Food shopping is getting more and more expensive at the moment, amongst everything else including gas and electricity, petrol, and even clothing. According to the Office for National Statistics, food and drink prices are increasing at the fastest pace since April 1980 - and it's impacting everybody in one way or another.
Most of us are tightening the purse strings a lot, especially during the festive period, as we try to make ends meet. Sadly, others are forced to choose between heating and eating as the cost of living crisis starts to bite.
Now as price rises continue to impact our budget, many people are cutting back on the weekly food shop. Research from The Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that many families rely on the lowest-priced items, but some have increased in cost.
Many essential items had increased in cost by around 17 percent over the 12 months to September 2022 - an increase from seven percent over the 12 months to April 2022.
Many dairy products have become more expensive in the past year, with cheese and milk rising, while products such as chicken and eggs have also been affected by increases.
But others had decreased in price - amongst the biggest price drop was orange juice, which fell by 8.9%, while the cost of minced beef dropped by 7%, sugar fell by 0.3% and rice by 0.2%.
In a bid to check whether this was the case for myself - and whether supermarkets are putting more deals on to try and help customers while times are tough, I decided to visit my supermarket and record how much everything cost me.
So, on November 9, I went to my local supermarket, a Morrisons, to buy a list of popular items that many people often put in their shopping baskets, before returning a month later to do the same shop.
The list included:
- Four pints of milk
- Chocolate digestives
- Five bananas
- Extra virgin oil
- Carrots
- Bread
- Spaghetti
- Lurpak (500g)
- Steak mince (300g)
- Whole chicken (large)
On that date, my shop came to £23.06. None of the prices in the shop really horrified me, but I have definitely noticed a marked difference in supermarket prices since I was a bright-eyed bushy-tailed first-year student back in 2014.
I remember being able to get a reasonably weekly shop then for about £30, whereas now, you often can only get a few basics.
I was shocked when I went to do the shop, however, that there was only one chicken left on the shelf. I wondered whether people were preparing in advance for Christmas because of the Avian flu outbreak - panicking that they may not be able to secure their goods nearer to the time.
According to the ONS, the lowest- priced products that have increased in price at the fastest rate between September 2021 and September 2022 were vegetable oil, which has risen by 65 percent, pasta, 60 percent, and tea, by 45 percent.
Orange juice and beef mince, however, have decreased in price over the 12-month period, with orange juice reducing by nine percent and mince by seven percent.
Because of the rising cost of living, when I went out on December 8, a month later, I was genuinely expecting everything to have gone up a ridiculous amount - and frankly, I was worried.
As I did my supermarket sweep to compare the prices, I noticed that the majority of items had stayed the same in price, which reassured me and did make me feel a little better.
The one thing which I noticed had increased in cost was the chicken, which had gone from £4.59 to £4.99 - possibly due to Avian flu.
Shockingly, other than that, things had even stayed the same price - with some things even reducing. I was so glad, it wasn't by much, but I was glad to see that the price hasn't inflated a ridiculous amount.
What I did notice was the price of Lurpak, which has been in the headlines multiple times this year for its soaring cost. In my initial shop it cost £.4.99, but this time it was on a special offer and cost just £2.99, which is a lot more reasonable!
Everything else had stayed the same price - a huge relief to me, and no doubt households up and down the UK.
Because of the reduction in the price of Lurpak, and the increase in the chicken, overall the shop in December came to £21.55. That's a saving in the exact same items of £1.51, which may not be a humungous amount of money, but it's certainly more promising than prices increasing by the same, if not more, which I definitely expected.
I really hope that this is a sign of things to come, and that the cost of living will continue to stay similar to now, or even reduce. I hope that in 2023, things start to look more positive and stable - especially when it comes to the basics that we purchase every week.
Have you noticed the same trend? Let us know in the comments.
