With the cost of living crisis continuing to loom over many households, cutting back on costs wherever you can has become even more vital than before.
From soaring energy bills to rising food prices, many of us will be trying to hold onto every penny that we manage to keep in our pockets.
Current statistics have shown the average UK household spends around £97 on their weekly food shopping, which is a three percent increase from 2019. Food prices from January 2021 to January this year have also increased by a whopping 4.5 percent.
With that in mind, one reporter decided to find out how much you could get from two very different supermarkets when you stick to a budget of just £20.
Cameron Mellor from Derbyshire Live headed out to both Iceland Food Warehouse and M&S Food Hall with a like for like shopping list of groceries.
Cameron said: "Obviously, at the end of the day, it all comes down to shopper preference. But the difference in how much more you can get at Iceland's Food Warehouse is clear to see.
When we went shopping, we tried to get products that could either be used to make a meal or be added to products that you would have purchased the week before."
Here is the full list of items that Cameron managed to purchase from each supermarket :
Iceland Food Warehouse - 18 items
- Wafer-thin Ham £1.00
- Cherry Tomatoes £1.00
- Mature Cheese £2.50
- Butter £1.00
- Kelloggs Coco Pops £2.50
- Semi Skimmed Milk £0.95
- Morning Bread Rolls £1.25
- Iceberg Lettuce £0.38
- Orange Juice £1.00
- Cucumber £0.35
- Raspberry Cheesecake £1.00
- Chicken Fillets £2.85
- Shortbread Fingers £1.00
- Southern Potato Wedges £1.00
- Galaxy Chocolate £1.00
- Beef Lasagne Ready Meal £1.00
- Sweet & Sour Chicken Ready Meal £1.00
- Petit Pois Peas £1.00
Total: £21.78
M&S Food Hall - 10 items
- Four White Subs £1.75
- Kelloggs Cheerios £2.60
- Cherry Tomatoes £1.00
- Semi-skimmed Milk £1.00
Wafer-thin Ham £2.75
Orange Juice £1.55
Shortbread £1.65
Beef Lasagne Ready Meal £3.00
Two Vanilla Cheesecake Slices £2.80
Chicken & Bacon Pasta Ready Meal £3.00
TOTAL: £21.10
The reporter did find that, while you can certainly spread the cost across more items at Iceland, the quality of M&S' food is certainly much higher.
He added: "But the difference in prices is clear. For example, a packet of wafer-thin ham at Iceland's Food Warehouse is £1, whereas it costs £2.75 at M&S. Orange juice is £1 at Iceland but £1.55 at M&S. When it came to milk, both came in at around the same price, although Iceland was cheaper by 5p.
We tried both lasagnes and there were definitely richer flavours in the M&S one (£3) as opposed to the Iceland one (£1). Again, at the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference - or, perhaps more accurately, necessity."
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