September 2026 Grocery Challenge

remmie

First shops of the month, 1 Leedle and 2 Aldee, totalling a whopping £155.85.

Toiletries and a big pack of loo roll (lasts us 3 months), a large pack of diced steak with 30% off, and fruit and veg, plus various other bits.Hopefully with whats in the freezer we shouldn't need anything for at least 2 weeks. Alcohol is also included in my budget, although at the moment we're enjoying 0.0 Guinness.

Greying_Pilgrim

@mandco - it's all a game (in which the odds are stacked against the shopper) with the supermarkets isn't it? And moreso in Leedle than Sainsbugs (although I was queuing in Sains for quite a long time today as it was busy) you're not exactly "encouraged" to hang around checking your receipt, at the till, are you? ☹️

@remmie that Guinness is a really good taste parrallel to the alcoholic version, isn't it? I first tried it during the 6Nations, and enjoyed it.

Greying X

Greying_Pilgrim

More spends to own up to 🙄 but at least I made The c0op pizza & ice cream offer sort of work. Unfortunately our nearest (blue) c0op is quite small, they only stock half the offer - for example the only veggie option is the margherita pizza and they only stock…. 3? of the ice creams, but I was happy enough with 2 margheritas and a tub of chocolate brownie icecream, and using my 'chosen' vouchers too, was able to get everything for £3.25. That's less than a portion of chips from the chippy, so I'm happy with that as a 'treat' tea, or an 'emergency' tea. I generally prefer to make my own pizza, but I couldn't make it as cheaply, so…… Everything has gone into the freezer for another day, although my kiddo is angling at getting their hands on the ice-cream. They "helpfully" suggested I get another deal, so that we would have a 'tub of ice-cream each mum, instead of having to share' 😂 Aye right, like that's gonna happen 😂

Typically, our nearest 'regional' co-operative is a bigger, better stocked store, and I noticed they had all the pizza versions in today…. including the spinach and ricotta…… I didn't scope out the icecream. I am still mulling over whether to join the local co-operative. I suppose it does help to have options, and Sainsbugs and Leedle have gone a bit quiet on the loyalty card/app offers, at the mo…..

Anyhoo, £3.25 to add to my grocery total - need to sit on my hands spending-wise until next week now.

Greying X

K9sandFelines

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82124809#Comment_82124809

I wish I could take advantage of that, but they never have a vegan alternative 🙁.

moginstein

Re the Nectar prices and things being against the wrong price, I sometimes use the Smartshop app as I go around just to check the prices to make sure the offers are what I think they are. Its also handy if I have "heard on the internet" that something is reduced, and its not marked up on the shelf.

When I get to the checkout though, I tend to just pay as normal, not scanning with the app. If you scan stuff then delete it, the app often flags it and you have to have your shopping checked, and my local store seems to take ages if you are going through the manned tills. They are better for that at the self serve.

In other news, I've been an advocate of the trolley app for checking prices, since mysupermarket ended, but recently I've been finding more errors on the prices. I've reported it to them, but they don't seem to be getting corrected very quickly, so if you're price checking something specific, it might be worth clicking through to the store just to double check.

It is frustrating though, when the prices aren't what you expected, and of course you're less likely to notice when you're hassled, in a rush, or just had enough for the day!

peony40

First grocery shop for September came in at £86.89. This leaves £183.11. I have come up with a menu plan for the week so in theory we shouldn’t need to buy anything else until next Friday.

dollypeeps

September week 1 total spend £83.28/£90

£54,81 at Lidl, £21.63 at Tesco and £6.84 at Aldi.

Pleased at coming in on budget but I will need a few things early next week. I didn’t buy them today as we are away from sat until Monday. I have some money left on my Tesco gift card [I cheddar wherever I can for cash back ]

I have noticed some prices creeping up in Tesco tho.

Nelliegrace

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

It was quite chilly this afternoon, DH took me to Aldi.

Milk £1.65 x 2, yoghurt 1kg £1.49, extra mature cheese 400g £2.45, (I shall freeze 3 x 100g weekly rations,) breaded cod £2.99, special buy black cherry 70% fruit conserve £1.29 x 3, (reduced from £2.29,) 30% off melon £1.15, super 6 offer; peppers £1.29, pears 69p, sugar snap peas 79p, British apples 49p x 4, and easy peelers 89p, oranges £1.39, nectarines 1kg £2.35, wonky grapes £1.37, bananas 88p, carrots 44p, broccoli 86p.

Total £28.16.

We went to Sainsbury to look at the sales and offers. I bought kippers for the freezer, I like them in kedgeree with egg, a little bit of rice and plenty of vegetables. There were only 3 of the cheaper packs, I put each 3 for 2 through the till and paid separately, £5.90 and £5.

£10.90 spent.

Total £39.06

thriftwizard

We had kedgeree this evening, @Nelliegrace, it's a big favourite here! But I made it with smoked haddock (from the fishmongers, via the freezer) rather than kippers.

Another £45 spent today, £20 at the fishmongers & £25 on eggs, fruit & veg at the market. I haven't done the non-perishables yet but will tackle that early next week; it shouldn't be too bad as stocks are still fairly high. But taking note of this article, I may pop a few extra tins & packets into my trolley…

dollypeeps

@thriftwizard thank you for this article. It’s the 2nd time I’ve seen such on forums.

I think I’ll start to stock up a little more as well. I usually am a bulk buy person. I think I’ll be buying a few packs of water as well. It doesn’t bear thinking about that we are at the mercy of cyber attacks for such basic human requirements does it? I suppose you think of war/unrest in abstract terms and that it doesn’t affect me type of thing….im sure our grandparents would shiver at this unstable time ….much like the wws.