Like millions of people feeling the cost of living squeeze, I've been forced to cut back on my expenses wherever and whenever possible. To save money on parking and fuel, I now take the bus to work and elsewhere around the city. If I'm travelling further afield, I visit the National Express website before Trainline. My usual daily supermarket meal deal has been ditched for a homemade packed lunch. And, instead of forking out a small fortune for a hot drink at a café, I take advantage of the free tea and coffee in the office (which does the job surprisingly well).
But despite my attempt to be more frugal, I've still found that grocery shopping is an unexpectedly high outgoing from my bank account every week. We all know by now the prices of everyday items have gone up, but it's still easy to mindlessly chuck stuff into the trolley without much thought. And, admittedly, it's hard to give up brands you've bought your entire life - Heinz, Walkers, Kellogg's, to name a few - in exchange for the suspiciously cheap supermarket own-brand or value range items.
It's also common knowledge that it's not only what you buy that matters, but where - with stark differences not only between supermarkets, but also between the different types of shops that certain supermarkets run. In fact, this difference is so stark for some that last month angry shoppers in Canton, Cardiff, pushed for a Tesco Express to be changed back to a Metro amid claims of rising prices and the loss of own brand products in-store.
