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

YorksLass

@Longwalker - Yup, Heinz baked beans are well over £1 a tin - £1.70 at our local Co-op and £1.40 at Sainsburys.  Not sure about Co-op prices for Heinz soup but in Sainsburys it's £1.70 with some flavours being on promotion at £1.50.    We use Hubbards baked beans at 26p a tin and have home made soup that's as cheap as chips and, IMO, far nicer than shop bought.

Speaking of chips, I need to clean my chip pan and will have to remember to add beef dripping to my shopping list as I'm down to my last block that cost £1.25 for 250g.  Not so long ago I could get a 500g block for 70p!  I wonder what fantastical price it will be now?  Not a fan of using oil for chips.

All yesterday's delivered meat/chicken has been portioned and frozen so the only thing missing is some sausages - no hurry, I can wait until I see some nice ones on promotion or - better still - y-stickered.  

Fish pie for tea tonight - all cooked and assembled, ready for the MW - with peas & sweetcorn.  I usually use basa fillets for this and noticed they've gone up from £2 to £2.60.  When will it all end?      The batch of 8 large fruit scones I baked last night (to fill up a space in the oven) turned out well and are so quick, easy and cheap to make that I'd find it hard to pay £2 for 4.  I really feel for those people who dislike cooking or, for whatever reason, can't cook, especially when they have young mouths to feed.

Katiehound

Longwalker said:

Katiehound said:

Longwalker said:

 

I had 6 glasses come out of the machine cloudy this week, took me over an hour to get it off, but I wasnt rushing out to get new glasses ( time rich, penny poor ) 

 

My whole load was covered in salt- machine still not mended or replaced (whichever)... soaked it all in a bucket of hot water with white vinegar. came out like..... they had all started!!

Dishwasher tablets- Wilko have/had an offer on theirs: £5 for 80. I used their basic ones in the past and they were fine, think they were rebarnding so got a few boxes at a silly price.

Ok am I being dense? I cant work out if they came out clean or cloudy? lol

Sorry- everything , once soaked came out uncloudy.
Not clean because the wretched machine had just covered them in salt, not actually washed them!!

I mean I nearly said 'as new'... but of course even white vinegar can not turn back the clock, sadly!!!

Longwalker

Katiehound said:

Longwalker said:

Katiehound said:

Longwalker said:

 

I had 6 glasses come out of the machine cloudy this week, took me over an hour to get it off, but I wasnt rushing out to get new glasses ( time rich, penny poor ) 

 

My whole load was covered in salt- machine still not mended or replaced (whichever)... soaked it all in a bucket of hot water with white vinegar. came out like..... they had all started!!

Dishwasher tablets- Wilko have/had an offer on theirs: £5 for 80. I used their basic ones in the past and they were fine, think they were rebarnding so got a few boxes at a silly price.

Ok am I being dense? I cant work out if they came out clean or cloudy? lol

Sorry- everything , once soaked came out uncloudy.
Not clean because the wretched machine had just covered them in salt, not actually washed them!!

I mean I nearly said 'as new'... but of course even white vinegar can not turn back the clock, sadly!!!

Ok, Im with you now

Longwalker

YorksLass said:

@Longwalker - Yup, Heinz baked beans are well over £1 a tin - £1.70 at our local Co-op and £1.40 at Sainsburys.  Not sure about Co-op prices for Heinz soup but in Sainsburys it's £1.70 with some flavours being on promotion at £1.50.    We use Hubbards baked beans at 26p a tin and have home made soup that's as cheap as chips and, IMO, far nicer than shop bought.

Speaking of chips, I need to clean my chip pan and will have to remember to add beef dripping to my shopping list as I'm down to my last block that cost £1.25 for 250g.  Not so long ago I could get a 500g block for 70p!  I wonder what fantastical price it will be now?  Not a fan of using oil for chips.

All yesterday's delivered meat/chicken has been portioned and frozen so the only thing missing is some sausages - no hurry, I can wait until I see some nice ones on promotion or - better still - y-stickered.  

Fish pie for tea tonight - all cooked and assembled, ready for the MW - with peas & sweetcorn.  I usually use basa fillets for this and noticed they've gone up from £2 to £2.60.  When will it all end?      The batch of 8 large fruit scones I baked last night (to fill up a space in the oven) turned out well and are so quick, easy and cheap to make that I'd find it hard to pay £2 for 4.  I really feel for those people who dislike cooking or, for whatever reason, can't cook, especially when they have young mouths to feed.

With fish pie, I used to pick up the frozen fish pie mix - 2 bags for a fiver, I think they are £4 each now  However all is not lost, lidl do I think its pollock or it might be hake - about 6-8 thin fillets (frozen ) for around the £2.50 mark, then I scour the yellow stickers for whatever fish is there at a vastly reduced price and stick it in the freezer. A small bit of salmon here, a portion of prawns there,  However fish pie was a regular on the menu here, cheap filling meal - now its getting to be a luxury item

Talking of yellow stickers, whats going on there? Even at 3 or 4 in the afternoon Tesco have only taken 50p off!!  Im finding better deals in the local Spar - the petrol station. I wanted a bag of soup veg, full price £1.35, Tesco reduced price - still over a quid, spar - 70p ( and it is cheaper to buy the chopped veg, its hard to get soup celery loose and you only need a small amount and it doesn't last ) 

Should have kept my mouth shut about the Freeway Max Pepsi  They had a whole pallet of the stuff Monday, all gone today And as for Tesco pricing, they had 24cans of Pepsi max on club card for £6.50, previous price £9.50. Its never been £9.50 in the past 28 days, it went £9 max ( no pun intended )

Mind Tesco is so bad here, never recovered from the lockdown panic buying. Obviously we are struggling to get stuff here due to the protocol but its getting ridiculous   Sure you can get 12 different brands of soy sauce, but pet food? Vegetables? grocery aisle is always pretty empty ( tins and packets ) but now cereal aisle is looking bare, along with crisps, soft drinks, condiments and the chillers.

Shopping is as difficult today as it was during the pandemic. I used to just do Lidl, then Tesco for the bits Lidl didnt stock, now I have to do home bargains and the local Spar as well. A grocery shop is taking the guts of 2 hours now ( including the travel ) and Im having to go two or three times a week

Dont mind me, Im just having a rant  Stressed trying to make the pennies stretch when Mr L doesn't understand how much everything is and mum not really caring ( she will still pay whatever for a brand ) And no, mum doesn't give house keep, she buys her own personal shopping and contributes now and then with a joint or keeps buying flaming dishwasher tablets, and vast amounts of mango chutney. Still at least the tomato soup stocks arent growing  

pumpkin89

Longwalker said:

And as for Tesco pricing, they had 24cans of Pepsi max on club card for £6.50, previous price £9.50. Its never been £9.50 in the past 28 days, it went £9 max ( no pun intended )

Tesco doesn't show the previous price, they only show the current price without a Clubcard and the discounted price with one.

So it is very likely that the price was £9 or less last week, and now they've increased it to make the Clubcard price look like a better deal.  This is perfectly legal, by the way, so beware!

Auntycaz

Shrinkfation has definitely hit the Easter eggs. What is now called medium is what I would have described as small, but today I managed to buy some nearly half price small/medium ones from Morrisons for 75p each just for this week I think. In case anyone wants any weights are.
Nestle
Maltesers 127gms
Rolo 128gms
Aero 121gms 
Smarties 119gms

Cadburys
mini eggs 97gms
Buttons 98gms
White buttons 98gms
Freddo 96gms

Florenceem

I used to get the creme eggs cheap in Tesc. to use in fund raising - not seen an offer this year.
Spent £1 in the community shop and got a small cabbage/a 200g pack of green beans/2 good size courgettes/a green pepper  and 2+ kg of potatoes.

sammyjammy

I had a craving for bovril on hot buttered toast like we had as children.  Standard jar of Bovril in Tesco and Sainsburys £4.40  needless to say the craving remains.

EssexHebridean

You've reminded me - when I was in Mozzas at the weekend I thought to check the Marmite - as I knew they used to do the large (500g) jars (our T's locally don't stock them) £5.85 which is a fair saving on the price for two of the smaller ones - I'll take that as it will last us ages too. 

YorksLass

Tea tonight will be egg & chips followed by a slice of apple strudel with custard.  Other than planning that, I haven't done a great deal today 'cos I'm in a cba mood!  I've made our bed, put out the rubbish, cleaned the chip pan and checked emails.  I know it's getting lighter earlier in the mornings and staying lighter for longer at the other end of the day but I'm really fed up of winter now - I think I have  SAD.  

I also used to buy the packs of fish pie mix until they shot up in price - as per @Longwalker's observation, no longer a cheap filling meal.     We're obviously both in the same "stressed out" camp!  

@Florenceem: Cadbury's creme eggs (40g) are 60p each at Sainsburys but they do currently have a 5-pack on promotion at £1.75.  Co-op price is 75p each or 5 for £2.40.  I used to love these but obviously my taste must have changed since I wouldn't thank you for one nowadays.  Oh, and I read today that Nestle are putting up their product prices - again - (across the board, not just chocolate), despite an 8.2% increase last year.  I know chocolate isn't a necessity and hardly ever buy any, but it's getting to the point where it won't even be an occasional affordable treat.   :'(

I think tonight I'll have a long soak in the bath and an early bedtime - tomorrow must be a better day.  Please?