I've reduced by food shop by 63% just by switching to non branded food.

itsthelittlethings

somerandomusername said:

itsthelittlethings said:

The very cheapest products are going up so people who rely on these are affected. For the same quality, the price is going up, cost of living is increasing more than wages, are we supposed to suck it up and not complain?

Everything goes up, that's called inflation. But people can still chose to buy the cheapest of any given item. People still have the option of spending £400 a month on their food or £150 a month. It's entirely their choice. 

When your wages go up by 2%, and food goes up by 5%, that’s not just inflation.

Also the cheapest food is now £150 a month rather than £120, how are people who rely on the cheapest food anyway supposed to manage?

Meanwhile the number of billionaires is increasing.

Emmia

itsthelittlethings said:

somerandomusername said:

itsthelittlethings said:

The very cheapest products are going up so people who rely on these are affected. For the same quality, the price is going up, cost of living is increasing more than wages, are we supposed to suck it up and not complain?

Everything goes up, that's called inflation. But people can still chose to buy the cheapest of any given item. People still have the option of spending £400 a month on their food or £150 a month. It's entirely their choice. 

When your wages go up by 2%, and food goes up by 5%, that’s not just inflation.

Also the cheapest food is now £150 a month rather than £120, how are people who rely on the cheapest food anyway supposed to manage?

Meanwhile the number of billionaires is increasing.

I'm not sure the number of billionaires is linked to food prices - most of them are not owners of food manufacturers... I'd expect they're mostly in tech / oil / pharmaceuticals etc.

somerandomusername

itsthelittlethings said:

somerandomusername said:

itsthelittlethings said:

The very cheapest products are going up so people who rely on these are affected. For the same quality, the price is going up, cost of living is increasing more than wages, are we supposed to suck it up and not complain?

Everything goes up, that's called inflation. But people can still chose to buy the cheapest of any given item. People still have the option of spending £400 a month on their food or £150 a month. It's entirely their choice. 

When your wages go up by 2%, and food goes up by 5%, that’s not just inflation.

Also the cheapest food is now £150 a month rather than £120, how are people who rely on the cheapest food anyway supposed to manage?

Meanwhile the number of billionaires is increasing.

I work a near minimum wage job, I take home £1650 per month and I do just fine in terms of food. Like I said I slashed my food bill by over half just from switching to store branded versions. 

itsthelittlethings

Emmia said:

itsthelittlethings said:

somerandomusername said:

itsthelittlethings said:

The very cheapest products are going up so people who rely on these are affected. For the same quality, the price is going up, cost of living is increasing more than wages, are we supposed to suck it up and not complain?

Everything goes up, that's called inflation. But people can still chose to buy the cheapest of any given item. People still have the option of spending £400 a month on their food or £150 a month. It's entirely their choice. 

When your wages go up by 2%, and food goes up by 5%, that’s not just inflation.

Also the cheapest food is now £150 a month rather than £120, how are people who rely on the cheapest food anyway supposed to manage?

Meanwhile the number of billionaires is increasing.

I'm not sure the number of billionaires is linked to food prices - most of them are not owners of food manufacturers... I'd expect they're mostly in tech / oil / pharmaceuticals etc.

Just for a start, the owners of Walmart who I believe owned Asda for a while, and still own 10%, are the richest family in the world. There are plenty of billionaires in groceries.

MattMattMattUK

itsthelittlethings said:

somerandomusername said:

itsthelittlethings said:

The very cheapest products are going up so people who rely on these are affected. For the same quality, the price is going up, cost of living is increasing more than wages, are we supposed to suck it up and not complain?

Everything goes up, that's called inflation. But people can still chose to buy the cheapest of any given item. People still have the option of spending £400 a month on their food or £150 a month. It's entirely their choice. 

When your wages go up by 2%, and food goes up by 5%, that’s not just inflation.

That is exactly inflation. It is normally in line with what happens, inflation rises, wages lag but then catch up and exceed inflation as it slows down, then the cycle continues. 

itsthelittlethings said:

Also the cheapest food is now £150 a month rather than £120, how are people who rely on the cheapest food anyway supposed to manage?

One can get sufficient calories and nutrients for around £90pm, though it would be a pretty miserable diet. Inflation is always a factor, but pensions, benefits and NLW are all increasing ahead of inflation. We generally need to guide people to cooking food that is cheaper, but benefits/pensions/40hrs NLW are enough to live on in the UK.

itsthelittlethings said:

Meanwhile the number of billionaires is increasing.

So is atmospheric CO2, deforestation, the number of cows and cancer diagnosis rates, none of those are relevant either though. 

Rosa_Damascena

millie said:

RipleyG said:

Thanks @millie I might give that a try, but more out of interest than cost savings - most recently paid £6.50 for 300g Nescafe, making the brand the cheaper option ☕

That is interesting. I can not be sure of the price because I do not drink coffee and only buy it for when my son visits. I had mine from Aldi and I can not find it on Aldis online site but I know Lidl sell it too. I will check in Aldi next time I go in

I changed to this from my favourite Douwe Egberts a couple of years ago when the price exceeded £6/190g, it makes a delicious latte.

pumpkin89

somerandomusername said:

So unless you're living in London, or have a boat load of kids, you should be able to not only live comfortably on a low wage, but actually do very well over the long term.

Your budget looks great, but largely because your mortgage/rent costs are around £500 per month.  There are vast swathes of the country where that isn't possible (not just London by any means).

somerandomusername

pumpkin89 said:

somerandomusername said:

So unless you're living in London, or have a boat load of kids, you should be able to not only live comfortably on a low wage, but actually do very well over the long term.

Your budget looks great, but largely because your mortgage/rent costs are around £500 per month.  There are vast swathes of the country where that isn't possible (not just London by any means).

I lived in a house share for most of my 20's which allowed me to save up a large deposit so my LTV now is like 60%.

It's all about sacrifices, a lot of people just aren't willing to make short term sacrifices for long term benefits.