Shopping costs more than it did this time last year. Photograph: Martin Godwin
How do you economise when the price of food is on the up? Rising wheat prices have increased the cost of many basics, with bread more expensive than ever before. Time was when you could buy a loaf of a supermarket's value white-sliced for less than 10p - great days for those on student budgets. Now even a basic loaf costs upwards of 37p and the slightly posher stuff comes in at more than £1.
Dairy products are also rising in price. For years my local shop charged 99p for a 2 litre bottle of milk, then before Christmas the price went up to £1.19. (The increase was such that the shop owner pinned up a letter from the dairy explaining the reasons behind it.)
Since the start of the year it has gone up again to £1.29. A 30% increase in price in a matter of months, and enough to make you think twice about rustling up some custard to go with pudding or having that extra cup of tea.
In the supermarket the prices of butter and ice cream have risen noticeably - particularly on the cheapest lines where margins are tighter. According to Mysupermarket.com, which compares prices across retailers, the average shopping basket has risen in price by 11% since this time last year.
Some shoppers will be able to offset some of that by giving more thought to how much they buy. Last week, Abbey claimed the average household chucks out 6% of food purchases, or £5.10 worth of paid-for grub. Surprisingly, it said those who shopped daily for food wasted more, throwing away £6.41 or 8% of groceries.
But if you only buy what you need how can you keep the cost of your shopping down? Have you changed what you buy or where you buy it? Have you started making your own bread? Or are you just taking the increases on the chin?
