What is going on with food prices??

[londongirl12]

A 500g packet of mince in Aldi is now over £5!! What on earth is going on???

I’ll never understand anybody buying tinned soup!

I’ve just made a huge pot of minestrone to use up veg. It cost me nothing but if I was buying the ingredients it would be about £5 if that and it’ll feed me for dinner and lunch tomorrow (with bread) and DS for 2 lunches.

Yes, but that’s because you haven’t met the personal tax threshold yet. You’d certainly be complaining if they took that away to reduce the contributions of your employer.

https://www.raisin.co.uk/taxes/100k-tax-trap/

I'm always trying to stick to rough certain budget. Thers a limited pot so spending is cut somewhere else. Some people can't just keep doing what they always have with less and less money. I used to buy a bottle of wine every week as a treat. I don't drink anymore now. I used to buy school shoes in Clarkks. Now they are barely used second hand clarks. At Christmas we normally by the boxes of sweets and various booze. But I was shocked at the prices of chocolate last Christmas. It's not a treat when it's so painful to buy.

We do less of everything but there's a time when you can't cut any more corners.

I think we just need to keep thinking on our feet and switching up old habits. I haven't bought a branded food in months now. Even things I was loyal to like my tea isn't much different to a own brand version. Lidl isn't much cheaper than Tesco. Somethings are so I get those in Lidl but there's not much in it anymore

Aldi proper Greek yog is the same price as tesco btw. Not far cheaper. Possibly 2p cheaper per kg? Greek style is also the same price.

Get your name on a list that you are never going to get to the top of, awesome idea. That fixes everything.

Defeatist attitude.

Aren't you late for school? You sound about 8 year old 😂😂

Also the cost of setting up your allotment is prohibitive for a lot of people, you have to pay for it as well as all your materials and starting resources. The rental cost in Glasgow is TRIPLING over the next four years. The cost is often prohibitive even for people with gardens.

You will get to the top eventually. Waiting lists in my town vary from 1 year to 5 years. Costs you nothing to put your name down, what have you got to lose?

Haha! I got precisely one cucumber from my plants this year. It cost me more in the seeds and the compost. I’ve never managed to grow broccoli successfully and it has a short season so isn’t going to sustain you for much of the year. You need quite a large space and a lot of dedication to fulfil all your fruit and veg needs. Not everyone has the land and the time.

20% 500g mince is £3.50 at sainsbury.

Reality.

My local council has closed the waiting list for allotments due to the number of people on it. If someone does manage to get on it when it (very briefly) reopens, the time to get an allotment is two to three years minimum.

This is another incredibly privileged comment.

The point is that it's not a solution when people need to eat now. People presenting it as something helpful when we're talking about food costs in the here and now and getting snarky because people don't find it helpful is snide.

The war in Ukraine wasn’t just about fertiliser cost. Ukraine produced the equivalent of 20% of Europe’s grain. We bought fuel from Russia for energy, as did much of Europe, and stopping that supply significantly increased prices. Grain, fertiliser and energy costs impact right across food production.

It's horrendous.

It's not as bad for me as for some. It has also brought me some benefits - I have had to recalibrate what we are eating and how we are living and strip it all back, which has actually been a good exercise for me. I quite like my new pared back existence 🤣. However, I would like to be able to afford the odd meal out. Technically I can, but I don't consider it good value any longer, though I remain on the hunt for places that are and that also offer great service, as that is part of the lure of a treat experience.

I have cut a lot of surplus shit and surplus socialising (with people I don't necessarily really connect with) out and that brings its own satisfaction.

But as I say, I am reasonably fortunate in that I can afford to feed myself and my kids.

No it's not an immediate solution, but it's something that could help in the future. Complaining without acting certainly isn't going to help is it?

Also, I've got an allotment (after a 2 year wait) and if you tot up what it costs to run - rent, tools, seeds etc, you really don't save much money. Allotments are great for all sorts of reasons but saving money isn't one of them.

Same at Tesco, I buy pork or chicken if I need something leaner. Still cheap.

Waiting lists were 8 years in my council five years ago. They have gone up since.

When I left the last LA I lived in, it was around ten years to get to the top of the list. I don't know if that's gone up or down since but it's mental that people are saying you should get an allotment because you want to buy a fucking cucumber at an affordable price. Can we not just buy a cucumber at an affordable price instead?

Me too! I hadn't really noticed until last week shop came in at £250 - I did have to stock toiletries, cleaning supplies and alot of cupboard staples so expected highish.
I looked at the receipt and noticed how expensive mince was now! I swear it was inly £3.50ish not that long ago. No more 2 mince dishes a week I think.

Ten in number, not £10.

That's bollocks. You need seeds and that's it. It's only YouTubers and the middle class that waste money on raised beds and greenhouses, and expensive soil improvers.

Plant potatoes, carrots, lettuce. No special equipment needed. Make your compost pile. Just like people did in WWII.

In the UK, around 87% of homes have access to a private or shared garden (based on Office for National Statistics data). There shouldn't be a market for lettuce. So easy to grow salad leaves all year round. Even in a window box