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

sammy_kaye18

@Cheapskate welcome back my lovely. We all have those moments but I hope you are well and settled and feeling more positive and squirreling away

@London_1 I hope you are ok lovely and that you have heard if your cousins are ok. Fingers crossed you are back home soon and recovering well. 

@cuddlymarm I will be doing a roast dinner later for about 5pm when husband gets home from working away. I don't know what time my son will get in from riding and my daughter is still full of cold so giving her a hearty warming meal is right on the cards for her. Apple Strudel for pudding too with icecream I think. 

Currently sat looking through online shops and making a medication list so I can fill in spaces in the medicine cupboard. Having daughter ill with a cold and earache has really given me the kick up the bum to check it all and reorganize it. 
So if anyone has any suggestions for things you keep in the medicine cupboard that often gets overlooked - please suggest it (and yes I know about cheaper items/checking numbers for active ingredients etc) 

slm6002

I bought some steri strips just in case (DS used to be very accident prone) over lockdown

pumpkin89

DiamondLil said:

Sorry, a moan from me today; just discovered yet more "shrinkflation" on some of our everyday products.

Lidl dishwasher tablets, box of 50 is now a box of 40; Simple soar bars - 125 gm bar is now 120 gm bar.

(Sigh) and McVitie's digestives.... a 500 gm pack shrunk to 400 gms a while ago and has now shrunk again to 360 gms.

Won't be long before I'm buying packets of air at this rate.

For all the world, I don't understand why manufacturers can't simply increase the price openly rather than this underhand way of doing things.

Because they know people are more likely to buy a product at certain price points.  For example, if McVitie's digestives were still 500g they would now (pro-rata) be well over £2 per pack - they have probably done extensive market research and found that many people won't pay over £2 for biscuits.

As someone who buys the product frequently you notice the shrinkflation, but a shopper comparing different brands wouldn't have that context, and most people are swayed more by absolute pack price than by price per kg / unit.

DiamondLil

pumpkin89 said:

Because they know people are more likely to buy a product at certain price points.  For example, if McVitie's digestives were still 500g they would now (pro-rata) be well over £2 per pack - they have probably done extensive market research and found that many people won't pay over £2 for biscuits.

As someone who buys the product frequently you notice the shrinkflation, but a shopper comparing different brands wouldn't have that context, and most people are swayed more by absolute pack price than by price per kg / unit.

Yes I agree, but being a stubborn old cuss I take umbrage at it being assumed that I don't know / can't work out / won't notice the difference between 150p for 400 grams and 180p for 360 grams.

Or, in the case of M&S, 80p for 400 grams.

Brambling

DiamondLil said:

Yes I agree, but being a stubborn old cuss I take umbrage at it being assumed that I don't know / can't work out / won't notice the difference between 150p for 400 grams and 180p for 360 grams.

Or, in the case of M&S, 80p for 400 grams.

Unfortunately they rely on enough people being unable to or are too busy / distracted to check and as you say if you only buy occasionally it's difficult to know.  It's when the box or packaging makes it look the same size but there's a lot of space when you open it that bugs me 

It does annoy me when they have items in different sizes tins or packs and don't use the same information on the shelf display ie some will be price per 100g some price per kilo but they are the same item just different sizes, or the number of items in pack, I'll put a pack of 4 apples etc on the SM Scales to calculate a price per kilo to match the loose price.  And don't get me started on when they price so two smaller items buck the trend and are actually cheaper than buying the one larger item. 

I do allow myself time to check what works out cheaper but I'm only shopping for one and I'm not dragging around screaming children or a grumpy OH when i'm trying to shop and work out prices

Indout96

Brambling said:

DiamondLil said:

Unfortunately they rely on enough people being unable to or are too busy / distracted to check 

When you watch the younger generation on tills trying to work out change you understand why they get away with this sort of thing.

Toonie

My last month has been a bit all over the place. My dodgy knee has been very painful so ended up with online orders from Sainsbury instead of shopping in store. Had some very poor fruit and veg in those deliveries. But also got a winner when the frozen lamb chops I order was substituted for a whole leg of lamb! 1.9kg of lamb for £5.50 due to their substitution guarantee. So, that's in the freezer as out emergency Christmas option.

My knee was a little less painful yesterday so we went to the Sainsbury yesterday and were surprised by the empty shelves. No carrots, no swedes, no tomatoes, hardly any potatoes (just expensive ones), no fresh milk, no eggs, very little cheese or yoghurt.

Today we're having sweet and sour pork for supper with noodles and loads of veg. Looking forward to it as a bit of a treat, we bought some bamboo shoots and water chestnuts to give it some oomph.

Brambling

Indout96 said:

Brambling said:

Unfortunately they rely on enough people being unable to or are too busy / distracted to check 

When you watch the younger generation on tills trying to work out change you understand why they get away with this sort of thing.

You mean the look of confusion in their eyes when after they totalled up and it is for example 7.37 and you say i'll give you the odd 37p as well as the  £10!   My Saturday job in the late 70s / early 80s i was taught to count out the change into the customers hand now days you are just giving a handful of change dumped in your hand 

YorksLass

^^^^^    I don't know why they get confused - after all, the till works it out for them.  Total = £7.37, amount tendered = £10.37, change = £3.  Pre-decimalisation we used the old style sit-up-and-beg tills that didn't add up for you so you had to be good at mental arithmetic - and woe betide you if you got it wrong.  The customer would soon let you know!     

Weather here today is dull, wet, miserable and on the chilly side.  That probably explains why I'm heading towards hibernation mode that will more than likely speed up once the clocks have gone back.  

I'm currently trying to run down the freezer pre-Xmas and today have made a pan of leek & potato soup to use up a bag of sliced leeks that were in there and some LO potatoes from the fridge.  There'll be enough for 4 portions so that's a couple of lunches sorted.  Tomorrow I'll be shredding up some pork slices to use with odds & ends of veg for a stir fry and the SC will be put to service for a rice pudding.

Floss

Brambling said:

You mean the look of confusion in their eyes when after they totalled up and it is for example 7.37 and you say i'll give you the odd 37p as well as the  £10!   My Saturday job in the late 70s / early 80s i was taught to count out the change into the customers hand now days you are just giving a handful of change dumped in your hand 

Me too, and I collected the milk money on Thursday and Friday evenings too, so lots of practice with cash!