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Original poster

How much has everyone's shopping gone up?

26 replies

UnquietDad · 12/02/2011 14:11

DW and I get supermarket home delivery - we've tried a couple in the last 2 years. We keep a close eye on the weekly bill, writing it down and working out a monthly average (as one week's bill can be misleading).

I've noticed the bills have gone up by over 10% in Jan and Feb compared with the autumn. We don't buy anything especially luxurious... For a family of 4 we used to spend an average of £95 a week. It's now closer to £107 a week.

Is this just normal and what everyone is experiencing?

Time to try Martin Lewis's "downscaling" trick?...

OP posts:
countydurhamlass · 12/02/2011 17:04

we are noticing a huge difference in our shopping,we are a family of three and one dog. we used to spend about £50-60 per week and our has done up to about £70-80 per week. i must admit though we have been very lazy since just before xmas and have not shopped around as much and i haven't prepared from scratch as many meals which probbly doesnt help either.

TheFarSide · 12/02/2011 17:07

I stood open mouthed in horror at the Asda checkout last week when my full trolley of shopping came to £200!

That only ever used to happen to me in Waitrose.

Goober · 12/02/2011 17:12

I use Lidl now as Morrisons got too expensive.
And I love Lidl.

BeenBeta · 12/02/2011 17:22

UQD - there is indeed an explosion in food commodty price inflation. I couldn't say how much ours has gone up but wouldn't doubt you on the 10%.

Unfortunatley, there is a lot more food price inflation to come as many food and other commodity prices have hit new highs in the last 2 months.

Over the last year the following comodities have risen:

Corn +93.69%
Wheat +76.42%
Soybeans +50.50%
Coffee (Arabica) +90.79%

Only sugar and cocoa have not gone up in the last year but went up a lot the year before.

countydurhamlass · 12/02/2011 17:42

goober, keep an eye on what you buy at lidl because sometimes its not always cheaper on certain brands!

i am quite lucky cos i have a lidl, aldi, iceland, tesco and sainsbury's all in one retail park, 2 mins down the road from that is an adsa and morrison. most of my tinned things, bisuits, pasta, washing up liquid, kitchen roll and the odd fridge stuff come from aldi, soap powder, softner, soap etc comes from either tesco or asda. me and dh are both off work on a friday and have got into a bit of a habit of shopping in tesco and sainsburys picking up the offers. yesterday i got a chicken which was supposed to be £5 for £1.99 which is ok to be used for sunday lunch tomorrow, fresh sausages 8 x 99p which were supposed to be £2.59 (i have frozen these). i have managed to plan the next four evenings meals from the reduced sections and its cost me less than half the normal price !

i think in this current climate you really need to shop around. my biggest tip for those who are looking to switch down a brand is rather than buying the cheaper supermarket version try aldi or lidl's. they are so much better.

happybubblebrain · 12/02/2011 19:45

County - I shop in exactly the same way as you and my food bill has been gradually falling over the last 4 years, just as most people's bills are rising. I can say the same for my utility bills too. Saving money has become an art form in my house.

Original poster
UnquietDad · 12/02/2011 23:11

Shopping around is only easy if you have the transport, the time and access to a variety of shops. We shop online because it's realistically the only way we can do it at the moment.

I did know that commodities had gone up, obviously, but wasn't aware it was quite as much as the examples in Beta's figures. 10% on the bill hardly seems unreasonable then!

OP posts:
cece · 12/02/2011 23:15

My main weekly shop used to be £60-£80 per week. Now it is usually £80-90 per week.

Original poster
UnquietDad · 12/02/2011 23:18

Those of you who keep it down below £100 for a family of 4 - do you mostly not drink? I've noticed that a couple of bottles of wine can account for over 10% of the weekly bill... Not that I intend to give 'em up!!

[hic]

Wine
OP posts:
cece · 12/02/2011 23:23

We are a family of 5 and no I hardly ever buy alcohol with the weekly shop.

CrosswordAddict · 14/02/2011 19:13

UnquietDad Have you ever thought of brewing your own wine? Just a thought. Sugar is cheap(ish) and your could pick blackberries next autumn. It's a great hobby - I used to do it as a student. Now I've given up (drinking that is)

Original poster
UnquietDad · 15/02/2011 11:00

Hmm, I could... it would mean I have finally turned into my dad!

OP posts:
RantyMcRantpants · 15/02/2011 11:10

Definatly gone up. Family of 5 here and used to spend £70ish a week and it has crept up to £100ish.

Adversecamber · 16/02/2011 10:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

serin · 26/02/2011 22:46

Family of 5 (includes teen girl and very hungry boys)

Currently shop online at Tesco (collecting clubcard vouchers) and at Aldi for the fresh veg.

Totally unable to get the bill below £120 per week.

Separate fund for alcohol though Grin

higgle · 14/03/2011 14:51

I'm finding it harder and harder to feed our family

  • 3 in term time and four during uni hols - on £90pw. It won't go round for 4 of us an dog so I stockpile dog food on special offer when son is away so I don't have to buy it when he is home.

Son at uni has an on off job with Tesco, so we get 10% off our shop. I find they are really sneaky, with good special offers on some items and huge price increases on more obscure stuff - coconut milk is ridiculously expensive unless you go to a shop where there is a large ethnic population when it is 1/3 of the price at the other branches.

My next economy will be eating the same meal two days running - always cheaper for some reason to do that.

PeterAndreForPM · 14/03/2011 14:55

For a family of 4 we spend around the £100 mark weekly

often with a quick "top-up" of fresh food of 15 quid or so at the weekend

getting it under 100 quid has been impossible for about the last 6 months or so

GhostInTheBackOfYourHead · 14/03/2011 14:56

higgle coconut milk in sainsburys is very expensive in the Thai/Indian aisle but half the price two aisles over in the West Indian section. I buy the Dunns River brand as it is cheaper and perfectly fine.

Likewise with things like ground almonds. Huge bag for pennies in the Kosher section, treble the price in "Baking".

Bonkers.

Fluffycloudland77 · 15/03/2011 07:44

Mines halved because I started using the basic ranges, getting some things in aldi eg gammon and tinned peas (dh won't have frozen) and menu planning. £30 pw for everything. And farm shops a brilliant for potatoes, 90p for 5lbs. MIL is brand loyal and pays £50-60 a week just on groceries in sains then gets her meat from the butcher.

I'm sure she thinks DH is being abused with aldi food.

vickibee · 18/03/2011 08:41

I am not brand loyal and get the bargains / offers whatever they are
Eg Got four eggs for 30p in Morrison yeaterday and a pack of bacon £1.44 in the Co-op (half Price) and six Muller yogurts also half Price at £1.67. Buy stuff with long shelf life if I see them on offer. Don't but much meat as it is too expensive. If I do it is minced beef, sausages or chicken - all the cheap stuff.

tyzer2001 · 20/03/2011 09:54

Family of three, myself, adult son and teenage daughter.

Currently spend around £35 pw plus £10 top-up.

I cook 'proper' meals Mon-Fri, they eat whatever and whenever at weekends.

Meal planning and using a shopping list has cut my spending by about a third.

chunkybum · 28/03/2011 21:02

well, after going on moneysavingexpert I tried the whole down scaling to economy shopping. As a family of five our shopping usually came to around 50 smackers a week.
with the current inflation of food (and nappies, pampers have gone up by a pound to £9.99) my shopping is still around 50 quid!!!!
so i havent saved anything but at least it hasnt gone up!!! Grin

GypsyMoth · 28/03/2011 21:05

i have always found cheaper nappies ok compared with pampers......thats ALOT of money!

GandTiceandaslice · 03/04/2011 15:36

Nappies. I get a huge bag at Aldi for £4.99 & they're fabulous.

Ambi · 03/04/2011 18:49

I feel that I've cut mine down, its currently £30-£40 pw, but I've changed the way I shop. I used to do a big shop that lasted a few weeks and we''d end up on takeaways (I hate shopping). I now shop weekly at Aldi, stick to menu planning and shopping list. We eat far healthier now.