What have you stopped buying due to a price increase?

[heartbroken22]

?? Don't buy as many eggs as we normally did or chicken...

Oh! And I invested in an air fryer. Radio 4 had a programme that demonstrated air fryers use less than half the energy to cook the same thing as a conventional oven. Our oven is also brand new (thank you, family fund), so efficient but not enough to be able to do 4 jacket potatoes with nice crispy skins in 45 mins like our air fryer did last week.

Also really handy for cooking little bits for the DCs lunches in the morning. They often take flasks with chicken pops, sausage rolls etc. (party food type bits are still cheap bought frozen) which are done in minutes in the morning for much less energy.

I’ve been to Aldi every evening for the past month and buying the 30% off reduced food. It makes a massive difference to the overall shopping bill but is time intensive. I got 2 packs of salmon fillets for 80p a pack tonight (75% off as it’s got such a short date). So £1.60 for the protein part of tomorrows family meal, which is a huge saving. So in answer to the question, I’ve stopped buying full price meat and fish and now only buy short date, reduced meat.

the dc are really missing having a takeaway, I don’t remember the last time we had one of those. All non essential spending has stopped, no coffees or stops in macdonalds or greggs while we are in town (we haven’t been to town shopping for ages anyway). No day trips out to paid attractions and no nights in the pub for dh and I (that’s hard as friends aren’t feeling the pinch as much as us so still going out).

I’m definitely trying to cut back. I’m not buying bottied water, fresh flowers. I’m buying less
fruit, and not buying expensive ice creams or deserts.
I used to buy smoked salmon every couple of weeks and I usually buy a chicken when I’m doing a roast rather than beef or lamb as it’s cheaper.
i also avoid buying labour saving things like ready made sandwiches, ready made egg mayo and other sandwich filings and takeaway meals. .

Mainly cutting waste- remembering to freeze things, checking what needs eating up, checking freezer regularly, remembering to defrost stuff to cook - we have cut back on eating out - particularly at night - less takeaways too and I've definitely cut back on clothes and make up .

I am keen to get one of these, which make / model do you have?

Courgettes

Angela. Just because someone can't afford or wants to cancel their subscription to an activety is not responsible for the closure of the group. It's not their fault. Perhaps the organiser should lower their prices.

Growing up with cats, dogs, budgerigars, guinea pigs and hamsters my parents never thought of pet insurance. We must have been very lucky as they all lived to an old age and were never ill.

Does anyone use a eco-wash ball?

I didn''t use the heating last winter. What helped enormously was a heated throw if you can afford one.

Meat, except occasionally from Aldi.

Beauty treatments.

Holidays.

We eat veggie now . I was already veggie but dh and DS2 weren't.
The tumble drier was dying and we haven't replaced it... hoping to hang out in all weathers!
We eat mostly pasta as veg with a sauce is filling, or jacket potatoes with cheese, beans etc.
We don't go out out anyway, but occasional takeaways have stopped. I shop in Aldi and Asda anyway, but I miss Lurpak!
But I'm still paying petplan because I'm scared of anything happening to my dog!

No meat.
Only the cheapest fish.
No more once a week coffee out with friends.
More expensive foods are now reserved for the offspring - eg cheese, avocados - I love them but can’t justify the cost.
No hairdressers appointments.
No holidays.
No days out.
Reduced the number of extracurricular activities for the offspring - that really hurt but they kept their favourites.
No new clothes for me (including second hand), only second hand clothing for the offspring and only when they outgrow things.
I am seriously looking at the cost of teabags and thinking it’s time to learn to love the cheap stuff, but it’s my one remaining pleasure.

Fresh fish. New summer dress. Bakery croissants. I'm pretty frugal but these were treat-y things that I can do without at the moment.

Oh yeah and a summer holiday unless I find a last-minute UK bargain cottage.

Everything that makes life bearable

How do you do this?

The main things I've stopped completely is clothes and beauty products/make-up. I'm wearing and using what I've already got. I have a bad online shopping addiction so it's proving difficult but I've stopped looking which helps. It's hard though!

Less trips to our nearest town.

I have always bought up on things we use when they are on sale, but now I actively avoid what isn't.

I have also stopped buying dish washing sponges and use cloth ones now that go into the wash, so much nicer and effective on the benchtop, should have done that a long time ago.

Diet Coke - used to be addicted but it's just so expensive on top of everything else. Also cut down on meat generally

Re the large print books, you can get them from your local library (If it is still open) or as a PP said on a kindle you can resize it.

You can also get audio books from the library. I have an Alexa that can read my kindle to me.

Re making butter.

The simplest but time consuming and gives you a work out, is to pour the cream into a clean jam jar screw the lid on tightly and shake it.

And keep shaking it, and keep shaking it, call the kids in to shake it while you have a cup of tea.

Realise you have put too much cream in one jar so separate it into two jars and keep shaking.

Make it a competition between you and the children to keep shaking. Eventually you end up with butter and buttermilk.

I have never actually used this method, that's what food processors are for.

My grandmother would apparently use the top of the milk, divided into three for her children to make butter by rolling the jars on the rug - it kept them busy for an hour or so.

toriavey.com/how-to/cooking-tutorials/homemade-butter/

I noticed things going rotten before end of sell by too if started during the pandemic and I feel I am paying inflated prices for old or lower quality produce. I am wondering as food was flying off the shelves during pandemic so shelf life could be shortened this must of created huge profits surely as all anyone could do was shop for food? I think this pattern of buying more often rather than big shop shorter shelf life produce as in older stock increases profits for supermarkets. It’s why the shop online model never worked for me I was being sold fresh produce that was going off or sell by the next day again thats increasing profits. If I buy instore I choose the pack of eggs or meat with as fresh as long shelf life as possible. So yellow sticker is mainly on items with visible mould , rancid juice etc.
I always used the freezer and rotated that

I noticed things going rotten before end of sell by too if started during the pandemic and I feel I am paying inflated prices for old or lower quality produce.

I have noticed this too. What the hell is going on.

This. HM is lovely but not cheaper.

Crocsandshocks

I think the slightest shift in consumer patterns create massive profit margins. I think if u can get away with charging money for old rope. Its like how the size of things are shrinking . If we are all paying inflated prices for old veg thats only got a one or two day consumer shelf life thats massive profits. Your buying discount veg at inflated prices because during the pandemic they were shifting produce at lighting speed and u sell the old stock first. Also I have noticed yellow sticker items the supermarkets are reducing things into the next pound so its a reduction of 34 p or less for something that is use by that day. Also all security stickers on meat are yellow stickers was it always the case?
I think the quality of fresh produce in the chain supermarkets is unreliable now. Before I would have trusted the packaging for the sale by dates but not now

From reading this thread, I am glad my partner and I started cutting back a long while ago. We ditched the tumble drier, the takeaways, the second car etc.

Reading about people's laments over food they are giving up, I wonder if they have realised the joys of places like Home Bargains (where I get giant packs of Yorkshire Tea and all of my toiletries) and the cheaper supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi. I used to be a Waitrose/Farm shop snob but quite honestly, the difference people imagine between their products and their beloved brands is mostly psychological.

If you are not yet short of cash, I also recommend getting into the prepper mindset. There are lots of groups on Facebook, if you're on there. I did this ahead of Brexit (so was absolutely fine when first lockdown came and the nationwide absence of toilet rolls and general aversion to supermarkets didn't remotely affect me!) and my partner and I still think that way. Bulk buy, if you have the space. Freeze and can stuff. Aim for at least a month's buffer of food and household items - god forbid, illness or unemployment would mean it could be a lifesaver.

I've decided I might give the home made butter a go. We're butter crazy in our household.