June 2008 Grocery Challenge

Flylady_Flower

wpsmyth wrote: »

I have three kids, 16, 14 and 12 and was never ended forking out money for lunches, phone top ups, clothes and other 'incidentals' that drained me and my wife of ready cash.

Then along came our superhero, Martin Lewis and gave me the idea to get my hard earned cash under control. So what has this to do with packed lunches? I told my kids why we needed some cost control, shared the extent of our spending on food and other stuff and believe me it was obscene. If you haven't used it, see budget planner under free tools on the right as it really makes you think! Then I set up standing orders for each of them and their own saving accounts. They get £15 each for the boys and £10 for my youngest. This money is for clothing, top-ups, any other incidentals and school lunches. I added a condition in their favour, if they wanted to pack a lunch from what was available in the house, and I was happy to supply within reason, they could save the balance. And what do you know, two out of three are taking a packed lunch now. The middle boy buys cheap canned drinks instead of 60p from the vendor and is more careful with his money than he was with mine. They are managing their money better than before and don't make any additional demands on me. The youngest has a healthy balance in her account and is delighted with her savings. And they have discovered free text offers on their mobiles now that they are paying too.:j Don't get me wrong, they have completely stopped asking for stuff, but now I have a ready reply.

Incidently, my first very long post. I cut my shopping on food and household from over £1,000 to just over £400 in the first month, April. The level of waste was embarrassing.

What a fantastic idea, well done, plus it never hurts to get kids used to handling money. Mine is a nightmare already at 14 - thinks it grows on trees - might try something similar (although may need to keep the card for a couple of [STRIKE]weeks[/STRIKE] months until he's 'calmed down' a bit...:o )

Lula-Hula

Hello everyone,

I've been posting on the DFW board for a couple of months & avidly reading this board too, but too scared to join in until now.

Although I'm managing my debts myself I have used the CCCS budget planner to sort my finances out & their suggestion is that I should be spending £200 a month on food, toiletries & cleaning products for myself & 8 yr old DD. I've kept all my receipts from May & so far have spent £229.97.

Before you all gasp in horror I'll admit that before my LBM I was a frequent visitor to Waitrose & was averaging £80 a week largely due to parking there for free while I went to the gym 3 x a week. I have now seen the error of my ways ( & why I have nasty credit card debts) & given up both the gym & Waitrose.

I now go to tesco as I have to drive past to deliver to a customer once a week & always take advantage of any bogofs for stuff like toothpaste & loo rolls etc. For any extras I use the local co op which we walk to.

I usually withdraw £50 a week (wages & tax credits paid weekly) to do the shopping but would really like to cut this down.

For cleaning stuff I always use ecover & prefer to buy organic or fairtrade products where I can. DD is a fruit bat - house rule is that she can eat as much fruit as she likes - & although we have an allotment & a good supply of seasonal veg & some fruit I find it hard to keep up with her voracious appetite for strawberries, kiwis & the like !

I would really appreciate any suggestions as to how I can cut costs &/or whether my weekly budget of £50 is reasonable or outrageous !

Thanks

Lula

mrssnowy_2

Gosh this thread has really moved.
Great to see so many newbies here,welcome all,eat better and save a lot!
Not working now for 2 weeks,:j well nearly 3.:rotfl:
I can now catch up with stuff at home,after holiday in ,hopefully,sunny Cornwall.

J

lil_me

Following on from what wpsmyth said - When I was at home and at school (over 15 years ago now) I was given the family allowance for me each week (was divided between me and my sister equally) this was for - clothes (apart from school uniform but if I wanted a trendy shirt/skirt I had to buy it) dinner money (so that of course made me find things in the house to take within reason) and anything else I wanted. As an example bus to school was 40p, if I walked I saved 40p. It was my suggestion, then discussed with my parents. I think it was one of the best things my parents ever did for me.

When I started work (14 did a few hours, 15 did more, by 16 was doing 16-20 hours a week when at college) I gave my parents 1/3 of what I earned as board. When I was working full time this still applied. Some months they had £400-£500 from me (I also usually bought most of my own food), occasionally more as I was working several jobs but I offered this amount and was happy to do so as I was paying my way and getting more ready for real life.

SAVVYMUMMY_2

Good morning everyone:hello:
Have decided to come over from the May challenge, as I have already started on my June budget:o. Had to buy large sack of potatoes and an enormous net bag of onions, so dipped into my june budget as these will carry me well into june.

Tried MrsM soft flour totillas for the first time last night and they were a winner, so many thanks to you MrsM:T :T . OH likes to take tortilla wraps sometime instead of sarnies to work, so this will save me alot.

Thread is moving very very very fast, already 9 pages. Managed to cut some of the outer leaves of my lettaces last night for a salad, was great just to pop down to the garden and pick my own lettace and taste soooo much better, but will have to wait until the rest of the lettaces grow before attacking them again .

Have done a meal plan and shopping list for the month, so might go shopping today and hopefully stick to my plan, which i`m determined to do:rolleyes: .

mrs-moneypenny

MrsMc you obviously have more faith in me than i have, i noticed you've already put me down to manage june on £200 i'm afraid that aint going to happen without going seriously over budget:p . I think a more realistic figure for me will be £500 please.

i will try mouch harder this month i promise

mandy_moo_1

morning all :wave:
wow !! i can't believe how fast this thread is going already

Welcome to all the newbies



edit.......doh!! i pressed the wrong button and posted this part of my msg by accident! sorry for double post!

mandy_moo_1

morning all :wave:
wow !! i can't believe how fast this thread is going already

Welcome to all the newbies :hello: you'll learn so much on here, what with all the tips and recipes everyone shares

i'm hoping i only need mushrooms today, oh and some more milk to stick in the freezer...Mr S's vouchers run out tomorrow so then it'll be back to paying full price again!

i had an awful disaster in the kitchen yesterday ..... i made the yogurt cake where you measure all the ingredients in the yogurt pot, but like an idiot, i decided to add a couple of tsps of baking powder, thinking it would make it rise a bit more......well, it did that alright........it exploded all over the inside of the flippin oven :mad: i've had to leave the cleaning till today, cos the oven needed to cool down, so i've got that lovely job to look forward to!! so my tip of the day is.....don't add baking powder to the yogurt cake :rotfl:

got some chicken out of the freezer to make a chicken sweet&sour for tea....its my fave meal at the mo, i could eat it every day!

well hope everyone has a good day xx

MRSMCAWBER

mrs-moneypenny wrote: »

MrsMc you obviously have more faith in me than i have, i noticed you've already put me down to manage june on £200 i'm afraid that aint going to happen without going seriously over budget:p . I think a more realistic figure for me will be £500 please.

i will try mouch harder this month i promise

Go on..have a go -you know you want to
Sorry about that...I seem to do 1 every month where my brain reduces someones budget never by THAT much though... Don't know if i have missed someone..as i had even written £200 down
I will go and put you back to £500

SavvyMummy.. glad you like the tortillas.. my hubby likes to take them instead of sandwiches sometimes too... its great -especially when you pay over €3 for a basic filled one in the Naffi :eek: ....hubby takes 4

mumzyof2

Good Morning all, I have a Asda delivery coming tonight which is £26 something but as I have said before I am not paying for this - my Mum is. Would people count this in there challenge if someone else has bought your shopping?
I am on course till friday 10-2.30 so i wont be spending much and deffo not on food. I have decided to quit smoking so im glad I have loads of goodies coming tonight. so i can munch munch!!!
Yesterday i made the chelsea buns and there gorge so thankyou very much Jay Jay today i will make hobnobs if im not too tired as only had 5 hours sleep.
Hope everyone has a good day. Hugs to all that need them