Anyone else noticing a drastic increase in their food shop costs already this year?

[user11290]

Hi,

Has anyone else noticed a drastic difference in the cost of their food shop already this year?

I certainly have noticed a difference.

22/23 our food shop was £140 a week,2 adults 2 dc,last week it came too £234!.that’s at aldi aswell.

I have in the last 12 months but not in 2025, maybe some things have gone up more than others

Not over the last few weeks, I've actually found prices of products pretty low compared to what I expect.

Yes it’s worrying

Though I will say that switching to own brand although not as nice has drastically reduced my bill

Yes I have, it's worrying! Did weekly food shop on Sunday, 1st "normal" one this year as DC had a birthday the week before and we had some other things going on. Was around £20 more than I was expecting

Noticed this week something I regularly buy at £2.49 now costs £3 (exactly the same product/weight etc)

Food and groceries are our biggest household expense these days.

Some items have absolutely shocked me. £7.50 for a bottle of olive oil, and that's in Aldi.

We're having to change some of our regular meals because they're just not worth it now; we'd quite often get the pre-prepared chicken dishes (usually two chicken breasts with some sort of topping or sauce) because it made sense when there's only two of us. They've just gone up to £4 a pack. Fresh kiev's now £6 for two. They were 3.75 when I first started buying them and that can't have been more than two years ago!

Yes, I have started walking round Aldi with a meal plan for the week and a calculator, rationing portion sizes at home

I always buy my sons a certain biscuit for pack ups. They were always £1, then up to £1.20 and then last week £1.49. That is just one product.

Yes, I've been noticing this for a while now and it is concerning and frustrating me. 😠

The very worst one is the price of olive oil now, as @Redshoeblueshoe has already said. I'm sure it was around half its current price in Aldi until about 6 months ago. It's much the same now wherever you buy it.

I've been buying rapeseed oil instead recently. I don't know if it is as good as olive oil, but I got some for £3.50 in Tesco yesterday, so I am happier paying that. £3.50 used to be the price of extra virgin olive oil not all that long ago.

Prices seem to be rising steeply almost weekly.

I do my shopping online and manage to keep it below £120 for 2 adults and two teens but I have to think about it a lot. If H goes to the supermarket he'll spend £200+

Due to certain issues, my youngest son eats exactly the same things every day. A couple of the items, Tesco's own brand, have gone up significantly since New Year. I can't even shop around because he won't eat anything else and there are some battles I have to concede unfortunately.

Not generally more expensive but I cook from scratch.

Some salad stuffs are higher but it's winter. Some grocery items (cannellini beans, cooking oil, some biscuits & coffee) are down.

Some things are harder to find though, tomato paste - due to the chinese import issue, and wholemeal fresh baked bread is so hard to find, I've taken to making my own.

Yes but I wonder how much of it is the kids getting older and needing more food.

Apart from olive oil as pp have mentioned, I'm not noticing most items costing much more than they always did.

Before the pandemic it was just me and dh. Now we have a primary aged child (who is a somewhat fussy eater) and a weaning baby/toddler. We're forking out mega bucks on nappies, soft fruit, little snacks etc which we never used to.

I never go clubbing any more, so it's swings and roundabouts, I used to buy vodka tonics in bars, now I buy kiddilicious veggie straws in sainsburys

On mumsnet we keep getting threads like this, about spending more than 2y ago in supermarkets, but if you think about it, many mumsnetters have young kids. So we're seeing our food bills increase as the kids grow

Edit - I'm not saying nothings getting more expensive. Probably things are getting a bit more expensive. But I wonder if we're underestimating effect of the kids just needing more food as they grow

I'm noticing the cheaper choices disappearing from the shelves, so I think that's why personally.

I'm sure that's part of it, but food prices have measurable increased massively over the last couple of years.

Yes and no. There have been some great deals in the yellow sticker aisles (mince pies 17p for 6, chocolate selection boxes 49p, fresh carrots/parsnips/sprouts/potatoes 11p) so great if you aren't tied to certain dishes/dietary restrictions or fussy eating habits but all the "regular" stuff (bread, milk, cheese, eggs etc) on the weekly shop has definitely gone up a lot.

Yes. As a lifelong chocolate addict, I'm particularly feeling the massive hike in chocolate prices!

Mines only 175 / week for same number of people at sainsburies and we buy mostly organic veg / dairy… are you children very hungry teenagers?

i'm finding that I spend more in order to avoid cheaper food

Prices are rising and the quality is dropping ime

as a fellow cook-from-scratch-er I agree with this - I think ingredients have changed less in price than convenience / ready made foods.

obviously that only works for people who have the inclination / time to cook