BBC: Food inflation at 8.3%

Fuchsia_a

Annoying how the inflation mainly seems to be centred around the basic food that's relatively good for you. I guess ready meal and junk food producers can afford to take a bit of a hit on the huge profits they must make.

My mother hasn't noticed food prices going up, but she buys a lot of luxury brands in comparison to my more MSE habits.

I'm glad my attempt at growing vegetables has been successful - it was getting quite depressing going shopping.

lostinrates

Fuchsia_a wrote: »

Annoying how the inflation mainly seems to be centred around the basic food that's relatively good for you. I guess ready meal and junk food producers can afford to take a bit of a hit on the huge profits they must make.

My mother hasn't noticed food prices going up, but she buys a lot of luxury brands in comparison to my more MSE habits.

I'm glad my attempt at growing vegetables has been successful - it was getting quite depressing going shopping.

our veg were literally washed away this year....in the main :mad: . I really buy next to no pre prepared foods. (I do sometimes buy baked beans and I'm sure there are a few other exceptions). My mother, who likes ready meals says her shopping has gne up a lot too though. I buy 'ethical meat' when I buy it (hence none through the week) and try to stick to ethical other animal products too. Veg increases I notice, and thanks to the fox our egg production is done, I had to buy eggs almost yelped o:o ut load at the price. (Not going to get any more chickens til we've moved though...and I have a young hen who'll start laying in spring to help the others out).

PasturesNew

My food's not changed much really, it's still under £10/week. The changes have just been in that I make my own bread and pizzas now and eat less sweeties.

So it's good things cost more or I'd have not had chance to chuck some stuff about in the kitchen.

I bought some good mince yesterday, less than 10% fat (Somerfield). £/Kg it was cheaper than the "simply value" range. I always shop by £/Kg. I'd only buy mince when it was on a special like that. As a rule I don't buy/eat meat except maybe one pack of sausages or mince every fortnight.

Yesterday I made a gorgeous chilli and some cheesy rolls.
Tomorrow I am making some broccoli soup and baking some bread to go with that.

So far this week I've eaten:
Cheese omelette fried potato slices (£0.80)
Chilli con carne (£2)
Chilli soup (£0.40)
2 Loaves, 4 rosemary rolls, 4 cheese rolls (£0.90)
Broccoli/potao soup (£0.70)

£4.80 for 10 meals.

Treadmill

Organic food sales are down by about 13%, ethics fly out the window when people feel the pinch. How many "I only buy organic" bores would only buy organic if they had just been made redundant ?

Walletwatch

I think it's a shame that when Brown made a very pertinent point, exhorting households to waste less food, he invited such negative comments, especially on sites like TMF, ThisisMoney, etc.

There are some points in time (quite often these days) when I think he's lost his marbles like when he addressed the business leaders at Glasgow yesterday, or when he came out with his great housing recovery plan, saying the Govt must be seen as doing something, he did get it spot on with his 'Do not waste food' message...

mr.broderick

ultra10 wrote: »

I live not too far from a Tesco Extra, really big store, I ALWAYS go to the section at the back where they flog everything off really cheap.. So a fair part of my diet is dicatated by that, & what 2 for 1 offers are on, you will be amazed how much you can save !!!

Yeah i had you down as "Whoops" maniac

SingleSue

Dan: wrote: »

Sue, how can doing your weekly shop make you feel like a failure of a parent, please.

Because I can no longer afford to buy all the food items we need to get through the week or it has to be from the reduced section and even then the pennies really have to be watched and things put back. Thus it is depressing walking into a supermarket and having to put back items that a year ago were very affordable and exchanging them for things that will do but are not really that good.

Yep the 'credit crunch' also hits those of us who have not relied on credit and do not have large debts (or even no debts in my case!) to service but do have fixed incomes.

All the above makes me feel a bit of a failure as a parent.

PasturesNew

SingleSue wrote: »

Because I can no longer afford to buy all the food items we need to get through the week or it has to be from the reduced section and even then the pennies really have to be watched and things put back. Thus it is depressing walking into a supermarket and having to put back items that a year ago were very affordable and exchanging them for things that will do but are not really that good.

Yep the 'credit crunch' also hits those of us who have not relied on credit and do not have large debts (or even no debts in my case!) to service but do have fixed incomes.

All the above makes me feel a bit of a failure as a parent.

I get a real feeling of achievement if I can put a meal together for 10-20p, I don't/can't do it all the time but I get a real buzz when I do.

You should embrace the challenge of being a savvy buyer and triumph in good cheap meals. Cheaper doesn't mean worse. And for a family food should be prepared with thought and love, that's the most important ingredient - that somebody thought about what was being prepared and prepared it with love.

You should be proud that your family have a financially savvy mum who isn't sucked in by shiny packets and the marketing machine.

Turn the supermarket into a game where you collect smug points. You get 10 points every time you spot something in somebody else's trolley that you know they've paid over the odds for. 20 points every time you see somebody pick up a pack of something for £2.99 that you know you can make for yourself at home for 50p.

My only regret is that I can't eat more than I do, so I could prepare more good quality low cost food!

SingleSue

Thanks PasturesNew.....I do sometimes turn it into a little game and there are times when it is with a sense of satisfaction that my big trolley of reduced food is a fair bit cheaper than someone elses big trolley of normal priced food.

My kids all now know to look for the bargains and take great delight in being the first to the reduced section and then finding one of their favourites reduced down to a price within my budget.

I suppose my feeling of failure comes from having to go the reduced route (my own snobbish values really) whilst other parents are able to provide the best food, parties and clothes and my children have to make do with hand me downs/ebay/charity shops, reduced food and no parties. This is also coupled with my own feeling of failure in my life and the not meeting of the expectations everyone had for me (myself included) with regards to my career.

I was having a down day when I posted initially but I am made of strong stock and have kicked myself up the bottom and talked sense into myself now. :rotfl:

Anyway...that is all ever so slightly off topic so will withdraw gracefully (erm not sure I have ever withdrawn gracefully from anywhere:rotfl: ) and let the discussion continue.

WTF?_2

SingleSue wrote: »

I suppose my feeling of failure comes from having to go the reduced route (my own snobbish values really) whilst other parents are able to provide the best food, parties and clothes and my children have to make do with hand me downs/ebay/charity shops, reduced food and no parties. This is also coupled with my own feeling of failure in my life and the not meeting of the expectations everyone had for me (myself included) with regards to my career.

I wouldn't worry too much about ostentatious peers - often the flashiest people are those with the least real cash.

Chances are good that many of the high-spending people are deeply in debt. As the next few years unfold, we shall 'see who was swimming naked, as the tide goes out'.


Plus - I have a feeling that economising might soon be back in vogue. Driven by people trying to pay huge mortgages and personal debt even as daily essentials are rising in cost.