February 2026 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

Good evening All

I have a small shop to declare. Went to Sainsbugs this evening, to buy new potatoes (£1.40) to accompany the steak we’re having for dinner. They had virtually no fresh veg(!), but I managed to find some YS packets of lamb’s liver (2 for £2.54 each) and YS smoked salmon (2 for £2.37 each). (Yes, I know I can buy smoked salmon more cheaply in L!dl, but I didn’t have time to go there too.)

Anyway, once I add in a packet of Nect@r priced bagels (£1.43), the above comes to £11.38. We got a £2 coin in the change, so that’s gone to the “Running Away Fund” moneybox.

This brings our February total to:

£149/£189

Leaving £40 for the rest of the month. I will have to return on Friday to buy fresh veg and yoghurt. Hopefully, the latter will be marked down with a Nect@r price by then (which seems to happen every second week).

• Pip

Soontobeoap

So 2;x Aldi shops this week to top up snacks for GC really. £47.00. Basically I have been throwing money at getting us through me and DH being poorly and having 3 Grandsons staying. Mad really. DH and I are barely eating but our Grandsons have hollow legs!

otb666

90 spent in aldi bought a draft excluder as so cold out. Come in on budget 600 see you on March forum

goldfinches

Evening all, I'm miles behind in reading but a quick congratulations to @thriftwizard's mother and commiserations to @jivjules1 over hospital visiting.

A quick and dirty roundup updating my statistics, here goes.

£2.49 at Tesco, £7.38 at M&S, £1.12 at M&S, £2.13 at Sainsbury's, £10.35 at Tesco, £9.77 at M&S which makes a total of £33.24.

£7 on bulk buy frozen fruit at Sainsbury's.

That makes my totals for the month so far

Main GC £61.89/£168,

Baking Fund £10.75/£24

Bulk Buy £7/£100

I managed to avoid buying any more baking ingredients by combining various odds and ends of white and dark vegan chocolate to get 100g to make these Vegan Chocolate Cookies from Olive Magazine which were a howling success.

I got ten large portions from the mixture and they were perfectly done at 12 minutes in the oven. The demerara sugar made them pleasantly crunchy and the coconut oil really enhanced their texture, I'll definitely repeat these.

For the rest of the week I'm planning a cherry tomato curry in the slow cooker and then to make these Jamie Oliver spinach pies for which I only need the dill, leek and feta cheese so hopefully I won't be too tempted by other things not on my list, fingers crossed. I shall need some more frozen petits pois this week because they make such a convenient addition to lots of things but apart from milk that should be all.

jivjules1

I’ve started drinking again so that’s impacting my totals I realise - only the odd bottle of wine but it’s the bits picked up whilst I’m there as well - something to watch DS1 still in hospital but much better thank you @goldfinches for your kindness actually hoping he doesn’t come out too soon as last time he did and ended up back in within a month. Anyway wine, and top ups and snacks mainly - 325.81/350 will be tricky to stay in budget!

PipneyJane

Those cookies look yummy @goldfinches !

As mentioned in my previous post, I hit the shops this afternoon. Two spends to declare:

• £10.10 in L!dl, spent on a chocolate filled muffin (89p+one free), two packets of YS breakfast muffins at 50% off (65p total), lactose free milk 3x84p (down from 99p via an offer), pack of four oranges (£1.29), 500g giant couscous (£1.09), 1kg roasted buckwheat (£2.29), and two 1kg bags onions (69p each).
• £14.77 in Sainsbugs on five Nect@r priced 450g tubs of Yeo Valley Yoghurt (£1.80 each). That’s enough for two working weeks. Also bought 1.6kg loose potatoes (£1.24), 0.5kg broccoli (£1.15) and two packets of peppers £1.69 each.

There was also 3p to go in the coppers’ jar.

What I forgot to buy were sweet potatoes but, to be honest, I didn’t see any loose in either shop. When we pop in on Sunday to fetch the paper, I’ll probably have to buy salad - rocket or something - and hummus for the wraps we always make when we go to the games club. Hmmm….. 💡 We already have ham, wraps, mayonnaise and sauerkraut, maybe I could do something with those… (Must remember to defrost the YS ham stashed in the freezer.)

This brings our total spend to £173.90/£189 leaving £15.10 for the rest of the month.

Meal Plans:

• Tonight lamb’s liver in orange sauce, using some of the YS liver I acquired on Wednesday, two oranges, a tin of butter beans and a can of pease pudding. Think I’ll serve it with the last of Wednesday’s new potatoes, boiled.
• Saturday brunch: Eggs Royale (aka Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon instead of ham). Wish me luck - I’ve never made a holandaise sauce before. Dinner: slow cooked Cuban Black Bean Stew.
• Sunday brunch: HM wraps filled with sliced ham and sauerkraut. Dinner: broccoli pasta.
• Monday Bread & Cheese Pudding
• Tuesday Chicken Curry
• Wednesday: Nadia Hussein’s Cheese & Ham crown
• Thursday: TBA

All breakfasts are cereal and all lunches are leftovers, unless otherwise stated.

• Pip

determined_new_ms

whoop we are entering our third and final week of the groceries that I purchased 2 weeks ago! Still going strong, but bread is a bit of a battle. Will make a loaf and some bagels later. Other than that still think we've got a stocked fridge/freezer and pantry. We are going through butter at an alarming rate, but have some coconut oil that's been kicking around for ages so will make a batch of those cookies @goldfinches

Nelliegrace

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

The last 2 old hens were dispatched, so we are now empty nesters, and will have to buy eggs after 18+ years. 99p for 6 mixed sized British eggs

The wholemeal bread flour was reduced to 99p.

Breaded haddock is for a quick dinner before going to the local amateur theatre.

£22.87 spent.

Total £97.73

PipneyJane

ooohhh!!! Enjoy the theatre, @Nelliegrace.

Were you planning on stopping keeping hens or is their demise unexpected? I have wondered about the economics, especially as a dozen eggs can easily cost £3.

• Pip

goldfinches

@jivjules1 - one of the reasons I am so focussed on my budget is to give me reserves for when troubles come along which they inevitably do. We're all individuals and no-one else can quite predict what will help or support us when we're coping with the latest difficulty but we all know that being able to pay for a small treat or convenience often makes life more bearable. So, I say, take solace in whatever you need to get you through and be proud that you have the resources available.

I called in at M&S food hall today and spent £9.72 on milk, 2 x ys carrots, ys crunchy slaw, ys lamb's lettuce, garlic and a tin of the only 7 ingredients baked beans to try. I then went to Tesco and spent £1.72 on onions and ys mushrooms.

That makes my new GC total £73.33/£168

Tomorrow I'm going to try a variation on the tomato curry with the mushrooms and some lentils and will make some bread. Then on Sunday I'm planning to batch cook the spinach pies and make a vegetable soup for next week's lunches.