Brexit grocery bill inflation

Islandmaid

Consider myself very lucky as between friends and ourselves we can self supply with seasonal veg, meat, fish and game, eggs, even milk, flour etc so the only impact will be on truely non self sustaining stuff loo roll etc coffee beans would be my big hard to give up item..... we have a good local supply of gin, beer and wine

Slowly57

westcoastscot wrote: »

Slowly my price book is a wee notebook that I write down the prices of our commonly shopped items and how much we need for a particular length of time, particularly those things that are seasonally priced, and those that go on offer periodically. I mostly shop very locally, but go to our nearest town (75 mile round trip) which has a tesco every couple of months, and to the city two or three times a year. If the prices when on offer are good locally I buy here, otherwise I buy in the nearest town or city, or occasionally online. For some non-essential things we only have them up to a certain price-point.

westcoastscot - that sounds really interesting - I can access all my orders to the farm shop I use so I can spot seasonal patterns - but of course the weather can cause havoc! I tend to use supermarkets for store cupboard stuff and have access to all the big ones, plus the so-called discounters (such a dismissive term). Too much choice, too much noise, too much one-size fits all - and now they want you to DIY the checkout too lol.

Sadly, lots of our local shops have gone so the farm shop collective is a boon. We have a fantastic produce market in my nearest town. I consider myself very lucky.

Thank you for sharing xx

[Deleted User]

I found when I was in Leek in Staffordshire on my spring holiday break that their local market was brilliant, and I brought the best ham I have ever tasted for years from there , I liked it so much I brought a kilo of it home and portioned up and froze it and it was just as delicious when defrosted as it was fresh.

Local markets where I live in Kent are few and far between, we used to have one when I first moved here in 1995 but it went the way of a lot of them when the council put up the pitch fees and the traders just couldn't afford to keep going

There is a WI market in Rochester on a Thursday that I sometimes go to but mainly I go to the local farm shop if I can rather than MrT's as I'm not keen on pre-packed veg and quite like the odd shaped carrot or two.

I like Aldi's super six as well as they are such good value and the turnover is pretty good. As another poster remarked rationing had its positives as well as its negatives at times

.When my brother was alive ,where he lived in rural France it was a good ten mile journey to the nearest supermarket, and apart from a monthly shop for certain bits and pieces most of the stuff he had was locally grown and often exchanged on a barter system.

The farmer over the back of him would supply him with various vegatables and Davey kept his tractor and farm vehicles in good working order as he was a machanic by trade.

He also used to make quite a bit of wine from some of his customers vines, as he would do maintenance for a few english people who had properties locally, but only used them in the summer.

One chap he phoned, who lived for 11 months of the year in the UK told Davey to take the lot off his several fields of vines as he wasn't bothered about them and he took a trailer there and 'rescued' several cwt of grapes which he turned into a pretty decent vino and had around 10-11 dozen bottles of the stuff.
Some of which he kept and some he exchanged for other things. Another local that Davey knew kept him in game, rabbits etc in exchange for help picking his apple crop.

The simple rate of exchange in Villefagnan was a lot better than euros, and everyone who knew him locally came to his funeral back in May, and were genuinely sad to see the mad Englishman Davey who rebuilt the tumbledown wreck of the house he rebuilt was no more. It was such a different lifestyle to the one he had in the UK but he loved it. Going to visit him was like stepping back in time
Perhaps that what we need in the UK, an opportunity to become good neighbours and share things more. I do try to exchange different things with my neighbours although in my case its usually a few cakes baked at home, that one of my neighbours loves, as she is a very busy Mum with two little girls .Her OH is always willing to do the odd job for me if he can, and its my way of saying thank you

purpleybat

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

I keep getting a craving for Marmite on toast since it is being mentioned so much on the news.
..

tesclo do their own version of marmite... yeast extract.... is just as tasty, not bought marmite in years

Slowly57

JackieO wrote: »

Perhaps that what we need in the UK, an opportunity to become good neighbours and share things more. I do try to exchange different things with my neighbours although in my case its usually a few cakes baked at home, that one of my neighbours loves, as she is a very busy Mum with two little girls .Her OH is always willing to do the odd job for me if he can, and its my way of saying thank you

JackieO - markets don't usually make money for local authorities - and now more than ever in these times of cutbacks they seem very thin on the ground. Ours have survived by making themselves into tourist attractions by virtue of stocking a huge range of produce/local 'speciality' produce. However they run the risk of being choked out by having to comply with H+S regs that might be OK for a retail shop, but simply don't work for shared spaces like a market place. Having said that, they are trying for new blood by having 'teenage' markets run by and for young people.

I share your feelings about neighbours and community. I moved across the borough to get away from anti-social behaviour. My new neighbours are incredible - and I try to keep up with them If I ever had any kind of problem, I know I could knock on a door and get help/advice/a shoulder to cry on.

It makes me very sad that everyone else does not have this and that we live in a society where people are virtually dying of loneliness.

kboss2010

I would love to shop more locally and I'm trying to where I can afford it but my budget is tight even with two incomes and reasonably good jobs because we live in a city which has living costs comparable with London.

Scotland has very few markets and green grocers anymore, they all died out decades ago, so now the only "local" options are limited, difficult to buy if you work and "artisan" so come with a premium price because the local economy is very divided between "haves" with a huge disposable income (oil workers) and "have nots" (the rest of us!).

I grew up in Manchester where there are numerous cheap markets that sell all manner of food items cheaply and I miss stopping off in Chinatown or the market/barrows to buy a bag of fruit & veg with change from a fiver. There isn't a single greengrocer in Aberdeen, the only one I know of is a Friday morning/once-a-month all-day Sat pop-up van/stall which sells limited root veg, tatties and summer berries in season. My local butcher charges £16 (:eek:) for a kg of mince!! I bought 8 beef sausages the other day for my OH and they cost me almost £6! My food budget for the week I cap at £35 a week so, with those kinds of prices, I can't really afford to buy food at local places too often.

English folks, love your markets! You'll miss them when they're gone!

just_trying

Kboss there's a great butcher in Strichen, Bert fowlie. They do 5 packs for £20 and have some great offers just now. Local meat and tastes brilliant. They have a Facebook page. Local veg to, priced okay. Think they might deliver if not only suitable if you drive.

There's Aberdeenshire larder in Ellon, they used to do a weekly pack think it was £35.

I prefer the butcher in Strichen. Might help.

Slowly57

kboss2010 wrote: »

Scotland has very few markets and green grocers anymore, they all died out decades ago, so now the only "local" options are limited, difficult to buy if you work and "artisan" so come with a premium price because the local economy is very divided between "haves" with a huge disposable income (oil workers) and "have nots" (the rest of us!). (snip) My local butcher charges £16 (:eek:) for a kg of mince!! I bought 8 beef sausages the other day for my OH and they cost me almost £6! My food budget for the week I cap at £35 a week so, with those kinds of prices, I can't really afford to buy food at local places too often.

kboss2010 I'm dreading our produce market becoming artisan/gentrified - mind, the rest of the town is becoming so generic - with the usual high street chains and coffee shops.

£16 per kg for mince? We could get organic, free range beef mince from the farm for £11.70 - sausages are expensive if you want decent quality - but £6 is a bit faint-making.

Is it worth buying mail order?

I only buy meat every 2-3 months (as only one of us eats it) so I can budget for it that way as I cook and freeze.

just_trying

Kboss was thinking last night as well incase you don't drive. There's a good little butcher at the Castlegate in Aberdeen. They sell meat packs good value and not to big, advertised in windows, look here first. The shop is tiny, but there really helpful and it's good.

Edit, for fruit and veg there's the green grocer, Inverurie. I don't know if they deliver to you or if your out that way but they do fruit and veg boxes at quite a good price.

lessonlearned

Yesterday in Sainsbobs I noticed that fresh raspberries had leapt up from £2 a punnet to £2.50. In one week......