July 2026 Grocery Challenge

carboot_karaoke

Hi everyone,

Thank you @JingsMyBucket for running this brilliant thread.

I have one spend which I'm allocating to July £19.75 for 4kg chicken thigh, 2kg drumsticks and some snacks

Grocery Budget £19.75 / £400

Bulk Fund £0 / £50

Grocery Challenge £ 19.75 / £450

Suffolk_lass

It is strawberry season and ours are coming to nothing this year. So a bit of a boost is needed to buy them regularly and a bit of a re-stock (stuff like yeast and flour quietly disappear, along with biscuits - although I seem to be on top of Mr Sl's cheese habit at the moment) - so I am going for £300 out of my annual £3000 for July.

I can't quite call it for the half year yet but I will be just under half, with maybe £150 put aside for the December glut of cheap veg and purchase of a bird that rivals gold in terms of price.

Greying_Pilgrim

Thank you so much for continuing to run the GC challenge thread @JingsMyBucket it's helping me keep my spends much lower than they would probably be otherwise, and certainly making me think about what our household cooks/eats - although the heatwave has been a factor in that too 🫤🥵 But that has meant I've been researching 'salad' recipes that don't necessarily include lettuce…….

July Budget £232.50

This is for two adults and a child, all meals and 2 sets of packed lunches for every work/school day. We rarely, if ever eat out/have a takeaway, so this budget has to provide pretty much all the food we eat for the month. I'm following @Nelliegrace 's example, and budgeting £2.50 per person, per day for food shopping.

I have already spent £7.05 of July's budget 🫤 but all the stuff is slated to be used in July (3for£1 tins of beans - where one tin got used in June, and the others will be used in July etc), so it's important to include it (in my way of thinking/budgetting). I do however only spend my grocery budget on food, i have a separate budget for non food (cleaning products, haircuts, shampoo, toothpaste etc etc), and I do a reducing balance budget of £120 per annum for bulk items. I found allocating £10 per month was no spend one month, and then bust the next, so I am trialling allocating the same monthly amount, but annualising it so that I can take advantage of offers on lentils or vegetables or whatever at certain times of the year - and still track my overall spend.

July won't be without it's challenges, with the school holidays, but here goes…… see you all over on the thread!

Greying X

Suffolk_lass

@Greying_Pilgrim what about Bulgar wheat with spinach (raw baby, or wilted older leaves) or chard (or any greens, frankly, with garlic, mint, parsley and a dressing of lemon zest and juice and a little oil if you can find pomegranate seeds reduced, or a few halved seedless grapes

Oh and - a handful of frozen peas is a recent addition to our salads, along with a bit of finely chopped Jalapeño in either potato salad (using cold leftovers) or coleslaw (any cabbage, carrot, onion, maybe apple, with any of creme fraiche, yogurt, mayo or soured cream and lemon). The ultimate subs salads!

Greying_Pilgrim

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049435#Comment_82049435

Definitely all in the mix @Suffolk_lass - I like bean based salads too, either as accompaniments or several salads together as a salad 'bowl' 👍A far cry from a limp leaf of 'Webbs Wonderful' and quarter of a tomato 'salads' of my childhood 😉

Greying X

MrsFrugalLiving

Yes thank you for running this thread. My third month I would like to join again please. I have given myself a talking to and am going to increase by £15 as I was too ambitious!

So adjusted budget to £190

Nelliegrace

I like some tinned chick peas or red kidney beans in a salad, and use a selection of whatever I have, raw carrot and cauliflower, white cabbage, celery and cucumber, lettuce, cooked beetroot and salad potatoes, sweetcorn, colourful peppers, small tomatoes, apple and grapes, a few peanuts or nuts. With a colourful plate full of salad I can get away with a hard boiled egg, a small slice of meat or chicken from a Sunday roast, a shared small tin of sardines or pilchards, some tinned pink salmon, a slice of tinned corned beef or an ounce of cheese as the main protein for the meal. If I had been baking we had cold bacon and egg pie or rabbit pie.

The WW2 Ministry of Food recommended a salad a day all year round for health and to save fuel.

https://the1940sexperiment.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/no5-salads-1.pdf

The Oslo meal, which needed no cooking, improved the health of thousands of children.

https://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2026/05/the-oslo-meal-oslo-breakfast.html

My usual packed lunch for work was a wholemeal peanut butter sandwich with salad and fruit. My sister would have a cheese and marmite sandwich and an apple every day of the week

Greying_Pilgrim

I don't want to de-rail the thread, but thanks for the link @Nelliegrace I'm delighted to say that my kiddo regularly has lunches that feature components of that eating system. Not the milk, as schools no longer provide it, and it isn't something my kiddo has ever taking to drinking - but they do have natural yoghurt daily.

Definitely concur about the plate of colourful veggies supporting 'relatively simple/inexpensive protein sources' . Thanks so much for your comment.

Greying X

Sallyp2

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82049547#Comment_82049547

very interesting read on a hot sat afternoon - thank you. I enjoyed the ideas very much

a salad sandwich is delicious and i loved the tip about keeping salad fresh by putting it in a lidded pan on a cold floor

whitecatcreamsofaDOH

Morning all! I’m back in for July, after skipping out on June 😬

Thanks so much @JingsMyBucket for running these threads.

Have started eating more mindfully, so less snacking taking place, good for wallet and waistline ☺️