To be appalled at the cost of food?

[pinotnow]

I know this has been done to death and we are in a cost of living crisis, but listening to the news they are intimating that it is slowly levelling out and the worst is over. Yes as far as I can see it's spiralling out of control.

I did a Lidl shop this weekend and bought absolutely nothing for main meals as I have a Hello Fresh box for three days coming, boys are going to their dad's for the weekend on Thursday and I have store cupboard stuff in already.

Therefore all I bought was stuff for lunch boxes, snacks, fruit and breakfast cereal. No cleaning stuff, oil or pet food needed this week and one bottle of wine. I thought it would be a bit less than I usually pay (only the second time I've used Hello Fresh) and certainly the trolley wasn't as full.

It came to £78!! Maybe £5 or so less than I have usually paid lately. It's out of control. How on earth are people supposed to manage and when will it stop going up all the bloody time?

But the issue is when people are on very tight budgets they will be less able to be picky.

add to that if we don’t start properly paying farmers here for their produce we will have a lot less available so it becomes a supply and demand issue.

personally I would never knowingly but it but that doesn’t mean the idea of it being allowed here doesn’t worry me.

I think me and dh are quite lucky in that we already ate quite a basic/simple vegetarian diet so while I've obviously seen the things we buy regularly rise in price, they haven't seemed to rise to the same extent as many things people on here are saying and we've not had to "cut back" much from what we were used to because we were already pretty... cut back haha.

We buy our eggs from a local farm for £7 for 30 which appears to be a shit tonne cheaper than the supermarkets from what I have been reading on here. They are fresh as hell- often laid on that same day and a bunch of them are massive. The lady we order from even delivers them to us?

We have scrambled eggs or poached eggs for breakfast/brunch a lot, and regularly have just an omelette (with cheese & mushrooms ) for evening meal with salad. I buy biggish blocks of the basic supermarket cheese for around £4.

We have jacket potatoes with beans, cheese and salad regularly for an evening meal. I think jacket potatoes are 24p each in aldi, aldi beans around 50p.

I make lentil daal a lot- easy, yummy and super cheap. I never buy premade/microwave rice and just buy the cheapest basmati rice that you can find at any supermarket. I used to be really shit at rice and so never wanted to make it, but I learnt a super easy way to make it which is no faff so now I have no excuse to buy the microwave stuff (which is ££ and I think has a funny taste anyway)

Chickpea and kale curry is a regular meal for us and I sometimes triple the recipe and make a big pot for DH lunches. It was actually a "Gousto" meal box recipe i got ages ago I think. 1 onion, 2 cans of chickpeas, bag of kale (or spinach) garlic, ginger, tomato paste, chillis, curry powder, coconut milk or natural yoghurt. Tastes great and is cheap(ish).

Veggie chilli using lentils and mushrooms chopped really finely as the main bulk (or sometimes veggie mince when it's on offer- tho still cheaper than meat when it's not on offer) and then adding peppers (from frozen- fresh have become expensive!), tomatoes, a can of black beans, spices etc.

For vegetables and salad I tend to stick to the cheaper stuff and what is in season. Like, sure I like asparagus and fennel but uh, frozen green beans are currently less than £1 a pack in aldi so I'll make do with those 😂 I buy tenderstem broccoli when it's on 3 for 2 or reduced and put them straight in the freezer and cook from frozen. Or just regular frozen broccoli is okay- I use it to make soup OR put on a baking tray and roast in the oven which is way nicer than boiled imo. Frozen cauliflower can be done in the same way.

We eat a lot of salad as a side to all our meals, and I just forego the more expensive stuff now. Sure, this salad may be slightly better with sliced peppers but they're expensive. lettuce and spinach, tomatoes, olives from a jar, cucumber, red cabbage is great sliced very finely in a salad. A handful of frozen edamame beans is a recent and not too expensive addition (defrost for 5 mins in a cup of hot water). Dressing is oil and a squirt of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. Sometimes crumble over feta/Greek cheese.

Regularly just make a salad with grilled halloumi on top for evening meal. Halloumi is £2.15 a block in aldi right now which is so much cheaper than anywhere else.

We don't eat a tonne of fruit and don't need to. Most fruit now a days isn't really that great for you to be eating loads of it to be honest. Sometimes buy frozen blueberries and raspberries and eat with natural yoghurt as a snack or breakfast. Bananas and apples for DH sometimes. If there's anything "nice" or fancy in the reduced bit I might buy it for pudding on that day but it's not a regular in our house.

A "treat" or weekend meal for us might be one of those "extra special" pizzas from aldi , shared with a side salad, coleslaw and sometimes homemade chips. Or burgers and homemade chips. Some nice buns, veggie burgers, cheese on top, salad and chips from a couple of potatoes.

I don't buy tonnes of snack things... I think if it becomes a habit then it'll become a habit. We don't snack a tonne and don't feel like we need to. If you make sure your meals are filling and have enough calories for whoever you are feeding then snacking all the time isn't needed.
If we do feel more snacky than usual then natural yoghurt (I buy the big basic ones from aldi) with frozen blueberries, dark chocolate (aldi), cubes of cheese cut from the big blocks, hummus with celery/cucumber/carrot sticks. I sometimes make oats & banana "cookies" or homemade granola bars. A small bowl of porridge. A piece of toast. Peanut butter with apple wedges.
If I ever buy the premade snacky items from the supermarket then it's because they are on offer. Nice yoghurts I sometimes get if they are on offer, fancy granola bars or whatever.

My favourite things as an evening treat are solero icecreams but I will only buy them if they're on offer.

Also.. don't sleep on tofu !! Great protein and you can regularly get it on offer and when it is I buy a bunch and freeze them. Cube it and stir fry it, or pop in the oven or air fryer. Great in stir fries or curries. You can crumble it directly into a frying pan and season and use it in tacos or anything that you might use mince for. Even as a scrambled egg replacement. We eat a lot of tofu. Ignore if you have a soy allergy.

I only buy cleaning products on offer /home bargains. Toilet roll I buy in bulk from "who gives a crap". I realise not everyone is in a position where they can drop £40 at once for toilet roll, but if you can then I have found it's saved me money. I only order once every 5 months and I used to spend more than that a month buying it in my weekly shop or at the petrol station when we ran out unexpectedly etc etc.

Anyways.. this comment is too long.

It's not just food.
I needed some clothes washing liquid the other day and was shocked that a small box was £8. I hadn't bought any for a while because I was using up a stash from a while back, but I'm sure it was just £4 last time I bought some.
How are mums of small grubby kids supposed to keep them clean? Hot water is massively expensive too.

What?? It really isn't.
I live in Spain. And visit France and Italy frequently.
The UK is vastly more expensive. I think Brexit has a lot to answer for as supply issues are driving up prices which we don't have here

Have you ever tried discount shops like Heron?

You may need a specific type of milk (we do, we have to use Oatly as it's the only oat based one with iodine in that we can find), but if it's just for day to day and cooking etc. we often find litres of Alpro coconut milk three for a quid in there.

I buy powder out of Aldi. Not for cost but to reduce plastic waste. Much cheaper than liquid or capsules

@Sailawaytocromer , yes, re Babybels for teens. I know they’re so often hollow-legged, but making themselves a sandwich - with cheese sliced off a standard supermarket block - would fill a snack-gap and cost a lot less.

This is absolute ridiculous amount of food, even for two teenagers. Teenagers might need more food which can be catered with bigger portions. Filling them with all that junk food is just teaching very bad habits.

I understand why some people say they struggle with their food bill if that's their average weekly shop without main meals. It's just calories loading crap.

Does that work as well as the branded powders? I have been using daz powder but have noticed the price going up and the pack size goinb down so I think it’s time to find an alternative!

I just got back from Lidl and it’s 99p there now.

But even with the price increases I don’t understand how OP spent £78 on snacks in Lidl! Her fridge must be massive. I spent less than half that on all the food for DP and I for the week. Sure we had some bits in the cupboard already but even buying every single ingredient wouldn’t have come close to £78. Neither of us is a teenage boy but DP is very active and the shop included almonds and trout so it’s not like we’re living off pot noodles either.

Come on OP. They'd be fuller a lot longer if they had a three egg omelette. Even at 50p an egg that's £1.50, maybe with cheese or a few odds and ends from the fridge - veg/ham etc.

If they're hungry teens you need to give them something that actually satiates them. Obviously chicken frankfurters, sausage rolls, scotch eggs, rich teas, fake penguins, rice cakes, chocolate crepes, bagels, hot cross buns, gouda biscuits, one fake pot noodle, yoghurts... They'd graze all day on that and still be hungry - no wonder it's costing you a fortune!

Why not just basically give them an extra cheap/filling proper meal a day instead of this empty non-nutritional grazing?

You can also make a big frittata cut into slices and kept in the fridge for 'convenience'. I've done the same recipe in muffin cases for grab and go.

I use own brand powder. Powder washed better because it’s more abrasive,

When l use capsules or liquid l get grey slime on clothing.

That is interesting and chimes with what we are seeing.

We will just have to learn to buy less and better rather than the ultra processed rubbish we've been buying for ease

l think people should be allowed to buy what they want. And ultra processed is often cheaper than ‘better’ food.

Yes but the nutritional value per £ is much lower. People are adults, if they can't figure this out, it's their own fault.

I needed some colour safe stuff because my dresses were starting to look faded. I did used to use soap nuts for environmental reasons, but they didn't get things clean enough.

I've just seen that Aldi do a colour safe powder, so will get some today and try it

I get the lidl colour safe powder and use the equivalent of a small scoop the same size as the stain remover powder I also use (a tablespoon or less) and one box lasts me about 6+ months!! You only need to use a little bit and I strongly recommend people try using way less powder. No cleaning difference here.

Exactly this. Those with money will have more choice so imo politicians won’t care. As food quality goes down poor health will increase for the rest of us I think.
Not to mention food miles and impact on climate change.

I was looking at frozen food and noticed zizzi had ready meals so considered it as a treat. Checking the ingredients it doesn't disclose country of origin for the chicken. I have since found out that it is from Thailand.

I'm sure that's a great comfort to know for people who can't afford it. 🙄

Agree. It is more expensive to eat healthily.

I can confirm the escalation In Prices because I literally buy the same stuff, week in, week out.

ten years ago the weekly shop at Aldi was £65.

three years ago it was £85.

a year ago it was pushing £100

now we’re up to £120.

my salary has not doubled in that time.

DH and i are not short of cash, but we’re having to rebudget every month to account for the latest ‚surprise‘ increase. More and more meals are vegetarian and we’re about to have to cut down on cheese and fresh fruit.which mens switching over more to carbs which I don’t thinking healthy but at least my flour costs haven’t risen significantly.

Exactly. Particularly when people are just trying to fill themselves up and not use a whole load of energy cooking food.

Ps for washing I recommend and Eco Egg. They work well and last ages.

Exactly. Ours used to be around £100 in 2019/20, now it's £140.