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November 2008 Grocery Challenge
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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
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!
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...
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
As Squeaky has suggested, the DFW board will definitely help you out here.
Having been through the DFW journey and out the other side
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!
Take care one and all
Kindles
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!
(Kabat-Zinn 2004):D:D:D
Still, I'm amending my sig now to £72.04 spent.