June 2008 Grocery Challenge

jackk_2

maz123 wrote: »

Evening all,
can i ask what is probably an obvious question, do you include takeaways in your budget? I understand for some that this is prob a swear word but we do like to have this for a treat once a week. do some of you include this in your shopping budget? Or does it come out of another budget? I do try to be OS but we like a treat and this is it i know i'm fortunate to be able to do this so please don't shout at me, thanks
p.s. what about alcohol? or am i the only sociable drinker?

Alcohol and takeaway (if we have one) both come out of my GC budget, as does pretty much everything when i think about it :rotfl: . Oh the dogs food does'nt hehe, have a separate budget for their meat, £80 every 8 weeks :eek: .

x

angelnikki

maz123 wrote: »

Evening all,
can i ask what is probably an obvious question, do you include takeaways in your budget? I understand for some that this is prob a swear word but we do like to have this for a treat once a week. do some of you include this in your shopping budget? Or does it come out of another budget? I do try to be OS but we like a treat and this is it i know i'm fortunate to be able to do this so please don't shout at me, thanks
p.s. what about alcohol? or am i the only sociable drinker?

It's up to you if you want to include them or not. I think if you want to cut down on the amount of takeaways then including them in your GC budget is a good way to do that, but if you're happy with having them once a week then maybe a seperate takeaway/meals out budget would be more appropriate. The same applies with the alcohol - do what suits you.

I included takeaways in my GC budget to begin with as we were having them too often and I wanted to reduce them, so knowing that the money spent on takeaways was reducing the amount of money I had to buy groceries helped me to cut them out. Now if we have takeaways its because OH wants them so I make him pay for them

HTH
Nikki
x

PS No one here will shout at ya - we're a very friendly bunch on the GC thread and we all accept that everyone's situation is different. If you look on the first page of the thread you will see the list of everyones budgets - There is a massive variance on this starting from I think £30/month to up to £600/month. Everyone is welcome.

Flylady_Flower

maz123 wrote: »

Evening all,
can i ask what is probably an obvious question, do you include takeaways in your budget? I understand for some that this is prob a swear word but we do like to have this for a treat once a week. do some of you include this in your shopping budget? Or does it come out of another budget? I do try to be OS but we like a treat and this is it i know i'm fortunate to be able to do this so please don't shout at me, thanks
p.s. what about alcohol? or am i the only sociable drinker?

Hi Maz,
No not an obvious question really as everyone differs. I include takeaways in my grocery shopping as I try not to have any now (we virtually lived off them!:eek: ). But the odd bag of chips just calls to me sometimes, so I include it:o .

I have a separate budget for 'socialising' as I call it (getting p**d is another name, hehe). We try to stick to both as much as possible and the socialising budget is always the one to go first if its needed:( .

If you know you spend £15 a week or so on takeaways then you could include it in your GC budget and maybe now and again try to save it by making your own pizza or fried chicken, etc., I know my kids enjoy helping me when we do that - DS loves adding the toppings to pizza and we all enjoy eating them! (I don't make my own base, I usually buy it, but am hoping to give it a go soon!).

Hope that helps, Denise

angelatgraceland

I include takeaways but not restaurant meals. Both are rarities for me. I only count food-nothing else whatsoever-no cleaning stuff or alcohol-just the food. Thats why I can set mine lower than some other people. As angelnikki says-its a personal thing-its up to you-whatever will suit you best. Ive set mine separate because I want to target each area separately and when I put it all together I didnt know whether the extra was being spent on d.i.y,cleaning,clothes or food. That is why i do food only-so I know.
Ive set up a spreadsheet I fill out weekly with different sections on it. Food,clothes,fuel,toiletries and soforth. As I keep a spending diary where I note every single spend I can then add up what I have spent on what area and look at the totals I want to cut back on.

Had a nospend day today so Im under budget again this week.

Flylady_Flower

MRS M - Just wanted to say a big Thank You for the bread recipie.

Two loaves made in oven after letting BM do the dough and they look great - Hubby has taste tested (he says it's his new job:D ) and the response in his words - 'it's bl**dy lovely' - Job done!:beer:

Flylady_Flower

angelatgraceland wrote: »

I include takeaways but not restaurant meals. Both are rarities for me. I only count food-nothing else whatsoever-no cleaning stuff or alcohol-just the food. Thats why I can set mine lower than some other people. As angelnikki says-its a personal thing-its up to you-whatever will suit you best. Ive set mine separate because I want to target each area separately and when I put it all together I didnt know whether the extra was being spent on d.i.y,cleaning,clothes or food. That is why i do food only-so I know.
Ive set up a spreadsheet I fill out weekly with different sections on it. Food,clothes,fuel,toiletries and soforth. As I keep a spending diary where I note every single spend I can then add up what I have spent on what area and look at the totals I want to cut back on.

Had a nospend day today so Im under budget again this week.

That's a really good idea angelatgraceland,
I'm a sucker for spreadsheets anyway, mmmm, something to think about....

SEASHELL

Had another NSD for me yesterday.My dd was'nt to well so we did'nt leave the house all day ,she's not sleeping too well tonight ,thats why I'm sitting here at my pc with my eyes half closed waiting for her to wake up again

Frugaldom

Late night update and I haven't caught up with the thread yet, so apologies if someone has already grumbled about this... MILK'S GONE UP AGAIN!! :mad:

I popped into Co-op with my £2 to pick up a £1.99 carton and it's now £2.09, so I'd to buy the 2 litre carton instead, which was up to £1.42! I also picked up a half price loaf (45p!) because I've been so busy in the garden I doubt very much anyone would eat the bread if I took the time to bake it - not with these hands kneading the dough! :eek: :rotfl:

On the plus side, the first week of June has almost gone and I've only had to spend a total of £3.86

Confused_Newbie

Hi Folks

Know its kinda late so not expecting a reply tonight!

Going to try very hard to stay away from the shops tomorrow (saturday is usually my clothes shopping day) so thought I could do some homebaking. Which might I add hubby thinks is hilarious! But hey I can try!

Anyway............was wondering if anyone has any EASY recipies that I could try out? I was trying to search for some on this thread but then I realised I have no clue what is actually easy to make! All suggestions much appreciated!

xoxox

tylersbabe

Hi Confused Newbie

One of the first things I made from here was banana bread which was really easy. Then tried the very nice twinks hob nobs, if you do make these tho they make loads and are very moreish.

Not too sure on the savory frount as am just starting to do those myself. If you want recipes will post them