August 2025 Grocery Challenge

Nelliegrace

@PipneyJane Once in a while we get a brick of a loaf. It still makes good toast. DH gets better results when he activates the yeast first in a bit of tepid water until it begins to froth. If the yeast is out of date he adds the tip of a teaspoon of sugar. 

t14cy_t

hanging on to my remaing £17 like grim death!! 

PipneyJane

Nelliegrace said:

@PipneyJane Once in a while we get a brick of a loaf. It still makes good toast. DH gets better results when he activates the yeast first in a bit of tepid water until it begins to froth. If the yeast is out of date he adds the tip of a teaspoon of sugar. 

I’m pretty sure it’s not the yeast this time, @Nelliegrace.  We’ve been having issues ever since I purchased the flour last October.  The bread does rise, it does have holes in it and it smells yeasty, but it doesn’t rise as much as previously.  I normally buy 10kg bags of atta/chapati flour from the Asian aisle at the supermarket - no guarantee how much gluten is in it.  I have a strengthening additive which I bought from Lakeland years ago, I will add it next time I make bread.

I am actually wondering if the issue is the machine.  It’s 20 years old and has been heavily used since at leat 2010.  You mentioned that you replaced your bread machine.  What were the deciding factors?

We only stopped making bread regularly when L!dl started giving away free loaves after you hit the £50-spend in the L!dl+ app.  Now that they’ve switched that reward to fruit/veg, 

- Pip

Suffolk_lass

I am another who always activates the yeast first. I also make a double batch with sourdough starter mixed in. It makes a good sized loaf and six big rolls.

I popped in to the local coop yesterday for a pack of fruit and milk in a plastic carton (to take away in the campervan) and also asked them to add the transaction from last week that failed. So £31.40 added, although that included some treats last week. I didn't get an itemised receipt so I have included the reduced pizza, crisps, chocolate brownie cake and all the fresh stuff in the grocery budget. I am at £81/£200 this month, so far. I might try for £150 but I need cat litter, probably before the end of the month and that is a SM shop. Realistically, that is usually around £80 on its own

Changeyourlife25

£194.98

Spent around 20 in sainsbobs on some dinner bits and some reduced section bargains. 

3 quid in the Leedel wonky box and chicken satays. 

Finally got my dishwasher installed today! I’ll be more inclined to cook from scratch now there’s not gonna be a kitchen full of dishes. 🤣

Can anyone recommend  affordable or decent working dish washer tabs/ liquid/ salt? 

mandco

@JingsMyBucket understandable you’re worried hope your friends & family are doing ok under the circumstances 
@PipneyJane the changes to the nectar app are awful & it’s been really glitchy 1/2 the time even when you do add the offers they don’t get applied so you have to double check 

More spends to add
£39.68 in sains pretty much just on basics like bread milk t.rolls fruit/veg
£6.00 Poundland on some bottle of drink & snacks for the weekend theme park visit - refuse to pay onsite prices
£3,75 pet shop on a birthday toy   - total £49.43 and we’re pretty much out of bread & milk again already 
I think I was being too optimistic keeping the budget the same for the summer hols when I can’t come in on budget normally - barely 1/2 why through the month & nearly 70% of the budget gone     

We do have a couple of birthday meals out coming up & there will be plenty of birthday cake for snacks both of which come out of a different budget and Won’t need so much fruit/veg/gf/yogurts ect next week either which should help rein in the spends as have 2 days of bowel prep diet to follow then the dreaded prep day itself   



;

joedenise

@Changeyourlife25 - Lidl dishwasher tabs aren't bad and pretty cheap.  Alternatively look for branded on special offer.

littleacceb

Hello, wise folks. I am starting from absolute scratch here so I'm just going to say hello as we're so far through the month and join in properly next month.

I'm Becca. We're a blended family of 8 - three full-time; two four days a week; one half time (can't eat wheat, eggs, dairy or chicken) and two three days a week.

We tend to use Ocado because the local Tesco is one of those small superstores that doesn't keep as many own brand foods or bulk packages in stock, and the only other choice within ten miles is Waitrose. Everything we buy is own-brand apart from Whole Earth peanut butter, Walkers crisps and Vadasz kimchi.

I'm very fussy when it comes to buying meat - I can't stand gristle, or when a load of water leaks out as soon as you start cooking, or when chickens haven't been plucked properly and you still get feathers in the skin. So I end up spending a bit more to avoid those things. I'm happy to eat plant-based food most of the time, but the big kids in particular expect meals to be meat-centric. In fact, we've got a lot of pickiness to contend with, so meals tend to be different components (one protein, two or three veg, one starch) in the middle of the table and serve yourself. The adults and toddler tend to eat whatever leftovers there are for breakfast and/or lunch the following day.

I think this is probably a judgement-free place but I'm still feeling vulnerable admitting that over the past year our household has spent, on average, £380 per week on a combination of supermarket shopping and eating out. This needs to come down.

I look forward to learning from you all.

t14cy_t

C_J said:

Hello fellow Grocery Challengers, I love reading all your posts 

A visit to my favourite community fridge again today, £1 spent and I have:

Salad potatoes
Baking potatoes
Large red onions
Mangetout peas
Pak choi
Mushrooms
Asparagus
Broccoli
Avocado
Tomatoes (lots!)
Bananas
Ruby grapefruit
Bag of mixed baby salad leaves
Spring onions
Celery
Spinach
Red cabbage
Courgettes
Carrot
1 Pret chicken and avocado sandwich
1 Pret coronation chicken sandwich
1 large box of fresh noodles
6 duck spring rolls
1 small loaf Hovis granary sliced bread
1 small loaf Warburton's Toastie sliced bread
1 pack pikelets
3 chocolate iced doughnuts
2 pots of Oykos apple and cinnamon yogurt
2 packs plain crisps
2 Pret bircher muesli breakfast pots
1 pack Waitrose chicken souvlaki pastries
1 pack M&S chickpeas and chorizo
1 pack M&S butter beans in tomato sauce
1 litre cranberry juice
1 pack M&S barbecue cooked sliced chicken
1 pack Waitrose thin sliced Wiltshire ham
1 bouquet of white roses

The ruby grapefruit, toasted bread and bircher muesli pots will be breakfasts. The sandwiches and the three tapas dishes (souvlaki, chickpeas and butterbeans) will be for lunches in the coming few days, and I will turn the tomatoes into gazpacho using other ingredients I already have (perfect on these hot days).

I'll cook the salad potatoes and make into potato salad with the spring onions, and will use the red cabbage. carrot and onion to make some coleslaw. This, along with some of the celery, tomatoes, spinach and baby salad leaves and the ham will make a nice salad (maybe using one of the baking potatoes to make some cheeky air fried chips alongside it).

The asparagus will be made into risotto, and the stems added to the noodles/pak choi/spring onions/ mangetout/ mushrooms/courgette to make a stir fry (probably enough for two nights esp if I add a duck spring roll or two as a side dish).  A lighter dinner if it's very hot can be avocado on toast, and one of the volunteers said that the pikelets air fried and then topped with grated cheese and air fried again are delicious so I might try that one night.

Plenty of meals there, and I have enough milk, butter and eggs plus dog food to last several days so can probably keep out of the shops until after the weekend.


August total so far £39.14/£150.

love the long list of goodies...well done!!

Naturelover22

@t14cy_t how annoying about the water, is he going to live on water and not food at that amount of money.
My husband is a pepsi max obsessive and it drives me mad. I added up how much he spend on energy drinks and pepsi max and he was quite shocked!
When i do the shop I buy 1 own brand bottle for the week and any more and named brand he can pay for himself!
I also hate the volume of plastic it brings through the house and need to recycle! 

@Changeyourlife25 dishwasher is very exciting, i have not had one in 9 years and miss it so much.

@littleacceb welcome to the thread.
I have only been here a few months.
You sound like you have your hands full with keeping track of the food shop.
The good thing here is to only compare to yourself, everyone has different families, diets etc which affects their shop.
We used to spend alot on takeaways and this is our real downfall, I am slowly trying to get away from them as much but it can be challenging.
There are quite a few people with big families so I'm sure there are lots of tips and tricks to learn from.