In thinking I’m going to need to make food quality sacrifices due to cost of living

[PinkyU]

My shopping bill has increased by around £24-30/week (family of 5, 3 adults 2 dc, 1 cat), for the same items as we rotate meal plans 3/4 weeks.

we have dietary restrictions and already use at least 2 supermarkets to make the most of bargains, our local cheap supermarket has run out of our usual (85p) oat milk the next one is 30p more expensive and not the right kind.

I can’t buy less, we don’t have much food waste, and now I’m back to school packed lunches for the dc which will increase things again, it feels inevitable I’m going to have to buy lower quality foods. We’ve just had to increase our gas&electric by another £150/month.

How are others coping?

If you think it is not within your power, then you may as well give up now. Things can be changed collectively, but things will stay the same if you buy the idea that we are just individuals acting for our own personal interests.
I have grown up in a very poor household, and it was depressing. My mum did what she could to feed us until she got ill, but I’ve never lost that desire to change the society we live in even if it feels fruitless. But I look to find people who think like me and hope to make changes together. Otherwise children will continue to starve, as I did as a child.

And IMO wonky/imperfectly tasty veg is a false economy unless you’re planning to use them same day.

Been eating a bag of wonky carrots for getting on for two weeks now. A couple went bad, vast majority were fine. And got more for less than a bag of Tesco's standard carrots.

I go to Lidl and buy in Asda what I didn't find in Lidl (maybe 10% of total weekly shopping). Still works out better financially than going to Asda/Sainsbury's etc. only. Depends how far you have to travel from one shop to another. Travelling to 5 different shops even in prosperity times is stupid anyway.

People are cutting back on the wrong things though. Refined carbohydrates (sugar in particular) are what are fueling the obesity crisis.

In Lidl for 89p. You can also get Oatly for £1.89 there. I use "posh" milk for coffee only though 😅

NO. You are probably eating the wrong food, cheap food because good quality protein and fruit and veg is more expensive. Parents feeding their children and then 'making do' with a bowl of cereal or a cup of tea and a biscuit and malnourished and likely to end up overweight
That's not correct. Almost 70% of the UK adult population are overweight or obese.
That's not 70% poor people who can only afford cereals and biscuits!

We need to stop acting like 70% of the population are going to end up malnourished because of the cost of living. Many will have to make different choices and cut down on treats, more expensive food, alcohol, take aways.

A minority will indeed struggle because they have nothing left to cut. These people need support, but let's not make it that everyone else is going to starve!

Buying potatoes in bulk can save a fortune. I pay £8.50 for a 25kg sack and that will feed me for three months.

Good call on potatoes - once the weather cools down. It’s hard to store a sack of spuds in this heat.

Im not going to wade into a debate about food choices, but people who are in severe financial straits (quite understandably IMO) prioritise feeling full and eating what will give them the energy to get through the day. And donuts are far cheaper per calorie than kale. I feel for anyone in this situation.

I think the pulses are super .. thinks like chickpeas lentils etc really bulk up a meal and are healthy as wellL frozen veg is nutritionally almost identical to fresh veg and way cheaper . I grow rocket in garden and bulk up almost every meal with salad . I batch cook and freeze into
Individual portions , make banana bread or any time of fruit bread with soft /over ripe fruit for snacks and treats.
A little window box for fresh herbs and lettuce is great and helps massively with flavours.

Bulk where when cash and space allow ie washing powder ! Toilet roll etc

What I like about Mumsnet are those people who ignore any unpleasantness and steadfastly stick to the matter in had with tips on batch cooking and buying dull but dependable staples like potatoes

This sounds delicious!

Hmmm that sounds good!

I only buy free range/organic animal products and have had to re jig our shop to accommodate the increase in costs.

Quality of products means different things. I buy v little branded stuff and no issues with wonky veg etc.

@Imagenieinabottle thank you. It's nice to feel supported by someone who understands.

I am insulin resistant, with other health issues. I don't eat very much at all but I'm very overweight.

I'm getting to the point where if it was possible to make rude twats have the same issues, I bloody well woukd, with NO regrets.

@shrodingersvaccine i think that's the thing that's not being talked about as it should be. The REAL rate of inflation. A LOT of the things they use to calculate it are ridiculous.

We have had to use a cheaper supermarket for the majority of our shopping. We have had to cut back on a lot of smaller things we would not have considered about before. We do a lot more free things now / use vouchers / cash back credit card (we strictly pay it off every time we use it). In 4 months on a 3 month special deal we have raised £100 in cash back and will use this for Christmas.

I am also looking into getting a second job sadly.

I don’t think I am coping. I already do all my food shop at Aldi, choose the wonky fruit and veg. Buy the cheapest of everything and my shop has gone up by much more than I can afford. I’ve cancelled the TV licence, we don’t have holidays or eat out. I’ve just started using credit cards because we’ll starve if I don’t. My husband has a new job lined up which should help but with everything going up, the pay rise might not make much of a difference. It’s the energy bills that are killing us the most. I’m paying double what it was a year ago and it just keeps going up. We’re not on benefits so entitled to no help whatsoever. I’m in complete despair. I have upped my hours at work to most I can without having to pay for childcare. It feels pretty hopeless right now

Tesco wonky strawberries are dearer than 'normal' ones if you look at price per kg!
The Rosedean (I think that's the name) ones are also perceived to be the more budget brand but the pack is actually much smaller and over £1 per Kg dearer than their own brand ones.
I like to think ive always been quite savvy checking the labels but trying even more so now. One that I noticed recently in Tesco was growers harvest fresh apple juice in the fridge 1 litre 65p right next to it was 2 litres for £1.35 🤔 buying bigger is not always better. In the non chilled juice aisle Growers Harvest 1litre 79p! I would normally assume non fridge would be cheaper! And the non chilled one although looked identical actually had more sugar in it too.
Shocking how much more it is to buy say 3 onions in a pack vs loose.
For lunch boxes I've started buying the big share bags of crisps (wotsit dupes etc) from lidl and using what we need from the bag and storing for another day, look at the price per kg at them! And less plastic waste has got to be good too. Same goes for convenient snack packs of cookies and the likes, buying a pack of cookies for 30p and sharing them out. Cutting blocks of cheese rather than babybell all adds up to the savings on lunchboxes.
You could get cheaper cuts of meat from the butcher but slow cook them, often tastier. Or even supermarket you get a lot more for thigh vs breast meat.

A tin of tomatoes is really the same whether it’s branded or basics range.

V minor point but at one time I would have agreed with you but now I have tried Mutti tinned tomatoes the difference in taste for me is large.

@shrodingersvaccine, agree with all you said. OP, it’s a very difficult time and feel for you. I am noting down tips shared on here.

Tinysophie, as others have said when looking at the growing inequality in the U.K., wealth - ie assets, housing, stocks and shares, dividends - also needs to be looked at. People with assets, houses, shares etc have increased their wealth considerably whilst income growth has been much slower. Meanwhile average real-terms total pay in the U.K. remains lower than it was before the 2008 financial crisis. For decades until then wages always increased. Although even when it comes to income a 2018 report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says ‘over the last 40 years, half of the UK’s population has barely shared in the growth of the economy at all. Between 1979 and 2012, only 10 per cent of overall income growth went to the bottom 50 per cent of the income distribution , and the bottom third gained almost nothing. Meanwhile, the richest 10 per cent took almost 40 per cent of the total.’

The 2018 IPPR report does say, ‘on some measures, income inequality has declined a little in the last few years, as a result of the reduction in top incomes after the financial crisis, and the rising minimum wage. But there remains a six-fold difference between the incomes of the top 20 per cent of households and those of the bottom 20 per cent. This makes the UK the fifth most unequal country in Europe. Inequality between the richest 1 per cent and the rest of UK society continues to rise.

As I said at the start it’s the inequalities of wealth that needs to be compared too. The report says ‘inequalities of wealth meanwhile, are even larger than those of income. Forty-four per cent of the UK’s wealth is owned by just 10 per cent of the population, five times the total wealth held by the poorest half, while the richest 1 per cent are estimated to own 14 per cent of the nation’s wealth.By contrast, 15 per cent of adults have no or negative wealth (that is, they owe more than they own). Inequalities of income and wealth have particular impact on both social mobility and health: in the poorest areas of the UK, people live on average a startling ten years less than those living in the richest areas.’

Also of course the super rich are seeing the biggest growth whilst so many are seeing a continuing drop in standard of living. According to a report from Oxfam, during the pandemic the 10 richest men in the world have seen their global wealth double to $1.5tn (£1.01tn) since the start of the global pandemic following a surge in share and property prices that has widened the gap between rich and poor.

Just to add one more paragraph from the IPPR report on wealth versus income:
”One of the consequences has been a long-term decline in the share of national income which has gone to wages and salaries. In the mid- 1970s the Bank of England calculates that the ‘labour share’ of national income was almost 70 per cent; today it is around 55 per cent (see figure 1.3).The other side of this coin has been the rising share of income going to the owners of capital, as the returns on financial and real estate assets have consistently outpaced the rate of economic growth.”

If you use the code INSTAGRAM50 you get your first one half price too! So you could get a half price one and then cancel it after that x

THIS 👏

Top earners are paying higher income tax and NI than under Labour, have lost their tax-free allowance and child benefit, and are no longer able to fund their pensions.

As you’ve now agreed, we can’t put more than £4,000 into our pensions annually, down from £40,000.

@TinySophie, shrodingersvaccine has correctly pointed out your wild misunderstanding about pension savings for high earners. It’s either misunderstanding or misleading as the way you have written it makes it sounds like v high earner (actually over £240,000 once you take into account the £40,000 tax free pension allowance that all earners are entitled to) are only allowed to save £4000 annually for pensions. This is wrong.

If you earn above £200,000 the £40,000 tax free allowance for money put into pensions begins to be tapered. The annual allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 that your adjusted income exceeds £240,000, to a minimum tapered allowance of £4,000. Once your income is £312,000 or more you will no longer be able to get any tax relief on anything above £4000 put in your pension pot. You could of course still save for your pension but will have to pay tax on it. However, if you are earning that kind of money you will be able to afford to pay a tax accountant to find ways to bring down your annual taxes in other ways such as contributing more to an ISA, trusts, buying stocks and so on.

Also re income tax rates, the 45% tax rate is any income above £150,000. 40% income tax rate is between £51,291 to £150,000.

If a person is earning these kind of figures they are not going to experience a cost of living crisis where meeting basic needs such as food, housing and eating becomes extremely difficult.