April 2026 Grocery Challenge

PipneyJane

I’m declaring at £175.60/£180, with £4.40 to roll over to May.

So glad it’s payday tomorrow.

• Pip

goldfinches

Evening all from a very sunny city of the dreaming spires. I'm feeling very proud of myself for managing not to go shopping at all today despite much temptation.

I baked these Anzac sandwich biscuits this morning and sandwiched them together with some leftover icing from this Mary Berry Dairy Free Chocolate Cake recipe which I mixed with a couple of teaspoonfuls of golden syrup to make it go further. The resulting biscuits came out nicely chewy and all went very quickly so that was good.

I'm so glad I've only got to get through tomorrow without succumbing to the lure of the shops before I can declare so see you all here for the celebrations!

JingsMyBucket

Howdy. I went shopping on Tuesday and Wednesday but I’ll count the Wednesday shop towards my May budget. 

£4.78 at Savers for hand soap refill and a large bottle of Listerine. 

£10.75 at Iceland for 3 for £10 frozen breaded chicken and a packet of ramen for my lunch.  

£12.33 at M & S for bananas (1.00), clementines (2.10), a big bag of salad (2.30), YS fancy sausages (2.68), and 550g extra mature cheddar (4.25). 

Those M & S sausages are the new 6-ingredient ones. They taste even better than their regular high quality sausages. I’m glad I tried them. 

Total £356.93 / £350 spent. £6.93 overspent. 

Dang, almost made it. This is what happens when you go shopping hungry too. I’ll put yesterday’s shop on the May thread. 

Greying_Pilgrim

I'm going to call my April Grocery Challenge closed. I ended up at £199.95/£200 - which I'm pretty amazed at. And no, I won't be rolling the 5p into May - it'll go in the change pot to be banked at some point.

We did eat out one time for lunch in April, when we were on holiday (£33 for 3 lunches in a chippy with seating), but this didn't come out of the grocery budget. I'm pleased with the Easter offerings of the supermarkets, I can't lie, I made good use of the offers, and have taken care to store veg so that we can still use/benefit from it.

We've managed variety, but in the context of HM meals, we haven't had much in the way of 'convenience' or prepared components of meals, eg I made some plant-based balls, rather than purchasing a bag of L1nda Mc or qu0rn style ones from the supermarket.

I did baulk at the price of the first English asparagus I saw on holiday - £6.50 for a very small bundle. I know the price is supposed to drop as the season wears on, but I still think it is another food that has been 'luxurified' out of our budget.

I have spent approx. 2.5% of May's budget already 😬, but I'm happy with that, as they were bargain prices, and all stuff we use regularly. But with a half-term in May, and hubby and kiddo on leave/half-term, it's going to be tight again…….. See you all on the May thread! 🤞

Greying X

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81982186#Comment_81982186

I love ANZAC biscuits, @goldfinches. They were the first biscuits I ever learned to bake. Hope they went down a storm! Thanks for sharing the recipe.

• Pip

goldfinches

Well I made it - Hooray! Here's a photo of this morning's celebrations

Declaring my final figures

Main GC Total £176.69/£180

Baking Fund Total £13.39/£30

Bulk Buy Fund Total £32/£48

I can't tell you how pleased I am to finally come in under budget. These last few days where I had to really think about what to use from stores and how to avoid having to buy anything have shown me that I could do a lot better and make more space in the fridge/freezer and larder so I'm determined to buckle down and make a real difference next month.

See you all over on the May thread.

WickedLady4

@goldfinches Well done for getting up so early! I would have been out with one of my Morris sides in Oxfordshire this morning but I'm joining them later to dance at an Arts Fair.

C_J

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81983330#Comment_81983330

I made it to the sunrise in the City this morning too, first time in several years. It was glorious.

https://youtu.be/-nxD-x52KB0?t=749

Blackcats

I somehow managed to read along without posting during April. However, I managed an underspend of £34,17 BUT we were treated to a cafe lunch and a restaurant dinner as well as my birthday lunch which came from a different budget so it wasn't a full month of feeding ourselves at home.
I've put some of the underspend into my "pixie dust" savings pot which is what I use to fund nice things for family and friends. Little treats or helping out when their budgets get too stretched for comfort.

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81980777#Comment_81980777

i really like your posts - am astounded you've underspent your budget each month this year 🤗