January 2026 Grocery Challenge

K9sandFelines

Ooh we've had an update !!

Here to report spends of 11.45 at Abel and Cole. We added some Sojade vegan yoghurts.I want to try making my own and apparently these are recommended as a starter.

Then Aldi today £21.47 on bits like butternut squash, sweet potatoes, tinned tomatoes, coffee, bananas and some other bits.

Went with the intention of looking for aubergine, to try the What not to eat recipe from episode 4, as I already had bulgar cooked. None in Aldi, co-@p or Home Bargs. So I'm going to try and make some sauerkraut first, and buy the aubergine at a later date, when that's ready.

Total to add to signature

£33.02

So much for trying to be closer to £150 than £180! Just shows you when something unpredictable happens, how much it can affect your budget and spending patterns.

JingsMyBucket

Evening folks. On Monday I did the rounds of shopping. 

£1.69 at a Polish store for sauerkraut 

£11.29 at Morrisons after applying £15 of Morrisons points to my £26.29 balance. I got 950g Fage Greek yoghurt on sale (4.75), 3 jars of peanut butter on sale (7.75), 8 packs of ramen on sale (5.20), frozen Swedish meatballs (4.39), hot sauce (1.70), and toothpaste (3.50). 

£25.16 at Lidl for bell peppers (1.89), avocados (1.38), fancy tomatoes (1.59), 1kg carrots (49p), mushrooms (95p), arugula (89p) kiwis (1.39), Polish sausage (3.99), Greek Week halloumi (1.99), canned mackerel (99p), butter (1.99), ice cream (2.99), oat biscuits x 2 (1.98) and 15 free range mixed eggs (2.69).

£26.28 at M & S for 2 bunches of bananas (1.30), 3 for £12 breaded fish, puff pastry (2.00), 4 pints of organic milk to make yoghurt (2.50), and 1L extra virgin olive oil  (8.50). 

Total £464.46 / £300 spent. £164.46 overspent. 

The Morrisons self-serve machine spat out a £4.50 off £45 coupon to use in store by February 8th, but I don’t think I’ll be using that any time soon. I’m going to declare for January. We were a bit done in by the party at the beginning of the month and then easy food in the latter part of the month after some stressful sick days. 

Here’s my rough cooking plan for the next week in vague order: 

• Greek dinner courtesy of Lidl: Greek cheese filled pita, chicken gyros meat, hummus, arugula, tomatoes and antipasti/artichokes
• Lamb heart soup 
• Puff pastry blueberry and cheese danishes 
• Sardine pasta 
• Gyoza and vegetable soup 
• OR a chicken tortilla soup to use up some limes and sour cream 
• Green lentil and vegetable salad w/halloumi

JingsMyBucket

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81853895#Comment_81853895

@K9sandFelines I'm glad your daughter has been given the all clear and things are settling back down for you. Fingers crossed that your February is less exciting!

Changeyourlife25

£500.66/ £500

Slightly over and a few days left.

The site seems to have had a bit of an update and I can’t find the bold to highlight my spendadage 😂

I’ve just sat down and looked at where my money goes… only actually went to the supermarket once or twice, I went to the local corner shop everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, 51 times this month!!!!
its rediculous, some is food but not a lot , we’ve actually done a great job of eating out of the freezer, it’s all back and forth to the shop for drinks and snacks.
Next month I’m going scorched earth, gotta deal with it 🤦‍♀️

AnotherNewDay

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81822267#Comment_81822267

I didn't manage to check-in here, but I did keep an eye on overall spends £347.06/£350 with £42.45/£60 for cats and £304.61/£290 for humans

LotsOfTea

I had a delivery today which came to £122.86 but there were some extras in there for catering for a few sets of friends over the weekend (plus I accidentally bought 2 lots of veggie burgers rather than the 1 I thought I'd ordered). It is going to take me over for the month but at least I've got plenty of veggie burgers 😂

I'm declaring at £315.68/£300

I'll try for a better month in February.

dollypeeps

declaring week 4 at £103.72/ £90 bank and £10 purse so slightly over

My bold type font has disappeared from the top of my comment box and I don’t know how to bring it back

Suffolk_lass

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860054#Comment_81860054

@dollypeeps, if you select the text it will appear as likely things you might want to do to the selection - also there is a guide if you click on the link in the blue banner and read (I scan for what I'm looking for) the help thread. The good news is a better selection of emojis, yay!

Pennypincin

2 spends to declare.

£15.57 in Aldi on 4 bags of frozen fruit, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, light mayo, 2 tins of budget tuna, 2 packs of flavoured couscous, 2 packs of budget savoury rice, and 3 different packs of reduced pre cut fruit.

I was shocked at the price, but it's not when I keep picking up odds and sods and not writing a list.

The frozen fruit should last roughly a week if not 2, depending on how much I eat of it each day.

£3.96 spent in Lidl on mixed peppers, 2 packs of microwave rice, red onions, and a layered salad.

Fortunately in Lidl I'd vouchers for what I bought, so the peppers were free and the rest were 15% cheaper.

Edit to add, I have £115.47/£160 and almost half way through the month for me.

jivjules1

498.98/600

spent a lot this last week and not really necessary it’s hard keeping it going till the end of the month plus we had a family emergency and being careful went out the window still much better than usual and technically in budget. Aiming for a lot less in Feb