MSE News: Millions cut back on food bills

Former_MSE_Helen

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"More than a third of people have reduced their food spending in the last year to help cover their rent or mortgage ..."

Read the full story:
Millions cut back on food bills

~Brock~

What a load of rubbish. I would be surprised if half of the people surveyed knew a 'decent meal' if they had their faces pushed in one.

Isn't it strange that this same picture of misery hasn't been painted by McDonalds, who actually names the UK as one of last year's success stories!!

x_Bunny_x

food has gone up again.

supposedly lidl and aldi is where we should shop and not asda or tesco.

no wonder this website does good with coupons and freebies, and stuff,

geordie_joe

The problem with surveys is people get paid for completing them, or screened out if they "get an answer wrong".

So, faced with a survey that asks if they have cut back, they think "If I say no I'll get screened out and not get paid, but if I say yes.................."

Frozenace

Tesco has been sneakily increasing the prices on my favourite Erdinger wheat beer... it used to be 1.59, now it's 1.99. On top of that, the Euro has gone down 17%, so Tesco are more than capable of passing down lower costs.

I_luv_cats

If you are careful and slightly clever it is amazing how many groceries you can still get for your ever decreasing wad of cash!!

Last week I spent slightly less than £40 and got:

Carrots, Parsnips, Tomatoes, Celery, Mushrooms, Pears, Oranges, 3 tins soup, 4 UHT, 2 packs cereals, Loaf bread, Bacon, 2 packs of Chicken thighs, 6 eggs, 2 Fish pies, 3 Scampi Bites, 2 Oven Chips, Tropical Fish Food, DG pods. (about £31 before fishes/pods)

Pincher

Food and toilet habits.

How much toilet paper does a family of four go through in a year?

I put in a shattaf (hand bidet, arabic dusche) for the toilet, and I use very little toilet paper these days. That is probably £200 in toilet paper for a family of four, £200 saved for food.

flippin36

I guess groceries are what we have the most control over in cost. My monthly food costs can be between £250 - £400 depending on my mindset. If I am prepared to do the leg work and cherry pick, use my initiative, be prepared to change my shopping habits I can save an awful lot in a month.

Jude123

That is correct you can't really change the amount you pay for mortgage/rent etc and once you switch gas and elec this is also fixed so it comes down to food and luxiouries that you can change

pollyskettle

This month our monthly order will cost in the region of £400 for 5 people (2 adults 13/12/9), a dog and two cats. We will top up around £15 a week on fresh veg and fruit, but that is everything for all of us - I don't think that that is too bad at all, but it's certainly more than it was a year ago. I'm not sure how I would cope if we didn't have the hugest freezer ever in our shed, as this allows me to meal plan for the month and then do one really big shop.

callum9999

Good. Hopefully this will reduce the shameful and disgusting levels of food waste in this country (and no, it's not "the rich" throwing away all that food, even the people complaining they are the most hard done by seem to throw out a lot).

Could also mean people finally stop being so lazy and actually shop around. People seem to just go to a supermarket and get everything they want. If you were genuinely struggling, you'd do your shop in many different places. Especially fruit and veg - go to a local market or greengrocer (or often the likes of Aldi) and you can often get exactly the same stuff you get from the supermarket for half the price.