We might all be trying to cut back where we can but there are some products most of us need week-in week-out. As the cost of living continues to hit hard, we've been running a weekly comparison to keep track of some of those ever-changing prices.
Shopping at Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, each week we've been comparing the cost of the same eight items - a two-pint bottle of milk, a loaf of bread, coffee, teabags, butter, beans, chicken breasts and mince.
Last week we saw price hikes at four of the supermarkets - with three of them hiking the price of butter and we noticed for the first time that even the cost of budget ranges is on the rise, with Asda's Smart Price baked beans rising from 22p to 25p.
In previous weeks we've also seen rises in teabags, coffee, milk and chicken.
This week five out of the six supermarkets have increased the price of at least one of the eight products, the worst offenders being Sainsbury's and Lidl who have both hiked two prices each.
The price of milk has gone up at three supermarkets - with two pints rising from 95p to 99p at Asda and Aldi and from 95p to £1.05 at Sainsbury's.
Lidl has followed the others with a price hike on butter, increasing its 250g block from £1.45 to £1.69 - that's a whopping 16.5% - and at Tesco the price of its chicken breasts has risen from £2.05 to £2.20, a 7% hike.
Thankfully there were two changes in the opposite direction, with butter reducing by 2p at Morrisons and bread down from 60p a loaf to 36p a loaf at Sainsbury's thanks to its Aldi Price Match scheme.
The changes mean that while Asda has retained the cheapest crown for the fourth week running, with our shop costing £9.51, it's Morrisons which now comes in second, at £9.45, pushing Lidl and Aldi into third and fourth place respectively.
Tesco is still ranking as fifth, with Sainsbury's coming out as most expensive, with a bill of £10.60.
The only slight difference in sizes among our shopping is the baked beans, which range from 400g in Sainsbury's and 410g in Asda and Morrisons, to the standard 420g in Aldi, Lidl and Tesco - which shows you to keep an eye on the size as well as the price. And where the 300g packs of chicken differ at 330g and 350g, we've worked out the equivalent price for a fairer comparison.
Where are you finding the cheapest products at the moment? Let us know in the comments here.
Here's the shopping list and total for each supermarket (as of Thursday, May 12)
Asda
Loaf of white bread 800g (Smart Price) - 39p
Milk 2 pints - 99p (up from 95p)
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g Smart Price) - £1.40
Teabags 160 (4 x 40-pack Smart Price) - £1.12
Salted butter 250g (Smart Price) - £1.45
Beans 410g tin (Smart Price) - 25p
Chicken (bigger 350g pack for £2.35) - equates to £2.01
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.90
Total £9.51 (up from £9.47)
Morrisons
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - 99p
Coffee (2 x 100g) - £1.40
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack Savers) - £1.10
Salted butter 250g - £1.75 (down from £1.77)
Beans 410g tin - 21p
Chicken (bigger 330g pack for £2.25) - equates to £2.05
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.89
Total £9.75 (down from £9.77)
Lidl
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - 95p
Coffee 200g - £1.69 (up from £1.65)
Teabags 160 - £99p
Salted butter 250g - £1.69 (up from £1.45)
Beans 420g tin - 22p
Chicken 300g - £1.99
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.89
Total £9.78 (up from £9.50)
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - 99p (up from 95p)
Coffee 200g - £1.69
Teabags 160 - £1.09
Salted butter 250g - £1.75
Beans 420g tin - 22p
Chicken 300g - £1.85
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.89
Total £9.84 (up from £9.80 last week)
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - 95p
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) - £1.66
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) - £1.10
Salted butter 250g - £1.75
Beans 420g tin - 22p
Chicken 300g - £2.20 (up from £2.05)
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.89
Total £10.13 (up from £9.98)
Sainsbury's
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p (down from 60p)
Milk 2 pints - £1.05 (up from 95p)
Coffee 200g - £1.69 (up from £1.65)
Teabags 160 - £1.09
Salted butter 250g - £1.90
Beans 400g tin - 21p
Chicken 300g - £2.20
Mince 500g 20% fat - £2.10
Total £10.60 (down from £10.70)
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