May 2026 Grocery Challenge

cowboymum

Joining in again and starting to cut down my budget.

Going to go for £550 this month.

That's a cut of £70 which I hope is doable (as last month I covered an overspend of £50 in my April budget). That's for 4 adults from 1st May to 31st end. We are also away on holiday towards end of May (self catering in lake district) so will plan to be very frugal in first few weeks so we can let loose a little for the holiday.

zafiro1984

May Budget £150

I'm going to have to show real restraint as I'm convinced I'm a supermarket shopaholic, but I need to stay within this budget so my 'End of year total' is where I want it to be. On the plus side I've enough meat, veg, fruit, baking items, cleaning stuff in the freezer/cupboards to last several months. What I tend to lack are the odd things like bin liners or a new mop head but I'll give it my best shot and see how it goes.

Suffolk_lass

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81972065#Comment_81972065

@zafiro1984 I am the same. I use the big river subscribe and save for non-food stuff like bin liners, water filters, toilet paper, laundry detergent - I bunch them together in six-monthly cycles and I review my stock levels and adjust the frequency, checking the price, skipping as needed. At least that is the theory.

I kicked the crisp habit this way but chocolate is still there. Instant coffee and tea are on this cycle (3 monthly for 6 jars of coffee, interspersed with good ground or coffee bags) 4x80 bag boxes of tea is just over £10 with the 15% discount (if there are five items in the month) every 3 months for that too. That and milk deliveries help. A lot.

MrsFrugalLiving

Hello All, I’m a newbie!
I’ve been following last month and been very inspired. I’ve caught up on other related frugal threads and see what a great supportive community you are so I feel ready (and excited!) to join in 😊

I’m generally pretty frugal but could do better so using your brains to help me improve and keep on track! I’ve overspent a bit first few months of the year so going slightly lower for rest of year. Hoping deals and batch cooking will help. I also grow some veggies.

Monthly for 2 adults please - £175

Suffolk_lass

Gosh @MrsFrugalLiving - you are frugal at £175. Welcome to our friendly and supportive thread! @Nelliegrace is the person for you to watch if you want to reduce your budget a little more. They manage on rations for quantities and around £5/day. @PipneyJane is also on £180 for two. I'm a bit more but it's stockpile city here, so the odd frugal month is a false positive.

It's so easy to have the "ooh, sparkly" equivalent moments in the SM so I try to go just once a month. Failing for April though! I am averaging over £200 a month for this year, so far.

otb666

450 left of 600 first of 5 shop. This included family staying for a bit so not going to beat myself up but in awe of others on here who manage on a lot less. We got a nice surprise with gas and electric going down from 210 to 150 pm. Done all the insurances this month and after shopping around the renewals came in for just above the same amounts so feel that was a waste of time all well.

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81974186#Comment_81974186

It's very kind of you to say so,@Suffolk_lass. @Nelliegrace does far better than I do. Remember, my GC Budget excludes meat purchased at the butchers, but not at the supermarket - we have a separate Meat Fund - so I do have more to spend that she does. (I'm currently daydreaming about a really nice roasted beef sirloin. We had one at Christmas which was to die for. If I buy another, it'll blow least two month's Meat Fund.)

Welcome @MrsFrugalLiving. You are doing very well on your £175/month for two.

• Pip

MrsFrugalLiving

Thanks for the warm welcome! Feeling a tad nervous that my budget might be too ambitious now!! 😬 But will give it a go and see what happens. I do have a stockpile to eat down, freezer quite full and I use olio. Starting to think of a mainly veggie meal plan. Will certainly take tips and review what others are doing. Interesting everybody had their own unique ways of handling their budget and family set up. Plan is to eat well and have some treats! Good luck to all for May.

Suffolk_lass

Hopefully I am done in April. Having added the indulgent, rather lovely coffee and egg tagliatelle I finish the first third of the year on £906.42. I try to underspend by a hundred in the first four months so am £6.42 overspent against my annual £3000. Milk deliveries tomorrow and Thursday are in that calculation

joedenise

With the rising prices I think you've done brilliantly to only have overspent by £6.42 over the first 4 months of the year. The next 4 months may be a bit better for an underspend with home grown veggies helping the budget.