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!

A fair few posts mention "bags" of fruit/veg, in my experience buying loose is nearly always much cheaper, unless there is a special offer.

We only have Tesco or Lidl near by, there is a Asda opening soon so will give Asda a go, Tesco always seem to have offers on fruit but often they are BOGOF which is no good because we cant eat that amount of fruit, i would rather buy it fresh 2 times a week rather than buy double on offer and end up chucking it away because its gone off.

Dd1 will only eat one brand of cheese which is a PITA, so when its on offer i try and stock up.

I'm spending around £100 a week to feed 4 of us plus 1 cat and 1 dog .

porridge may be economical but it's vile useful in traybakes, crumbles and muffins though.
We shop at Aldi, Iceland and Asda - do a weekly menu to keep costs down and eat a lot less meat and fish (fish is hideously expensive). use lentils to bulk out mince, no puddings (do people still do pudding?). We eat a lot of pasta, eggs (cheap from local farm), sandwiches, home made soup, slow cooker one pots. Pound shop good for household and toiletries.

there was a thread a few weeks ago about sainsbury's basics - some really good stuff on it

Could I have the £30 meal plan as well please

I don't know what we'll do if dh loses his job - it cost £80 to fill up diesel today (needed for work). We hardly spend anyway on anything else, so don't know where to cut back...

Another vote for Poundland (or similar) for good brands of shampoo etc.

dementedma I feel the same way about porridge, but it's cheap and wholesome, kids seem to like it.
I do variations with it, dollop of jam, or honey, or bit of coco powder, and they really like it, plus I have been told by my elderly neighbour, it's a radiator for the child's body in the winter months, since then I have been feed it to the kids religiously

If you have a Home Bargains near you, they were doing packs of Discovery wraps today for about 60p; they are more like 1.60 in Sainsbo's. They also have jarred artichokes or peppers in oil for a pound and various herbs and spices for far less than in the supermarket.

Im totally scared my daughter is of to uni in september im single divorced my only income will be what i expect to be earning 80 to 100 pounds max per week/ from what ive found out so far the goverment estimate of how much i need is around 67 pounds that is if i was on income support or job seekers,I will lose the internet try to live mainly on sardines use as little heat and electric as poss probably not manage to give up smoking where do you go when your money runs out and you cant pay your water rates i guess ill find out

I hate porridge unless it has salt in it. It needs salt even if you're going to sweeten it.

The other thing is to cook double at least and freeze half. This only works if you put the half away before the gannets dcs appear for the meal, otherwise it will all be gone. Then if you haven't managed aged to cook one night you can easily heat it up and pretend someone else actually cooked for a change.

I used to quite enjoy doing the weekly food shop. Now I enter the supermarket with a feeling of dread. As for petrol. OMG.

Marne still worth buying bogof fruit, especially stuff you can stew or freeze or use for jam. I've made strawberry jam, and a cordial, stew any soft apples which the baby gets, or could save for pies and muffins, same with pears. Berries freeze well and bananas can be frozen to save for baking too or smoothies

Also we use Costco for things we use a lot of, so;

Toilet rolls
Pasta packs
Kitchen towels
Big boxes of Nappies and wipes
Cereal
Nutella!
Tin tomatoes
Cans of olive oil
Washing powder (clothes and dishes)
Sauces
Rice .....
You get the idea

Porridge is awesome and so much better than cereal! Try making it like this (per person):
1/2 cup oats (we use the quick type... but not instant)
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk (or soy or almond or rice, or more water...whatever)
1/2 banana sliced

Cook with a whisk for a couple of minutes, mash the bananas in (add dash of salt or cinnamon if you like it).

Top with nuts, raisins, blob of peanut butter & blob of jam, more sliced banana, brown sugar, honey, golden syrup, maple syrup, blob of nutella, chopped peaches...basically whatever you fancy. Delicious, healthy, cheap and can be customized for each member of the family.

I was just thinking that anything you never see an advert for is good value

Porridge
Eggs
Potatoes
Frozen chicken or fish
Etc

So avoid buying anything advertised...

Some people use spreadsheets to compare prices , very amusing ....

My method is that I get to the till and then whey I get asked to pay I stare in disbelief at the cashier when she asks me to pay what seems alot.

Yesterday I bought a few vegetables, some cheese and some orange juice or something and it came to £23.00!!

BUT I also think food seems more expensive relative to other goods which have become so cheap e.g. books, music, furniture (IKEA). I can practically buy a bedroom suite for the price of a few bananas.

jane I don't see what is amusing about using a spreadsheet to compare prices?

Very sensible idea IMO.

the poster made the joke about herself, if you read it.

Ooh, would someone be able to pm me the £30 meal plan? I have a greedy boyfriend who doesn't understand economy shopping and I'd love to take him by surprise!

I don't think it is so much the cost of things that grates with me but the fact that companies (supermarket, energy suppliers etc.) are making such obscene profits.

And as for politicians, so long as they can claim food costs on their bloody expenses then nothing will be done.

Meanwhile average families get squeezed tighter and tighter and have no power over it.

strictlovingmum - I use both Lidl and Aldi. They both are good. Lidl generally has more well known brands.

I used to use angelfood ministries over here.I heard about it from a mate of DH.
Its run through churches,usually those happy clappy ones :o (Im not religious).The church gets a kickback percentage of every sale,so its good for the church to do this.It more than 1/2 my grocery bill.I had to buy the basic box that would feed a family of 4 for a week for $28,then I could buy as many of the other boxes as I wanted.They even had boxes of steaks for like $30,HUGE fruit an veg boxes for $25.I only went to supermarket for cleaning stuff and milk really.The church that was doing this near me stopped,I was horrified.Next closest is 22 miles away and not worth the trip in time etc.You ordered before a certain date then picked it up only on the day and time you were given.
Even here where the food is a fraction on the cost of the Uk,Ive seen a huge increase in prices in the last few months:(

Can I also have the the £30 meal plan?

I also have to agree food prices are really hitting our family, I have a massive freezer, so always, buy reduced meat/fish when on offer.

Bought 6 chickens the other day at 90p each, I have put them in the freezer, I did not half have some funny looks in the store

Received a letter from my gas/electric supplier recently, saying electric is going up 11% and gas 18%, I honestly do not know how we will cope if this winter is going to be the same as the last 2. Last year, when we had all the snow,we were spending £35 a week on gas, 18% on top of that makes me feel

Totally agree...

I really don't know how some people cope with the increase in food prices, petrol costs, increased utility bills...especially if they are not working.

I wouldn't mind paying the 'real' cost of food if I thought that it meant that those who produce that food were seeing any of it. Farmers get paid buttons by the big food producers.

Same goes for heating and fuel - the companies are making money hand over fist and blaming the price of oil. Er, we can SEE that crude oil prices have dropped recently?! They never pass on a saving but they always pass on a price hike. Fuckers.

There isn't a punishment too harsh for these profiteers.