Tips for living cheaply during a recession...

[Eccentric]

I agree Doodles. I couldn't believe that own brand unsalted butter is now £1.65. My food shopping bill has soared over the past few months.

[doodles]

I'm pretty sure that not so very long ago that was hovering around the £1 mark

[um]

I just noticed this this week when I made a small online order of a few items which came to £120 and was all eaten in two days - and with a family of 4 adults now and 3 growing children, the monthly grocery bill is our biggest bill by far and getting crazier.

There is an Iceland Warehouse not far from us; I've been once and would definitely go again as they do some decent large portions of things (so the cheesecakes fit on a dinner plate instead of a saucer!) and are much cheaper. Pity they don't do online delivery though!

[Amber]

I have noticed this too. I shopped for 3 days recently and the bill was similar to yours there um. I do buy the really enormous bags of basmati and brown basmati rice from the ethnic food aisles though and so that added almost £30. I find it difficult as I don't like to buy meat if it isn't humanely farmed, so I am just buying less. We have our own hens so get eggs that way which helps, as I tend to not think about what it costs to feed them! I grew my own chillis and peppers last year as we got a working greenhouse (i.e. one with glass rather than empty frames like we had before) and still have a few as they keep well. I make my own yogurt and kefir which reduces costs and have recently got into making sourdough bread but am not sure that is economical. It is yummy though!

I never buy processed food and I actually think that makes things more expensive rather than cheaper to be honest - we got a leaflet through the door recently for somewhere called Farm Foods and what I call golden food (chicken nuggets, crumb coated fish products etc) was so cheap; likewise things like turkey burgers and pieces of reshaped meat with brightly-coloured sauces on them. I am disheartened that this kind of stuff, which we just would not eat, is often cheaper than decent fresh produce. With DD (recently gone vegetarian) away at university I am left with 3 hungry blokes and am really noticing that they eat a lot, so don't get filled up with just vegetarian food, which brings me right back round to the humanly farmed meat issue...

[Surferfish]

Guardian article on rising food prices.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... -inflation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[doodles]

I am able to go to a local cash and carry so will be trying there this weekend for some staple things like pasta, rice and tinned tomatoes but last time I went things weren't that much cheaper. It will be interesting to see this time what the difference is, if indeed there is any at all.

[Amber]

I am able to go to a local cash and carry so will be trying there this weekend for some staple things like pasta, rice and tinned tomatoes but last time I went things weren't that much cheaper. It will be interesting to see this time what the difference is, if indeed there is any at all.

Our only experience at one of those places (CostCo), which I think I detailed on here at the time, was that we spent a small fortune - no, actually, a large fortune - buying things in packs large enough to solve world hunger, but, lacking an aircraft hangar and grain silo in which to store them, quickly regretted our actions.

[scary mum]

I remember that post, Amber, it was one that made me laugh out loud for some reason! (We have a Costco card!). Booker is good for bulk buying of rice, pasta, etc.

[Amber]

I remember that post, Amber, it was one that made me laugh out loud for some reason! (We have a Costco card!). Booker is good for bulk buying of rice, pasta, etc.

I have found it; and the reading of it tells me three things:

1. I am consistent and the story is the same;
2. So is the vocabulary Note to self: learn some new words. Then again, hangar and silo don't really have all that many synonyms, do they?
3. I have been on this forum far too long! (post was 2012).

We got a trade account at Costco after OH was persuaded by partner that our lives were lacking the aircraft hangar bulk shopping experience. Spent an interesting couple of hours stocking up on things which were almost the same as those we needed. Had to throw out the entire contents of the garage to accommodate it all but are now safe in the knowledge that should Armageddon come tomorrow, we have enough tinned tomatoes, pasta, soap and toilet roll to survive it. I did resist the sack of rice the size of a settee because we lack the silo to store it in. Undoubtedly very cheap but where exactly do you keep 4 hundredweight of shallots? The bill to save ourselves the routine purchase of these 'essentials' for the next ten years was eye watering.

[doodles]

We didn't renew our Costco card when it expired several years ago, it sold too much tempting stuff. This time I am able to go to Booker so will head for the pasta and rice!