April 2026 Grocery Challenge

Greying_Pilgrim

£2 more grocery spend to admit to. I went to A$da to get a replacement stick blender and we noticed that they had R0b1ns0ns squash 1L on offer "2for£2". Naturally, because its A$da, there was an issue at the till, being charged full price, but a CSA confirmed that the SEL offer was on those size bottles, so we got the 2 bottles of squash for £2.

The stick blender doesn't come under 'Grocery spends', but from my non-food budget, so I've updated (again) the figures. My purse is definitely staying shut now! But a stick blender is an essential bit of kitchen kit for me, and as mine finally bit the dust yesterday, I needed a replacement pdq.

Greying X

whitecatcreamsofaDOH

I’m in for £420

Thanks so much for the new thread Jings, and fabulous spreadsheet Suffolk Lass! I’m going to sneak my budget down by five notes, a bit cautious but last month was only the first time I actually managed to come in under budget 🙈

£26.83/£420

Sallyp2

co-op shop today … trying to be good

spent £75.11 - got £1.90 off deals / employee discount courtesy other half £15.69 = £57.52

includes dog x2 food & cat x2 food = £15.03 after discount

so for moment will say spend is £42.49/£200

… now to make it last until next week

hoping for a no spend weekend focused on dog walks / potting on tomato & chilli seeds / allotment clearing x

Sallyp2

how on earth do farmers get a fair wage from all this cheap veg & deals?

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81947611#Comment_81947611

do you check charity shops for replacement appliances?

recently i replaced my broken processor with a kenwood complete all attachments £15

also replaced my broken slow cooker for £10 with a bigger one

both PAT tested

K9sandFelines

£150 again this month please @JingsMyBucket

I was going to drop it, but I'm going to wait until my July month starts; as DD2 is moving back out then and I think it will be more manageable. I'll aim to try and start getting it back down before then.

Everything seems to have ran out last month, so I'm hoping it will be a little easier to stay on track this time round; as shouldn't need (m)any bulk purchases/more expensive items.

Suffolk_lass

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81948134#Comment_81948134

They pay the farmers the going rate and set them up as loss-leaders to bring people in. Then their premium profit temptations are prominently positioned to ensure it makes them more money. You can always tell when the bargain or savers range shelves are squeezed or empty, so if you need it, you have to buy the more profitable ranges.

PipneyJane

Good morning All

Hope that you’re doing well and are all healthy. I’ve got yet another chest infection. Had it all week. Being bl**dy minded, on Wednesday I dragged myself off my sick couch and went to L!dl to take advantage of a) several offers that were expiring, and b) a Spend-£40-Get-£5-Off voucher. Wandered around using the calculator on my phone. £44.90 spent, reduced to £39.90 with the voucher.

What did I buy? 500g Gold ground coffee £4.50 (15% off offer), 100g 50% chocolate 8x75p, Salmon en Croute £4.99, 800g extra mature cheddar £4.99, 1kg frozen Pollock £4.69, 1kg frozen Four Berry Medley £2.99, Gold instant coffee £2.65, 1kg arborio rice £2.69, 1kg soft dark brown sugar £2.15, 1kg cooking bacon £1.99, Effervescent vitamin C 2x£1.01 (15% off offer), shaving hell 89p, 1 can coconut milk 75p, toothpaste 69p,  2kg white potatoes 8p and a Steak & Gravy Pie £2.99.

As you can see, I only got one bag of their cheap veg, an 8p bag of potatoes. I was lucky to get that. The shelves were bare. Fortunately for me, this bag was misplaced in amongst bags of a posher, named variety and I spotted it by accident. They also didn’t have any own-brand frozen veg.

Did I need to buy everything? No, I could have avoided buying the shaving cream, toothpaste and vitamin C, because we already had those in stock. Also, frankly, I bought the pie because I couldn’t face cooking dinner that night. (It was not as nice as their Deluxe pies - something about the pastry - but they did’t have any of those and there were no YS options.)

This brings our total spend to £43.85/£180, leaving £136.15 for the rest of the month.

• Pip

ETA: If I feel well enough tomorrow, the chocolate will be used for making Coconut Rough, which I do for gifts every Easter. (Also, instead of buying Easter Eggs.). The “Christmas Fund” usually pays for it, so the GC Fund may get reimbursed later.

JingsMyBucket

@whitecatcreamsofaDOH and @K9sandFelines I've got you recorded.

mswan

Hello All, thank you for the challenge this will be my first in quite some time.

I am hoping to keep to £90 per week, we are away for Easter so will start from 8th April so 3 weeks in April remaining

£270 Max shopping budget for April

Good luck everyone 😁