It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

YorksLass

Thanks euronorris.  I used to use Morries before I retired as it was handy to pop in on my way home from work but since retiring it means a special journey into town (2 buses).  The gammon joint I've ordered from Sainsbobs is a J James one, slightly smaller than their own label, but still enough for the two of us to have 3 dinners and a round of sandwiches or make a quiche.  Cost will be around £3.06 (weight dependent) so still happy with the price.  More of a comment that it's yet another thing that's gone up.  

Forgot to mention - the Hubbards baked beans aren't bad value at 21p for a 400g tin but I will own up to spicing them up a bit sometimes - a dash of Worcestershire sauce or some chilli/curry powder or a dollop of tomato puree.  

wondercollie

Store/generic brands are greatly reduced over here.   There are still cans of beans, soup, and tuna.  But things like fruit and spaghetti hoops are gone.

Bread products are rising constantly.  I live in the wheat belt of Canada.  The weather has been strange both last year and this year.

The husband laughed last year when I stocked up on coffee, he isn't now.  He actually listens to what I want to buy.   He is still suffering from pirce label shock.

Kantankrus_Mare

Back from my hols and into third day back at work which is a shock to the system after not doing much for 11 days. 
Not a great start to getting back into the money saving mind set either. I tried to renew one of my library books while I was away but one of them had been requested so will be well overdue on that one and no doubt a fine to pay. Also we occasionally have a Gousto delivery which has been a game changer for us, giving us many many new and delicious recipes to try and then recreate cheaply. Forgot to cancel my upcoming delivery and they picked recipes for us which will arrive today. Oh well......wont have to think what to cook this week.
On the plus side.......I have strawberries coming out of every orifice! (sp) Daughter has frozen 4 large tubs whilst we were away and we have picked 9 punnets since being back with more to come. Have managed to prep them all for the freezer. When the runners come, I will be potting them all up to sell next year. Did it for the first time last year and made about £60 which really helps with the compost and seeds for the allotment. 
First courgettes are just showing so will be picking those soon as well. 
Love the good life. 

euronorris

Food prices in Canada can be very expensive generally, can't they? I've seen videos from some people showing costs of items and it was shocking.

DD helped herself to a strawberry from the fridge this morning. From the (im)perfectly tasty range from sainsbos and came out saying that they were 'perfect. Just the right shape and size. I love them mummy'. Lol. A reminder of how differently children can see the world, and see the best in things.

London_1

My eldest grandson Danny lives in New York and I remember him last year complaining about how expensive fresh veg were back then with a cucumber at around £3.00 and a cauliflower at £4.
He is Ok though as he earns a pretty good living, but when he visits back to the UK he says that we have a really cheap cost of living !!!
It will be interesting this August when he is home for a month to see what he thinks this year  I know he and his wife eat fairly often out as he says its cheaper than buying and cooking indoors in NY.
Boy will he be surprised with the price of petrol at the moment, plus his favourite fish and chips being around £8-9. a portion. 

JackieO x

Spendless

On a budget groceries social media I'm on, someone recently decided to invest in a chest freezer, storage containers a food flask and a grocery shop incl some good to go boxes. She then spent the time batch cooking and filling her new freezer, she says she doesn't have intention of now shopping again till Autumn. She doesn't eat bread, salad  or fresh fruit. I'm guessing she also doesn't eat eggs or cheese/butter/marg unless she's stacked the latter  up too. She lives alone so doesn't have to take anyone else into account. 

I have found I'm also using the freezer and cupboard items more. A salad made up of some frozen prawns or a tin of tuna, with a boiled  egg , some cubed cheese and adding pickled onion, beetroot and Branston pickle stretches further and means less waste.   

FluffyBabyPenguin

Spendless said:

On a budget groceries social media I'm on, someone recently decided to invest in a chest freezer, storage containers a food flask and a grocery shop incl some good to go boxes. She then spent the time batch cooking and filling her new freezer, she says she doesn't have intention of now shopping again till Autumn. She doesn't eat bread, salad  or fresh fruit. I'm guessing she also doesn't eat eggs or cheese/butter/marg unless she's stacked the latter  up too. She lives alone so doesn't have to take anyone else into account. 

I have found I'm also using the freezer and cupboard items more. A salad made up of some frozen prawns or a tin of tuna, with a boiled  egg , some cubed cheese and adding pickled onion, beetroot and Branston pickle stretches further and means less waste.   

That sounds brilliant! If I lived on my own I'd love to try to do something like that. You'd save so much time on the shopping! Not sure it would be quite so easy for a family of 6... 

JinJinBlue

I think that you must all be psychic! I live alone and have a small table top freezer in my garage. I've been wondering about investing in a larger one and have come to the conclusion that it would probably be worth doing. I'm OK at the moment with what I have and will have a look around during the sales to see if I can find something suitable. If I do get a bigger freezer, the smaller one can go free to a new home but that won't be for a while yet. 

Jackie O, my sister and her family live in New York too. My nephew has said exactly the same thing about prices. 
They aren't coming over for a holiday anytime soon but they will get a shock when they do. 

-taff

As Nelski pointed out before, you do need more storage as a singleton, because there's always the odd bit left over to use again, or batch cooking takes up a lot of room because it's very difficult to cook a meal for one without having leftovers, like a joint of meat for example...

EssexHebridean

danjackson2021 said:

My partner and both have had to do DRO and or bankruptcy over 6 years again and again recently. Now once again we have council tax bailiffs calling round saying we owe a couple of thousands and that’s since the last balance got wiped 

we also have the utilities company calling trying to fit prepay meters but we won’t let them in without a warrant with a wet signature from a judge which they will never be able to get. They claim it’s thousands our in unpaid bills again since the last time the balance was wiled


the thing is our benefits don’t even cover food and necessities, I explain that to the bailiffs everytime they call but they just keep calling back I never open the door


these days the bailiffs can’t do anything anyway we live in rented house which the LL is trying to get a possession order and we have no assets 

we both have large credit card balances which we are just paying the bare minimum every month

i suppose we are the same as the government just going further into debt with no hope of ever being able to pay it back

Perhaps try putting together your SOA and posting over on the Debt Free wannabe board - as that is no way to live, and if the LL succeeds in his application for repossession you could find yourselves in temporary accommodation - which might really be none too pleasant. Similarly, if you are indeed thousands in energy debt then the supplier may very well be able to get the magistrates court order allowing them to force access - it's a bit of a brave game to assume otherwise. As for Council tax - you can go to prison for not paying that...

Ultimately it seems implausible that your benefits are leaving you without even sufficient money for food even without paying other priority bills - it seems likely that there should be other things you can claim to improve the situation. If you put together the SOA and post it on DFW though someone will be able to advise.