July 2026 Grocery Challenge

t14cy_t

totted up spends so, £80/£100. olio has been very good to me this month. phew.

Suffolk_lass

Best wishes @Nelliegrace - hopefully you will be back to yourself soon x

Suffolk_lass

Over here I have just placed a shop with Morries. I had a £10 off voucher that kept failing. I fiddle faddled for ages at my desktop then tried using my phone - it explained that the voucher was not to be used for alcohol and having taken that off I was below the required spend of £60 - so I removed the alcohol and then the 0% alcohol (!) 🤔😕and added a couple of packs of bran flakes. I added the alcohol back and it failed again. Removed the alcohol, used the phone, voucher worked.

Went in and edited the order to add the three bottles of wine with 30% off and the bottle of 0% gin - bingo. Voucher not reassessed. It is for August but my word, I nearly went elsewhere

joedenise

It really annoys me that 0% alcohol is considered alcohol by retailers - not just Morries! If you use the self serve tills you have to wait for someone to come over and authorise it! I don't do online grocery shopping as I never spend enough in one shop! I tend to go to at least 2 or 3 each time and split the spending.

Suffolk_lass

Yes, I completely agree @joedenise! PITA!

Re the amont, I have got a bit lazy and we are also eating too many treats - having just been away in the camper for a couple of v long weekends, I have once again proven it is possible to put on 5lb in 5 days (twice!!) so apart from fruit, treats are going in the freezer or cupboard for Christmas!! I plan an abstemious August (except for the weekends away!). I don't need extra weight going into winter!!

Nelliegrace

Thank you for your get well wishes, I am still breathing. We had a tin of Be Good to Yourself soup, a sandwich and some salad for dinner yesterday, an improvement on the plain crackers and cheese he “cooked” for Sunday dinner. He was at bowls all weekend and forgot to make the usual bread- maker loaf. I am going to send him for some M&S Only Ingredients baked beans and Eat Well soups, most seem UPF-free, and should see us through a few days. He just sits there and expects meals to appear. Men!

Grocery Budget for July for 2 Pensioners at £5 a day, £155.

DH went to the local Co-op for milk. I reminded him to take his Co-op card, he did but forgot to use it so 4 pints cost 20p extra, £1.85 x 2.

£3.70 spent

Total spent £145.86

path_to_1m

4 days to go!
up to

£335.78

gives me £14 for some milk
I am really impressed - for context our monthly shop (before weekly top ups) used to be £400
we were easily spending 6-700 a month on food…

joedenise

I'm with you @Suffolk_lass with the putting on weight when away in the camper. A lot of it is because we often go out in the morning and end up eating lunch out and there's not always the sort of things I'd eat at home (or even in the van!) with lots of chips with everything. I try to get jacket or boiled potatoes when we eat out to at least cut down on the fatty foods!

t14cy_t

popped into aldi and did a £14 shop, so only £6 left in the budget, should be doable as only a few days left in the month!

wishus

Had a shop zero shop at the weekend and just popped to A*da for some eggs and salad as I had a parcel to drop off.

£20 and £4.75 respectively. This means I have now spent £142.18/£150, leaving just £7.82. Hopefully will only need to buy milk now.

Meal plan:

Breakfasts: bircher yoghurt/porridge/toast

Lunches: salad with chicken/seitan

Dinners:

Monday - Chicken and vegetable ramen

Tuesday - This Tom Kerridge recipe for pulled pork tacos, except, I will be using tortilla wraps and gochujang paste instead of chipotle:

Pulled pork tacos recipe - BBC Food

Wednesday - leftover pulled pork with rice, leeks and carrots.

Thursday Cheesy turkey and broccoli spaghetti recipe - BBC Food

Friday - aubergine curry and rice

Saturday - daytime picnic and something nice on a day trip for dinner

Sunday - roast dinner