November 2008 Grocery Challenge

squeaky · 12 November 2008 at 5:10PM

Even if you are not in debt, when money is tight you might like to take a look at the DFW board too:- Debt-Free Wannabe because it's full of advice on how to manage whole budgets and your total expenditure.

Ideally, once you've got your main debits and expenditure such as utilities sorted, you then pop back here where Old Style is absolutely the place to make the best of what money you have left

mummy2mygirls · 12 November 2008 at 5:12PM

well didnt do to well today already and still need more milk and bread (even though the milk man comes in the morning but being pregnant is giving me horrible heartburn so cant wait till morning!!!) also got to big packs of maryland cookies today as i just couldnt resist from the £shop, they were yummy with my tea (not all of them obviously) do you think i can blame being pg for that aswell?????:D

angelatgraceland · 12 November 2008 at 5:18PM

Not been around much as Ive been busy with family but still keeping a watch on the budget! DH told me to stop writing things down today! Not on your Nellie!
First week of Nov food spend was £41.57 so have over £23 left from week 1. Spends so far this week:£44.63 Still using up the soup I froze last week-it has lasted well. Bought about 8 packets of sliced chicken for 10p per pack the other night so its been sliced chicken with everything and quite a few sarnies. Not sure what I fancy tonight-maybe I will treat us to the salmon en-croute I bought for a treat. I'd better hurry and cook it though before hubby leaves for nightshift. Noticed most people are bringing in their own lunches to work now-mine was hm soup and baked potatoes yesterday with some grated cheese as I could do that in the micro. Had people asking what the lovely smell was!

OddjobKIA · 12 November 2008 at 5:28PM

No 1

DH isnt working for £20 a week he is working for 3 kids a home and bills etc etc etc are a part of it...

Before Mrs OJ and me swapped working I was lucky to get £20 a month that I could call my own...but I wanted children and they come with costs..

As for the costs..

£24.75 divided by 5 diveded by 3 = £1.65 a meal thats not to bad to know that your child has had a hot meal inside them so if in the evening you are running around like the preverbial blue &£$ed Fly..you can get away with giving them a sandwich for an evening meal once in a blue moon..

Just to let you know..Ther are 6 of us Me MRS OJ DDage10 DS age7 DDage3 DDage 1.5...

our food bill is around the £80 mark a week and other costs too...but thats what we work for isnt it...WE had our time enjoying ourselves in our late teens its now time to pay for our kids enjoyment...

the_cat · 12 November 2008 at 5:43PM

The quickest way to reduce your cash spend per week would be to take out less in the beginning. Not meaning to sound flippant, it's just that you seem to have cash 'leaking' and I think it would concentrate your efforts much more if there was less 'in the pot' and you could see it dwindling down.

Perhaps if you think you only need say £100 for food, get £50 less out in cash. By the end of the month if you have both managed to stick to it you will have an extra £200. Perhaps you could dangle the carrot of some extra money/a treat each from this to OH. That way he will hopefully see it as there being something in it for him too

angelavdavis · 12 November 2008 at 6:48PM

Hi Keld,

As Squeaky has suggested, the DFW board will definitely help you out here.

Having been through the DFW journey and out the other side

I can say that it hurts no one to keep a spending diary for a few weeks to really see where your pennies are going - for example, I discovered that I was spending nearly £75 per month on coffees/teas/lunches at work - that is £900 per year - a holiday!!

Going back to Old Style money savers - why not make some HM soup and put in a flask for the kids to take to school a couple of days per week, with a roll? In addition, if you buy wide necked flasks, you can give them tinned spaghetti, baked beans with chopped frankfurters/cooked potato wedges, Chilli con carne with rice, spaghetti bolognaise, etc. Saving almost £25 per week for a few weeks will soon mount up and you can be sure they are eating healthy like this!

I think keeping track of spending through a diary will prove invaluable to you - it really does open your eyes!

kindlesgirl · 12 November 2008 at 8:38PM

Haven't had much time this month to lurk or post! Still watching what I do but must be more careful about writing down F & V and meat which I don't get receipts for or I'll forget. I'm still hunting those whoopsies and being careful about what I buy by making sure I menu plan. Trying to remmeber to print off coupons too -they really add up! Will update sig at the end of the week after a shop.
Take care one and all
Kindles

Flat_Eric · 12 November 2008 at 8:51PM

ok its day 12 of the month and Ive finally sat down and worked out my food spend so far. this amounts to £278.05 :eek: when my budget was meant to be only £201!!

The sum of £278.05 doesnt include the tesco delivery ive had today (bill still at my mother in laws).

This figure also includes £25.52 spent at morrisons today somewhat unnecessarily. i.e I didnt actually need anything but as its a supermarket I dont usually shop at and I had the opportunity to go there I made the most of it.

Im still making the mistake of asking me/ my OH the question of what do we fancy/what do we want for tea rather than this is what we have in the house - what shall we make with it.

The spend also includes alcohol (brandy, vodka, box of wine, tub of celebration chocs bought for xmas) so I suppose its not as bad as it appears although I can say for certain that over £10 was spent on steak on saturday which was bought because "that was what I fancied" yet its still in my fridge uneaten!!! I could have got the steak much cheaper (mr sainsbugs had run out of the sirloin that was on offer) so stupid me paid full price for the rump with the intention that it was eaten that evening. I also got suckered into the dine in for 2 £10 m&s deal so another £10 spent that i could have saved.

both my freezers need defrosting but are so full I cant do this at the moment.

Im enjoying the learning curve though and know that I will get it cracked sometime!

candygirl · 12 November 2008 at 8:54PM

Spent £5 today on bread n stuff, so still on target for this month.Am batch cooking for the freezer tomoz to keep costs down, prob lots of curries and soups:D

frugalswan · 12 November 2008 at 9:23PM

Another £6.29 spent today, but I managed to find 2 packs of RTC chicken breasts at £1.75 each for 4 breasts, and I've split them down and put them into the freezer. Also got some tins of tomatoes (in the hope they were cheaper at a different supermarket, wrong) and some other bits and bobs. I really have to stop buying energy drinks though *sigh* Even the cheapy cheapy ones are probably not that good for me, so I need to stop!

Still, I'm amending my sig now to £72.04 spent.

November 2008 Grocery Challenge - Page 49

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November 2008 Grocery Challenge

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