How do you cope with supermarket prices going up and up and up?

[WildEnergySupplier]

Just back from my big supermarket shop and I’m genuinely shocked at how much prices have gone up AGAIN.

It feels like every week there’s another increase - milk, bread, meat, vegetables, even the own-brand basics that used to be affordable. Things that were £2 to £2.50 about 4-5 years ago are now all about £4 to £4.50. It feels like since last summer, the prices have exploded.

I’m really struggling to keep the weekly food bill under control while everything else (energy, petrol, council tax etc etc) is still sky high.

This is despite the government telling us last week how brilliantly the economy is doing!! It certainly doesn’t feel like it to me. And I just heard on the radio that this navel gazing by-election is apparently costing us £5 million, as it will lead to another mayor election.

So many families are worrying about feeding their kids properly and keeping the heating on. How are the rest of you managing? Any clever tips for cutting costs without it feeling miserable? Are your shops coming in much more expensive too? I’d really appreciate hearing how others are coping because I’m starting to feel a bit despairing about it all. Thanks in advance.

I have read a post elsewhere recommening soup made with potato peelings. God help us.

Can you part with the Hungarian cookie recipe? Pretty please.

Yes, fresh produce definitely has a shorter life now.

Tu hen toi ro

But it doesn't mean it's OK to attack other people.

True where does this 3.6% come from such a lie! Prices on individual items seem to go up 10p per week at the moment. My work are offering 3% pay rise yet my council tax has gone up by 5%, water has gone up by 25%.

Reduce expensive stuff

eg meat
pre-made / chopped etc food

We have just had carrot and cheese home made wraps
At the weekend we enjoyed lentil pancakes
and a chickpea curry

cheap nutritious ingredients is the way to go
beans, lentils and lots of veg etc

My weekly shopping bill was creeping closer to £200 every week for a family of three. I don’t drink, so there wasn’t even alcohol in there.

I tried our local farm shop/butchers and got all of my meat, bread, fruit and veg for the week for just over £60, and that included some treat items like cake and nice biscuits etc, so I go there now and just get my cupboard bits from Tesco. It’s cut over £70 from my shopping costs and the food is so much nicer. Tesco meat is shit.

Free range chicken legs and thighs are cheaper to buy per kilo than a whole bird. Chicken breast is the expendive part of the bird.

I look at all the offers and just buy what's on offer each week to save. I buy the cheap pasta it's about 30p and my kids do eat a lot of pasta. I make a big curry and freeze it, frozen chicken can be cheaper. I also noticed my local Co op 5% mince is £8 for two packs which is cheaper than the supermarkets so I get that there. It is the snacks that cost and my kids seem to eat everything within three days. I've taken to hiding things not just to make sure they have enough for their lunch boxes. Luckily things aren't too tough that I cut the fun foods but I always look for offers. If things aren't on offer I don't buy them, my oh thinks I'm tight but you have to be these days.

This is a bit niche, but it's absolutely how I'm keeping within my food budget - I work at a university and I know the main places that have seminars, workshops, and conferences. I keep an eye on the room booking system and will often use my lunch hour to scope out where buffets are. Departments are starting to encourage people to bring takeaway boxes and take leftover food home to avoid food waste. I keep takeaway boxes and Ziploc bags in my backpack for this exact purpose. Of course I don't take anything until the lunch break is over, as the people who are participating in the event get first dibs. (But sometimes I sign up for a lunchtime event....) If I'm staying on campus then there might be evening events with pizza or canapes.

Opened milk (dairy, oat, soy) will usually get poured away by the catering staff, so if I can rescue it, I have plenty of milk for cereal (M&S sells a box of cornflakes for around £1), tea, and my morning smoothie. There's often a fruit bowl, and most types of fruit can go into the smoothie as well, or in the case of easy peelers can be a healthy snack. If there's enough dairy milk and I have enough time, I occasionally make cheese! Then the whey also goes into my smoothies.

Taking individually wrapped tea bags from the tea/coffee setup is a little dodgier, but if I just take one at a time then I feel it's okay. I don't take wrapped biscuits, because I really do not need to be eating biscuits, and they can be put out the next day so there's no issue of food waste.

I live alone and have absolutely no problem with making an entire dinner out of quartered sandwiches, canapes, some kind of salad, and a croissant!

Obviously this doesn't cover everything, but the local food pantry usually has a tonne of bread, so that is good to stock up on and keep in the freezer. It also provides the occasional treat, like a nice M&S salad or a Pret sandwich. If I'm having a bonanza week, I need to purchase nothing at the shop except for eggs and vegetables!

Have a day off

I’m a high earner, but only feel like I can justify aldi prices. If I go to Tesco etc I find my mouth just gapes open at the till. I try buy my meat and eggs from our local butchers - they do bundles that are decent value.

Whilst I used to be able to do a weeks shop for £80, plus some top ups to about 100, it’s crept up now. Looking at my banking app it’s about 130 a week for 5 of us.

Sorry, What on earth does that mean?

It is crazy the cost of a supermarket shop now. I like to go to the final reductions especially on a Sunday and fill up my freezer with meat and fish and get fruit and bread too, yesterday I worked out (because im sad and get my calculator out!) That the £25 shop would've cost £75 full price so that really adds up, i also get things off olio as well when I can.

The government stepping in 😂 want do you want them to do? Declare it’s a national outrage that the price of beef has gone up and use public money to slash the cost? Please gain a basic understanding of economics, trade, import costs, production costs, staffing costs etc and attempt to understand why food prices are currently high and why the government can’t do anything about it.
Or should they give everyone food vouchers with non-existent public funds? Or should they scrap capitalism, send us all out to work in the fields and give everyone the same basic rations each week?
Food prices are high everywhere, France, The Netherlands, the USA. Unless you’re going to live in a country like Cambodia and eat like the locals you can’t avoid high food prices.

To be fair I do feel an awful lot healthier since I’ve started eating less, but I would like fruit, vegetables and meat to be protected in some way so people could still eat well.

if someone has attacked you report the post. I think people are lashing out because they’re scared, but I agree it’s unacceptable.

I haven't rtft but I jump around from shop to shop. I like Aldi mainly, but also use Home Bargains and Farmfoods when I'm passing (school run/ on way to teen activities). Both have good deals on laundry items/ dishwasher tabs/ toiletries/ nuts & seeds & treat items like chocolate/ biscuits/crisps. I buy what's on an offer, no brand loyalty at all.

e.g teen branded deoderant was £2 today in HBs compared to £3.50 in Sainsbury's, Tetley decaf bags were £2 cheaper too. If you have a moment it's worth popping in.

Additionally I stretch meat. Tonight I made chicken kebabs for 3 (adult portions- my boys have big appetites) with 500g of chicken mince (higher welfare, I cannot justify free-range any more, sadly) at £2.99. Padded out with rice, peppers, cucumber, rocket & home-made hummus. Probably about £5-£6 all in. I'm veggie so veggie kebabs were pennies.

I also buy a lot of frozen veg. Tried frozen asparagus last week & it's really good.

It's so hard.

I don't understand why toothpaste has risen in price so much - it's bonkers

I've just added a free range chicken to my online shop for Sainsbury's and it's £8 per kg.

That would make a medium chicken about £12-13, not £18.

A meduim Free range chicken in Aldi is around £8-9.

I think many people are very stressed, tired and angry. they are lookign for others to blame.
It's not a country I recognise sometimes.

What size chicken?

Tins of Beans / Pulses in Farmfoods are currently 3 for £1. You will also find similar deals in the ethnic aisles of the major supermarkets too. FF also sells 1kg bags of red lentils for £1.29.