The cost of living in the UK is rising at its fastest pace in almost 30 years, with rocketing inflation and price hikes hitting people hard.
With energy, rent and food costs soaring, it seems almost everything is increasing, except our wages.
On top of this, Covid has hit global supply chains with a combination of pent-up demand and delays to shipping as factories across the world face lockdowns and worker absences.
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This has led to prices rising, particularly for raw materials.
Food prices have also risen as wages increase, including for HGV drivers due to recent shortages and with thousands of drivers leaving the UK to return to their home countries in the EU.
As part of an effort to see what this could mean for people in real terms, Kent Live's Adam McGroarty decided to visit local supermarkets, back in July 2021.
His intention was to see what he could get for £10 in each.
Now, with the recent hike in costs, he has decided to retrace his steps to see how much the same shop would cost seven months later.
Here's how he got on.
Lidl
On July 8, just seven months ago, I took £10 to Lidl and was left disappointed with what I left the store with.
At the top of my list in the summer was a two-pint bottle of milk which set me back 80p, but as I went to retrace my steps, I discovered this was now priced at 89p.
Of course, I'd need something to go with that milk, which led me to the cereal aisle.
There was no price increase for the Malt Wheaties cereal box, which remained at 69p and the Hovis medium white bread was still priced at 99p.
But while I was able to buy a 400g punnet of strawberries for £1.59 in my last visit, this now set me back £2.99 - almost double the cost.
The price of eggs stayed the same at 95p for a box of six, and the 500g packet of pork mince was still priced at £2.19.
My bag of tortilla chips, perfect for an evening snack, also remained at the fair price of just 65p.
But I was unable to find the tomatoes, pasta and butter I previously purchased, so let's consider how much the overall shop comes to with those items included.
If we freeze the price of the butter at 99p, pasta at 39p and tomatoes at 85p, as they were previously, here's how this shop compares to the one I did last summer.
July total: £10.09
Recent total: £10.63
Waitrose
On the same summer's day, after my Lidl trip, I headed across the town to Waitrose.
My shopping trip once again began in the milk section, and I was able to buy a one-litre bottle of Cravendale for £1.10 in July.
Despite this not being available in-store during my recent visit, the online website suggests the same bottle is now priced at £1.25.
Unlike in Lidl, I was able to find the same tub of butter I purchased back in the summer at a price of £1.85, but this now cost £2.
The crumpets I bought months ago for £1, which I thought was fair value, have even seen a 10p increase and are now £1.10.
I was also surprised to see that the multi-pack bag of Walkers cheese and onion crisps had risen from £1.50 to £1.70.
Some of the products remained the same price, though. My go-to Weetabix crunch bran was still £2.40, while the seedless grapes remained at £2.
July total: £9.85
Recent total: £10.45
Sainsbury's
Back in August of last year, I headed to Sainsbury's to see what own-brand products I could get for £10.
I was able to start things off with a four-pint bottle of milk which set me back £1.09 at the time, but this had since risen to £1.15.
I needed something to go with the milk for breakfast, so I got some puffed wheat. I was surprised to find this was one of the products which has seen a price increase of 10p from the 70p it cost in the summer.
Thankfully though, the ideally-sized small pizzas perfect for a snack or a lunch were still set at 43p. I purchased three of those on my first visit, so added the trio into my basket once more.
The small tins of baked beans, which I bought three of, were now priced at 30p having been 25p months ago, but the price of soup had actually gone down from 50p to 45p.
I pushed the boat out on my first Sainsbury's trip and went for a big pie for dinner, so I was pleased to see that the price had remained at £2.50 considering it's up there with my favourite meals!
The final items I was able to buy in-store was the rather versatile pasta and a bag of frozen mixed veg. The veg remained at £1 but the pasta had a steep rise of 15p to 70p, having been priced at 55p in the summer.
The only other items I couldn't find in-store this time were a fresh loaf of bread from the bakery and a Passata sauce.
According to the Sainsbury's website, the Passata is now priced at 80p, which has risen from 75p. Due to the bread having been from the bakery, we'll freeze the price at 80p when adding up the totals.
August total: £9.93
Recent total: £10.39
Iceland
My last visit around the supermarkets was to Iceland, where I had previously been in August.
Despite not being able to buy many of the same items in-store, let's go through what I was able to get.
I picked up a 500g tub of Clover butter, which was priced at £1.35. This has increased from the £1 it cost a few months ago.
I also noticed a 9p increase in the price of milk, which now cost 89p in-store as opposed to the 80p I previously spent on the same product.
Many of the frozen goods remained the same price though, with the four pack of beef burgers still costing £2 and the bag of frozen mixed veg at £1.
According to the Iceland website, the bag of 28 fish fingers remains at £2, while the chips are still priced at £1.
The chicken nuggets, previously priced at £1.50, and the bread, which cost 79p, are currently unavailable on the website so we'll freeze those prices.
August total: £10.09
Recent total: £10.53
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