August 2026 Grocery Challenge

RedRose61

Declaring for August. We had a few days away and I also used up lots of stock from my cupboards and freezer.
I spent £185.33/£280. £94.77 underspend.
Really happy with that. Next month I will need to be careful because I will need to build up my stocks again. I’d better not get too cocky and take my eye off the ball!

JingsMyBucket

Hey everyone, it’s been a busy week and barely holding on by my fingers over here. Here are my spends from the past week before we go shopping tomorrow again. 

£12.14 on Wednesday evening at an Asian grocery store where I bought a tub each of red Thai curry paste and yellow Thai curry paste, sriracha, and an 8-pack of miso soup.  

On Saturday it was the usual run of shops and I used a bunch of money off vouchers I’ve accumulated over the past couple months. 

£12.43 at Morrisons after using a £10 off voucher: loads of bananas, ham trimmings, 2 punnets of baby plum tomatoes, 2 for £5 sausages, double cream, salad greens, 2 blocks of butter, and snack bars. 

£14.70 at Lidl after using a £5 voucher: 2 bags of haricots verts, 2 punnets of strawberries, apples, 2 avocados, wonky bell peppers, fresh parsley and cilantro, mozzarella ball, 1kg chicken leg quarters, a bakery seeded sourdough loaf, 15 FR eggs, 4-pk fake Oikos strawberry yoghurt, and kefir yoghurt. 

£14.00 at M & S after a £3 voucher: 4 cans of baked beans, coffee beans, boxes of green and rooibos teas, 2kg potatoes, extra mature cheddar, 1kg plain Greek yoghurt, and a free Sparks candy bar. 

Total £292.40 / £350 spent. £57.60 remaining. 

I’ll try to keep the end of the month shopping run to just below the £57. I’ve already made most of my list so I’ll do a tally this evening. Here’s our rough cooking plan for the next week or so: 

• Sausage and tomato pasta 
• Korean pork chops, sautéed bok choy and green beans, with rice 
• Cottage pie 
• Quesadillas 
• Apple crumble with cream 

JingsMyBucket

I also highly recommend this chocolate banana bread recipe I made earlier this week to take to a friend's house. We all loved it and it goes very well with cream poured over it. https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_banana_bread/

A couple modifications on my end:

•⁠ ⁠I didn't use chocolate chips because we never have any
•⁠ ⁠⁠I used 2/3 cup of sugar instead of 3/4
•⁠ ⁠⁠I used 4 medium bananas instead of 3 large
•⁠ ⁠⁠I used 1/8 tsp of cinnamon instead of 1/4 allspice. I don't have any of the latter

K9sandFelines

I've updated my signature. I've bought some protein powder on offer to try and boost my intake. As I've been avidly tracking macros of food and it's one area that's consistently.low despite eating all the protein rich foods.

I need to pop on September's thread to make sure I've entered my budget

remmie

Apologies for not posting often, I do keep a running total of my expenditure but must get better at reporting it on here.

Well, this months total is £481.74, more than I wanted but we did do a bulk buy of dog food, hopefully to last until October.

This brings my total for the year to £3262.82/£3600 so it's going to be very tight, but I expected to go over as the dog food is much more expensive on his special diet. At least it'll give me a starting point for next year.

See you on the September thread, and thanks Jings for running this.

Greying_Pilgrim

Good Afternoon GC'rs

We've been away for a few days. I packed what I could for picnic lunches and teas in a (purpley) hotel. I didn't go mad buying things from the 'local' supermercados - although I did get a YS'd punnet of black grapes from MrW. I've decided to keep the majority of my 'food' spends on hols as 'holiday' spends, as we couldn't have afforded to eat out - and have a few days away, so most of the spends were 'holiday' related (with a sprinkling of things from home). I have lost one receipt, but I'm pretty sure I spent no more than £15 on picky bits/sandwich baps/yoghurt and fruit - which contributed to sandwiches and teas for 2 adults and a kiddo. This is a fraction of what meals in the purpley hotel would have cost - and as we're all veggies, there doesn't seem to be much choice. My most annoying expense was £1 for a carrier bag from MrW - I suppose it was a bag for life, but £1!!!! And yes, dear reader, I should have had a grocery bag in my back pack, but didn't ☹️

However, I bought some tinned potatoes (for a picky tea), that I didn't use (saw some potato salad and bought that instead), and so will count that in my August grocery spend, plus on the way home, we called into The c0op, and I purchased milk (couponed) and spent 45p, so 39p + 45p = 84p to add to my budget.

Absolutely fingers crossed that I can say "that is it" for August spending now that we are back home, and have access to the fridge/freezer/storecupboard again. But never say never, eh?

Greying X

ancientmum

Happy Sunday everyone. Rain has arrived here on cue for the Bank Holiday! I haven't posted for a while but I have been following the thread and totting up my spends. My month runs from 7th - 6th , but I did my last shop for August yesterday, apart from a couple of quid to buy eggs in the market on Thursday, So far the total for the year is £892, leaving just over £150 a month for September to December.

All the potatoes, apart from a few inevitable rogues, have been dug from the allotment and are in storage. I was late planting out runner beans which are now flowering, so I hope that some set and give me a few beans in September. The solitary courgette plant has woken up and is producing fruit. One got left too long and morphed into a marrow, which I got three meals out of with some left over cooked mince, baked beans and mushrooms. Home made chips on the side. The are a lot of tomatoes slowly ripening, and about six beetroot plants (out of the two dozen that I sowed) are showing signs of life. Hoping that I can supplement my diet with some fresh produce.

I've been reading about iodine depletion in older women so I want to eat more fish. When did smoked mackerel get so expensive? It used to be a cheap meal when I was a young mum, but no longer, it seems. I've stocked up the freezer and storecupboard using Lidl and Sainsbury money off vouchers, and will do some baking this weekend, now the weather is a bit cooler.

One advantage of living alone is not having to please other family members: there may be a few interesting meals in weeks to come.

Tatty-bye

Suffolk_lass

Good to see you back and posting @ancientmum You might have timed it just right with those beans - ours have been producing tiny 1-seed beans that big and fat by the second day, thanks to the drought!

merida88

Delivery done, all present and correct. £81.63 on GC challenge qualifying items. Includes £15 on iron liquid which is expensive, but it is the best thing to kick start replenishing iron for me. I have been feeling a bit wiped since donating blood recently.

Tentatively declaring £464.02 / £550. I just need to not think of "things that might be nice" while we're off tomorrow 🙈

Soontobeoap

Yesterday I ordered 12 jars of sacla vegan cheese sauce for lasagna. They will keep me going for a while. I have difficulty finding those in the shops these days. £30.00 spent and today we went to Aldi to restock the fridge that looked like old Mother Hubbards cupboard after the family had left? £15.53 spent. Declaring for August at £569.83.

I am now off to hang my head in shame and regroup for September's challenge .