July 2026 Grocery Challenge

wishus

Meal plan done for the week. Keeping it light because I have some travelling to do, plus volunteering and family stuff at the weekend, so will need to take food with me.

Breakfasts	toasts/porridge
Lunch	salads with meat
Snacks	fruit/egg
Dinner
Mon	chicken stir fry
Tue	Train picnic, pitta breads, eggs, fruit
Wed	Sausage And Pea Risotto Recipe | Tesco Real Food
Thur	Burger and wedges
Fri	Fish and chips
Sat	packed lunch
Sun	Family BBQ

t14cy_t

£20 spends to report on bulk loo rolls, teabags and washing powder as well as dog food. total £58/£100.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon GC'rs

I have done some shopping today, but it was for items that are covered by my bulk purchases fund - not GC. But I went to a nearby town that has a Morri$$ons that has a very good World Foods section, and as they have 20% off world foods, I stocked up on green and brown lentils (£2 for a 1kg brick), and I also bought some of the capers that were in the deal and a 50g bag of black peppercorns (£1).

I then went to an independent World Foods supermarket in the town (which couldn't match the Morri$$ons lentil prices), and picked up 2 x 1,5kg bags of black-eyed peas for £6. I had found another World Foods shop in the same town, and seen they had a good deal on B-E peas which prompted me to look, as I love B-E peas, but so rarely do they come up on offer. But what I wanted to say is, since when has the price of green cardamon and ground cumin sky-rocketed? I brand swapped, and saved 30p, but still paid £3.49 for a 50g bag (2 oz!!!) of green cardamon, and £1.99 for a 100g bag of ground cumin 😯

I've adjusted my bulk fund spend for this month, and the non-food budget - but the grocery budget remains untouched as I didn't get anything that would be eaten this week/month. There was a sAverz in this town, and I know @JingsMyBucket shops there, so I popped in, and was delighted to find antiseptic wipes (the individually packaged ones you carry in a first aid kit) for less than b00ts sell them for, plus some arnica cream. I also bought some takeaway trays in MrM - so another non-food spend.

Greying X

Elizabeth49

Hi, quite a few spends to report and quite a lot of spending ☺️

03/07 - Savers £5.94 for household stuff and M&S food £32.30

04/07 Sainsbugs delivery £72.00

08/07 Local shop £2.85

10/07 A*di £47.17

11/07 Morries delivery as I had a free delivery pass £51.00

£3.49 in the Co-op this morning for yogurt and fruit

The bad news is that I've spent £214.75 out of £350, but on the plus side the freezer is now full and stocks were very low at the start of the month. I've also got nearly all the household items I need for the month. So I'm still hoping that I can just scrape it with the £135.25 I've got left, especially as we're away for a few days at the end of the month.

Suffolk_lass

@Greying_Pilgrim I just wondered if your sAverz purchases were anything to do with insect bites? As we keep bees, and I live with a cat, despite being allergic to them (cat was here before allergy clinic confirmation), I take a small dose antihistamine each day as a prophylactic but with an unexpected side benefit - it has mostly dealt with insect nibbling inflammation and itching (the exception was when the throat stings from two bees that joined me in my suit, and I had a gargantuan amount of histamine going round my body - for which I now have a different higher dosage antihistamine) - anyway, just to make you aware because the low dose ones are much cheaper than buying arnica and cleaning up the night-time itchiness. Money saving, not medical advice, obviously.

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon all,

I'm only just getting round to updating our weekend spends £43.85 was spent at Tesco.

A further £7.69 was spent at Aldi for limes, noodles, lasagne sauce x 2, frozen berries and £1.99 from the bulk fund for black bags.

Grocery Budget £99.76 / £400

Bulk Fund £23.84 / £50

Grocery Challenge £ 123.60 / £450

I haven't planned very well this week and still need ingredients for tomorrow and Thursdays meals so will have to pop to the shop at some point.

Greying_Pilgrim

Hey @Suffolk_lass no, as it happens, I got the arnica for bruising and I've got……. a rash/dry and itchy skin - I'm not sure if it's 'working it's way out excezma' (I am prone to excezma), or whether it's me not liking the latest washing powder I bought (I'm also prone to sensitivities), so I bought it for that, rather than insect bites. I have to say, I'm not sure how 'ooomphy' the cream will be, as it was £1………. But it's interesting what you say about bite treatment, as I have some expensive cream that I got last year that is AH and that has proved virtually useless on every bite I've rubbed it on - from (possible) tick bite 😯through spider bites and midgey fly bites - actually germ0l3ne has proved more effective at itch de-escalation ☹️

Greying X

Suffolk_lass

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82068725#Comment_82068725

One of my bee pals says keep bite/sting cream in the fridge, while another swears by toothpaste to stop the itchiness. I have not tried the latter, but I keep meaning to.

Greying_Pilgrim

59p spend in the c00p just now, on a 2 pack of YS'd british courgettes. Not the cheapest, but I think the pack had originally been at least £1.45 - which I wouldn't have paid. It was the second mark-down and I got the pack with the better looking courgettes in

Greying X

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82068725#Comment_82068725

germolene is quite possibly the best cream ever! Plus the smell - i know its odd 😁