August 2026 Grocery Challenge

remmie

So, here we are, August already. First shops of the month total £141.21. The freezer is full and there's plenty of fresh veg and salad etc. I'm hoping this month will be using what we have in and only buying essentials. Having said that will need dog food soon.

merida88

Hi all - can I join please? Valuing convenience + protein rich diet + frankly, expensive taste = lots of grocery spending over here. My month runs 4th-3rd, as I use a CC for the points.

Going for £550 for August.

2 days into my month and already spent £91.69 on a delivery and £9.38 on air fryer liners and sticking plasters, and planning the c0stc0 shop on Friday. The trick with c0stc0 might be leaving OH at home..!

Running total £101.07/£550

Suffolk_lass

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82093765#Comment_82093765

Welcome @merida88 - you will find us a chatty and supportive bunch!

I am also going to Costco on Friday, with my friend who is a member - to get the stuff for a BBQ my beekeeping association is hosting on Sunday for 65 people! I generally come out having experienced the "middle of L…" chainsaw and dinghy syndrome! I am holding off my supermarket shop until I have been and I have put my SM list in the Morries app so I can cost compare when I am there. I might have to buy an olive tree if they have any this time, and some of their fantastic big tins of peanuts, just to appease Mr Sl who can eat a kilo+ sized tin in a week, left unsupervised!

RedRose61

Hi guys, I’m adding the other half of last month’s bulk buys from FFoods because they will be used during August too. £34 carried over.
Went to M*rrisons this morning because I had a £6 off £60 shop. I managed to buy some Y/S mini potatoes, tangerines, cooked chicken slices and fresh chicken fillets. Lot’s of other offers on fruit and other regular items that I buy. It’s also my birthday next week and so I picked up my free bar of chocolate. I’m saving it for the moment because as usual, I’m on a diet! Trying to eat healthily and keep costs down which I’m managing with lots of meal planning. There is a danger that the house will be overrun with lists! 🤣
I spent £54.46 after the £6 voucher was taken off.

Spend to date is £88.46/280. £225.54 remaining.

Greying_Pilgrim

I popped into aldee on the way back from a Grand Day Out with my kiddo. I was planning on doing fish fingers, chips and mushy peas for tea (for convenience), as the weather was just about cool enough for cooked food. But I knew I didn't have any mushy peas, so called in to get a couple of tins, a 6 pack of pretzels and a box of granola bars. Total spend £3.56.

Greying X

Suffolk_lass

Without a major shop yet (off to Cashco with a friend who is a member this morning - so a cost comparison will be undertaken and some items purchased) I have already exceeded 25% of my hoped-for £200 - £54.07. Buying milk in the local Coop just presents too much temptation! Milk and eggs (the needed bits) were augmented by two packs of strawberries for £6 - so over £10 instead of under £5!

I do plan to go back to the milkman delivering when the temperature drops but several sour milk experiences (despite the cold box) because our man dellivers before 02.00 have meant I have skipped deliveries at the moment. Despite paying £1.75 a pint, I save money by staying out of shops when the milk is delivered.

Right, I must add my personal shopping to the paper list I am taking this morning (buying for a BBQ for 65).

mandco

currently dog sitting and he can’t be left home alone meaning the usual weekend shops aren’t going to be possible this week so I have a Tesco online order coming today - Went with Tesco as they were offering 20% off £80+ spend. 1 substitute & 4 oos items = £115.07 to add. I’d gone higher as stocked up on some basics to make the most of the discount and added few items that were on additional offers that I half expected to be oos based on previous deliveries and needed to keep the spend above £80 after any oos reduction to get the discount which I would have only just been had they not been available,

Also top up shop of £15.57 from tues for some bits I couldn’t get at the weekend = total £130.64 to add

dollypeeps

August Grocery Challenge Week 1

Total spent £99.96/£90

However I was rather annoyed by Lidl being sneaky. I buy their frozen salmon fillets, usually £3.49 for about 5 or so. I hadn’t bought these for quite a while.
Picked up the fillets, checked the receipt when I got home …..£9.29!!!!!! I thought blimey they’ve gone up but I am so sure there was a ticket showing £3.49.
I had to post a parcel for dd so thought Lidl was worth another visit.
The fillets are indeed £9.29….. they’ve placed 2 sorts of salmon fillets next to each other in the freezer and both are in pink bags and since they change their packaging from time to time, I didn’t think anything of it. There is also a much smaller pricing ticket put a littler further across and in my opinion not directly over this item.
NothingI can do but suck it up so GCers beware!!

On the whole, I do think that food items are going up. I buy pretty much the same items each week and seem to be over budget regularly. I buy a lot of fresh fruit, veg and salad from Tesco and going thru my receipts I can see there’s an increase on a few items which you don’t notice as you’re busy looking at what’s on club card etc….

Time to dig deep I think

Nelliegrace

I think it might be worth contacting Lidl @dollypeeps A polite e-mail letter of complaint about the shelf mislabelling and the deceptive packaging, might get a voucher. I have seen the same deception in supermarkets increasingly, the item over the wrong shelf ticket, or a special offer on the shelf but not at the till.

It pays to insist in a receipt and to check it straight away, especially if it is at a busy time.

I picked the first few apples of the season, and plenty of blackberries from the garden, a thornless variety.

merida88

Back from c0stc0 and actually quite pleased! Cat spends are separate, but cat litter was on offer so we are now sorted for 8 weeks on that front.

£118.94 spent on groceries - 5kg chicken breast, 2.4kg flank steak, 1kg feta in brine, pancetta, bottled water (for emergency prep purposes), frozen gyoza, 20 nakd snack bars and a rotisserie chicken all from the list. Additions were limited to 1 pack of giant corn (for snacks) and 1 pack of 36 babybel, as OH loves them and they keep well. At 18.6p per babybel instead of 32p, they might make the list in future! The meat will be portioned up tomorrow morning and should cover us for several weeks, depending on how much hosting we do...

My friend we're seeing tomorrow texted asking for a few bbq bits 10 mins after we left the shop, so will be spending again in the morning unfortunately!

New total = £220.01/£550