AIBU TO BE SHOCKED BY THIS INCREASE?!

[Kate0902900908]

So I’ve just gotten over the fuel increase, made some changes and become more aware of the energy I’m using both at home and car.

Went to Lidl today. I buy 2 tubs of cream cheese a week, Lidl Goldessa Classic Cream Cheese 200g. It’s been 65p for as long as I can remember. Today shop assistant was sorting shelves and organising labels ect. New label £1.19. I asked if that was the price of the 65p cream cheese to which she said Yh, it’s not changed yet it’s 75p now but will be £1.19.
HOW? How? Can something almost double in price? Also when I was it 75p 😵‍💫

I noticed the other cheeses all being marked up too some by 80p-£1. Add this increase to even 1/3 of a shop and it’s going to be unmanageable!
Has anyone else noticed prices on things they buy almost doubling?
What is the plan to keep costs down?
Where do we go from Lidl’s own soft cheese 😭

I went to the Indian shop and bought several kilos of dried kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas etc. For £25 I have enough to last for several months!! 13 kg!! I have a pressure cooker and pulses take approximately 10-15 minutes to cook after having been soaked, thus using less of the now very expensive fuel! Red lentils about 7 minutes in a soup straight out of the packet. I encourage everyone to get a smallish pressure cooker! 3, 4 or 5 litre size.

You can substitute the little round dark green lentils ( sometimes called Puy) instead of mince in Bolognaise sauce. It's not that different in taste. Or start with 1/2 lentils 1/2 mince if it sounds too drastic. The lentils for 4 portions cost about 20p. The mince £3.50. There are loads of recipes on Youtube. Making your own homous is easy too. It's just a case of getting organised and being willing to embrace a new way of cooking. I find I'm a lot less interested in meat these days and have plenty of money to buy some nice things that I like.

My kids have cocopops xmas day!

Having stuff every day is so not special. Its part of Christmas seeing the big box of coco pops in the cupboard in early December!

It's so shocking. I have a baby with allergies and am breastfeeding so have to avoid the food too. The price for a gluten free loaf or dairy free yoghurt is extortionate. Feel really boxed in to an extremely pricey corner

My (Indian) grandmother who raised me was a veggie and a brilliant cook.

She was the queen of making paneer, making all sorts of home breads, and Daals - she had 7 kinds of them. Watching her cook these delectable protein rich veggie meals is coming in handy for me now - amidst a cost of living crisis halfway across the world in ways that remind me of her so much.

I paid £5 for a block of butter which was previously £3.25

Cream was a Christmas thing when I was growing up. So exciting to have fresh cream instead of Carnation. I remember the year we got it at Easter, now that was a thrill.

@Dixiechickonhols I grew up on lurpak. My parents despise margarine and won't have it in the house, likewise me.
I've noticed that the price of dairy products have shot up in price recently.
I don't know how families with children will manage if it continues the way it is.

I shop in Aldi and what I spend has been increasing each week

apple cucumber tomato's yog ham all gone up

meat fish crisps squash milk cereal

tbh most things gone up. Sometimes only 10 or 20p but all adds up

between petrol gas and electricity and now food

winter will be very hard for many families

Also Sainsburys, some items are cheaper if you use scan and shop that using a standard checkout or self checkout.

Like Schweppes lemonade is usually £1.40 (it's £1 at the moment though) and using smart shop it's 90p

Large salad onions are £1 if you use the normal checkouts but 72p

There's several items that are up to £1 cheaper using the scanner thing. I only realised that the prices of some products were cheaper that way a few weeks ago.

Just a thought but could you get some of the Tesco Grower's Harvest Porridge Oats, it's 75p for 1kg so would last ages. Mix with water, microwave it for a few mins and then that's at least another low cost option that will be really filling.

Maybe dairy farmers will be paid what their milk is worth rather than have to subsidise dairies and supermarkets. If prices dont go up, there won't be any more milk products because farmers have to make some profit or go out of business. Most get paid less than 10p a litre at the moment!!

At the risk of sounding like the Four Yorkshiremen, I can't remember eating freash cream as a child- it was tinned Nestle cream, evaporated milk or Dream Topping, came in powder form.
We ate chicken once a year at christmas- but it was a more expensive meat, beef was relatively cheap by today's standards.
So many foods we take for granted now I had never eaten as a child. But I grew up in an impoverished home, no doubt richer familes ate a wider variety of food.
We had no fridge when I was a child, so food had to be bought daily, we ate a lot of cabbage, potatoes and root vegetables, salad only in the summer, and grown locally. Berries and tomatoes for a few short months.
Many people grew veg in the garden to save money- we were pretty self sufficient for at least a few months in the year for potatoes, leeks, carrots, cabbage,apples, turnips lettuce.
A typical meal was fairly dire though- cooked potatoes and cabbage served with sliced spam.

I went into my local shop this week and bought 2 × 4pint milk and 1 loaf of seeded bread and it came to £6.05 !! I nearly fainted!
Many of us cant do that very often so these independent shops will be out of business soon

We're having soup and bread and butter once a week for dinner. Cut back on snacks and alcohol. Buying cheaper versions. Cooking in bulk. Eating less in general. I've lost weight recently and DH could do with losing some too. The children obviously need to eat proper meals though as they're still growing.

I never knew I had such a ritzy childhood growing up with butter all year round!

I've never understood the British obsession with Lurpak anyway. Why wouldn't you just buy British butter? It's nicer.

But I agree with a pp, yes food was expensive in the 70s but housing costs were much lower. And I feel some people are in danger of romanticising people having to go back to basics.

www.mirror.co.uk/money/supermarket-shoppers-furious-lurpak-prices-27391572

And have you seen this !!

Snout wrong with them

It's absolutely ridiculous, yes the price of produce is increasing but there's no way the supermarkets aren't using this to their advantage to make even more massive profits!

Or drink plant milk.

I haven't been able to find a plant milk I like here. Years and years ago when I lived in New Zealand there was a soy milk I absolutely loved and did use instead of milk. I've tried a few types here and they've been very watery.

@Bozlem80 Please get referred to your local food bank. I donated last week (including a bag of Tesco Grower's Harvest Porridge as it happens) and I meant it to be for people you like you.

You could persevere- there are a ton of new brands even in the past year. Or you could make your own which is even cheaper.
I have found a plant milk that tastes amazing, and only 89p a litre. I only drink plant milk now- usually only in coffee and cereal, but works really well in baking too.

I think the government should step in and set fix prices on staple foods in order to allow people to survive, supermarkets etc and raise the prices of luxury foods but not staples.

I do feel for people who are struggling however we have, as s nation, been paying far far too little for food for a very long time, at least the last 20 years. We have record numbers if obese and diabetic people (and yes I realise there is a school of thought that ‘good’ food is more expensive than crap food but no one needs fizzy pop, crisps, sweets, cakes biscuits etc.
Actually cooking from scratch and using little or no meat is way cheaper than trying to eat ‘cheaply’ with meat, fish etc.
As a nation most people (note I said most not all) CAN afford to work a few more hours or give up luxuries to make ends meet, people have had to do so all through the history of man!

What is with he price of butter? I can't believe lurpak is £6/7 in some supermarkets 😭

It’s a nightmare at the moment to try and manage. I eat breakfast every other day and only a very small supper. I’m gluten free due to coeliacs. I’m anaemic now too. Plus can’t take iron supplements. This is all we can afford for me to eat. I’m not letting the children go hungry. There’s no treats in my trolly. I’m dreading Christmas. I don’t think we can afford it at all.
Where will it end?