To be seriously worried that the cost of food is getting so scarily high

[thebird]

I am not extravagant I buy shop own brands where I can, I try to shop on a budget, I cook from scratch and have given up buying extras like wine (well just the odd bottle to keep me sane) but still each week the cost of my food bill goes up and up. I know inflation is running at around 4-5% but I cant understand this as many basic items have increased almost 30-50%. When the hell is it going to stop or I really will be living on beans on toast every night(and even they've gone up lots!

maxy
Bucket with lid £4.09
Imperial Leather 6 bars £1(makes 5 lots with one left over for DH cos it takes him back to his childhood
Borax substitute £1.50 (makes 5 lots)
Soda crystals£1.25 (makes 5 lots)

Total of £7.84 divided by 5 = £1.56 for say approx 80 washes as opposed to about £4 for a box of 40 tablets(supposed to use 2 tabs)
So £4 x4= £16 (4x boxes of 40 tabs = 80 washes at 2 per wash
So if I have done my maths £1.56 against £16 !

It took about 5 mins to make

Sorry had you already mentioned it duchesse, its a big thread!

I love making butter and adding a handful of salt

For cleaning,don't forget you can use plain old vinegar with bicarbonate of soda!

Vinegar gives the sink a lovely shine and takes away water marks better than anything expensive!

For toilets use both together :)

Can I have the £30 meal plan please bitter?

And will be even cheaper next time MrsB as you wont have to take the cost of the bucket into account!
Thats a bargain for soap as well!

Thankyou very much alpha and bitter!

mum Thank you so much for posting that recipe - am so chuffed !
am testing it now with some towels- I couldnt wait

LOL- what you like????
Has it started gelling yet or is it still hot?

Its sad what we get excited over isnt it LOL!

Its still hot but very sudsy on top

I was soo excited when my first hen laid I took a picture of the egg

Thinks me and MrsB are soulmates

Thats the sort of thing I would do as well.

I took a picture of my daughters first poo in her potty as well!!

Haven't read the whole thread but I don't think food is expensive - when i see the cost of things (meat especially - i wonder how farmers are surviving or the animals are treated or the staff in the shop are paid - surely it costs more then £2.99 to rear and slaughter a chicken, then to transport it to a shop and to be butchered and packaged).

But, as the costs for everything else are spiralling (DP and I pay £500 each now to commute per month!) food seems to be the only thing we can cut back on.

This means more veggie meals (3 bean chilli is our favourite). I also cook in bulk at weekends (after a meal) and freeze in 2 portion tubs - if i cook more in the week, for leftovers the next day, DP goes back to the pan and scoffs it before i can fridge it!

Time is a constraint too, we commute 2 hours each way so cooking from scratch at 7.30 is a pain.

We just feel massively squeezed.

Where is the chicken for £2.99, I want to go and stock up?

i saw a small one in tesco for that and medium one in co-op for £3.33.

That chicken isn't British chicken, but in all probability an imported staff, last time I looked at chickens was in thursday and large ones were from £6 onwards.
Imported meat is everywhere you look, I don't think we screwing the British farmers, but rather "Tesco's bulk buy power".

the one in co-op said it was British i think. Had a blurb about the farmers on the front.

Hi everyone,
I have found this thread very interesting. I have really noticed food prices going up recently - especially bread, sugar, beans and fruit and veg.

We mostly shop at LIDL as we live 5 minutes walk from one, but do like to stock up a Asda/Tesco for BOGOF offers.

We have a chest freezer in the garage which is fab - LIDL recently had 500g chicken breasts reduced from £5.99 to £2.99 and I bought 25 packs (had to keep going back as you were ony allowed 5!)

I tought I'd list a few things LIDL are good for as I go there a lot!
normal nutella = 1.90 for 300g own brand choc spread = 1.86 for 750g (tastes lovely)
sunpat peanut butter v own brand = again about the same price for twice as much
fromage frais mini pots for toddlers = about same price of say petis filous but you get 12 pots instead of 6
wn brand knightsbrdge teabags really cheap - I buy the "silver" at £1.99 for 80 bags. I used to buy Yorkshire tea which was about double!
own brand dishwasher tablets are so cheap and I honestly have noticed no difference.
own brand BABYwipes = 89p for 80

Just something that made me think earlier as we are currently potty training with dd. Do you think people generally will start trying to PT earlier as nappies/wipes etc are expensive? Or maybe they will cut down in other areas? I have to say I will be VERY happy not to have to buy nappies anymore!

One other thing - Tesco do a brilliant balti or Jalfrezi curry sauce jar for 80p - it's really lovely, for anyone like me who can't be bothered to make curry from scratch after work!

If you get that jar of curry sauce, a tin of kidney beans, a tin of chickpeas, a diced carrot and some peas or green beans chuck them all together you have a great cheap veggy curry.

Loads left over too and can be frozen.

Please can I have the £30 meal plan too please, if anyone feels like forwarding theirs to me? Thanks

I'l forward mine Only.

Re: 5 fruit and veg a day, I know 5 or more is the ideal for good health, but did people really manage to eat 5 or more different fruit & veg in the northern hemisphere in the middle of winter in the days before freezers and long distance food travel? (Of course average life expectancy was lower then too).

I suppose they could preserve and dry a certain amount of things, and you can store apples.

oh, Takver has already mentioned this.

Please could I have the £30 meal plan? Am feeling the pinch. Been out blackberrying today but they're not quite ready so no dessert for us yet

maxybrown said upthread that supermarkets only seem to reduce stuff by 20p. I find this too at Sainsbo's and Co-op. Is anyone still finding good value reductions?