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September 2025 Grocery Challenge
Comments
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September Grocery Budget for Two, £150.
We stopped at Asda on the way home from the local amateur theatre play last night. The shelf stockers were very busy in every aisle, we do take them for granted.
Whole milk 4 pints x 2 at £1.65, Marigold bouillon powder £2.50, 4 leeks £1.39, broccoli 79p, large oranges x5 £1.50, basic muesli 1kg £2, yellow-stickered pork steaks 700g for £2.79. Total £14.27.
The pork will be divided into 4 portions and 3 frozen. Dinner tonight is pork and butter bean stew cooked in the pressure cooker, with leftovers served with steamed greens for tomorrow. I made a large rice pudding in the slow cooker to cheer him up after the football, but his team won for a change.
21/9 Free hot drinks at the garden centre. We got 2 pints of milk x3 at 14p, and new potatoes at 20p, from the small Waitrose in store.Total Spent £77.65.
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Just had an ocado order using free delivery and my last money off voucher for being a new customer of £10. I spend £97.35.
I used a lot of meal deals and offers and a few sale items that saved about £35 (apparently ) so I got a lot of food for that and I shouldn't need to buy much for the rest of the month.
my month end on 28th September, so one more week so I think I'm doing ok!
£330/£400
Voucher savings £10/£3.60
Unnecessary spend £1.35Grocery challenge:Grocery challenge:
Oct 24.£/£400
Sept 24 £500/£500
Dec 2023
Debt pay down: from move
loan: £11500
CC £4222, Jan 24 £3831,
Oct 2024 new debt pay down
Personal loan £10000
Cc: £3758
Barclaycard (£187) £0
Debt to family - (£200) £0
Tesco (£2200) (£5343) 0
Halifax (£488) £298 =£0
Virgin £3611 = £3572
Santander = £1500
Total: Mar 2020 (£6486 ) Apr £6109 May £5665 (+£106 tranfer fee); June £5331 Sept (£950 added) £5343, Dec £5070 April 2021 PAID OFF!!3 -
£12.78 in Ald!on bits and bobs ("fancy"cereal for topping yoghurt), tofu, lettuce, wraps, sweet potatoes, cheese, bananas, cola and baking paper
Then £5.98 on a sack of spuds and sack of onions in HB. This saves me having to trek to the international shop for the onions I was looking at getting from there. Spuds will hopefully last ages 🤞🏻.Saw a tip to put an apple in with the potatoes, apparently meant to keep them from sprouting !GC Jan £101.91/£150 Feb £70.96/150 Mar £100.43/150 Apr £108.45 app/150 May £149.70/150 Jun £155.15/150 Jul £134.25/£150 Aug £119.37/£150 £92.09/£150‼️Sep £/£160 Oct (includes food, toiletries and cleaning from 13th to 12th of each month. Soon to be, two person vegan household, with occasional visitors)Forever learning the art of frugality2 -
£12 spent in aldi yesterday on cheese and toinned fish for the dog. budget £113/£200. no olio thius weekend.3
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£1.72 spent in the Co-@p on the way back from a walk.
YS peppers, YS mushrooms in anticipation for cooking a Bolognese, had coupon off on the app and YS tiny toastie loaf which was 36p and then I had a 20p coupon off. Also, got a free Robinsons juice drink via Sh@pmium, which DGD can have or I'll put in the food bank collection (as I don't like the flavour).
Then two loo rolls from stores @ 35p each.
£2.42 spent
GC Jan £101.91/£150 Feb £70.96/150 Mar £100.43/150 Apr £108.45 app/150 May £149.70/150 Jun £155.15/150 Jul £134.25/£150 Aug £119.37/£150 £92.09/£150‼️Sep £/£160 Oct (includes food, toiletries and cleaning from 13th to 12th of each month. Soon to be, two person vegan household, with occasional visitors)Forever learning the art of frugality4 -
Sigh - my "little" top-up shop came to £24.70! Bread, cheese, light brown sugar, kiwis, more veg, chocolate (DD1 has made some gorgeous cookies whilst DD2 & I ran the last of DS3's stuff over to him) plus some naans & poppadoms for a "treat" curry. But there's not much left of September now; I should be able to keep it under £70 and stay on target as DD1 will be going home.
Angie - GC Sept 25: £429.75/£500: 2025 Fashion on the Ration Challenge: 28/68: (Money's just a substitute for time & talent...)2 -
I have just updated my signature and it very much looks like I am going to be 2 months short of reaching my annual grocery challenge target!! 🤯. I am shocked. Some of this is due to increased family holidays with us and growing grandchildren but not all of it. Not sure where else I can cut corners . We have changed our eating habits greatly since starting this challenge. At least one meal a week is vegetarian, I bulk out all of the meat meals with more veg, oats or pulses. We are both happy with beans on toast as a meal which we would never have done at the start. As the regulars know all my meat scraps turn into pies. I very rarely waste food. Every last scrappy piece of veg will go into something. I enjoy a scrummage for blackberry's and get given apples, tomatoes and other bits and bobs from keen gardeners. I am not so good at discovering ys items but do most of my shopping at Aldi and have cut most branded things out of the budget and we buy things in bulk when possible. Anyway back to the drawing board for me. I need to become even more frugal or stop having family to stay! I know which one I will pick. Watch this space!
I am going to start with a stock take tomorrow.
craft stash 2023 =161, 2024 = 119 2025 = £25.96 spent, 128 made and 5 mended,
GC 2022 = £3154.96
2023 = £3334. 84
2024 = £.3221.81
2025 = £3035.43/£3300
Jan 413.77 Feb £361.32, March £192. April £438.06 May £261.66 June £204.54 July £260.95/ £250 August £690.76 /£650 Sept £212.37/£200
Decluttering campaign. 2024= 82// 52 bin bags full. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🏅💐DH ⭐4 -
Stopped in at Lidl a couple of days ago and got some yellow sticker meat. I spent £15
So now
£345/£400
I have only 5 days to go so am really exited I think I might make my goal for the first time ever!Grocery challenge:
Oct 24.£/£400
Sept 24 £500/£500
Dec 2023
Debt pay down: from move
loan: £11500
CC £4222, Jan 24 £3831,
Oct 2024 new debt pay down
Personal loan £10000
Cc: £3758
Barclaycard (£187) £0
Debt to family - (£200) £0
Tesco (£2200) (£5343) 0
Halifax (£488) £298 =£0
Virgin £3611 = £3572
Santander = £1500
Total: Mar 2020 (£6486 ) Apr £6109 May £5665 (+£106 tranfer fee); June £5331 Sept (£950 added) £5343, Dec £5070 April 2021 PAID OFF!!3 -
£210.55 spent so far this month. Which leaves £39.45. I will definitely need milk, potatoes and bread by the end of the month. Probably more salad veg too.
Fashion on the Ration 2025 - 1.5 coupons remaining
August Grocery Challenge £132 of £250 spent
Declutter 7 things (net) in 2025. Done, now trying to keep it even (1 under at present).0
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