Has your weekly bill gone stratospheric ?

[ladybirdsarelovely33]

We are a family of four - 2 adults and 2 DC. Last week we paid £260
This does include household cleaning stuff but still....
Just shopping at Sainsbury's and a top up at the Co op.....

@DroppedBoxxedRuth In aus too. I'm spending more because there's certain stuff I can't get the cheaper version of. Like $1 1kg of coles sugar, I was having to buy brand names that were $4 1 kg.

There's plenty of competitive overspending too, of the 'if you're not spending hundreds of pounds a week on organic everything and unlimited blueberries then you must be eating a shitty processed carby diet' variety.

The one way system wouldn't work very well for me - I always get about 2/3 of the way through and then remember something essential which is near the front. Or I get to the meat and find I've changed my mind based on a special offer or what I'd planned being unavailable and then I need to go back to veg or spices or something to get something different then - surely that happens to other people too?

And maybe it's just German supermarkets but I find no two are laid out in the same order so it's not always possible to make the list in the correct order beforehand unless I can mentally walk through that shop and remember it all.

It's a lot easier to follow a one way system in a 4 aisled lidl or aldi than a 20 aisle mega Tesco.

No wonder the queue was so long outside the one I passed. I was going to go in and saw the queue and decided to do without and just get a few bits we couldn't do without from the Co-op.

Weird - tinned tomatoes are one thing I can't taste the difference on. I get the impression the cheap ones have water added though, so you likely need more, could be a false economy. Cheap vs expensive dried pasta, I can.

I think we're spending more on certain things because I'm buying in smaller shops so not getting cheaper brands as there isn't much choice. But we're spending less overall if you take out spending on lunches and takeaway coffee/breakfast/snacks. Zero spending on travel. So we're saving both on petrol, train fare and school buses. We have an electric car too so are just using that to do local trips. Plus all the incidental spends - bits and bobs extra in the supermarket, clothes because I like the look of them rather than need them. Have bought pet food in bulk which I don't normally do. Also getting a veg box and milk delivered so more mindful of using that and planning accordingly. Not doing the popping to the shops for extra stuff.

We’ve gone from about £50 to £70/80 - adult , toddler and 2 dogs. All meals at home, lots more snacks but think partly as switched from Aldi to Asda most weeks for delivery and also includes bigger packs of things eg buying 9/12 toilet rolls rather than just pack of 4, also includes more wine

Mines gone up by about £30. DH is furloughed though, and DD is eating lunch at home rather than school so I guess that accounts for it

I actually saved £500 last month by being in lock down and managed to pay off my credit card bill. No eating out and cooking from scratch. No work lunches and hardly any petrol. Lidl is a good place to shop as is Iceland for pizza, frozen veg, frozen fillets if fish. Prawns etc.

Oh and that 30p tin of tomatoes absolutely does not taste the same as the premium one. Even in a slow cooked dish there is a huge difference in taste

😂 there’s really not. Although the mind is a powerful thing, as is the power of marketing - ie pretty labels making people spend more.

I’m not bothering posting loads of links because info is easy enough to find - but have a google of, for example, Tesco branded products. On a wide variety of their own brand items (NOT all but lots) the very cheapest versions are the same as their finest range - ie, the exact same ingredients, made in the same warehouse, with the same nutritional values. The only difference is the marketing. Tinned tomatoes was one of them (not that I shop in Tesco but still). Things like baked beans, soups, breaded fish I can remember. Loads basically. And they’re far from the only food manufacturer that does it. Lots of independent food manufacturers also produce expensive and cheap versions of their products which have identical make up.

It’s shocking really that people can be duped into paying double prices for an identical product just to get a nicer looking tin or packet but it happens everywhere and it’s a good trap to avoid if you can.

Eating expensively doesn’t mean eating well 🤷🏻‍♀️

Also get all your cleaning stuff and loo roll from somewhere like b and m. Much cheaper. I love the fabulosa range.

That's bullshit LuminousAmber. I have tastebuds so I know the difference. For a start cheap tinned tomatoes are over 40% water, basically just red coloured water. Tinned tomatoes are one of the things chefs advise never to scrimp on, even on a budget. Pour a decent tin of Italian tomatoes into a bowl next to your 30p basics and see the difference.

Polpa tinned tomatoes for instance are 99.8% tomatoes.
This is from Jamie Oliver website and theres a million more links out there

Ranging in price from 31p to £1.29, there’s often a lot of choice in the tinned tomato aisle. In general, it’s safe to say that you get what you pay for. The better quality your tomatoes, the richer and more flavourful your sauce. When you taste premium and budget varieties side by side, you can definitely notice the difference in flavour. You can improve the quality of your sauce 10 times over by choosing a good brand of tinned toms

Cheap tinned toms are more watery and less sweet

Not a problem as you can cook a dish longer (so the water evaporates) and add a pinch of sugar

But proper Italian marzano tomatoes or honestly superior

But £££

Tesco is a rip off merchant do not surprised their expensive tomatoes are rubbish. But try an Italian brand like cirrio or Napolina and compare with Cheapo Tesco and you’ll see and taste the difference

I’m a cheapskate so often use Lidl and add a bit of sugar and tomato paste 🍅

I thought this was just us! We’re not buying more than normal or particularly special food either,but we’re spending about £40 a week more

But try an Italian brand like cirrio or Napolina and compare with Cheapo Tesco

Yesterday I made my usual bolognaise with the expensive Napolina tomatoes as opposed to my usual Ocado ones...... it didn’t taste different at all. The only difference between the two on the nutrition table is that Napolina contain slightly more sugar and a LOT more salt.

I completely disagree that there is not a difference in premium v. cheap. I only use Cirrio, and that is because the taste and texture and quality is better. The cheap ones are watery, acid, and tasteless and often have stalks and skin in them. Try spooning out of the tin and taste the difference. If you are having to add sugar and salt and puree to your tin of tomatoes it isn't a good tin!

I am prepared to admit I am very fussy, and I do buy unbranded stuff if the quality is the same, with tomatoes it definitely isn't.

It's a difference as marked with quality pasta and supermarket own imo.

It's a difference as marked with quality pasta and supermarket own imo

Agreed. Pasta snob here. I only buy fresh .

Sorry, you probably all think I am completely OTT - Italian heritage has coloured my view. In the same way no Pizza in the UK every comes anywhere near to an Italian one.

We rarely buy anything but cheap tinned tomatoes here. We'd never use them without adding a touch of garlic puree or sun dried tomato puree anyway. Works out cheaper than a £1 tin of tomatoes. I'd usually through in a pack of pasatta for every tin I used anyway if I'm batch cooking. For every day home cooking it's absolutely fine. If you want to impress someone or have a special meal then go for a fancy brand, but for a daily thing I just don't know how you can justify expensive tomatoes unless you have more money then sense.

We eat very well and healthily but I suppose our natural way of shopping is to buy ‘basics’ - lots of unprocessed meat, lentils, chickpeas, beans, eggs as protein. Natural yoghurts, plain cheeses,
I can’t imagine how I could possibly spend £200 + a week on food tbh

We eat well and healthily too, but my unprocessed meat is things like a large free range chicken, French trimmed rack of English lamb and grass fed fillet steak. I buy Greek 10% fat yogurt and a selection of really good cheese. And decent wine. And a wide selection of interesting and delicious vegetables which this week includes jersey royals, rainbow chard, white sprouting broccoli and baby rainbow carrots.

And you can tell the difference between a tin of watery 30p tomatoes and a decent tin of Italian ones unless you have no tastebuds. I don’t like lentils and eat very little pasta which is just stodge. All a matter of personal choice.

@NaturalBornWoman have you heard yourself?

I don’t like lentils and eat very little pasta which is just stodge
Amen to that
Lentils and beans are the devils shit

And so it becomes clear why some people spend a grand a month on food 😂😂😂

If you can afford it then why not!