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December 2008 Grocery Challenge

5K views 68 replies 41 participants last post by  kestrel91316 
#1 ·
Well I really blew last months grocery budget. I will try again this month including everything, even out to eat. I am going to raise the budgetted amount $80 though to $400. I've dropped my gas budget from $320 to $200 though so even with upping the grocery spending I am still up $40. Out to eat shouldn'tt really be a problem this month. There are however, the holidays to consider.
Good Luck all!!!
 
#5 ·
$320 for the 3 of us. BUT I am going to do some stockpiling with quite a bit of it. We are also running thru EVERYTHING in our freezer first. The only thing I will buy before we empty freezer is meat if we find deals. Well, I will get some veggies and stuff like that - DUH!

We won't get our $320 food stamps until the 12th, but we have enough meat to last till after that time.
 
#6 ·
I am going to join in my first grocery challenge! It's $400 for my family of 5.
 
#9 ·
I'm going to be in on this one! I seem to be all over the place with my grocery budget, but did well last month after raising it to £100/month for me, FDH and kitty, addedd LOTS to the sotckpile too.

For my December groceries, my budget is £120. This will include extravagent snacks and goodies for FDH and I when we go away for a couple of days for our first Christmas Eve/Day on our own...:smooch: I feel it's better to raise my grocery budget for one month only and include those things in it, then stick to the previous budget of £100 and then blow loads on the goodies cos' it's not part of the budget, it doesn't matter!' If that makes sense...:duck:

Good luck everyone!
 
#10 ·
I'm in for another $400 this month.

We are going out of town for Christmas, so we won't be eating here at least five days out of the month. I want to cushion those five days and buy the same amount I bought last month. We realized we were struggling with meals because of eating out of the stockpile, plus the burn element in the oven went out earlier this week. We're fixing that element, though, this weekend.

Last month was good, only went over by $3. I had a few non-grocery buys (like a new spice rack and some other stuff) which is what took us over by $3. I plan on a meal plan for the entire month that takes full advantage of frugal meals and leftovers more than I did last month.

I'm in! :D
 
#12 ·
I'm in again also, for the usual $300. I still have $150 to go this month. I'm getting so stocked up I'm finding it harder to spend my whole budget which is what I hope to accomplish by the end of next month. I'd love to just have to pick up milk or some little odd/end thing.

Cat
 
#13 ·
I'm in for $300. I will do my big grocery shopping next week and we need a lot.
 
#14 ·
I'm up for a challenge!

$300 -- while still adding to a stockpile.
 
#15 ·
$430 for us...
I figure with each month, we can only get better at this.
 
#16 ·
O.K. I'm in for my first food challenge. I have budgeted $450 this moth for the 4 of us. (I have my Christmas part this month) I blew my budget last month due to Thanksgiving. I'm sure that I can do it this month.

:yippee:

Food Challenge: $0/$450
 
#17 ·
I am in for $450 this month (that is $25 per person x 4 people a week) and a large dog. Christmas is also at my house this year but I dont think i will be doing much cooking.
 
#18 ·
I'm in for my usual $400 for a family of 4, 5 large dogs, and 3 indoor cats. I'm really shooting for lower if possible though, since any extra saved out of the grocery budget will go towards the kids' christmas.
 
#19 ·
I've been bad and not even kept up with totals in November. I am going for $600 for December--food, hba and animals. Does not count eating out.

We have 4 at home and ds and his gf who will be eating with us some this month. We have a birthday as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner to buy for.
 
#21 ·
Well I know it's not technically Dec. yet but I was just getting ahead on the grocery shopping by going out yesterday so my first run cost us $82.69. We have multiple birthday's too this month with DS#2 and DH both included in that list. We'll have Christmas dinner at mom's but I'll be bringing some of it and we'll have a Christmas Eve open house here, not to mention, hosting a hold-em tournament for about 35- 40 where I feed everyone next weekend. I have't figured out how I'm going to work the money for this piece with the grocery budget though since most of the guys give me a few bucks each toward food because of what I'll cook for them. Maybe I'll just include it in the begginning and then subtract what I use that ends up paid for. :scratch: I'll just put it all down for now.

Also, I'd like to say I'm going to try and post more frequently, and more detailed this month on this thread. I thought about joining the $25 week/person thread but know I won't get all my menus listed and so forth so I'll just try to be a little more detailed here with what I'm useing and what I'm stockpiling. This will be a more expensive month for us (food wise) because of everything going on but as long as we keep the eating out under control the $400 for the month shouldn't be any problem for us.

---- 2 dogs
-----1 cat
-----some fish ( I guess they don't really count though since they've been eating the same food for over a year lol)
-----2 adults
-----2 bottomless pits

~ 2 Large gatherings here
~ 2 small gatherings hosted here
~ overnight company for at least 3 or 4 days this month
~ the baking and several dishes to mom's for Christmas
~ homemade edible Christmas gifts
 
#22 ·
Ok now for what I got for the $82.69
M=probably will use this month
S=stockpile (probably have this item already if I need it I'll pull from the pile)

~ 2, 2 liter's diet coke M
~ 9 lbs of various types of cheese - mostly M but hope to S some
~ 4 lbs of cream cheese S
~ 2 turkeys 18ish lbs each M - S
~ 1 lb sausage M
~ 1 box saltines S
~ 3 pints fresh blackberries M
~ 1 loaf bread M
~ 2 lbs fr. spinach M - S
~ 3 lbs fr. brussel sprouts M - S
~ 2 lbs fr. peppers M
~ 2 lbs fr. mixed veggies M
~ 2 lbs fr. hash browns S
~ 3 lbs. fr, broccoli S
~ 10 lbs potatoes M
~ 1 gal skim milk M
~ 8 ref, pie crusts M - S
~ 2 jars of red rasberry preserves S
~ 2 jars of blackberry preserves S
~ 1 large jar of stawberry jam M
~ 2 jars marmalade M - S
~ 2 dozen eggs M
~ 4 lbs of margerine M


It doesn't look like such a long list when they're grouped like that. The turkeys alone will give us lots of meals and cheese has been really expensive. The cheese was over $25 of what I spent but there should be enough (other than still picking up ricotta) to get me through the cooking and cheese trays for everything I need them for this month and I don't think I was going to run across it at a better deal.
 
#30 ·
Nomad, considering what you bought I think you did really good. Just between the turkeys, cheeses, and jarred preserves, marmalades, & jam, I'd say you really couldn't do much or any better anyway. And like you said, those turkeys will give you lots of meals. You definetely got your money's worth on that trip. I hate it when it happens, but sometimes we just HAVE TO buy things that cost a little more than we like. :(

Theresa :)
 
#23 ·
I'm in for $350 for the 4 of us and the dog. My stockpile has reached epic proportions and I think I need to spend the next few months working our way through a lot of this stuff. Christmas dinner will be at my mother's, so I don't need to budget for that. I'm really hoping to keep the actual total far below my goal, so we'll see.
 
#25 ·
I am in for 500 for December. This will include 100 for a holiday dinner I am hosting. 50 for baking supplies. 50 for stockpile items. 300 for normal grocery purchases. Hopefully, I will be under on the normal purchases and will put the excess to either debt or additional stockpile items.
 
#26 ·
OK. Family of three and one kitty. $300 goal
I will try to make this include HBA and stockpile also. I too have a large stockpile to go through (especially frozen). I will probably pick up some items for holiday gatherings, but not much. I also have baked good presents to do, but have bought most of my expensive spices.
 
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