Anyone else want to scream 😱 about prices

[Cupcakeicecream]

Anyone else feel like screaming 😱. The smart meter is now the enemy. I'm constantly topping up the meter. Yes it's prepayment they won't change it I've tried and tried. The budget just keeps getting tighter. It's hard to find cheap food no offers things constantly out of stock. You need a bank loan for just to buy toliet roll 🙄 I don't have the heating on constantly I try to just heat one room with a heater. Radiators are barely on an hour here and there to keep away damp. Dryer needs to be used in in emergency since the house is colder so clothes aren't drying properly. I use an airer and it's constantly raining and windy to use the washing line. Food budget is through the roof food is smaller and more expensive and always out of stock honestly what a joke.

Make up ! Foundation ! The prices for tiny amounts. I can't go out without it so I may have to stay indoors this winter.
The price of coffee, even instant , massive increases.

It’s depressing! I’ve cancelled my 3 magazine subscriptions, my beauty box subscription, my organic veg box and my direct debit payment to pay the postcode lottery. However when I got paid at the beginning of the month ;I stocked up the freezer on a deal that’s worth Looking at in Iceland (the store not the country lol) 3 for £10 on large bags of frozen meats and fish. Which works out at £3.33 a bag and there’s enough for a couple of months meals at least. I got mince beef (for cottage pie, chilli, bolognese, lasagne etc) mince lamb (for shepherds pie, kofti, stuffed cabbage, and more) stewing steak (for stews, curries, pies etc) stewing lamb for stews, curries, etc) cooked in the slow cooker and white fish fillets (not cod but coley or pollock which are very similar) which I can mix with the salmon fillets that I also got in the deal for fish pie or batter and fry it. So lots of meals out of the bags, it’s worth looking at. I’ve also found that Asda’s yellow budget range is very good for the price - e.g: breakfast wheat bix that are like wheetabix 77p . I’ve also started buying frozen vegetables too. Not only cheaper to buy but less waste as I only use what we need and the rest doesn’t go off in the fridge. Last tip - Lightly fry off a couple of onions and cloves of garlic, add half a bag of frozen mixed veg (the ones with broccoli and cauliflower in are my favourites) and a stock cube. Boil for a few mins and then whizz with a hand blender and it makes really nice soup for lunch for several days and warms me up so I don’t need the heating on in the afternoon.

I have a Tesco Clubcard but I noticed in my last shop that the savings were only about £3. Usually it’s around £10. 😭

I'd prefer that to normal where they give you great handfuls whether you want it or not.

I threw away about a dozen out of date sauce packets from there the other day that we'd been given and not used.

it seems to be milk Supermarkets have been screwing over farmers for years

By January when most people will be feeling completely broke, prices will reach a plateau and consumers will probably not be able to afford to buy much.
Shops will have to make a bigger effort to sell things and shops that can't achieve this will simply go out of business. Then prices should start to fall and hopefully a fall in inflation will follow.
If that doesn't happen we could go from recession to depression. We really don't want to go there 😫

Where I work, the menu has changed prices since March 4 times. All ways amazes me when they can’t have a certain food that’s on the menu as it’s out of stock or it wasn’t delivered. Why haven’t you got it ? We can’t get what the supply people haven’t got, same when you go to your local supermarket you can’t have if they don’t have it! Total dipsticks

Yes I noticed that too. I have to say that Tesco is becoming too expensive for me and I'm buying more from Aldi and Lidl now😶

Surely some of the big brands will not recover? I’ve lost count now about how many perfectly acceptable swaps I’ve made (to cheaper supermarkets own etc). I am never going back to Heinz, Dolmio, Yorkshire tea, Bisto and so many more because I find the substitutes perfectly edible.

Yes we actually have drying lines up in the garage, we don't park in there anyway. The garage is ventilated but the outside air is so humid, I've had washing there for 3 days and it's still damp. Opening windows inside, same problem, it's so damp outside the damp air inside doesn't shift. I have humidity sensors in several rooms and it's just creeping up day by day. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I agree, I think many people will change their shopping habits for good, I know I have. 🤔
Some of these brands are becoming greedy and it's time for consumers to call them out and vote with their feet.

in The end, it’s only food & you only borrow it, doesn’t matter where it comes from or how much money you spend
Even low end budget stuff is creeping upwards as it inevitably will

Honestly? I can't help but feel thats not a bad thing tbh.

The problem I find with Lidl and Aldi is that you can’t get everything from there so it’d mean I’d have to do more than one shop which I’m reluctant to do. 😬

Huh? You want damp cold washing everywhere? Any idea how depressing it is when u can't change clothes because its all damp, and how mouldy stuff is dangerous for our baby? Ave room humidity currently 82%.

BTW the post about gaeage was reply to post from @expat101 but I'm a bit tired and didn't link it properly. So thanks expat, trying it but not working as well as hoped. Last year was better as air seemed drier.

@Rhaenys

I have an Aldi/Tesco just down the road from me and they are directly next to each other. Such a god send as you can’t entirely do a whole shop in aldi.

My DD has an incredibly restrictive diet (ASD and severe food aversions). She'll eat one brand of pizza, cereal made a certain way, McDonald's, and cheese sandwiches. And very occasionally pasta with value smooth sauce. That's it.

Her pizza has gone up from 95p to £1.75 this year. Her cereal has doubled in price and the milk has gone up too. Cheese for sandwiches, the bread and the spread have all gone up dramatically. I'm buying an awful lot more McDonald's than I used to!

Our bus fares have gone up from a fiver for a family day pass to £8 too. It's crippling.

Even the cheap leggings she lives in are nearly twice the price this year!

In an effort to save money on laundry (the tumble dryer is not negotiable, life is hard enough when everyone in the house is ASD and ADHD), I'm making the kids tuck napkins into their collars when they eat, and drape another over their lap. Like my granny did back in the day. And we cook wearing aprons now. I'm considering making sleeve protectors for when the kids are doing arts and craft - we home educate and that's a lot of our day. Limiting the amount of washing rather than how we do it. Everything other than pants gets a sniff test.

Thank goodness for MN laundry gloop recipe! That's a huge saving!

That's true, although the Aldi by me is a large store with a lot of choice so I can get most of what I need from there.
Even the cats have been converted to Aldi cat food now and they prefer it to branded, way cheaper too so we're all happy 😀

Which tea are you drinking instead of Yorkshire Tea? Tea is one the very few branded things I actually buy. Lidl tea was just too weak. Haven't dared try the other own brand ones.
I buy the huge boxes, but the DCs drink it too so it doesn't last long.

@RagzRebooted

Aldi gold label (not the red label as that’s a bit weak for me).

I have both Lidl and Aldi in my town but not Tesco, our Big Four supermarket is Morrisons. I experimented the other week by doing my shop there but wasn’t impressed. I’ve never been impressed with them really but used to shop there until Tesco was built in a neighbouring town about 10 years ago. I found the budget range in Morrisons not nearly as good as Tesco.

"CEO of Iceland was on Radio 4 this morning lobbying for free school dinners for everyone on UC. He made a strong point about ethical management and that big business needed to consider smaller or even no profits under the circumstances.

He was refreshing to listen to. Restored some faith in humanity"

In my experience Iceland has increased prices more than some others. It used to be cheap but now 300ml double cream is £1.70 in Iceland. £1.30 in the little local Sainsburys, and if I order online with Sainsbury’s it's £1.09. So Iceland is more expensive by 61p for a small pot of cream. I was gobsmacked.

Thanks. I'd assumed it would be the same as the Lidl one. I will give it a try next time we are near an Aldi.
We have nasty hard water here, so teabags need to work harder.

I've made loads of changes. Cancelled fresh veg box, now all frozen foods. Entertainment I didn't think twice about is now considered treats! Getting reduced meats and freezing them.

It's the contact lenses that are costing a lot, but I can't get by without them.