October 2026 Grocery Challenge

JingsMyBucket

Budgets updated to here. 

Welcome @karenccs67 and @debtfreewannabe321. Karen, so sorry to hear about your husband.

Update for my numbers from yesterday. The Morrisons/Just Eat order came to £26.20.

Mr. Jings swung by M & S on my request to get a couple items to complete dinner. He spent £12.20 on a good loaf of rye sourdough bread from the bakery, grapes, a bag of salad, and a beer for himself as compensation. 

Total £38.40 / £350 spent. £311.60 remaining. 

Tomorrow I’m trying on some clothes I ordered from M & S so I can go return to the store any that don’t fit. I’ll pick up some butter, baked beans and clementines while there. I’ll also hit Superdrug and Poundland to look for my Simple bar soap that seems to have disappeared from Savers. I’m down to the last sliver on this last bar and desperately need to restock. 

Blackcats

I didn't post my updates in September although I don't know why I didn't 🥴. September's grocery spends looked ok when viewed in isolation but when viewed alongside our eating out budget it's a whole different story. My focus for October is to draw up our meal plan alongside our diaries so we don't end up tired and hungry at the chippy or Indian restaurant because we have been out and about all day. Also we are well stocked for breakfasts and try to plan evening meals but lunches are hit and miss and DH often suggests lunch at the cafe. This adds up but also messes up our evening meal plan and has caused some food wastage.

We are having a few days away in October which are funded from another budget so I have cut our grocery budget this month which will also help me to shop from home and use existing food stocks.

That's the plan - let's see how I get on …

£250.00 please

karenccs67

WEEK 1 : £60 / £280

Greying_Pilgrim

Spends to record. I bought 2x 55p jars of borlotti beans, and 2x35p 'brown baggie' bananas from M&$ - £1.80 spent. The bananas are their 'waste diversion' scheme - todays bags contained a hand (5) of organic, fairtrade bananas and a hand (5) of 'Taste buds' bananas - which I think would have retailed for £2.60 total 'proper' price. I have just had the most 'battered' banana (organic/fairtrade) and it was lush 😁 More than happy to divert that type of 'waste' into my tum 😁The borlotti beans were the last 2 jars on the shelf - I think the jarred beans are a popular item in our M&$. I got them for my store cupboard.

Then I went to the barginz of home and got 2x jarrred garlic and 2x apple bags - £3.58 spent. Grocery budget spend = £5.38.

I'm away to update my siggie figgie.

Greying X

debtfreewannabe321

Morning all, so my DH went to the shop for me the other night for two things and overspent out of the grocery budget so I have to record this spend first £13.70 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Yesterday I went shopping and filled the stock cupboard and freezer for the month as well as bought food to bulk cook, I spent £103.38 in MrL but I have sent £10 back to the grocery fund from gift fund because we picked up middle aisle stuff for gifts. So £93.38 there. MrT next for stuff we can't get in MrL, £47.79. and also big river site £3.40 because I wasn't paying nearly £5 for washing up liquid. Total spends £158.27. Mental note to oneself do not take DH or DD shopping in future and also don't send them out with bank card for two items which end up being many items if we want to stay on budget 😁😬 and/or ever bring the budget down.

Total spends £158.27/500

Changeyourlife25

£450 for the month

Can I please be put down for this month? It’s been a while since I’ve done a grocery challenge.

I’m going with a low one but I’ve a lot to eat here and need to get myself in order.

So far

£217.87/£450

£151 farm shop (my meat for the whole month plus some dairy) £30.90 Lidl , £4 local food share group, £15.36 Asian supermarket, £16.61 corner shop.

K9sandFelines

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82155382#Comment_82155382

Welcome @karenccs67 .So sorry to hear about your husband. Good luck on the challenge

I'm not officially here until the middle of the month, but I still try and pop in when I can before my official start date.

K9sandFelines

Reflecting on my bulk buys and normal buys together it's looking like £130 is around about the right figure. I'm hoping I don't need any more bulk buys, although I would like to buy a bag of soya crispies at some point

So @JingsMyBucket please can you put me all in at £100 for groceries and £30 for bulk buys this time. Thank you.

Good luck everybody 😊

PipneyJane

Evening All

I have two small shops from today to declare:

• £2.80 at the local BP M&S petrol station on a sliced tiger loaf, and
• £14.38 in Sainsbugs, spent on 2 mushrooms 20p, 250g pack choi £1.17, 1.168kg loose potatoes £1.05, 638g loose broccoli, Dove men’s stick antiperspirant £3.15, 1.5L quad strength squash 2x£2.40+£2.30 (3 total), 296g parsnip 44p.

We also received £2.11 in shrapnel, including a £2 coin, which all went to the money boxes.

I am totally unimpressed by the fresh bread in the BP M&S. The only reason we went there is that we desperately needed fresh bread for breakfast so decided to walk down to the local A$da petrol station, buy the bread and collect the Sunday Times*. However, there were no magazines inside the A$da’s Sunday Times, so we walked another quarter of a mile to the BP M&S. Unlike the A$da, they had no fresh, uncut loaves or batons. The loaf we bought was the only one which wasn’t your typical sliced supermarket loaf.

• Pip

*We subscribe to the Sunday Times primarily because it’s cheaper for subscribers and they have a decent TV Guide. Subscribers get vouchers to present when paying for the paper, so I never count it in the Grocery Challenge

navelorange1

So far I’ve spent £88.09/£300 which is far too much. The coffee pods I bought online I saw in 2 different supermarkets this week so was a bit of a waste of money. At least £300 is doable with some mistakes as long as I prioritise healthy whole foods like potatoes, rice, veg and protein. Today I got a McD flat white, meal deal from Tesco Express and some bits from Waitrose and Asda for £28.27. I’ve noticed that spending is a bit of a compulsion and I never actually want to prepare food. I split a meal deal between lunch and dinner today. My schedule’s gotten very hectic. Tomorrow, back at college but always tempted by the snacks in the canteen. Surprised and pleased to know that at least one of the Tesco meal deal sushis is GF!