February 2026 Grocery Challenge

goldfinches

I had to buy milk today and somehow managed to come out of M&S with two packets of ys lime leaves, a turnip, pink grapefruit, 2 seeded rolls, 2 packets of radishes etc. etc. as well. I'm sitting here feeling absolutely horrified that I went in intending to spend £2.50 and came out £16.35 lighter! No wonder the amount I spent over Christmas made me flinch.

My name is goldfinches and I am a reckless spendthrift foodie and it has got to stop before it burns a hole in my bank account. I can't count the number of times I've typed this here and then promptly fallen off the wagon but off I go again. I'm going to start fresh tomorrow and hope for the best. Good luck to everyone for the coming month.

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81863787#Comment_81863787

oddly i have been to a repair cafe today and for £10 donation they repaired my old dads 40 year hedge trimmer and my ancient bread maker in about an hour. Repair cafes are the future

Changeyourlife25

£6.14/£500

A jar of coffee at the shop and a redbull,

otb666

124 spent so far of 600. I am going to waitrose this week instead of aldi just to shake things up a bit. I know my mind will be blown by all the choices but hoping a can buy smaller amounts of individual veg and buy different pulses and beans that cant find in aldi plus sumac which they seem to mention a lot now and i have never tried. Also some liver that i can never find and a different selection of things. I am going to stick to my list and prepared not to be dazzled too much by array and go crazy. If anyone has any good buys from there would be helpful. I looked at frozen fish online but was not impressed. Will be getting frozen broadbeans and cherries as well

Elizabeth49

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81864320#Comment_81864320

I really hope that they are, but sadly there isn't one yet in the town that I live in. The nearest one is in the suburbs of the big city and just too difficult to get to on public transport.

Blackcats

happy February everyone.

DH is just foraging in the food cupboards and overflow stores to see what we need to stock up on. I'm going to start the month with a new freezer inventory. It was so helpful using the list in January- we knew what we had and where to find it - so much better than aimlessly searching and getting frostbite.

I didn't buy any wine in January. We had a bottle leftover from Christmas and re-gifted another bottle when we went to our friends for lunch. I didn't miss the weekend wine drinking so I won't buy any this month either. That will save £30+ a month.

£350 please - 2 adults and a fussy cat.

whitecatcreamsofaDOH

Target £400

Thanks for the new thread Jings. Struggled to set my budget for Feb as I failed to meet my target in Dec and Jan but… it is a shorter month, and I don’t think I’ll have any bulk buys to purchase this month, so I’ve dropped down slightly.

TravelCrystal

• just as an aside guys the stroganoff using venison steak instead of beef was divine

T.C

RedLipstick

Thanks all for the suggestions, I've created a chanl4 account last night, and started watching the first episode of What Not To Eat. What a shocker really, my favourite parts were on the dark chocolate (popcorn is actually my favourite snack so no problem there but I'm trying to incorporate mixed nuts/fruits), but the strawberry milkshake with no strawberries, umm, what 🤯 Thanks to this, my lunch and dinner were extra colourful and healthy today, but we'll see what happens Mon-Fri!

On that note, my spending so far since 20th:

£59.21/£200

carboot_karaoke

Evening all,

As expected l made yet another trip to the shops yesterday to get the missing items from my Wednesday shop. Total spent £48.96 this included 10kg of rice for £12.50 and a large bag of persil washing tabs for £9 both should last a couple of months. I also needed a few extras for entertaining last night.

Then today I just fancied a smoked bacon sandwich as l left the gym so nipped into the Iceland next door. I brought the bacon and a box of costa coffee cappuccino sachets on offer £3.10 spent there. Finally, l popped into home bargains looking for indigestion tablets to take on holiday. They had my favourite toothpaste in stock for 59p. I grabbed the 8 tubes l could carry without a bag. I intend to return and get another batch. The kids seem to get through a tube a week, though I'm sure most ends up washed down the sink 🙄.

Grocery Budget £149.02 / £350

Bulk Fund £17.20 / £50

Grocery Challenge £ 166.52 / £400

This is alot considering its only the 1st day of the month 😬