Cost Of Food Set To Soar

Godiva500

DECISIONS DECISIONS!! What to do. I am doing the grocery challenge, because we need to get our food spend down. The news of prices still soaring is a worry, particularly for low income people like me. Do I get food in to store for future weeks, and go over budget now, or do I stay in budget and hope I can afford it later? What would you do?

miss_independent

I noticed at my local Aldi yesterday that the prices seemed to have shot up. I hadn't been there for a good six weeks or so and seemed to get significantly less items for £10 more than I usually spend. Oddly, Asda seemed to have better deals on fruit and veg but I hate the quality of the meat in my local one.

Rainy-Days

I did the big freezer stock up today and went to the butchers this morning. I was talking to my really nice butcher and he said that the price of lamb has gone through the roof due to exports. Apparently there is demand from Germany for British lamb and it is getting the farmer more money on the exports which is making the cost to buy here exorbitant.

I remember when lamb was a reasonable price - okay lamb chops and steaks have always been dear - but this explains some of it.

A 5lb pack of short back bacon was £9.18 but he said that had increased in price over the last two weeks by £1.75. So although I did get a pack I have sunk it in the freezer and made some decent packs out of it.

He thinks the run up to Christmas will see the price of meat shoot right up. I am thinking right now if I can get a reasonably priced turkey it might be worth sinking it in the freezer!

threemuttleys

^^ I was thinking of staring my Xmas dinner shop now. I was planning on fore rib of beef/veal...so may get one asap and freeze..Likewise, get my veggies/stuffing in.

Bloody scary, I wonder what the powers that be are going to do to help!?

ragz_2

Was tempted to get a leg of lamb for christmas dinner (on offer in sainsbury's) now, but would it be ok inthe freezer that long? I often freeze stuff for ages but I don't want to ruin christmas dinner!
I must stock up on bacon as we get through loads, Lidl's doesn't seem as good as it used to though. In fact, Lidl seem to have gone downhill a bit recently...

So, what are we all stocking up on and where from?

threemuttleys

ragz wrote: »

Was tempted to get a leg of lamb for christmas dinner (on offer in sainsbury's) now, but would it be ok inthe freezer that long? I often freeze stuff for ages but I don't want to ruin christmas dinner!
I must stock up on bacon as we get through loads, Lidl's doesn't seem as good as it used to though. In fact, Lidl seem to have gone downhill a bit recently...

So, what are we all stocking up on and where from?

yes...will be fine. I have had a lamb (well, was a whole one) in my freezer since April. The chops we had sunday still tasted yum!

Rainy-Days

ragz wrote: »

Was tempted to get a leg of lamb for christmas dinner (on offer in sainsbury's) now, but would it be ok inthe freezer that long? I often freeze stuff for ages but I don't want to ruin christmas dinner!
I must stock up on bacon as we get through loads, Lidl's doesn't seem as good as it used to though. In fact, Lidl seem to have gone downhill a bit recently...

So, what are we all stocking up on and where from?

You will be fine freezing it. I have a chest freezer and I have frozen a whole turkey in there. I bought a reduced turkey one Christmas and we had at the following Easter and it was really nice.

Main produce for us in our freezer is meat, but I also have quite a few packs of frozen veg in there. We have bread rolls, boxed breaded fish, quite allot of garlic baguettes - as we like those with spag bol and chilli con carne's - ice cream and desserts and we also have a couple of bags of frozen chips. I also keep my flour in there as well.

You are better off buying your meat from the butcher unless you can see it on offer at a better price in the supermarkets. If I see things on offer in the supermarket I buy it and stock up, that way I keep my costs down.

Rainy-Days

You may want to read this:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212516/The-vanishing-fruit-veg-Warning-shortages-price-rises-British-crops-hit-bad-weather.html

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Rainy-Days wrote: »

You may want to read this:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212516/The-vanishing-fruit-veg-Warning-shortages-price-rises-British-crops-hit-bad-weather.html

Through out the summer people have been saying to expect fruit/veg prices to rise...

What I am worried about is that this is the time where supermarkets can add that little bit extra on top of the increased prices and cover it up with the excuse of the weather etc..

At the moment I pay £2.25 for a sack of horse carrots, for our pigs to have a treat.. etc...

By the looks of it with the supermarkets slacking their size/shape criteria then they will be buying these carrots too so there will not be any around for us to feed to our piggies..which will make it even more expensive to feed them..

An earlier post had the right idea.... shop for your christmas dinner now, including buying, blanching and freezing the veg too


Any way, its not going to be long before our first piggie goes off to be pork chops.and i was wondering how much to charge per kg? in the supermarkets the price ranges from £3 to £6 per kg.. not taking into account that prices are going to be rising..

was just wondering if you were buying pork from a farm/smallholding direct how much would you pay per kg for the meat? I will be selling half a pig which will be butchered into the diff cuts etc. leg, shoulder, chops, belly pork etc

valk_scot

Rainy-Days wrote: »

You may want to read this:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2212516/The-vanishing-fruit-veg-Warning-shortages-price-rises-British-crops-hit-bad-weather.html

Have to say I totally approve of the supermarkets dropping their "beauty pageant" standards. It's always been ridiculous that fruit and veg have to be of a unniform size and shape and that tens of thousands of tonnes per year of produce gets dumped because it's not quite perfect to look at. I don't mind smaller apples, different sizes of carrots, lumpy spuds, it's all the same nutritionally after all.

The other thing that I think should be outright boycotted is "baby" veg, it's a complete waste of resources to be harvesting produce at the immature stage just so it looks cute. It also tastes of less and has less nutritional value most of the time when another few weeks in the same field would double the yield and increase the overall flavour and nutrition. Just don't buy it!