Weekly food shop… AIBU or is it still costing more?

It isn't a supposed average price rise, inflation is measured using the specific basket of goods consistently, what you personally experience won't be the same unless you buy that exact mix of stuff

There are things in the supermarket that have gone up by way more than the calculated rate but actually some things I buy have come down in price so we're all going to have a different view

The thing is that although they say it's 2% inflation, some products went up way more then that - for example, Tesco's whole roast chicken recently went up to £5.25 from £4, thats like a 30% increase, their own filtered milk went up by like 15% a little while ago, butter has similarly gone up in price too. And I think that's why we feel it more - actual price increase on some items are way above the supposed average price rise %.

I live alone and my bill is around £100 its drops and rises depending on whether i need shampoo conditioner WUL Washing powder ect, i struggle because most supermarkets only sell things in packets, (i do have a few items i will not compromise on though) so by the time i get round to eating them all they've gone off, ive tried buying from veg stalls just a few carrots ect, worked out similar prices as usually more expensive, so now i cook bake n freeze, nothing gets wasted, im even going to try Nadia's curry made from banana skins.
I do think its not just down to cost of living either, i think supermarkets are raking it in.

News today says prices have risen in the last 12 months an average of 2%. It feels like a lot more! I don't think these figures take shrinkflation into account either
https://news.sky.com/story/supermarket-prices-2-more-expensive-than-a-year-ago-as-grocery-inflation-rises-figures-show-13230049

If you really think that then you're living in cloud cuckoo land....

I can't get mine down to much below £200 a week. Two adults, two teenagers (16 and 18 so adults too really) and a 4 year old.
Prices have gone up but in our case DS is no longer at nursery so I'm buying 3 meals a day extra (I also used to get free lunch at nursery but don't work there now).
£200 is pretty much everything though and includes take away once a fortnight but I'm not sure if we can cope with prices up going up much more.

We're about £70 a week for 2 adults, my partner bulk buys household items though so that generally doesn't include them, only the weekly food.

We live in Channel Islands so whilst we have lower tax rates, our food is extortionate! I’ve definitely noticed it’s got much more expensive. We are now 120-150 a week (2 adults, 2 kids aged 4 and 6) and yet we cook from scratch and grow lots of our own (we have a greenhouse, polytunnel and large plot). Definitely need to cut back here but not quite sure where.

We spend about £75 for two of us in Lidl but I do tend to be in the office for 2 or 3 days and don’t have breakfast or lunch at home those days (free at work). We also don’t eat a huge amount of meat - maybe 2 or 3 meals a week.

So I posted earlier on the thread- we spend around £100ish a week for 4 adults or £65 is for 2 adults when kids are back at Uni. And for that we eat really, really well.

Today DH and I did a "Souper Sunday" where we audit all the bits and bobs that need using up, then look up soup recipes (we have a fab box set of New Covent Garden soup recipes books that we picked up in a charity shop for £3).

Main things that needed using up were a lot of cherry tomates that were going a bit wrinkly, the leftover sweet potatoes from a bag I bought for a recipe, some carrots that were past their best and some excess parsnips. I also had a few half used pots of cream/crème fraîche/sour cream that I used in other recipes earlier in the week.

So we made Tuscan Bean soup, sweet potato, onion and corn chowder, carrot & ginger soup and parsnip and apple soup. About 24 lunch sized portions. Healthy, delicious, cost pennies and prevented food waste.

But as I said previously, I have the luxury of time, skills, headspace, storage space, no intolerances and no fussy eaters.

How is it not a varied diet? Cheese sandwiches were one example. I could have soup or egg or all sorts. Mostly we have rice, soup, or quinoa.

I'm not going to list every single thing I could eat because I'd be here for ages. You do also know you can add things to sandwiches?

The best ‘£60 a week boast’ I’ve ever seen on Mumsnet was the one where someone said by shopping in aldi she could feed a family of 5 on £55 a week. Someone asked her to share a receipt and meal plan which she did but the meal plan had eg pork roast but the receipt had no pork and the meal plan had jacket potatoes with beans and cheese but the receipt had no cheese or beans etc. When people questioned it she was saying oh I had that in, I bought that last week, we still had some in, we get a veg box delivered etc 😂

This all sounds great but then I dont see how you are getting a varied diet with everything you need eating cheese sandwiches. So I am always sceptical of the I only spend £60 a week boasts.

I think a big key is not to waste any food. Use up everything you have.

We try to use everything and one meal a week is using leftovers, I.e. using up spinach that is going off in an omelette, turning old bread into French toast, use vegetables in a stew, check the fridge for things with short shelf life and devise a recipe around this. We have had nice meals this way and prevented it going in the bin.

For example: Veg soup. Probably cost me £5 and I'd have a pan to last us two days.

Ful medames. £3 two days.

Fish stew. Maybe £8, again two days.

Then fish, potatoes, peas and tomatoes. Probably closer to £10.

Lunches: cheese sandwiches. I make my own bread, not sure the cost but it works out cheap. Cheese and cucumber.

Breakfast: Omelette/toast with tomatoes, mushrooms, whatever.

Interesting conversation. I've just added up what we've spent this week on food alone, and it comes to £105.

There were splurges there. We mainly cook from scratch. Don't eat meat but eat fish, our meals hugely vary week by week. I think prices have absolutely gone up but I personally don't find it hard to cook cheap meals that keep. We batch cook a lot and use it.

We make a lot of things with beans, eggs, lentils. Fish is usually about four times a week but there are some weeks we don't touch it if we're bored.

I think prices have gone up on tinned beans and pulses. I buy them dried a lot of the time now, for more bang for buck. Tomatoes are shit even in the summer so we grow our own or grill/fry them if they're bought. We've eaten like this we were students, really. Now we buy nicer fish. So there's an increase but I don't know how some people are getting up into the hundreds a week.

I think if we put our minds to it, we could easily eat off £60 a week. We shouldn't have to. But we could. Possibly less.

I shop at Tesco and subscribe to their Clubcard Plus offer.
It costs £7.99 a month but then get vouchers for 10% off two shops a month (up to £200). You have to use them in store but I like to choose fruit and veg so I do that anyway.
You also get 10% of their brands like F&F, Go Cook and Fox & Ivy at any time.
I tend to stock up on meat for the freezer and other non-perishables on those weeks and just get milk and fruit and veg in between to make the most of the offer.
If you sign up you get one months free trial so well worth a try if you regularly shop there.

As an average, we've spent around £95 a week on food this year (cleaning/loo rolls adds another £8 a week, however I've got quite the stash to work through!). That's mostly as a family of 4 (till june), but currently with only 3 of us home (eldest has just gone to uni). It hasn't gone down much since she left as my OH has been on a bit of a health kick.

I run a business from home and DH mostly works from home, so we have more time than most. We also have the space and money to be able to buy in bulk when things are cheap/on offer. That's the sad irony - people who most need to spend as little as possible don't have those opportunities.

We buy few branded products, shop mostly in aldi (but I will also visit other supermarkets to pick up their offers on stuff that we have) and cook 99% of our meals at home - probably only carbonara sauce that I buy every once in a while. I also shop at the local cash and carry. I buy dried beans and pulses (though I love the bold beans jarred butter beans!). I also cook meat for sandwiches rather than buying a pack of sliced chicken/ham. I meal plan, asking then what they'd like over the next week and incorporate what's left in the fridge, etc. We waste nothing (too greedy! 🤣)

We don't buy cakes, puddings or chocolate bars regularly. Nor fizzy drinks, or alcohol. If we have a dessert, it's mostly yogurt or fruit, or I'll bake something (which isn't cheaper, but is much better as I tend to stick to proper butter, etc). I'll buy a pack of reduced sugar rich tea maybe once every few weeks or so. I'm sure some of you are rolling your eyes at how puritanical it sounds! We don't really have a sweet tooth.

I've just switched to decaff teabags as I read that the tannins in regular tea inhibit your body's ability to absorb iron and I love a cuppa!

We also eat meat on the daily.

A sample menu would be:

• Piri piri chicken tray bake with - chicken thighs, baby potatoes, peppers and tomatoes
• Roasted vegetables (aubergine, courgette, mushroom, peppers, onions and tomatoes) with bulgar wheat and spatchcock chicken.
• Chicken Curry with chickpeas and spinach.
• Spanish meatballs and butterbean stews

• Sizzling Chicken strips - chicken breast, onions, Carrots, peppers, Chinese 5 spice, toasted sesame oil

For breakfasts - toast, yogurt and fruit, cheese on toast, cereal (I get the protein choco crunch from M&S, which is low sugar). On a Saturday, the boys have a bagel/English Muffin with sausages and cheese slices after football.

We're a family of 7 and we probably spend around £150-170 a week. Only one of the kids has packed lunch, the rest have school/college dinners (I'm not including the price of their school dinners)

We spend a huge amount on toiletries because all 5 are girls and they all have long hair (as do I) so we go through tons of shampoo and conditioner and things like deodorant, shower gel, toilet roll etc. The price of all that really stacks up!

people seem to be eating less and less meat due to cost

Depending on what meat you are prepared to buy/eat ...meat is not always more expensive.

Yes, decent quality meat is expensive...but many people are happy to eat processed/frozen meat which is often cheaper than veggies.

I’d probably eat a very dal or Asian heavy diet if it was completely left to me. There are some great cookery books out there now. It’s suiting everybody I find hard.

Definitely not where I live. So many are veggie re ethics but increasingly at work and socially people seem to be eating less and less meat due to cost.

We are a mixture of both.

The only meat we are having this week is 2 free range sausages each. Will have protein from cheese, pulses and eggs.

This week we’re having - toad in the hole and greens, polenta with cheese and a tomato sauce, med pasta and Parmesan, jacket potatoes with salad, coleslaw and cheese, veggie dal, calvo Nero, bean and cheese soup with rolls. Fruit and yogs alongside every day.. Sultana bran flakes for breakfast or toast and peanut butter and cheese, carrot or egg sandwiches with cherry tomatoes and mayo. Maybe tuna but probably not. Some biscuits/ or a trail bar. Bit of choc/ ice cream, wine or gin Fri/Sat night. Maybe a crumble at the weekend.

Sometimes I’ll roast a chicken and have chicken, egg fried rice or curry the next day with veg. Often have a dal or pasta or something with tofu. I might do home made fish and chips sometimes of fajitas with chicken or a chopped up steak and peppers.

Really don’t need or want loads of meat. The less meat you eat the less I fancy it.

That said I still struggle to get it below £40/50 a head per adult for a week for everything including household products.

Inflation has slowed - but it is still positive. So the cost of everything is still going up, including food. Just not going up as fast as a year ago.

Agree totally. My dh eats keto and it's expensive.

I'm assuming the "leading brand" must Pampers at 20p ish per nappy to be adding up to £1000. A supermarket brand nappy is more like 5p per nappy. In which case, savings are going to be much much less. It's not worth it for most people.
There are other benefits, I have used cloth for my younger 2, but the savings are minimal at best.