June 2026 Grocery Challenge

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82028354#Comment_82028354

Ham? beans? Cup tea? Buttered bread?

old school

cowboymum

More spending to declare. Not sure I'm doing very well this month already as quite a lot of my spends seem to be on treats like wine and chocolate.

I am also making really frugal dinners but then being slightly bored by them so buying extras to make them a bit nicer eg made a lovely vegan curry yesterday but then spent £3 on onion bhajis and nann breads, plus £4 on beer (GF and no alcohol!).

I know I can make onion bhajis and nann breads but find it quite difficult to do (especially with time etc).

Ho hum - thinking perhaps I need to buy treats in advance and have them in the freezer so I don't go to supermarket where inevitably I will spend more than I want to.

Any hoo - spends as follows;

Sainsburys £4.40

Sainsburys £29.09

Tesco £20.74

Flour from health food shop £4.89

Riverford £27.25

Total £277.78 / £500

mandco

Various shops totalling a whopping £259.24 to add this brings me to £495.36/£800 and means at 1/3rd of the way though the month I’m at just over 60% of my budget already 😳that said it does include bits I wouldn’t normally buy for a fake way -instead of forking out probably double a takeaway like oh wanted and a few extra treats might have worked their way into the trolley too but I did stock up on a few bits that were on offer like at sains who currently have free from products on offer at the moment so took advantage of the savings on longer life items I’d buy over the month anyway.

Will definitely need to be strict to keep the spends reined in but the freezer is currently well stocked and realistically I have the basis for at least 2+ weeks of main meals other than the fresh stuff fruit /veg /bread/ milk ect.

RedRose61

Sainsbugs delivery today instead of my usual trip to Ald! and Morr!sons. I managed to get a £1 delivery slot. I don’t often have shopping deliveries and so they sometimes send me a voucher to entice me back in. They sent me £14 off a £70 spend which I was happy with because I can stock up on their products that I can’t get locally. Our closest Sainsbugs if 24 miles away.
I managed to get some of their Nectar prices on some of the stuff that I buy regularly and some deals on meat and fruit and vegetables.
Trying to stick to the meal plan for this week after having a long weekend in Cardiff and eating some quite unhealthy food and snacks.

Spent £57.49. Running total £112.79 out of a budget of £300.

remmie

Hello, my names remmie and I have a hoarding obsession with food.

There, I've said it. My budget this month is already at £249.86. I got a £5 off £35 spend at As*a, so off I toddled and spent almost £50. My freezer is crammed full, I can't fit anything else in, and the fridge has a whole chicken, chicken thigh fillets and a gammon joint, all in date but will need using or freezing. The problem is that I will eat the freezer down to a certain level, but then panic when I see the empty spaces.

Is there a cure for this condition? 😀😀

JingsMyBucket

Afternoon, folks. Thank you for all the well wishes the past few days. I think I’m finally starting to feel better/on the mend. On Sunday I stopped into Poundland and M & S for a few items after my yearly Spec Savers check up. 

£2.00 at Poundland on some cheap chocolate to keep the spirits up. 

£13.60 at M & S for bananas (1.00), clementines (1.40), garlic (50p), butter (2.00), 3 cans of baked beans (1.20), 1kg Greek yoghurt (2.00), coffee beans (4.75), and whole wheat bread (75p but it was supposed to be a YS at 52p). 

Total £70.07 / £350 spent. £279.93 remaining. 

By all measures, we’re actually lower than we’d normally be at this point in the month and I’m happy about that. I believe I can hold off on going shopping until Friday morning. We are running low on some staples such as canned tomatoes, tomato paste, and cheese. I’ll make a grocery list today / tomorrow then try to edit it for what I can carry on foot. 

Blackcats

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82030161#Comment_82030161

@remmie - there's definitely a few of us here who keep our freezers very full.

One of the best things I did for managing my grocery budget was to introduce a monthly freezer stocktake. It really helps as a reminder of how much is in there for meal planning and also as a prompt to myself to say "those 4 flipping fishfingers are still loitering in the deepest depths or 3 lonely sausages are still lurking and can jolly well come out this month and go in an all day breakfast". I have a quick look through the food cupboards too to avoid duplicating things I don't use very often - this is since I found 3 packets of semolina in the cupboard - we don't eat semolina other than to sprinkle it on roast spuds. Well I'm ow working myself up ready to make semolina pudding which I haven't had since school dinners 🤢

The grocery challenge is a great place. I've learned so much and I'm always inspired here.

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82029646#Comment_82029646

Also had vegan curry tonight (squash/sw.potato/frozen spinach/green lentils/chickpeas/ch.tomatoes/coconut milk)
I have a rule that my OH has to accept - we can ONLY have sides if they are YS/rtc

Sallyp2

was in this boat and my freezer needs a defrost

Perhaps try cash only and using a basket not a trolley - its resulted in me reducing stock hoarding and buying fewer items each visit

try shredding any vouchers for spend x and get y off. Don't use them now as they are not always in my favour

C_J

Another £1 spent at the Community Fridge today, and I have so much food I don’t really know where to start with it all! A very fortunate position to be in.

They also had loads of meaty raw beef bones from a local butcher, so I have roasted some in the air fryer and am now leaving them to slow cook overnight with some shallots, leek, carrot, celery, chard and broccoli (also all from the CF) to make several litres of stock.

Today’s spend brings my June total so far £27.87/£150