September Grocery Challenge

rchddap1

Freezer is packed to the rafters (so to speak) and after my dismal results of August I'm hoping to come in under my £100 per month target....hopefully £20 under (fingers crossed)

Blade26

Boyfriend is on countdown only 2 more days to go in his job, before he quits to go back to Uni, so will be down to just my salary until he gets some part time work. Have been bugdetting like crazy these last couple of months in anticipation, and have spent August eating the contents of the freezer and store cupboard to save some cash.

Have spent last night meal planning for September based on the fact that partner will be at home, so things that he can cook from scratch without too much trouble and some bits and bobs for the slow cooker.

Have tried to cut down to bare minimum in alot of cases and so will be budgetting £100 for the month for the 2 of us, watch this space........

rubytuesday

I am a magazine addict but have decided to cut right back, going to get some subscriptions with Tesco club card deals but been reading more books from the library instead and have nt had the terrible withdrawal symtoms I thought I'd have and must have saved 15 pounds a month P.S my pound sign does n't work read on another thread about making sure computer on English not American but still does n't work.Any ideas? Ta

SuiDreams

Hi, I'll be joining the challenge in October, we go on Holiday next week so decided its not a good Idea to start this month. Tried budgeting in August but it didn't work as well as planned, but at least I managed to get some of the food in the freezer eaten. We usually spend over £200 just for the 2 of us. Going to start on an easy budget in October of £190 for the month and reduce that slightly every month. Also going to Join the Pin Money challenge next month to pay for a nice meal out for the 2 of us.

madfrenchgirl

how much food should be for 2 people living together?

VickyA_2

madfrenchgirl wrote:

how much food should be for 2 people living together?

Just depends how you eat and what you eat - do you treat yourself to a takeaway once/twice a week. Do you buy in pizza/make your own? And what sort of things do you eat?

OH and I are carnivores and like to have meat every night, even though we're now cutting back and having alot more veggies.

Firstly, as Squeaky has mentioned work out what you're spending at the moment. We (I) menu plan so that we know what we're having each night. This isn't as regimented as it sounds because if we suddenly find we're invited out for supper, then we move the planned meal onto the next night. It's taken us quite a while for us to get used to it. We make our own lunches and make sure that we have cereal or toast for breakfast. This is what makes us comfortable, but for you it may be completely different! We spend approximately £25 per week on shopping for the two of us - including cleaning items.

Secondly, make sure you're comfortable with what you've got. Don't cut back so much that you feel ill and you're starving. Experiment with new recipes, use your slow cooker more (or invest in one, they're ideal!) and you'll soon find that you're eating more healthily and spending less money.

OH now brags to our friends about how little we spend in comparison to them, yet we're always full and eat very well. Though I fear he may get punched soon :rotfl: :rotfl:

AnnaV

Right, this month I'm going to put all my receipts together and work out just exactly how much we spend on food. We usually do one big shop online of about £120 but then loads of little shops.

Also moving to a flat with more storage space and a bigger freezer so hoping to start buying non-perishables in bulk when they're on special offer and making food in advance. Hopefully this will save on our naughty Sunday night can't-be-bothered-to-cook takeaways.

frosty

Hi everyone I have decided to join the grocery challenge this month, this is my first time,I am budgeting for £250 for 4 adults (counting 2 teenage boys as adults),3 dogs the cat,....... we were spending about £120.00 a week plus topping it up from local shops,we didnt have a clue what the true figure was....I have been following the tips for money off vouchers and have been collecting them for a while.since joining this website I have saved about £700.00.

crazyhazy

ok, am going to join in again this month, normally I run my month from the 18th as that's pay day, but it can get quite confusing. So instead I will just start this month tmrw and keep track of what I spend in the actual month. I usually aim for about £150ish, so will keep a note this month and see what I actually spend. That's for 2 adults and a part time dog!

FairyElephant_2

Really pleased with last month - I dropped the budget by £10 per week, and still managed to come in £22.00 under!....Did use up some freezer contents though, and had stocked up a bit the month before, but reckon I can manage on the new budget this month:
£40.00 pw for 2 adults (all meals incl packed lunches), one cat and 3 kids (alternate long weekends) - how does that sounds in comparison to everyone else?
FE