September Grocery Challenge

henhog

I need to stay on budget this month as August is an expensive month for us (quite a few birthdays, holidays, days out etc) - I try to keep to a budget of £40 a week ,but I don't always spend exactly thet each month - if I need big items then I might spend £60 one week and then only a tenner for fruit and veg the week after.
My tip for keeping to budget is always to look in the fridge and cupboards before you plan any meal - don't think "On Mon we will have Spaghetti, on Tuesday sausages etc" because you will just end up with a pile of uneaten food if your plans change or loads of leftovers that just get thrown away. Instead, look at the fridge - if you had roast chicken on Sunday - when you clear up, keep all the leftovers and make a chicken soup. If you have cream with a pudding, the next day maybe make a pasta in a cream sauce to use it up. I can't believe the food we used to waste before we became OS! There are always standbys in the cupboard - eggs, tuna, potatoes, pasta etc and you can live off these surprisingly well. If you are stuck for inspiration you could buy a cook book that specialises in budget meals - or post a list of your left over ingredients on this site and be amazed at what comes back!
Another good tip, which follows on from the other one, is just don't go near the shops! Go once a week -and then stay away! We get our milk delivered, keep spare bread mix in the cupboard and buy our wine form Tesco Online or Laithwaites depending on who has the best deals. It stops all that 'just nipping out for..' and coming back with loads!
Have a good September everyone!

Little_Miss_Frugal

I'm new to all this, but I'm going to give the challenge a go this month. I'm budgeting myself £65.00 a week to feed a family of 5, 2 cats and 2 dogs. :eek: We'll see how it goes.

rchddap1

Spent more this month that I intended 9 by about £20. However, its been a busy month, I bought some extra bits for the kitchen that were really needed. And the freezer is full to bursting. Not a bad result I think.

next month should be much better.

monkeylugs

I aim to spend no more than £265 on food shopping & Nappies for 2 adults and 2 children (one still in nappies). I'm going to start the challenge a bit early as we are off to Whitby self-catering tomorrow for four days so are buying food before we go.

We went to Cornwall a couple of weeks ago for a week (self-catering) and spent £200 on eating out at dinner time and then buying bits "every day" plus snacks, coffees while out sight-seeing etc.. shocking!

BoltonMinx

Hi VickyA,

£100 does seem quite good for 2 people, my only suggestions would be to maybe try your local market ? I'm going to check it out next week and see if I can get my non-exotic fruit and veg any cheaper from there

bonnie_2

i have budgeted £200 for two adults and 2 children, i have just gone organic as well i get a box delivered of fruit and veg for £21 a week then i spend £15 at the butchers and £14 in the supermarket i buy organic cheese, butter, milk and eggs.i am getting a breadmaker and yougurt maker for xmas so that will cut down that expenditure and the allotment should be self sufficient by next summer.i make my own toiletries which i get the ingredients for my xmas presents.the soap tub do kits i get the big one for £99 and it basically lasts me all year.but when there is a five week month i get an organic house cleaning kit and toilet rolls from the veg society which costs around £60 but i have an extra £10 amonth to stock up on green cleaning stuff anyway.

FrankieM

Have just done my first grocery shop for the month, though its not being delivered till wednesday. Which is when payday would have been if it weren't for the bank holiday.
Worked out a menu for the week using a few meals that I'd already made and put in the freezer, as well as meals I'll have to make.
Total cost £69.95 including delivery but had £25.50 worth of clubcard points.
So total now £44.45!!!

inkie

I have been following this with interest for a few months now - and am taking the plunge. I like to think that I have good control on the finances, but as I well know there is a difference between thinking and actually having!
I already meal plan - but have no idea of the actual spend per month - but am aiming for £150 per month all in for 2 adults & 2 kids. I suspect that we are way above this anyway. So - if it isn't on the list we won't be buying it. We have enough store cupboard stuff to keep us going until the begining of Sept - good job as we have been away on 2 (cheap) hols and are a bit skint.

As I don't seem to be able to keep up with the little 'uns fruit consumption - I will be taking a trip to the market tomorrow to stock up the fruit bowl.
Wish me well!

nicki_2

Budget kind of went out of the window over August between DD and OH being home, plus trips to IL's AND a week of me working with OH (DD was away so it was a kind of holiday for us as well except we stayed at home) therefore treating ourselves to a weeks worth of take-aways (pub tea £30!, KFC bucket - £9.99, Pizza - £11 and then when we went to IL's we had a chinese takeaway as well!!!!) and my waistline & energy levels are suffering now.

We did a BIG shop on Sunday and spent £61.43 but that filled the freezer with frozen veg, loads of eggs and 10 litres of cordial which should last us most of the "month". My target for this financial month (25th Aug until 27th September) is £160.00 for all food, toiletries and cleaning stuff. This means I have £98.57 left for 4 weeks shopping, with £20 cash for milk etc, I'm not planning on spending anything more from the grocery budget until 8th September :j We'll see........

GIRLPOWER_2

Ok I'm in..... 2 adults, 3 children and a dog.... £300.00... 1/2 what I used to spend before MSE! :T