Discussion thread on Supermarket prices - are they becoming too high?

missymoo81

aww thanks lee nice to see you here.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

I agree. Prices are up and going up. I have noticed things creeping up and big jumps on some things. What can we do? Well, usual hard core OS activites

- shop around

- keep a price book with lowest prices for basics (I use an A-Z or address book and make a list of everything I buy so I automatically know the cheapest price)

- Sort out storage space in your house, even if its in a suitcase or under the bed! Then if I come across a bargain I stock up and have somewhere to put it, tins are easy but flour and perishables need careful thought, obviously think of sell by dates and rotate stock but I am flexible on this and am still alive after eating out of date food for decades! (just be careful and use common sense)

- Think ahead, if you know you are going to need something then plan ahead to try and find a bargain, xmas is an obvious one as is holidays and buy things out of season eg winter coats in summer sales etc

Think 'outside the box' and try to find solutions for your individual needs, eg I found salad stuff expensive but needed some 'crunch' in my sarnies so switched to sprouting seeds on the sill which was cheap, quick, easy and nutritious and filled the gap for freshnesss.

- Use up ever little scrap and don't waste food! Chuck wilted veg in soups and stews and sweet things into muffins (ideal things are old soft apples or any fruit, rinse out the ends of jars such as jars of jam and honey.

Good luck everyone, its getting harder so we have to share hardcore OS tips, I'll post if I think of anything else

missymoo81

wow thanks desperate housewife!!! Fantastic tips.

I have just started to write down the cost of things in different shops, and compared the prices of asda and tesco etc as well as aldi and lidl, it's amazing some of the difference in pricing! Also poundland and the 99p stores can be good for some things.

I would usually not have bothered, but I am actually going to spend time, atleast once a month going to the different supermarkets and stocking up on the things we use that are cheapest at that store. I pass most of them at some point in the month anyway so it's not a hardship.

Have down branded on most things now, OH doesn't know some of them nor will he ever lol. Might have a fight on my hands with some of the things I have tried to implement this month but we shall see!!!

Thanks again for your lovely tips, they are greatly appreciated.

Oh another tip for me is, instead of having sandwiches and crisps and fruit for lunch I now have a great big bowl of soup get some of my five a day and will have one slice of bread. I try and get my veg from aldi when its on offer so its all the cheapest I can get!

maryb

We may find that some of these prices go down again soon when they are 'reduced' for Christmas and/or a 'we'll pay your VAT' promotion (even though most food doesn't have VAT. Trouble is a lot of the cook from scratch basics aren't often included in this sort of promotion.

Even last month I was noticing price hikes of about 10% to 15% on a lot of items. Just about everything had gone up in price. You wonder what they must be putting in the notional shopping basket to keep the rate of inflation down. The official nflation doesn't seem to be based on what people actually spend money on ie heating and eating.

If you want to do a quick price book to find the cheapest items try using My Supermarket. Go to 'print list' then tick the option to split your list bewteen two supermarkets. When it comes up on screen, cancel the dialogue box for printing, then you can just look at it on screen and it will highlight which items are cheaper in your comparison supermarket. Do this in turn for each of the supermarkets they cover (assuming you can get to all of them), and then that just leaves Morrisons and Lidls/Aldi to fill in manually. I did this and it made me very aware of prices so I was able to spot when things had gone up and, just as important, when they hadn't yet gone up but might

missymoo81

thanks maryb have used mysupermarket but didn't know you could compare them in a list like that, will definitely have a look.

Does anyone know how the prices match up at morrisons as they are not on mysupermarket? I have checked aldi and seen what is cheaper for me, but morrisons is a bit of a mystery.

marmiterulesok

I don't know if this is the right place,but I have tried to change my attitude with bread,for example.

I make a small loaf instead of a medium or large one (in the BM),and instead of automatically cutting two slices for myself,often have one.

I usually make a loaf which uses 350g of flour,so I use 250g of brown bread flour,plus 50g of white or multi-grain flour and 50g of porridge oats/spelt flakes.This means that my 1kg bag of flour lasts for four loaves.

Mind you,I do live alone,so a loaf will last me 3-4 days at least.:D

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

thanks for your kind comments missymoo81, a lot of it comes from 'The Tightwad Gazette' by Amy Dacyzyn which depsite being an American book is very good as many of the tips can be used here in UK. Her principles of saving translate very well and I saved a lot of money by reading this book. I think its just a case of trying things out, can you omit certain ingredients to save money? I have recently cut out butter and marg as I got indigestion anyway and wanted to lose weight so I make puds and cakes without fat and they are lighter, healthier and cheaper. For example I made a pud on sunday by whisking 2 eggs and 3 oz sugar until frothy, add 3 oz sr flour and 1/2 tspn baking powder, then add whatever you have leftover, I put in the ends of a jar of jam, some plums done in rum from last year that needed using up and a few dried sultanas. You could add grated orange or lemon rind or mash up a manky banana! Use you imagination. Baked it and had with custard and everyone loved it!

missymoo81

thanks marmite, I am just going to start making bread so thanks for the tip, I am going to slice mine then freeze it then I can get slices out as and when rather than getting the whole loaf out and it going mouldy.

Love the recipe desperate housewife. sounds like a good way to fill up OH's rumbly tum. Didnt think of puddings. he's skinny as a rake too so can do with feeding up.

In lasagne, chilli, sheps pie, bolognaise, and mince beef pies, I bulk them out massively with lentils and grated carrots and peas and onion and whatever else I can find.

I'm trying to freeze everything too if I have anything left over. Whenever I make a dinner I always try and make another for another meal, and put it in the freezer like a ready meal.

As I've taken such a huge paycut I am trying to get the electric bill down too, so Im only turning one light on in the kitchen instead of all 3, trying to wash everything on a quick wash and instead of defrosting dinner in the microwave, being a bit more organised and getting it out of the freezer in the morning.

I no longer buy biscuits either, I make weezls raisen biscuits, OH loves them thank goodness.

valk_scot

I find that not having so many options availible works for me. Instead of having a choice of cornflakes/weetabix/cheerios/cocoa pops/frosties (all own brands, natch) I now have two, or at the most three packets on the go at once. Marmalade and one jam, not two or three flavours at once. One type of squash. One kind of biscuit. One brand of soap, one type of toothpaste, one type of shampoo and conditioner. (Except Hubby, who gets the Value type because his hair is barely there, lol.)

And it's a rare day I say "What would you like for dinner?" I've got my menu plans, it gets cooked and placed in front of them. Obviously I cook meals that we like but it's not a question of one fancying one meal and another wanting something else, or coming in and asking "What have you made for dinner? Lasagne? No, I don't fancy that tonight, what else have you got?". Which I have seen happen, btw, but not in my house! I don't "do" fussy when it comes to meals. If anyone in this house thinks they can do better for the same money they're welcome to take over!

I use up every scrap. I've got bags in the freezer for bits of left over veg (for soup making), breadcrumbs from stale bread, grated cheese ends (for sauces) etc etc. A single chop too many in the pack doesn't get cooked and offered as seconds, it gets cut into slivers, frozen and comes out for the next stir fry. I keep a sharp eye on portion size...I'm generous, but I don't tip in that extra handful of rice or whatever, I go by the scales.

I keep enough fill up food that the family don't feel compelled to eat ingredient food out the fridge. Bread, plain cereals, peanut butter, fruit (of the basic apple and banana types), milk and if I'm feeling particularly mellow I'll make scones or such. Most of my baking though is for meals, like crumble or upside down cake for puds or a chocolate cake as dessert. It's not for grazing away on between meals and then not eating much of a main meal.

As to other things beside food, it's in general don't use it unless you actually need it, for everything from switching on the heating to taking the car for a short trip to not throwing every last garment into the washing basket every night.

missymoo81

Well said Val. I think that is going to be something I will adopt, no snacking, I eat constantly as I am always hungry but if I ate bigger filling meals, in theory I wouldn't be reaching for a bag of crisps or a chocolate bar etc.... food for thought indeed.