Sticker Shock

I think sometimes I'm on autopilot when I do my weekly shop.  I don't always buy the same things but I do seem to be a bit blinkered when it comes to buying 'staples' and it gave me quite a shock yesterday when I reaslised the prices of some of the mundane items I was buying.

I went in to the local branch of 'Savers' (a bit of a downmarket version of Superdrug) to get some more of their budget version of Brillo Pads.  It's not something I buy very often as I usually get in two 20-pad packs at a time.  Yesterday, I went straight to the section where I knew they were and suddenly noticed that they now cost 69p for a pack of 20.  I swear the last time I bought them they were 29p or 39p.  This time I only bought one pack, and came out of the shop berating myself for not having thought to buy soap-filled scouring pads in Wilkinsons last week.  They were definitely 29p per pack in there the last time I bought them, although I have no idea how much they are these days.

The same thing happened in Aldi when I noticed that the 1kg packs of Penne pasta and dried spaghetti were not actually 39p or 49p per pack as I had thought they were.  No, they now cost £1.09 each!!  Whaaat!!  I know pasta has got more expensive lately, but really that is one heck of an increase.  Again, these are not items I buy every week and it is probably a couple of months since I last bought dried pasta, but I swear they didn't cost this much then.  I'm sure Aldi's prices are still excellent, it's just that even they have had to increase their prices dramatically. 

Now might be a sensible time to start a price-list notebook, just to see exactly what things do cost.  Especially as the 'official' rate of inflation has today been announced at 4.4 per cent.  Yesterday's Daily Mail (so take all information with a bucket of salt) claims inflation is at 25 per cent!!  I'm not sure it is quite that high, but am also pretty certain it is a good deal higher than the 'spin doctored, massaged, on-message' government figure of 4.4 per cent.  Even the BBC News had to say that food inflation is 13 per cent above prices this time last year, utilities are 16 per cent higher, and fuel is 26 per cent higher.  This time next year will these figures be even worse?  Goodness knows.

Anyway, sort of on the same subject, if anyone would like this booklet I found at the back of the bookcase yesterday, please leave me a comment.  It's a 46 page booklet from the 1980s by Global Village Crafts.  The aim of the recipes is to provide a 'minute gesture towards the issue of world hunger'. There are some useful recipes in there, predominantly, but not exclusively, vegetarian - and heavy on chickpeas, lentils and brown rice.  First one to comment gets the booklet.

Comments

[kathirynne]

Lentils, chick peas and brown rice? You're speakin' my language, sista!

[Sharon J]

Prices have definitely jumped but I've a feeling that the low-cost chains are jumping further onto the bandwagon than they ought. As you say, pasta couldn't have risen that much!

[French Knots]

Perhaps it's the things that we don't buy that have only gone up 4.4% - new cars, diamonds and the like!!
I'll be stocking on woolly vests before winter and apparently water is the next utility to jump on the 'over charge the customer' band wagon.

[Frugal Trenches]

So sad I wasn't first!!

I haven't yet noticed the price of food going up, but I wonder when it will begin to effect me!

[Gill]

So many basics seem to have risen in price by huge amounts, I can't believe by how much sometimes! Cooking oil is almost double what it was....I know pasta is far more expensive, and rice, potatoes still seem pretty good value so we'll be eating more of those.I keep a careful eye on prices anyway but I'm shopping around much more now and using Wilkinsons/Aldis when I can.

[The Shopping Sherpa]

Here's a tip you may not have thought of (and one that made my friend laugh when she noticed it):

I buy a pack of Home Brand scouring pads (the rectagular green ones) then cut each sheet into 4 before using them so they last 4 times as long :-)