As bills soar many will find themselves cutting back on the weekly shop where possible.
Joint research by Abrdn Financial Fairness Trust and the University of Bristol recently found that 71 percent of roughly 6,000 people surveyed said they have reduced the quality of food they eat due to the cost of living. Abrdn Financial Fairness Trust boss Mubin Haq said that something has to be done to ensure that living standards do not sink any further.
Some supermarkets have since offered budget menus, with Marks & Spencer offering cheap meals that claim to feed a family for a week. The menu was designed by TV chef Tom Kerridge, and costs just £25 for the week of food, reports the Mirror.
The M&S menu claims to offer offers five "family" meals for as little as £1.25 per portion, but still promises great taste. In order to find out if that was the case, the five-day menu was put to the test.
A reporter from Hull Live gave the menu a shot, and shared his thoughts on the budget family meals. Overall, the reporter called the five days "remarkable", here is what he thought about each individual meal.
Day one of the budget menu saw them tackle chipotle chicken thighs with herby rice. Speaking about the dish, he explained he wasn't a fan of either chicken thighs or chipotle.
So his expectations weren't high when chucking them together for the dish, but he described it as being "worth the wait".
Taking him about an hour in the kitchen - which included mixing it together and frying - and then an extra 25 minutes in the oven the herby dish was done. It was a perfect score from the reporter who called the M&S chicken thighs "juicy" and the chipotle sauce "lip-smacking".
"A great dish and my favourite of the week," he added.
Score: 5/5
A day later the hungry reporter was given a spiced roasted whole cauliflower with slow-cooked onions.
Despite last having a cheese smothered cauliflower based meal at 12-years-old, it was a positive end result. The reporter admitted it was a mistake on his part to underestimate the dish from celeb chef Tom and the za'atar spiced dish was "absolutely lovely".
One positive was the short preparation and cooking time - around 15 minutes in total - and the "big flavours" which help "transform the fairly ordinary" ingredients.
He added: "Deeply sceptical at the start, we liked this one so much, we had it again later in the week."
Score: 4/5
On Day 3 it was Tom's "never-fail mince" - basically a posh spaghetti - which was on the menu.
Despite a lot of chopping and mixing the result was a "rich, spicy bolognaise with some Taco style beef. This dish saw him take around 20 minutes to fry the mince which ended up "bursting like popcorn".
Nevertheless, it was another positive score for the budget menu.
Score 4/5
The penultimate day saw a sweet and spicy sausage, carrot and broccoli bake make its way to the kitchen. The reporter-turned-reviewer revealed the dishes began to feel a bit heavy due to a mixture of spices and richness.
But on the plus side, he was happy to find out how easy the dish was to make with the help of instructions from Tom Kerridge.
He said "Mix some stuff up and throw in with the sausages and veg in the oven. The result is a tasty dish that brings some life to the sausages. A decent meal and a great way to promote the simple sausages."
Score: 3/5
To finish off the budget menu week it was buttery bacon potato cakes with perfect poached eggs.
Described as more a snack than a meal it required a bit of work from the cook, but still offered a "tasty and filling savoury surprise".
He was a big fan of the potato cakes, especially when combined with the bacon and described the addition of an egg on top as a "perfect late Sunday morning wake up meal". The reporter also praised the menu for adding in a nice and balanced health part of the dish with the avocado and said the dish "easily be added to anyone's mid-week menu".
Score: 4/5
Reviewing the whole menu as a whole, the reporter was pretty chuffed, and said the meals were "great" and with "all the quality you'd expect" from M&S.
He praised the chain's support of UK farmers by using British veg and meat, but described Tom Kerridge as the "masterstroke" and praised him for turning "solid, good value ingredients into rich dishes, full of flavour".
He added: "No, you wouldn’t have them every day or every week. But there’s certainly three I’ll be adding to my regular dishes and from M&S."
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