June 2008 Grocery Challenge

cdg1111

The CCCS have given me a budget of £445 per month for two adults, two teenagers and two cats. That is the budget but I would be delighted if we got it under £300 as this is the first month.

Will definitely get planting those seeds for salads etc if it is not too late.

Good luck everybody!!

wpsmyth

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.

GFN123

Hello all

Well, May went very over budget at £161 out of £120, so I'm going to try really hard this month, I have so many other bits that I need to pay for and groceries are the only thing I can cut back on.

Please put me down for £120 for June - I will manage this time!!

Good luck to fellow GCers

ladyroughneck

Hi another newbie here, i've been 'lurking' on the GC threads for some time and have finally decided to take the plunge! Please put me down for £170 for me and 2 teenagers, with DP and his son eating here 3 or 4 times a week!

mama67

Had some bananas that needed using up and some blueberries I bought to make DS1 some muffins with, so I made a combined one leaving out equivalent of blueberries in bananas if that makes sense.

Look and smell delish, so will get verdict when I fetch him home from football.

Scenic_Route

May I join in too please? My budget for June is £150 for me, the cat (has to be whiskas in gravy but will eat any brand of dry cat food ) and my bloke (who only eats with me half the week).

Thanks!

Tashja

Time I jumped over to here too !!!

I still have 13 days left to go of my monthly challenge so should be able to do this !!

Will need to go to the shops tonight but hoping I won't need too much

Congratulations to Merfe xx xx another little OS'er on the way !!!

T xx

boredofbeingathome

Hi I am in for £200 again. Thankyou. Bob x

Moniker

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.

I decided that when my DDs went to secondary school they should learn to budget properly, so I worked out what it cost me over a year for clothes and treats etc and divided it by 12 and paid them a monthly allowance direct to their bank accounts. I paid for essentials like school uniform and school trips that were exam related but they paid for everything else out of their own money. It seems to have worked well as althougth they both had to take student loans whilst at uni neither had an overdraft or credit card or any other debt. I think it's really important to teach kids the real value of things so well done for taking a stand on this!

I am already in for June -my month starts tomorrow. Good luck everyone and welcome to the newbies!

Love Moniker

shelley1977

hi,can i be down for £230 this month.still got to finish up may total tomorrow. this will cover food,cleaning stuff and toiletries for myself and my 5 children.thank you