Price increases: What food that you bought every week have you now completely stopped buying?

[sunnydaytoday0]

I just noticed today that the 250g block of own-brand butter in Tesco has gone up again to £1.99, and this is price matched to Aldi who I assume have also put it up. Think I'll now unfortunately not be buying it at all and switching to cheap spread!

Almost all of the foods here were absolute luxuries for most until comparatively recently (fillet steak, salmon, scallops) would only have been eaten in very wealthy houses or fancy restaurants. Meat generally would have been once a week, even in the 80s and pop and crisps were limited.

No denying things are going up, but I think this thread shows how spoiled we've all become. I think in someway the curve is just correcting itself.

I really resent the price of butter, it’s went astronomical. I’ve downgraded most of my shopping items and we not eat less meat overall. The weekly shop is still about £25/30 dearer.

That must have been a lot of underwear in one go!

Salmon. Kids loved it but it's crazily expensive now. Also cheese.

Primark has gone up too it's getting more expensive definately

I did get some boxers for dp which were £14 for three pairs!! Some T-shirts for my son and a couple of toiletries. I have four kids. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m sure the boxers were about £10 last time I bought them.

Not food but PJs in Sainsburys are now sold as separates £25 in total

Honey. I can't justify the luxury of honey which is a shame as I liked a spoonful on my breakfast and in my coffee at night. I had to downgrade the cat and dog food too.

I quite like Tesco mature cheddar - much improved from when I tried it years ago. I use to think £5 a kg was enough for mature cheddar for cooking, but that's not happening any more.

Branded soap powder...now use the asda smart price one, its £2.20 for the big box so cheaper than aldi or lidl as there one is £3.19 but also contains less
Also stopped popping into waitrose after yoga, its next door, for the bargains at 9pm....now reductions are tiny and tempted to buy other bits while in there.

I'm more confused about why you think paint tins should be the exception to the general increase?

Not clear if its b&ms own brand paint or another brand but -wages have gone up both for factory that makes the paint and for b&m staff. Petrol increases mean its more expensive to transport paint from wherever it is produced to the central warehouses and then to the individual stores.

Energy increases mean it costs more for b&m to keep the lights and heating on in their stores....all combined mean it's easier for shops to just add a 10-20% increase onto everything to cover their overheads. Plus of course it's a good way of making a sneaky profit if you use the Cost of living to mark up everything even those things that aren't costing much more to produce (and often things that are already in stock).

E.g. I looked at some shoes from matalan for £20, came back to the shop the week later and the same shoes had been put up to £21, on inspection the new price was just a little sticker placed over the old one! Exact same shoes and no extra costs incurred as they were clearly already in stock, just decided if they charged a quid extra on each pair it would add up!

I would still rather have butter and eat less of it though.

We buy coffee beans and I would rather drink less of it than have to drink instant coffee. My adult kids drink lots of Coke in its many forms - as children, it was a treat. We never had it in the house most of the time - I drink water all day, but I like coffee in the morning and a glass of wine at night. I would rather have the heating on for an hour less each day than give up everything nice to eat and drink.

Proper branded cola
Not eaten beef or lamb joints for years now but definitely can't afford it now.
Can not get certain boys clothes which started out as Covid issue. Can only find older teen boxers in Next. At £32 for ten pairs ds will unfortunately have to go without pants. He has got about 5 pairs now 😟

We use cooking bacon every week and noticed it went from about 75p to £2 in Sainsbury's but it is still 75p in tesco. Similarly gone up in Lidl.

I stoped eating Breakfast. Tempted to give up lunch too at this rate. However little I eat I'm always fat so I think I would survive happily on one meal a day. Dh is thinking of just having beans on toast for evening dinner as work provide cooked lunch. It might be that we only cook for the kids.

However I'm still managing to buy everything I used to. Was tempted to stop yogurts but eating the 75p for 12 kids fromagefrais (sp?) From Sainsbury's.

However we won't starve.

Pringles, cant bring myself to buy them at more than £1.25 a tube, now the offer price is £1.65-get lost!

have got in the habit in the last 6 months of buying myself a bunch of carnations for the vase in the kitchen window every few weeks, perks me up and at £2.50 a bunch doesn’t break the bank….went and grabbed some this week with my shopping at Tesco and was horrified to see they went through the till at £4 a bunch!! These will be my last!

so many things have gone up and not just 5-15p increases but 50p-£1s jumps! Some of it is understandable like cooking oil etc but some seems like blatant profiteering and they can go f themselves if they think I’m going to pay it, I’ll go elsewhere for the item or go without!

Stopped Cans of fizzy juice. We now drink tap water with icecubes (Scotland so water is good from tap) or squash. Really cut back on treats such as nice sweets, cakes, nice crisps etc. Tesco own brand custard creams etc (40p) are fine for a sweet treat!

Switched to some cheaper brands or supermarket own brands food and household stuff (no more domestos when own brand is half the price!) I keep an eye out for offers on things we use regularly and buy lots.

Savings from above means the increases are not as much and I can keep buying bulk meat, chicken etc from butchers for now and I freeze in smaller portions. Also buying smaller quantities of fresh food more often so nothing goes out of date and we are wasting much less food. Weekly £28 takeaway is now £34 every 2-3 weeks.

For now we are breaking even.

I do worry all these companies (including the one I work for!) that produce non- essentials or premium brands will start seeing demand dropping.

Buses to be so fussy with instant coffee . But my favourite is now £7 a jar . No way could I justify that . I switched to an Aldi one and I have to say I’ve got used to it .

Avocados

If I had ever bought lattes I could give them up too and that would fix everything I expect. (Isn't that what people always recommend to save money?)

Alcohol. That's one aisle I can skip.

Sourdough bread

Cheery Supermarket flowers

Baking supplies such as icing decorations etc

Crackers. (They cost a lot for what they are, and they're a snack not a meal.)

Meal deals

Impulse buying anything

Non basic fruit (still buying apples, satsumas and bananas)

Have cancelled the veg box.

Cuppa soups. I usually have some in hand in the wintertime, but I'm going to try to do without.

Shower gel. We've got a soap fragrancing every drawer at home

I'm thinking about buying cereal for the mornings because porridge and toast both use energy and shredded wheat or bran flakes etc wouldn't.

Kitchen roll

I am also having a cleaning product moratorium and trying to use what I've got up even if I don't like it.

DH has switched to cheap coffee too, tbh he is fine with it. I drink decaff and am holding on to my favourite brand for dear life - but having less of it.

I have the pantry and freezer at the point of only buying on special these days, except toilet paper never seems to be on special anymore. And the on special prices aren't really specials, just closer to what things used to cost.

Filleted fish I find has always been expensive, but buying the packaged pre-crumb stuff is worse when you read how little amount of fish is in each piece.

Our old cat passed away earlier this year, and I was surprised how much our grocery shop dropped when I wasn't buying his cat milk and special wet pouches.

So for us, just a change in what I purchase and when. But yes, the cost of items has hugely increased, along with the profit margin of the businesses selling them!

I'm thinking about buying cereal for the mornings because porridge and toast both use energy and shredded wheat or bran flakes etc wouldn't.

Overnight oats are cheap, tasty, healthy and don't use energy.

Linda McCartney sausage rolls. Can’t afford to buy them or to put the oven on to cook them.
Red wine. Can’t find affordable Cabernet Sauvignon anywhere.
Coffee. OMG £7 a jar! Nope!
Alpro Growing Up Milk.
Actually we’re not buying any plant milks or tofu from this week as I bought a pressure cooker and will make my own. It will pay for itself in three months at today’s plant milk and tofu prices.

Firstly I've cut my click n collect from Tesco every week and im shopping around in Aldi, Lidl, farm foods etc.

I've stopped buying Pringles, Salmon, joints of meat... lamb, beef, whole chickens and using cheaper cuts, mince.

Hubby goes yellow sticker shopping a couple of times a week, this spans the main shopping out.

This year we started growing our own veg and we've had lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, sweet corn, different squashes, leeks, lettuce. We've also bought some fruit trees to plant this Autumn. MIL has provided us with free pears, plums, apples and we've been picking blackberries.

I've started using non branded wash powder, changed our coffee, buy tea bags in bulk when on offer. Changed to the own brand butter a while back but will look at swapping if it's gone to £1.99 per block.
I've cut down on the amount of tea & coffee I drink, maybe now just having one on a morning and one in an evening. Hubby gets free hot drinks at work or takes a flask, he gets hot drinks from customers.

I've started having brunch instead of breakfast & lunch separately. I am now starting to use the slow cooker and stove top more instead of putting the oven on.

I've cut down on the sweet treats and don't buy as many packets of biscuits, maybe 2 cheap packs a week.

I buy the really cheap packs of dried spaghetti or bulk buy the bigger bags of pasta. I look for the cheaper crisps, snackrite.

Don't drink alcohol anymore, will have a boiled sweet instead of a haribo as the boiled sweet lasts longer and I don't eat half a bag all at once.

I am in the very fortunate position to not to need to cut back, however I have my limits and shop/buy what is on offer and if one of my regulars is not at a price I am willing to pay I won’t buy it. If I want a fish dinner for example, I look to choose what is the best value instead of just picking up the same thing each week.
I am shopping smarter, aiming for zero waste and have cut out all the extras, that were bad for my health and waistline as well as my bank balance.
I tend to use Tesco with delivery, but have all the major supermarkets including Aldi and Lidl in town or in the next town so I could start to shop around or rotate them.

I have recently been in the US and the price of my usual staples is horrendous. £7 for a normal size box of cereal! And I think the milk was £4.

Snacks. I can knock up meal food at a fraction of the cost - eg a soup or toast (yes I think toast is a meal) is cheaper than crisps, sweets, small yogurt.