March 2026 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81904851#Comment_81904851

On the milk front, @determined_new_ms you may find it useful to purchase long life skimmed milk, as a backup or for use later in the month. It doesn't have the weird, cooked taste of full-fat or semi-skimmed milk.

That's what we used to use, back when I only visited a supermarket once a month. We'd buy 2L of fresh milk and, when it ran out, for the rest of the month use long life skimmed.

HTH

• Pip

ETA: for the record, we now visit supermarkets more frequently because the farm shop at Osterley Park closed during the Pandemic and has never reopened. We'd buy all our veg from him which was grown on site. We'd also buy our eggs from him, which he'd get from a mate who owned a chicken farm tucked in beside the RAF base at Northolt.

jivjules1

first big shop and also 2 top ups it’s the top ups that really add up though one of them was 8 boxes of YS eggs at 63p a box!

123:99/400 big chunk gone already!

LotsOfTea

Thanks for running the thread @JingsMyBucket !

I'm in again this month for £300 for 3 of us for the month.

After having bitten the bullet and done a freezer audit we're on a mission to use up all the stuff that's been in there for ages so hopefully it should be really easy to come in under target this month. We're planning to avoid big shops and just buying fresh bits as we need to get them as quite often we end up ordering extra to make it worth while getting a shopping delivery and that's why the cupboards and freezers are full!

DH went to the local greengrocer's and spent £14.41 to top up the fruit and veg supplies so that's the first spend of the month.

£14.41/£300

goldfinches

I have a couple of spends to record, the first was at M&S for 4x milk £2.50 and radishes £0.65 which came to £3.15. Then a neighbour asked me to cycle to Lidl for some things he really likes so I took the opportunity to do a bit of stocking up and bought their version of Bahlsen x2 £1.39, 4x lemons £0.39, 2x scamorza £2.99 and 6x Amareno cherries £2.49 which came to £25.26. Then today I bought some Willie's Chocolate £2.99 and some special Indian nut fudge £5.99.

That makes my new totals

GC main £54.66/£186

Baking Fund £5.99/£24

Bulk Buy £14.94/£93

That's a bit high for this early in the month but quite a lot of it is the veg box I've got coming this Thursday which I'm hoping will carry me through the following fortnight so all is not lost. On the plus side I made a braised borlotti bean and romano pepper dish for dinner and it was delicious and I still have two portions in the fridge.

Suffolk_lass

@Soontobeoap Mary Berry always says you get a lighter sponge from using a baking fat like Stork, and I have to say, she is right. It also means you are dairy free on her recipe. I make her lemon tray-bake recipe but spoon the lemon syrup on when the cake is hot and I use a loaf tin, adding extra time for it to cook - it works really well as a LDC

My first spends of the month were milk, eggs, four baking potatoes and a small pot of single cream. £7.55

JingsMyBucket

Morning, @wishus and @LotsOfTea I’ve got you both recorded. 🙂

Elizabeth49

Hi,

£450.00 for March please

It's a five week month for us, so I'm going to have to be careful to keep within the £450.00

Have already spent £65.36 on a Sainsbugs delivery, leaving £384.64 for the rest on the month.

jivjules1

Top up shop some ham, a tiramisu a red pepper and some dry roasted peanuts, none of this essential! Total 7:32

131:31/400

Blackcats

happy, sunny Spring Tuesday everyone!

As it's a 5 shop month, I'm applying the £80 a week formula and aiming to spend less than that. I'll be doing my monthly freezer inventory tomorrow and I've found this is really helpful for meal planning and identifying items that try to hide in there month after month. I've also culled my recipe folder so that it only includes recipes that we like or are likely to ever want to try. I've used this to put together an outline meal plan for March which takes into account days when we won't be eating at home or days when we will have visitors to cater for. I'm feeling like little Miss Organised at the moment.

£400 for the month please

Balance remaining £297.00

Soontobeoap

. We had to go to the tip so took a quick trip to Tesco whilst we were out and about.£19.25 spent. This includes some mild curry powder and some mango chutney as I fancied making my own coronation chicken which I have never done before. I read up that you can freeze mango chutney for up to 6 months too so it won't get wasted.