AIBU to think people begrudge weekly food costs but spend more freely elsewhere?

[IlovePhilMitchell]

People will spend money on subscriptions, takeaways, the cost of a weekly shop on a meal out, £10 on a candle but begrudge £80 on the week shop.

Food is one of the most important things to us as humans, it nourishes us and keeps us well. It should be a priority above most things we spend money on, not just an annoying necessity.

We have been lucky in the past with extremely cheap food costs and yes I know things have increased a lot and not in line with wages, but it’s not actually that bad if you don’t buy brands and cook.

I do appreciate a lot of people don’t have have room in their budget for any increases. I think my post is more aimed at those who whinge when they spend freely elsewhere.

Sugar is actually optional, plenty drink coffee without adding sugar just like tea and yes, some can make better at home AND for many others, it’s not just about having a coffee.

It can be about the atmosphere, a lovely way and reason to meet up with someone when meeting up at each other’s homes is not an option or you simply don’t want to.

An awful lot are going by the queues waiting for complex drinks to be made and the menu sales, profit and pitch.

A flat white is half the price and profit for such outlets .

Most lattes and other drinks on chain menus are full of sugar in syrups, flavourings and other shite.

Yes, I completely agree with you. However, people over spending on luxuries they cannot afford wasnt the point of the post.

We are a 2 income family and we manage. We have take aways and meals out, a holiday every year, no debt, do fun activities and I buy new clothes. I still fume when my food shop is £50 a week more and my fuel cost has increased. Its still annoying for the people that can afford it.

OK, so you're not really judging coffee as wasteful, you're judging sweet coffee-flavoured drinks as wasteful.

Do you never enjoy a sweet treat?

I think it's part of our national character to moan, that and queuing.

I agree the main issue is cost of housing squeezing everything else - but it's also true that our expectations of housing is higher than it was.

My children would be horrified to live in the places I did (so were my parents) but it was what I could afford at the time.

The problem is we have a service economy that runs on disposable income - when our essentials squeeze that disposable income, service businesses close down - and a negative cycle occurs.

Farming is absolutely essential, but so is soil health - and the sort of massive farms increasing are producing poor quality food and pollution to air, water and soil.

It's all so intertwined and fragile - I feel for the government trying to juggle fire with it all.

I’m judging both and we’re not talking about an occasional treat .

Many chain coffees have more sugar in than cola.

Dont begrudge food prices if you’re dropping ££££ regularly on over priced empty calories that are wrecking your health.

I saw some stats recently that were very interesting. The high inflation in food prices we're seeing now is coming off the back of a sustained period where food prices were dropping, not increasing. We got used to paying very little for food as a percentage or our income.

Thats changing now, but it makes complete sense that people are finding that adjustment hard.

Many can choose not to have sugar and syrups too. It is optional! You can even look up the ingredients and see what is in them or even ask not to have syrups.

A regular latte is literally milk or plant-based milk and expresso unless you are counting the sugars in milk.

I agree the main issue is cost of housing squeezing everything else - but it's also true that our expectations of housing is higher than it was

Really? my parents bought a family home in their 20s, that wasn’t unusual

It very much was.

These are just ideas you have. It makes no sense to pretend you know the majority of people are drinking xyz.

I drink a take out coffee daily and only drink flat white and occasionally cortado/ cappuccino.

I have a bean up cup machine at home, where the first 2 cups of the day come from.

I can not make better coffee than a good coffee shop, because the machine isn’t capable of it. But it is comparable.

I would like to point out that my coffee machine cost £1,300 and coffee beans - mid, basic quality ones- are £20ish per KG. Making (good) coffee at home isn’t cheap.

of course, you might think your jar of mellow birds is better than Starbucks and that’s your choice but objectively it’s not, as coffee does come with an accepted quality assessment (like wine).

Food isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. I don’t work to simply exist, I work to allow me to live my life. If simply fulfilling the absolute basic human need of staying alive is your life goal then sure, YANBU but simply put that is not, and will never be, my life goal.

Surely it's unsurprising that people want to spend as little as possible on the essential boring stuff in order to have more money for the nice things that make giving up 40 hours a week to work feel worthwhile.

Really? My parents grew up in neat council houses on estates with front and back gardens.

the moved out at 21 in the late 70s to buy their first (new build) home - their jobs were plumber and secretary.

neither they nor anyone they knew were living in box rooms for £1k a month, renting illegal garden sheds, mouldy damp rentals or buying a studio flat for £200k like plenty do in 2026.

What a vile thing to say.

I agree that you can’t, and I don’t think anyone has said that. I do think, though, that being able to budget in general, especially when it comes to food and being able to cook is something that will certainly help during a CoL crisis more than it will hurt.

I also completely agree that change is needed at a systemic level, and the current situation is not sustainable. People should not be judging each other anyway because I think truly everyone is just trying their best to make their way in life and do the best for their families.

Part of what the OP was trying to say, though (I think), is that no matter how affordable food is or was, there will always be people who resent paying for it, which is different from the current CoL situation.

Well they told me this so ... yes I agree its pretty vile to actually admit and laugh that you do this

Im not talking about genuine hardship btw
Wake up , we are being mugged off by lazy, entitled people , its always been this way.

@Rhb55fdr why do you say that?

Most of the people in a food bank (I have to presume, since you said they are “full of people” told you they use food banks so they can afford vapes and crap like that?

what were you doing in this food bank to be speaking to so many users at once?

has it not occurred to you that food banks are smart enough to put circumstances in place that prevents exactly this, if they are concerned about it?

chinny reckon

We did. Still in it.

“In the 1970s, the average age of a first-time buyer in the UK was approximately
24 to 26 years old”

First homes were also bigger in the past.

Literally not the point of the OP ironically

I don't spend much on takeaways or candles. When you say people your generalising.

To be fair to @CheeseSconeGirl , I stopped taking food to a food bank in 2012 because every time I went, the customers were all young men with tattoos sitting on the wall outside smoking. They got to sit in the sunshine & chat while I was using my lunch hour to buy them food.

I suspect the average food bank customer has changed since then.