As the cost of living crisis continues to worsen, it has become impossible not to notice how much more expensive a food shop is becoming. Just this week, a report found that food price rises in the UK could hit 15 per cent this summer.
A year ago, my colleague tried to do a weekly food shop at Aldi with just £10 so I went to see how much more that same shopping basket would now cost. Trying to stick as much as I could to the items purchased a year ago, I found the same shopping basket now costs 20 per cent more - from £10.06 to £12.14.
A tomato soup has gone up by 10p (from 35p to 45p) - which is a rise of more than 28 per cent. All the other tinned items I bought had gone up in price as well: baked beans (29p to 35p, +20%), sweetcorn, (37p to 41p, +10%) and kidney beans (45p to 49p, +8%).
Read more: I tried to do a weekly shop at Aldi with just £10 - the results left me giddy
However, it is worth noting that the Essential kidney beans are cheaper at 30p. The smallest rise in my tinned purchases was the chopped tomatoes, from 37p to 38p (+2%).
The item to have the second smallest rise in price was the smoked mackerel, which has gone from £1.69 to £1.79 (+5%).
The 500g of pasta had seen the biggest rise in price of all items, going from 39p to 65p. That is a rise of 66 per cent in the space of a year, but Aldi's basic range penne is 32p so it would have been possible to actually save some money with this item.
The long-grain rice had also gone up from 89p to 95p (+6%) and, as the cheaper pesto sauce (69p - same price) was out of stock, I had to buy the Specially Selected one (£1.15). However, the item I was probably most surprised to see how much pricier it had become was a pack of cookies - which has gone from 25p to 41p, a 64 per cent rise.
The fruit and veg I bought were more expensive as well. The salad bag had gone from 57p to 67p (+17%) and the apples from £1.09 to £1.39 (+27%). However, it is worth noting that it would have been possible to save money with this item by buying Gala apples at 90p.
A two-pint bottle of milk turned out to cost 31 per cent more now than it did a year ago - from 80p to £1.05. Similarly, sliced white bread was now 59p, compared to 45p a year ago - also a 31 per cent increase.
A pack of Bran Flakes was 15 per cent expensive, going from 65p to 75p. In fact, there was only item that cost the same - the cheese and tomato pizza - which has stayed at 66p.
Here is my shopping list:
- Sliced white bread - 59p
- Bran Flakes - 75p
- Cheese and tomato pizza - 66p
- Smoked mackerel - £1.79
- Kidney beans - 49p
- Tomato soup - 45p
- Chopped tomatoes - 38p
- Sweetcorn - 41p
- Pesto - £1.15
- Pasta - £1.15
- Long-grain rice - 95p
- Cookies - 41p
- Milk - £1.05
- Beans - 35p
- Apples - £1.39
- Salad bag - 67p
Total: £12.14
Have you noticed the cost of your food shop increase? Let us know in the comments section below