February 2026 Grocery Challenge

LotsOfTea

First spend of the month today, £5.75 on blueberries, grapes and cucumber. We're not going to do a big shop until the end of next week when we have visitors and half term starting so we'll only buy things as we run out between now and then. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much.

£5.75/£300

otb666

324 spent leaves 124 per week for next 2 weeks. I go from 23rd to 23rd Spent 200 in waitrose today as a alternative to aldi. Might try again next month but definitely once monthly only as expensive. Enjoyed the larger selection though. Got several smaller amounts of different vegetables and lovely large selection of frozen vegetables I got red cabbage and broad beans frozen cherries. Got buckwheat and ten bean tins. Blue cheese normal cheese lambs liver A selection of frozen fish. Hubby got frozen meals steak and yogurts. Sumac and jam donuts red velvet cake. Brazil nuts £7 but have not seen then anywhere else. Got more but thats all I can remember. Its nice having different food in and the quality is good but could not afford to go every week.

Blackcats

shopped at MrL today and stocked up on tins, rice, oil, cereals, nuts etc. the cat's wet food, dry food and treats are all stocked up for the month.

£82.54 per week remaining or put another way £247.63 remaining for the month.

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81870387#Comment_81870387

re blueberries & raspberries, i've started buying them reduced/ys and am freezing them for porridge & yoghurt toppings … bonus the dog eats them when frozen

frozen berries gave gone up £££

jivjules1

man shop was 66.38

total 96.89/350

Feels like a lot already….. need to stop the top ups and just eat what we have! Next main shop planned for end of next week would be good to last till then

remmie

Another shop, this time for things that were needed. Overall I spent £65.50, but for that I got 4 blocks of mature cheddar, 6 pork chops and half a kilo of belly pork in Farmfoods, as well as a couple of other bits, 2 packs of cooking bacon and crisps and biscuits, liver and diced kidney in Morries, and 4 chicken kievs and salad bits plus other groceries in Lids. The fridge and freezer are jammed, certainly plenty of choice.

Total now £105.35. Nothing else needed for a while.

mandco

So far this week

£11.65 in Tesco express for top ups bits

£77 67 in sains today - this did include 7 tubs of Ben & jerrys banoffee pie priced at £3.75 scanning at £1.49 & 6 packs of frozen strawberry & blueberry mix as they actually had it in stock and it was 3 for 2 - I like this one as it’s slices of strawberry rather than whole ones.

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81860999#Comment_81860999

Good evening All! My apologies if I’ve missed anything momentous, but I’m 50 posts behind. I will try to catch up, probably tomorrow.

It’s been that sort of week, really. Too much to do and not enough “me” time. Somehow, we’ve already managed to spend £57.20 and there’s not a lot to show for it. I have two shops to declare:

• £15.40 on Monday in Sainsbugs. DH popped in on his way home from work and purchased 5 bananas 78p, broccoli 63p, 1kg carrots 73p, 2 packs of mushrooms £1.29+89p, 450g Yeo Valley Yoghurts 4x£1.25, 9-pack recycled toilet rolls 2x£2.44, peppers £1.20
• £38.71 on Wednesday in L!dl, on YS 500g ham hocks 2x£1.99, Instant coffee £2.65, 350g caramel chocolate drink £2.69, Baklava £3.99, 300ml crème fraiche 2x85p, 450ml plain yoghurt 55p, puff pastry 2x£1.25, 8 slices Maasdam cheese £1.99, chocolate 2x99p, 1kg frozen four berry medley £2.99, 250g Camembert 2x£2.59, 200g Feta £1.69, fresh ginger 200g £1.14, garlic 88p, 500g “cocktail” tomatoes £1.85.
• Factor in £3.09 of “shrapnel” (coppers, 5p pieces, £2 coins, which we save in money boxes.

I was in L!dl just after 5pm. Looked hard for YS items, but there were virtually none, which is unusual for a Wednesday evening. We actually ate both ham hocks for dinner last night, because while each officially weighed 500g uncooked, once you factored in the bones and the fat, there was only 150g-200g of meat on each of them.

This brings my budget to £57.20/£189, leaving £131.80 for the rest of the month.

Now to catch up on posts….

• Pip

diminua

From the grocery budget: broccoli, milk, bell peppers, crusty bread (4.50). I've had pan fried fish, potatoes and veg the last 2 days and have quite a lot of cooked veg over so am thinking maybe vegetable curry tomorrow, with frozen quorn and a green pepper and half an onion I have lurking in the fridge added in.

I also had a cream tea, but that's holiday budget as I had a day off and went to Myddelton House Gardens to look at the snowdrops - lovely but so glad I had an umbrella.

Nelliegrace

Annual Grocery Budget £1,825 for 2 pensionners.
February Grocery Budget £140

Shopping at Asda on the way home.

Milk 4pt x 2 £1.65. yellow stickered salmon fillets £2.80 to freeze, y.s Norfolk, free range, corn fed, very large chicken, £7.05, (reduced from £19!) I shall freeze part, bananas 88p, kiwis £1.19, a courgette 73p, tinned kidney beans 37p, salted peanuts 59p, cashews and pistashios 2 for £3.50, mixed spice £1, dried mustard powder, £2.30.

£23.71 spent.

Total £40.04

Asda wholemeal bread flour has gone up to £1.49, a 30p rise. They have Allinson's white bread flour at £3 for 3kg.

I have just watched Jamie Oliver making meat and vegetable pasties on Meals for a Fiver. He suggests using strong flour for more robust pastry. His budget pasty uses minced beef, 100 g per large pastie, and grated onion, carrot and potato. I have minced venison and turkey in the freezer. I shall try some variations. Angela on Tracing Rainbows said they were a bit too big.

Another small win against UPFs, an old fashioned tin of fine ground mustard seed.