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Original poster

Cost of food shopping during lockdown?

62 replies

BeansOnToast4T · 03/04/2020 10:21

Has your shopping bill gone up? I've seen a lot of posters mention spending a lot more. I've just been going through my monthly spending and there isn't any difference for us, (2 adults, ds 14, dd 12). I'm still shopping mostly in Lidl and have been able to get most things.I'm more organised as I've got more time to cook and instead of making packed lunches for everyone we are using up leftovers or having homemade soup instead. We are not big meat eaters and I can get a few meals out a Mumsnet chicken! Average spend is £80 a week and includes toiletries and cleaning stuff.

OP posts:
namechangenumber2 · 03/04/2020 16:05

Ours has gone up a fair bit, but we're buying different food - usually we'd just have cereal/toast for breakfast but have had occasional bacon sandwiches etc. Also DS1 nearly always had school lunches so that's extra food to buy.

We've also had our fair share of take aways.... Blush

Hazelnutlatteplease · 03/04/2020 16:13

Yes.
Value ranges, especially for ingredients, either unavailable or limited. Food is more expensive i think too

DS needs whole milk for medicine. Cant guarentee it in the deliveries so now getting it through the milk and more (i was fortunate enough to have put in a random order about a month befor this kicked off). Gorgeous milk but it costs 4x as much.

Cant get a delivery for 2 weeks time and completely isolating on account DS. Locol taxi company will shop for you for about £15, wholesaler will deliver but some things are twice the cost. Hoping i can get a food order the week after and just skip a week

Free school meals have sent through tesco vouchers but i cant get tescos to com to me or go to tesco.

Yes its expensive

HilaryBriss · 03/04/2020 16:14

Mine has gone up a fair amount, mainly because I'm shopping in M&S as opposed to my usual Aldi/Tesco. I can walk to M&S and it's virtually empty, as opposed to driving to Aldi/Tesco and joining the huge queues with everyone else.

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MiniatureRed · 03/04/2020 16:27

Oh definitely gone up, mainly cos we're not eating out all the time Blush

MiniatureRed · 03/04/2020 16:28

But joking aside the prices have increased and the offers have disappeared.

vinoandbrie · 03/04/2020 16:30

Yes, I’ve seen prices go up, both in the supermarket and at our local independent greengrocer.

The grocer was saying that the wholesale prices for certain products has shot up, and he worries people think he is profiteering, but he’s not. He said for example he didn’t get any cauliflowers in that day as the price to him had doubled and he’d have to pass that on and it would be ridiculous. Only an anecdote!

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 03/04/2020 16:49

Yes noticed it here too.

Weekly shop, no stopping off at the supermarket for top ups so more spent on main shop.
No BOGOF offers.

4 adults at home 24/7 or only me going out to work. (WFH limited in my case)

ArthurMorgan · 03/04/2020 17:47

Yes it seems to have gone up from £50 a week to £75... But then we're all here for breakfast lunch and dinner now so it makes sense

MangePasTesOnglesVilain · 03/04/2020 17:50

Were saving by not being able to get food delivery (shielding).

Also great for weight loss.

Zisforstripyoss · 03/04/2020 17:54

Mine has but I'm shopping every 2 weeks to stop going out so much. Only spending about 50% more though, so I think I'm doing ok.

Zisforstripyoss · 03/04/2020 17:55

I've also noticed price increases.

LolaSmiles · 03/04/2020 17:56

Ours has stayed around the same.

Normally we do a big shop every fortnight and then a smaller shop in between to buy fresh produce, dairy etc that doesn't keep for a fortnight.

FudgeBrownie2019 A few friends have said they're finding the same. It always makes me laugh because at school most students have a snack at break and then their lunch, but at home they turn into bottomless pits eating every 5 seconds.

Pipandmum · 03/04/2020 17:56

I'm spending more simply because everyone is at home all day and my two teens (especially my son) are human locusts. I'm also eating more than I should! I don't think the prices have gone up so much as there are no offers.

PhoneLock · 03/04/2020 18:13

I haven't noticed any change. We aren't eating any more. We don't usually buy lunches and aren't a snacky couple.

TheTurnOfTheScrew · 03/04/2020 18:17

I'm spending more. Locally to me a lot of the cheaper products are selling out so I'm left with the more expensive brands.

Justabadwife · 03/04/2020 18:26

I spent £179 in asda on Tuesday- but I did spend £20 on gin.
That should last at least 2 weeks. I bought a massive pack of 30 eggs - so we are generally having some form of egg for lunch (scrambled, poached, omelette)
I did however spend £15 in our mini Tesco today.
Probably over the month I will spend about the same as I'm not buying lunch at work.

LipstickTaserrr · 03/04/2020 18:37

I sent DP to the corner shop for a few bits and I have only just realised he paid £1.89 for a small bog standard cucumber! Shock

LipstickTaserrr · 03/04/2020 18:38

Also the tiny box of washing powder and small jar of coffee are price marked way more than I would pay for a bigger version in the supermarket.

SybilWrites · 03/04/2020 18:43

mine's gone up hugely - I'm feeding 5 children, 3 of them teens - all the time. used to shop online and was able to regulate spend, but now it's at the supermarket (and Waitrose at that as it's walking distance from my house and I don't have a car).

I think I spent £100 more last week, but that is a bit counterbalanced by the lack of money spent on school lunches (£45 a week) and the lack of takeaways or meals out. For us, a benefit of this is that we are all sitting down as a family several times a day to eat. We are also baking cakes most days.

Nsky · 03/04/2020 18:49

Spent less as more careful, only puss and I tho

mrsm43s · 03/04/2020 19:01

Yes, spending much more.

Currently getting online shops when I can (vulnerable group).

No offers - more expensive.
Lots of subs for more expensive items (Morrisons, so pay price of sub)
Lots of cheaper items/brands out of stock on website, so not available to buy, so having to shift up a brand.
2 adults and 2 teenagers at home all day, everyday - needing to buy more food.
Lots of price rises.
I'm definitely drinking more wine!

I used to spend about £80 per week, currently spending around £130-£150.

We are saving on school dinners, eating out, social life, commuting costs and a small reduction in our school fees, so all the time we're both still able to Wfh and we're being paid, I think we're saving overall.

glassseagulls · 03/04/2020 19:07

Yes, but we are buying a lot more from local suppliers and farm shops etc

^ This. It's a real struggle, I don't know how I will pay the other bills next month because most of my 'spare' money is going on getting food and buying things that the DCs need for school work. We are fortunate enough to get free school meal vouchers but can't use them at the moment as we have to isolate and so are getting shopping from local farm shops who have contact free collection or offer delivery. On the plus side, we will have the vouchers to use when all this is over - though I have been told by somebody that it's disgusting we are "stock piling" the vouchers as it means we don't need them.

Circletime27 · 03/04/2020 20:05

Our weekly shop is usually around £70, we’ve been spending double that! The first week we filled the freezer, 2nd week we wanted to make sure we didn’t need to go out for anything. Next week we’re planning a really small shop of just a few bits of fresh fruit, veg, milk and bread.

Autumnwindinthewillows · 03/04/2020 20:16

Yes - all the offers have gone plus the cheaper varieties are not available so have to buy brands which cost more.
I need goats milk for ds which only Tesco near us sells so am doing all shopping there instead of popping to Aldi, home bargains etc as I did regularly before which costs loads more

Bearlyclearly · 03/04/2020 20:42

I live on my own, take lunch to work and don’t get takeaways and my shopping buying all my usual stuff went up by 20%