September 2026 Grocery Challenge

JingsMyBucket

Welcome to the 9th Grocery Challenge of 2026! 

As always this challenge is to reduce your own grocery budget to levels that you will be pleased with, not forgetting that we always recommend that you stay inside your own comfort levels and take things gently one step at a time. Remember that this is not a competition....it's designed to take you and your grocery spending to a level you are happy with.

******** Please post your budget in BOLD and HEADING 2 ********

If your new month starts early feel free to join this thread, or if you're still working on your August Budget then keep on posting in the August Challenge.

If you are new to the challenge I have quoted the advice from Galtizz below which will help you get started.

Please post into this thread for help and advice and support at any time. Good luck to everyone taking part!

I have said this before, but for all the newbies to the challenge;

For the first month I took a guess at the budget but I really had no idea how much I was spending.

I found the best thing is to have a guess the first month but SAVE ALL OF YOUR RECEIPTS (and yes, that does include the ones from the local shop when you run out of milk), then at the end of the month add them all up and have a look if you were on budget, if not, it doesn't matter because your budget was a guess. For the next month you can use the total of your receipts and take a bit off to get a realistic budget, just shave off as much as you think you can, it could be £1 a week or £20 a week.

If you are currently spending £200 a month don't suddenly drop it to £100 - you'll never do it but if you cut £20 a month off for a few months you'll get there eventually without feeling you're missing out on anything.

You might think you've done everything you can in the first month but someone always comes up with a new idea and, if you try it you often find you save a bit more (unless you are SarahSaver who is an expert at this and could only save more if she turned her back garden into a paddy field and lived on rice ) In the first month I thought, I'm planning meals, I couldn't possibly save any more, but then I started double cooking and freezing, and making soup instead of buying it in tins.

I've been doing this since Feb but only saved ALL of my receipts last month, it has given me a much better idea of where it is all going. Budget for next month is £80 for 2 of us, I'll start on 30/4. I could probably save more, by eating different foods but I can afford to live on £80, I have saved a lot of money since Feb. and I don't waste food or money any more. So I'm happy with my budget.
By request, here is Spiggles wonderful helpful post



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For guidelines on posting in this thread please read the second post in this thread.

For the Grocery challenge Recipe Index please see posts #4 to #10 this thread (the list is growing!!!!!)

For everyone's totals, see post #3 on this thread

I hope everyone has a great month!

Jings

NimbleFins Average UK Household Cost of Food - updated July 2022

Per Person: The average weekly food shop is £28.7 per person in the UK—but clearly caloric needs vary by age and gender. When you add £14.9 spent on food prepared out (e.g., restaurants and takeaways), the average weekly food bill for 1 person is £43.6.

Average Adult Man: The average adult male spends around £35 on groceries, £18 on food out and £53 altogether on food each week.

Young, active adult man: A young, active adult man around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 50% higher than the average person would theoretically spend around £65 a week on food (£43 οn groceries and £22 out).

Average Adult Woman: The average adult female theoretically spends around £27 on groceries, £14 on food out and £40 altogether on food each week.

Young, active adult woman: A young, active adult woman around 18 years of age whose caloric needs are 25% higher than the average woman would theoretically spend around £50 a week on food (£33 οn groceries and £17 out).

2 Adults: The average weekly food bill for 2 adults would be around £93 in total—£62 spent on the weekly food shop and £32 spent on food out.

Family of 3: The average weekly food bill for a family of 3 (two adults and one younger child) is around £128—£85 spent on the weekly food shop and £44 spent on food out.

Family of 4: The typical family of 4 (two adults and 2 younger children) would spend around £163 each week on food—£108 on the weekly shop and £56 on restaurant and takeaway meals.

Family of 5: Larger families of 5 (two adults and 3 younger children) spend around £131 on the weekly shop and another £68 on food prepared out, bringing the total average food bill for a family of 5 to £198.

Family of 3 adults: Three adults (or two adults and one older teenager) would spend around £93 on groceries, £48 on food prepared out and £140 altogether on food each week, clearly with budget varying by the age and gender of the family members.

Useful additional info from @Suffolk_lass:

ONS also have an interactive spend explorer on their website at this link and I do think it is worth people looking at this. You can click on a category and it splits it out a bit.  They also have figures on deb, expenditure, and income & wealth at this link and these are based on the 2021 census figures. And a personal inflation calculator here

Incredible post from our own @PipneyJane : SURVIVING ON A TIGHT BUDGET

JingsMyBucket

Guidelines for posting on the Grocery Challenge thread

What is the Grocery Challenge thread?

This is a thread where people who are taking part in the Grocery Challenge can post for help, encouragement and support and talk about anything related to grocery shopping. We ask that you try to keep on topic and post things that are relevant to the challenge.

Posting grocery budgets and spends for the month

Some people like to post their grocery budget and final spend for each month. If you wish to be included in the master list then please post these in red and in a large font as this makes it easier for the volunteers to keep a record of everyone's totals.

Number of posts

In order to make the thread easier to read it would be helpful if users would try not to post multiple posts in quick succession.

Chat

Chatty posts that are relevant to the Challenge are fine. Irrelevant chat or posts simply saying "Good morning/Goodnight", "just popping on to say hello", "I've sent you a pm" etc aren't, as they clutter up the thread and may be removed to make the thread easier for others to read. Unfortunately, the board guides simply don't have the time to pm users individually when posts are removed to keep the thread on topic. If your post has been removed and you are unhappy with the decision, please feel free to send us a pm.

If you want to say thanks to another user please use the thanks button and please post any chat not related to the Grocery Challenge into the Daily Thread or use the pm function.

No Spend days (NSDs)

A number of people like to record that they have had a no spend day. Again to reduce the number of posts we would ask that rather than post just that you had a no spend day you record it in your signature and/or add it to a post that is directly relevant to the Grocery Challenge.

Pictures

Please keep these relevant to the challenge. While photographs of produce or cooking are great, pictures of semi-naked men or large clip art aren't.

Bargains

Please don't forget to check out the Grabbit and Shop but Don't drop boards for any bargains and the Discount Codes 'n Vouchers (online & offline) board to see if there are any current vouchers around.

Posting Recipes

Recipes are always welcome on the Grocery Challenge thread but it can be hard to pick these out sometimes as this is a large and popular thread! Therefore, to ensure your recipe is seen so that it can be added to the Recipe Index, please add a Post Title starting with the word RECIPE in capitals, and make the title of the recipe bold and and a colour so that it really stands out. If you struggle with how to do this please pm a board guide for help or check the forum help pages.

Questions about recipes, freezing, techniques etc

These don't always fit into the Grocery Challenge. There are a number of threads where it may be more appropriate to ask questions. There is a wealth of information available on the Old Style board so please do a search to see if there is a better thread for your question. For more help with searching see here or feel free to send a private message to a Forum Ambassador who will be happy to help.

Useful Links to threads on the Old Style board

Quick Questions thread

Recipe thread

Cheap recipe threads

Don't throw food away challenge...

The Complete Cooking Collection

Old Style Daily thread General chat about Old Style (new thread started daily)

Flylady thread Cleaning thread (new thread weekly)

Enough is Enough (decluttering)

Lose weight the Old Style way

Finally if you are new to Old Style and want help to find your way around, this thread may help: Welcome to Old Style and there is some excellent practical help and advice on posting on MSE chat forums in this thread: Unofficial A-Z (Look here first)

JingsMyBucket

Grocery Challenge Budgets

Annual 2026

ancientmum - £1500

determined_new_ms - £2,700

Matron_Midge - £5000

Nelliegrace - £1,825

remmie - £3,600

Suffolk lass  - £3000

TravelCrystal - £3700

Weekly

dollypeeps - £90/week

Monthly

ancientmum - £207

AnotherNewDay - £350 - split as £60 for cats and £290 for human groceries/household/toiletries

ArgyllLady - £200

Blackcats - £360

burtha - £350

carboot_karaoke - £400 and £50 bulk (£450 total)

Changeyourlife25 - £500

C_J - £150

CoffeeSonata - £350

cuddlymarm - £200

cowboymum - £500

diminua - £275

Elizabeth49 - £350

Finstickle - £350

Furgalqueen - £400

Gloveman_2 - £450

Greying_Pilgrim - £232.50

itsthelittlethings - £225

Jen_x - £400

JingsMyBucket - £350

Jojo77_2 - £600

jivjules1 - £400

K9sandFelines - £160 groceries (incl. £50 bulk buys)

LadyWithAPlan - £ + £ bulk

LiveSimply - £300

leftatthetrafficlights - £350

library0602 - £400

LotsofTea - £300

mandco - £800

maryb - £200 

Matron_Midge - £400

merida88 - £550

MrsFrugalLiving - £190

mswan - £270 (£90 per week)

Nelliegrace - £150

oceandreamer - £200

otb666 - £600

path_to_1m - £50

peony40 - £280

Pennypincin - £160 (£40/week)

PipneyJane - £180

Quantaqa - £180

RedLipstick - £200

RedRose61 - £270

Rowan9 - £250

Sallyp2 - £279

Soontobeoap - £150

Suffolk_lass - £150

t14cy_t - £100

TheBees - £400

TheCheerleader- £200

themsthebreaks - £400

thriftwizard - £450

tiredwithtwins - £150

TheBees - £350

TravelCrystal - £300

VickyV - £600

whitecatcreamsofaDOH - £420

wishus - £100

Working_Mum - £200 and £60 for household items including pet food

JingsMyBucket

** Grocery Challenge Recipe List ** 

NOTE: @Suffolk_lass has graciously transferred the recipes to a spreadsheet online in order to save space on the thread. 

Find all the recipes online here:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NdeWRzLnYqJSs1VglL3ckpYuZdvfzTUSOkHegFxlLO8/edit?usp=sharing

Before using any of these GF or DF recipes please check labels as manufacturers often make changes to ingredients.

NB - for Vegetarian recipes check under 'V'

leftatthetrafficlights

I'm back in for September! Need to do an inventory over the next week and see what I actually have in 🤦‍♀️

£350 target for September please 😁

Suffolk_lass

We are away in September for two out of four weeks so that will be paid out of a different budget (even if I do take some food from home!). I am going to try for

£150 aim in September

If I don't keep it down there will be no budget for Christmas 🤔😮

Nelliegrace

September budget for two pensioners at £5 a day, £150.

Thank you @JingsMyBucket. DD asked why I bother to scrimp and save and look for offers, wonky fruit and veg, and yellow stickers, but I see it as having a healthy diet based on 1940s ration quantities, buying real food without waste, cooking from basic ingredients to avoid UPF, and reducing the amount in our overfilled freezer, cupboards and pantry.

We collected DH’s wonderful birthday present of a 16kg sack of bread flour from our SIL, and I used a voucher to buy 2 packets of Dove dried yeast at the garden centre, so our loaf from the bread-maker will be even more frugal.

Cressida100

Following this thread (which I've just come across) with interest. Even the thought of doing an inventory of my larder is daunting 🤔

PipneyJane

Count me "in" please for September. Thanks for the new thread.

My budget is £180.

My month will run from payday on 28th August to 30th September. We're away for a week, in the middle of the month, so might not spend it all but better safe than sorry. This covers all supermarket spending for two adults, including toiletries and cleaning products.

• Pip

PipneyJane

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82115282#Comment_82115282

Welcome @Cressida100 Please stay and play! Please feel free to comment and to ask questions. We're a friendly group. The links in the first few posts are a godsend of information and helpful advice.

• Pip

library0602

Hi I’d like to join in please, after reading for a couple months now, it’s time to be brave, we’re a family of 3, 2 adults and a teenager. I’ve gotten better at meal planning and shopping with a list, but I think there’s room for improvement and the accountability of posting might help me

£400 for September for us

It’s a long month this month for us this month paid on the 28/8 and not again till 30/9