January 2026 Grocery Challenge

TravelCrystal

Before I forget like the sound of your curry spice mix @joedenise. I have various grape tree herbs and spices in my cupboard but they do take up a lot of room. I do make a mix called ‘mid life spice mix’ which is from a recipe book I like.
It consists of fennel seeds, coriander and cumin seeds, turmeric and cardamom.

Tomorrow I have some containers coming and I intend to reorganise some of my dry ingredients. 

That’s the theory.

Back to last night’s Ocado delivery.
Whilst my budget for the year is annual I have decided to split down GC general eating with bulk which will consist of wine, bulk meat, grape tree order and bulk items from farm foods, just really for my own ‘know where the money is going’ 

Was quite pleased with the shop and price but failed to notice the plain flour that came was only a small bag for a larger bag price 🤭
I don’t think I am going to remember everything that came, here goes 
5 bags of frozen fruit, 2 x milk, meal deal of coq au vin, veg and lemon tarts for lunch today 😋
2 x cheese on offer, butter, fresh fruit and veg. 2 x baked beans, olive oil. Dried pasta of various sorts, pudding rice, toothpaste, marmalade, 2 x Greek yogurt, 2 x the seeded bread flour we like, haggis for later in the month, washing up gloves, sausages, Swiss bouillon powder, bleach, 30 eggs and some very naughty oats so simple with golden syrup.
Total cost £77.41
Bulk shopping which was 4 bottles of wine £28.50
Total G.C so far £147.36

Have a good day everyone 
T.C

oceandreamer

Another 12.38 spend just milk, flour, tea, wu liquid from list and a bag of crips not from list.  That was a weekend treat though and could have been a lot worse.  

£64.57/£200

Nelliegrace

“I think it helps enormously to know what your personal shopping weaknesses are:”

That was interesting @Suffolk_lass.

I am rather a hoarder, stocking up when things are on offer to last until the next time they are on offer. I am trying to use up the excess, all the 9p tins of unusual pulses.
Red or yellow stickers, only for UPF-free ingredients which I can use without any waste, or have space to freeze. We look for plain fish and meat with no coating or sauces, posh cheeses, fresh fruit and vegetables. 
I check the supermarket offers, and best prices on the Trolley ap.

It has been a challenge to stop adding anything to the supermarket trolley which is not real food, an ingredient to make a meal from scratch. Granny didn’t buy crisps and snacks in her weekly grocery shop. 

Crisps are not real food, a 6 pack is one medium potato with a lot of cheap oil and often some UPF additives. They are highly profitable for the manufacturers, especially if they cut them a bit fancy and call them hand made.

The shaped ones in a tube are UPF. 

Dehydrated Potato, Vegetable Oils (Sunflower, Palm, Corn) Wheat Flour, Corn Flour, Rice Flour, Maltodextrin, Emulsifier (E471), Salt, Colour (Annatto Norbixin)

Flavoured ones are even worse. 

One 6 pack of the cheapest crisps a week doesn’t seem much, but even that is £41 a year wasted. 

diminua

Went to the cinema yesterday and then for dinner after - £47 including coffee and wine, so that's made a bit of a hole as I take eating out from the grocery budget. I've also done a bit more normal shopping (milk again, grapefruit, apples, salad potatoes and I forget what else). £116.50 spent. 

Finstickle

Hi all,

lots of posts since I was last on, I hope everyone is well and not spending too much.

I have had a few small shops of £7.75, £5.56, £8.05 and £4.75.  Bits and pieces I haven't really tracked.
Asda weekly shop for £50.22 this week plus £10.48 for veg I buy separately.

Current total £143.14/£400

ShelivesintheShire

I still have some Christmas parsnips and cabbage, so dinner tonight will be  roasties with toad in the hole as I have plenty of sausages in the freezer. I also found 2 rhubarb crumbles that I made in 2022 so that's pudding sorted. 
DH has made a white loaf and I have put a spelt and wholemeal on. 
I bought a huge block of Lidl's basic mature cheddar and grated half of it in the food processor. DH like to use grated ,so this was so much cheaper per KG. Lovely sandwich for lunch with cheese and pickled beetroot.

Elizabeth49

Spent a bit more than I intended this weekend, £86.77 on the big Sainsbugs delivery. Then I got a lift to Aldi, where another £12.55 was spent on pasta, teabags, Jam and frozen fruit. I used to shop there a lot when I lived in the big city, but now the only branch is a 40 minute bus ride away on the other side of town I don't often go, so it was a bonus really.
Made a big batch of scones today for lunchboxes this week and tea is a steak pie out of the freezer, so nothing spent there. Will need to stock up on baking stuff next week though.

£177.10/£425.00

Pennypincin

£11.01 spent in Tesco on assorted bits.
Unfortunately, the plan to not do odds and sods as I'd plenty in as gone out the window.
Restarting tomorrow and aim to start eating healthier again.

oceandreamer

Ran out of milk and realised I only had two carrots left so had to pop to Tesco.  Managed not to pick anything else up and got two large bottles of milk so that should last the week.  £4.95 spent
£69.53/£200

carboot_karaoke

Evening all, 

I have yet more spends to declare 🙈 oldest Ck called on Thursday to say they could get 2kg of chicken thighs for £4.50 it's a staple in our house so naturally l requested a pack. If the freezer wasn't so full l would have had more.  

Friday was a snow day so I took the opportunity to do some food prep and save waste. I had some tired looking courgettes,  peppers and mushrooms l defrosted some mincemeat and made two lasagnes which are in the freezer.

We had cottage pie with veg for dinner with the xmas cheap veg, that was the last of the sprouts much to the kids delight 😂. Eldest Ck also made a delicious bannana cake from over ripe bannanas stored in the freezer perfect with some custard.  

I also de-skined and de -boned the chicken and put into two bags for the freezer ready for curry's etc. 

Yesterday l needed some bread, milk,  chocolate bars for kids lunches and mozzarella l brought these plus two large stuff crust pizza with 50% off and two packs of pork patties (like the sausages in a McDonald's breakfast) also with 50% off only 97p for 4. We had them for brunch today. The pizzas are just about in the freezer it took about 10 minutes of walking from one freezer to the next making space. Total spent £15.68. 

Hopefully all we should need for a while is bread, milk and fruit.  

Grocery Budget £124.49 / £279 

Bulk Fund £30.54  / £50

Grocery Challenge £ 155.03 / £329