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

YoungBlueEyes

CKhalvashi - are the Polish ones the same as the ones you can get in Lidl sometimes? Or are the exported ones different?  

My cousin (northern Ireland) goes over the border a few times a year to stock up on her fave choc bars - cadbury fruit and nut - because they're so different to the ones in her shops. More fruit and nuts, and a lot creamier. She also buys stacks and stacks of Tayto crisps, also better she says.

You'd like to think a factory produces a thing and sends it all over the world, but it seems like that's not true. 

arnoldy

CKhalvashi said:

Interestingly though, Milka bars in Sainsburys a few weeks ago were actually cheaper than in Biedronka in Poland, which really surprised me. I did buy some chocolates and a few packs of coffee out there though as they definitely are cheaper.

Just returned from Greece and we don't realise how lucky we are in the UK with food and general prices being so comparatively low. Going into a Greek Lidl I thought the prices were higher than UK.  Eg box of 6 free range eggs 2.80 Euro, Bread 1.19 Euro (the sort they sell for 79p in UK), Tuna - no economy version so double UK, petrol 2 Euro/Litre.....

Even the fruit and veg was comparable or more with UK supermarket. Milka in Greece was a lot more than UK.

When you read the press hysteria you tend to think its a UK thing, and everything is rosy elsewhere. But the reality is we are all affected by rising prices and actually UK has cheap food especially compared to average earnings.

Pollycat

arnoldy said:

CKhalvashi said:

Interestingly though, Milka bars in Sainsburys a few weeks ago were actually cheaper than in Biedronka in Poland, which really surprised me. I did buy some chocolates and a few packs of coffee out there though as they definitely are cheaper.

Just returned from Greece and we don't realise how lucky we are in the UK with food and general prices being so comparatively low. Going into a Greek Lidl I thought the prices were higher than UK.  Eg box of 6 free range eggs 2.80 Euro, Bread 1.19 Euro (the sort they sell for 79p in UK), Tuna - no economy version so double UK, petrol 2 Euro/Litre.....

Even the fruit and veg was comparable or more with UK supermarket. Milka in Greece was a lot more than UK.

When you read the press hysteria you tend to think its a UK thing, and everything is rosy elsewhere. But the reality is we are all affected by rising prices and actually UK has cheap food especially compared to average earnings.

I'd rather pay for the quality of the fruit and veg in Greece than what we get here.
This is an apricot. The taste matched the size.

Floss

Petrol at €2 a litre is not far of what we were paying a few months ago, £1.75ish. 

Toonie

I know my friends and family in Germany have had awful times with food prices this year. I think it's really important to get a view across different countries to see what has been happening. But I think the other important thing to note is that when I last visited Germany (pre-pandemic) prices were already a lot higher than the UK for food. We have had very cheap prices here for quite some time which just isn't sustainable.

Today we're going shopping to Aldi for storecupboard supplies. It's been a couple of months since we did a big top up shop, so need to get various building blocks for meals. As the weather is cooling our meals are changing slightly, so will also look at things like suet, hot drink options, and tinned soups (in case of illness and lack of energy to cook). We'll also get what we need for the week ahead so I'm currently writing my meal plan.

ladyholly

Food prices in different contries are hard to compare as other expenses come into play such as housing costs, wages etc. The only constant is that prices are rising across the world and as hard as it is we are better off than many in third world countries where is famine. Some of which is due to the actions of a certain leader in the Kremlin but many are due to the effects of climate change.

arnoldy

Floss said:

Petrol at €2 a litre is not far of what we were paying a few months ago, £1.75ish. 

Interesting, but not sure why that's relevant. It's better to compare prices at roughly the same time.

On 28 September I paid 2 euro/Litre in Greece when dropping off the hire car (after shopping around) and £1.60 in UK after picking up my car from airport.

linz

Can anyone tell me what to put in a dishwasher to give it a first 'wash' if it's not been used for a while? I'm about to move into a house which has a dishwasher but it's never been connected/used - do I need to do an empty wash initially with something to give it a good clean ?

(Never had a dishwasher before and am super excited that i'll be able to get my wine glasses gleaming !)

Floss

arnoldy said:

Floss said:

Petrol at €2 a litre is not far of what we were paying a few months ago, £1.75ish. 

Interesting, but not sure why that's relevant. It's better to compare prices at roughly the same time.

On 28 September I paid 2 euro/Litre in Greece when dropping off the hire car (after shopping around) and £1.60 in UK after picking up my car from airport.

It's relevant because of being a comparator expecially as the exchange rate has fluctuated.

To put that into context while the £/€ exchange rate today is £1/€1.14 it was £1/€1.20 on 28 September so if a litre of fuel cost €2, you would be paying £1.66 so not a great deal different to what you did pay.

basketcase

Floss said:

arnoldy said:

Floss said:

Petrol at €2 a litre is not far of what we were paying a few months ago, £1.75ish. 

Interesting, but not sure why that's relevant. It's better to compare prices at roughly the same time.

On 28 September I paid 2 euro/Litre in Greece when dropping off the hire car (after shopping around) and £1.60 in UK after picking up my car from airport.

It's relevant because of being a comparator expecially as the exchange rate has fluctuated.

To put that into context while the £/€ exchange rate today is £1/€1.14 it was £1/€1.20 on 28 September so if a litre of fuel cost €2, you would be paying £1.66 so not a great deal different to what you did pay.

Isn't the amount 'the locals' are earning also a factor?