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Pink.
Posts: 17,675 Forumite
Hello everyone,
Welcome to the third Grocery Challenge of 2008. :hello: Where is the time going?
If your new month starts early feel free to join this thread, or if you're still working on your February budget, then keep on posting in the February Grocery Challenge.
As always this challenge is to reduce your own grocery budget to levels that you will be pleased with, not forgetting that we always recommend that you stay inside your own comfort levels and take things gently one step at a time. Remember that this is not a competition....it's designed to take you and your grocery spending to a level you are happy with.
If you are new to the challenge I have quoted the advice from Galtizz below which will help you get started.
Please post into this thread for help and advice and support at any time. Good luck to everyone taking part!
I hope it's a good month for everyone!
Pink
Welcome to the third Grocery Challenge of 2008. :hello: Where is the time going?
If your new month starts early feel free to join this thread, or if you're still working on your February budget, then keep on posting in the February Grocery Challenge.
As always this challenge is to reduce your own grocery budget to levels that you will be pleased with, not forgetting that we always recommend that you stay inside your own comfort levels and take things gently one step at a time. Remember that this is not a competition....it's designed to take you and your grocery spending to a level you are happy with.
If you are new to the challenge I have quoted the advice from Galtizz below which will help you get started.
Please post into this thread for help and advice and support at any time. Good luck to everyone taking part!
Originally Posted by Galtizz
I have said this before, but for all the newbies to the challenge;
For the first month I took a guess at the budget but I really had no idea how much I was spending.
I found the best thing is to have a guess the first month but SAVE ALL OF YOUR RECEIPTS (and yes, that does include the ones from the local shop when you run out of milk ), then at the end of the month add them all up and have a look if you were on budget, if not, it doesn't matter because your budget was a guess. For the next month you can use the total of your receipts and take a bit off to get a realistic budget, just shave off as much as you think you can, it could be £1 a week or £20 a week.
If you are currently spending £200 a month don't suddenly drop it to £100 - you'll never do it but if you cut £20 a month off for a few months you'll get there eventually without feeling you're missing out on anything.
You might think you've done everything you can in the first month but someone always comes up with a new idea and, if you try it you often find you save a bit more (unless you are SarahSaver who is an expert at this and could only save more if she turned her back garden into a paddy field and lived on rice ) In the first month I thought, I'm planning meals, I couldn't possibly save any more, but then I started double cooking and freezing, and making soup instead of buying it in tins.
I've been doing this since Feb but only saved ALL of my receipts last month, it has given me a much better idea of where it is all going. Budget for next month is £80 for 2 of us, I'll start on 30/4. I could probably save more, by eating different foods but I can afford to live on £80, I have saved a lot of money since Feb. and I don't waste food or money any more. So I'm happy with my budget.
I hope it's a good month for everyone!
Pink
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Comments
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Woohoo :j a shiny new thread!
I start tomorrow with £200.00 so £50 per week-ish. Got to stock up on toiletries and also buy the stuff for starting to make my own cleaning stuff, plus i used a lot out of the freezer and cupboards last month so things will need replacing.
Looking foward to the challenge, i really enjoyed Feb's
Good luck all!
Kate xxx0 -
Here we go folks :j
Alli_baba2 £300 £205.39
AngelNikki £320 £266.87
Angelraesunshine £250
annie123 £325
Annifranakapan £300
Atalanta £350
aytch £200
BabyMother £350
bails £160 £136.35
bebee £240
Becky2 £90
belfastgirl23 £130 £152.67
Betterlatethannever £98
BigMummaF £350 £311.96
Bobbykins £225 £230.35
boredofbeingathome £180 £240
brummiebabe £340
Buster Ollie £300
Candygirl £120 £117.90
carolt2 £180 £178.12
Casper the friendly ghost £40 £39.08
cheerfulness4 £135 £153.14
Cherrypie556 £250
chewy62 £300
chicken pie £160 £206.70
Choosy £150
Cleosmum £200 £202.35
Clockwatcher £100
clowel £350
craftycrofty £240
curly cabbage £130
DamnCat £150
Danni £80
dawnylou £200
DdraigGoch £310
Debbiedebt £200
December £150
Decla £220
Desperate Housewife £250
Diane_239 £250
dinx1972 £310 £362.23
Disdisbiff £300
Donna73 £140
earthmother £175
EC12345 £180 £181.23
egon £230 £230.27
Ess-six £240 £223.31
EverTheOptimist £100 £95.83
fallen angel shelley£170 £121.04
Fi27 £300
Finding my feet £320-400 £418.29
frankerooney £180 £179.02
frazzmunch £150
funkyfunkymonkey £250 £246.65
galacticgreen £200 £199.72
Gemmzie £380
Getting sorted Sarah £200 £202.51
Girl least likely to £200 £199.37
hk_Chick £120
Holllysan £300
Icandream £270 £268.12
Ilovebooks £240 £225.78
Intheblackfinally £400
InTheRed £200
Iremembersleep $100
Irish Mom €250
irishwexford £150
Iwilldoitthistime £200
izoomzoom £200 £206.92
jackie_w £250 153.99
jackiegibbo £200 £216.96
Jacks xxx £250 £248.01
jacquij123 £
JAMIEDODGER £
Jammygal £
JaneRyan £200
Jayjay14 £200 £198.03
JayneC £240 £267.67
JemimaP £100
Jessie18 £450
Jo101 £180
Jo1972 £300
JoJoB £160
jtb2412 £300
Justamum £300
Kaz2904 £150
Kazmeister £250
Keiss 21 £400 £560.68
Kitty £264 £295.84 + pets £38.85
kittynortheast £350
KiwiKaz £280
kiwi88 £300
kj*daisy £260
kunekune £500
lainz £80 £76.21
lauradora £40
Lemon Tree £100
lindsaygalaxy £200
LilacPixie £200
lil_me £240
lil monkey £200
lilmisskitkat £200
Lingojingo £200 £159.97
Little_Belle £250
Little Miss Naughty £200
Looby Lou £100
Magni £200
mama67 £160 £163.98
Mark88man £800 £723
Marru £155
meanmarie €350 €350
MERFE £175
mhe £200 £250
miecherox £250
mikeD £230 £258
Minibudgetgal £250 £270
miserly_mum £230
Miss_Olive £200
mithuingiel £200
mk wotsit £300
Mollymop5 £150
MoneySav3r £170
Moniker £260 £275.65
mookybargirl £160
Mooloo £290 £326.33
Mortgagefreeforme £ 250 £248.97
Mouche £100
Mrs Bartolozzi £220 £200
Mrs.Irwin £250 £271.63
mrs-moneypenny £400
Mrs Pokemon £300
mrssnowy £200 £199.58
Mrsmcawber €50 €37.25
MSHAWX £150 £189.68
mummygems £ 250 £315
MummyLeads £350
Mumtoomany £217 £233.24
mumzyof2 £100 £70.53
natzini £120
newlywed £250
Nicnacnoo £200
Nimbo £200
nopot2pin £120 £114.62
nykmedia £100 £99.52
oldMcDonald £280 £254.58
Patches41048 £200
patentgirl £240
pigpen £550
poohbear59 £200
Purple_Sparkles £100
purplevamp £300 £298.39
Queen_B £180
rachelmk £100 £91.15
Rainbowbrite £200
razra £80 £75.53
redmel1621 £300
Redspecs £200
redsquirrel80 £45
rockie4 £150
rosieben £20
Rosie-Marie £200
Sashanut £200
Sassamac £120
Sassy cat £175
Saver03 £100
Saving for a rainy day £200
Savingfortravel £200 £55.45
Scotsaver £300 £277.94
Sealady £350
Searching_me £200
ShelleyC £200
Shelly29 £250
shelovestobuystuff £250 £225.22
singlemum £180
Skint_Catt £175
skintas £180
skintscotslass £120
Snowball2103 £200 £200.06
SunnyDay £160 £159.09
suzialwaysbroke £350 £383.07
Suzy Qu £275
tattycath £200 £195
teedy23 £30 £28.96
the_cat £200
theamazinggem £160
TheBees £325
Toniwoty2009 £250
tru £250
TurnaroundSue £250
UKroseblue £160
VickyA £120
waddy80 £120 £132.18
Watchingthepennies £350
Weemissy £200
Weezl74 £45 ...spends from Jan-Mar £130.25
Wendy24g £250 £253.08
willow girl £160 £135.99
witchmabel £175
wmf £220
Zcc72 £160
Zend £150
Weekly
Anychance £100
Budgetaddict £55
cuddlymarm £50
Kitty £75-80
OberonSH £50
Platinum Horse £50-6 -8 -3 -1.5 -2.5 -3 -1.5-3.50 -
Hi MrsM
Could you please put me down for £130 for March although I'm a bit dubious since I feel I don't really have a grip on what the month will entail for us ... still best to have a target of some sort.
Good luck to everyone.0 -
Yipeeeee :j
And we got the list on the 1st page..nice and easy to find ..phew...
Well i have just done my 1st shop for the 1st week of March and have spent the princely sum of €8.49 :rotfl: and that should be us done until next week :T oh apart from anothe kilo of carrots if hubby decides to munch on them
I got :-
2 kilo apples
2 kilo oranges
1 kilo carrots
iceberg
tomatoes
cucumber
1kilo red onions
a HUGE red pepper
8 cherry yoghurts
and a bag of plain flour -so i don't run low for the tortillas
Everything else i need I have in the fridge/freezer/cupboards :j
So as my budget is €50... my 1st week is under budget..lets see if that lasts shall we .... its only me that eats the fruit n yogs... so i will try and show some restraint
Have a great month everyone-6 -8 -3 -1.5 -2.5 -3 -1.5-3.50 -
Wow there's a lot of us now isn't there! Good luck everyone.Grippy is my middle name!0
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Hi everyone!
Please can you put me down for £250 again for this month? I overspent by £20 last month so I'm going to keep it at £250. Having said that I have already spent £99.81 (aaargh!) as I cam across loads of reduced legs of lamb in Sainsburys so I bagged the lot when I did my shopping yesterday.
I usually go to Lidl/Aldi/Asda and bits from farmers market and veg box deliverys but this month I'm just doing small weekly shops and eating more veggie meals, pulses, lentils, pasta etc.
I tried the Sainsbury's own cornflakes yesterday and they are great at 29p a big box! I find their toilet roll and powdered milk the cheapest around at the mo too. Their own range seems fine.
Good luck everyone!Save £12k in 2012 no.49 £10,250/£12,000
Save £12k in 2013 no.34 £11,800/£12,000
'How much can you save' thread = £7,050
Total=£29,100
Mfi3 no. 88: Balance Jan '06 = £63,000. :mad:
Balance 23.11.09 = £nil.0 -
Hello Everyone!
Well failed the Feb challenge by being £50 over.
But this month have renewed enthuisiam and have completed my first monthly meal plan!
first order for Mr T £107, which should be all the staple stuff/dried/meats for freezer.
So mark me down for £200 this month please!
InTheRed xFebruary Grocery Challenge 262.50/250.00 - overspend - oh no!
March GC 0/300.00
Weight loss goal - lose 14 lbs by May 18th 2016 - so far 3 lbs lost0 -
Ok, can I join this month please???
Could you put me down for £375. Thats for 2 adults , 4 children and 1 dog..
Thanks0 -
Right, since I fail every single month :rolleyes:
My new theory is £40 a week plus one £40 internet shop (which I've just ordered).
But, since I stuff up every time, I will also allow myself a £50 "buffer" which I can then hopefully reduce in later months
So for this month - can you put me down for £250 and hopefully I'll get there :rolleyes:
It's for all food,toiletries and household stuff for 2 adults + 2 kids half the weekworking on clearing the clutterDo I want the stuff or the space?0 -
Did I say £240? Ok well that's a challenge and I will try my bestestest to stick to it. I didn't manage it last month but we did also go out for DPs birthday which I haddn't budgetted for. It's a 5 week month for me so that's going to mean a serious tightening of the old purse strings. I am sure with a bit of extra will power I can manage it. My budget as always is for 2 adults, 2 boys, 2 dogs, lizard, hedgehog and fishies all meals (that inc pet food, packed lunches etc etc) toiletries and cleaning products including meals out/takeaways etc.
Suppose I should update my signature, I won't be posting every spend I make as I think it'll be easier to keep up with it on spendingdiary so as not to clutter up the thread with too many of my ramblings but will hopefully keep my signature up to date ish.
Good luck everyone.One day I might be more organised...........
GC: £200
Slinkies target 2018 - another 70lb off (half way to what the NHS says) so far 25lb0
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