the time. She thought it was far more wasteful to spend on going out drinking, gambling and fancy items for your house or yourself. To put it another way, she felt there were far more wasteful ways to spend your money than on food shopping. She explained to me that, although she might sometimes overspend in the supermarket, if she bought quality food at least she was nourishing her family.

Over the years I've realised my mother was right and I thank her for her wise words.

She's only right as long as people don't overbuy and let half their perishables go to waste (which is obviously not what Shelley84 is doing, as everything is being used in full...)

angchris

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

She's only right as long as people don't overbuy and let half their perishables go to waste (which is obviously not what Shelley84 is doing, as everything is being used in full...)

thats what i have been doing...overbuying because it was a "bargain" freezing the stuff and then it never see`s the light of day again. its only a bargain if you are actually gonna use the stuff and not leave it languishing in the freezer for 3 years like me i have now seen the error of my ways thanks to mse and my freezer is now a clutter free zone thanks to us eating some really way out weird meals this month :rotfl: