October Grocery Challenge

Sweet_Pea_2

Week 3.
OH did Sainsbury shop, only a few things on list. He only got items on the list but it came to £28.68. I'm getting more and more shocked every week at the cost of the Sainsbury shopping. I've just done the Aldi shopping for this week. It was only a small shop as Im well stocked up at the moment so I thought I'd get in a few Xmas extras.
The total I spent was £41.76, but £19.87 was Christmas presents. I also bought a Sacher torte for OH as he loves it, (I've just had some and its the richest gooeist yummiest chocolate cake ever invented) which was £1.79 and some flowers which were £1.79 which I could have left off really. Im £3.86 under budget so far, which I suppose is easy with a budget of £75 per week for 2 adults and 2 kids compared to others budgets on here. This month however I have really stocked the freezer and bought loads of Xmas pressies so Im happy. I think I will reduce it next month though as all the food Xmas pressies are now bought and Im not really buying in extra food for Xmas because we never feel like eating it.
(The £19.87 on Xmas pressies consisted of, a bottle of wine, a bottle of port, box of chocolate brazils, luxury choc biscuit assortment, 3 boxes of belgium chocolate seashells, 2 bags of chocolate santas for the tree and 4 little nets of chocolate coins, santas and snowmen for stocking fillers)

tootles_2

Spent £14.98 in Aldi, but that included 2 Christmas presents for youngest GD's a set of hair ornaments each, along with a fiver should do them ok...... so spend so far this month.......£84 so £15 for fruit and veg at the market on Wednesday..... should come well in this month, have to pay myself back £6 from the Christmas budget for the sets of ornaments so that makes £21...... might have a little for the savings pot. Filled up the car it did not take the £40 I usually put in so £2 from that too.

brummiebabe

Meal planning & checking what you've already got (prior to going shopping) REALLY makes a difference (I know I'm preaching to the converted!)

A few months ago, I was spending anything from £90-£100 per week :eek: .

But then I discovered this challenge (and Tesco on-line) all of which has been SO helpful (particularly in reducing my impulse buys;) .)

This week's shopping came to £52.97 (Tesco) and £2.00 for milk during the week. This month's grand total so far is .......114.07!!!:D

Remaining budget is £135.93! Cupboards and freezer are stocked, shouldn't need any more toiletries/cleaning stuff.....hopefully that will all help!!!

halloweenqueen_2

I'm nearly half way through my budget this month, and not halfway through the month. However I have a fairly well stocked freezer and cupboards and instead of making special trips for shopping I have combined them with necessary journeys, so i probably wouldn't have done another lot of shopping so close to the first.

Brown_suga

Bought some milk from the corner shop reluctantly as we had run out, but realised it was actually cheaper than tesco!!

I bought some bits for my daughters birthday party but i haven't included these as i thought these would come under the 'party budget' ie my OH paid for it!

I also have bought some tesco organic sausages as i wanted the 50 extra points if i bought an organic frozen product, i got a till coupon which ran out today.

Janeryan

Ok so we're a third of the way through the month but unfortunately have soent over half the budget already(out of £250.00 for groceries for 2 adults and a 14 yr old-so read about 5 adults worth of food) I have spent £138.30-this did include a Christmas presnt and some batteries for DH bike lights BUT
my freezer is till nearly empty-one saving grace is that we are going away for half term but whatever I save on food bill will go on spending money instead.

Have been working full time(normally only do 2 and half days a week) so have struggled to plan meals and shop around.That's my excuse & I'm sticking to it!! I do however admire those of you who normally work full time and still manage it!

SuiDreams

Very unhappy with online shop, they substitued quite a few items for more expensive ones, and not only were they more expensive, but the quantities were less as well. This means I have spent more than expected and have less food to show for it, which means we'll be going over budget this month.

[Deleted User]

Well almost half way through the four week period between last months pension and nex.I think i am dooing O.K. as I still haven't bought anymore petrop and have walked to the shops a lot more.But would that equate with wearing out my shoes I wonder? yes petrol has got to be dearer that a new pair of shoes.
Anyway I have only bought what I have run out of, and nothing else. I bought two loaves of bread and split them up into four different parcels and froze them,I live on my own and don't eat a lot of bread I used to throw out more than I ate. I couldn't believe how much food I had in my cupboards ,so I have been using some of it up.
So far i have spent Groceries around £19.00 and not bought any petrol so i am on a roll at the moment .I normally spent about £100-150-- per month on food and about £75- £100 on petrol
I shall be rolling in the stuff by the end of the month Yippee
Even my walking stick is doing a dance

MrsB_2

Hi JackieO,

I'm the only one in our house that eats bread too. My top tip is:

When you buy a loaf of bread, split it up and freeze it in bags of 2 slices (ie 2 slices of bread per freezer bag). That way you only have to defrost what you need for that meal, and you dont have to do battle with the bread, trying to detatch a slice from the frozen loaf.

If you know you've only had frozen bread in the freezer bag you can wash it out and reuse it too.

HTH.

halloweenqueen_2

My money seems to be pouring away this month and I'm getting really fed up. Some of the stuff isn't even budgeted for - surprise things to do with school trips, music and sports extras for the kids. I have also spent quite quickly through a lot of my grocery budget although I have to say my cupbroards and freezer are groaning, so my remaining budget should just be for fridge items.
I'm having a clearout today and sorting out stuff to eBay to try and get the kids fees paid for, at the moment I need to eBay to the tune of £150, nobody else in the house is concerned as I sort out all the bills and Mum will find the money, i'm trying to clear my personal debt at this rate it will slide into december. Well thats my whinge anyway - off to sort my cupboards out and the kids have donated a couple of things!