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

euronorris

luvchocolate said:

euronorris said:

Asda apparently sells a 'Just Wholefoods Vegan' jelly sachet for a £1

That's twice the price of Hartleys sugar free!

Sadly quite common with anything that differs from the standard offering. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten free etc. 

YorksLass

Grocery delivery arrived with one out of stock item (disappointing, but not unexpected as it was a good promotional price) and one sub, accepted somewhat grudgingly, but it was a "need" rather than a "want".  Plus point - I got tomatoes!       The delivery chap was very pleasant and helpful too.

A less welcome arrival was a letter from the council advising of our rent/service charge increase from April, an extra £7.07 per week to find.   The service charge is for cleaning of communal areas.  We're lucky if the floors and stairs are swept once a week (takes all of 5 minutes) and mopping maybe once a month.  I don't begrudge paying for the service (it isn't optional btw) but am minded to enquire exactly what the cleaners are supposed to do and how often, as I'm certain it isn't as thorough or as frequent as it used to be.

Anyway, annual budget spreadsheet is ready to be populated with new costs as and when they arrive.  I'm not sure how much of our pension increase we'll have left after all the increases but I'm hoping there's a little surplus to add to the grocery pot that's now stretched to squeaking point.  I know we're definitely not eligible for Pension Credit but we might be able to get Housing Benefit so that's another job for my To Do list.  Nothing to lose by applying since they can only say Yes or No.  

Yesterday I baked a batch of coffee flavoured butterfly buns with a chocolate & salted caramel butter cream filling and also a tub of creamed garlic mushrooms that we'll have on toast for tomorrow's breakfast.  I might join the jelly & fruit gang later this week.      

EssexHebridean

We challenge our service charge every now and again just to keep them on their toes. The cleaning of communal areas has gone down from a fairly reliable daily service with a more thorough clean done weekly, to maybe once a week a cross the board a lot of the time now - but needless to say the actual cost for the cleaning hasn't dropped! I always check through the repairs they charge as well as several times we've been charged things as leaseholders that clearly weren't ours to pay! We challenged electricity costs for communal areas a while back too and got those reduced. 

euronorris

I spoke too soon about not having a problem getting eggs round here..... I did manage to get some, but Aldi was completely out and Sainsburys was slim pickings.

Still no peppers, but did obtain some cherry tomatoes and salad tomatoes in Aldi.

The toilet roll we get has gone up from £1.99 for 9 rolls to £2.25 in just a week.

There were a lot more gaps tonight, in both stores. Even the sugar was low.

Auntycaz

That's still a very good price for toilet roll. What brand is it please. I use Waitrose essentials but it has gone up quite s few times recently.

slm6002

I order the stationery at work and anything related to paper has shot up in price over the past 6 months.  Not surprised toilet roll has too

Katiehound

euronorris said:

 

The toilet roll we get has gone up from £1.99 for 9 rolls to £2.25 in just a week.

 

Sounds very much like Aldi ones. Think that's what I paid a couple of seeks ago. They had been £1.99 for quite a long time

Longwalker

euronorris said:

I spoke too soon about not having a problem getting eggs round here..... I did manage to get some, but Aldi was completely out and Sainsburys was slim pickings.

Still no peppers, but did obtain some cherry tomatoes and salad tomatoes in Aldi.

The toilet roll we get has gone up from £1.99 for 9 rolls to £2.25 in just a week.

There were a lot more gaps tonight, in both stores. Even the sugar was low.

Theres not a huge selection of eggs here, but we can always get local eggs in the local stores. However now we dont have hens any more ( might change again this year ) Im really fussy about eggs and will only buy one brand - and they have gone up 60p a dozen

I was in Lidl on Sunday and there was no veg other then potatoes and onion, no salad other then a few bags of lettuce and the fruit was extremely sparse - I was only in for a Chicken thankfully. Mum was in Sainsburys today and said there was salad, but no veg and the soft fruits she likes - grapes, berries, bananas were well past their best 

EssexHebridean

MrEH got a bag of baby plum tomatoes this morning - he’s right in my good books! 😂

Elisheba

Oh dear - I think that's the loo roll I normally get, but I'll find out when I do my shopping tomorrow! For those who need veg for cooking there didn't appear to be any shortages of things like frozen onions and pepper in Iceland when I looked a few days ago.