The Office of National Statistics revealed at the start of this month that consumer price inflation has continued to rise to its highest level in almost 30 years. This rise, which includes the cost of energy, has meant many UK citizens are seeing an impact on their cost of living.
And with the price of just about everything skyrocketing by the day, it's no surprise that many are searching for new ways to live that are kinder on their bank account. Cutting down the cost of the food shop is certainly one way it can be done. In January alone, two-thirds of UK adults saw their cost of living increase with price hikes have even hit the supermarket shelves.
The fear of the rising costs is not a fallacy, many of the big supermarkets have warned that prices are on the rise as they deal with increased costs. Tesco said its costs are increasing by around 5 per cent annually, meaning that prices were currently up around 1 per cent for shoppers.
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Groceries have been seeing huge hikes and in December 2021, it was estimated that they were rising 1.3 per cent month on month, according to Consumer Price Index - that's the highest rate of growth since 2012. So, looking for alternate ways to stock your kitchen shelves is one way that could possibly guarantee you a couple of pounds saved.
So, we took a trip to B&M to see how viable it is to do a weekly shop at the variety goods value retailer.
On walking into the shop, I didn't know where to start. Whilst your local supermarket has dedicated shelves to different produce, B&M offers more of a scavenger hunt type approach. I browsed the isles, hoping the chaos would start to make sense and begun placing items in my basket.
I spotted some Dolmio Bolognese sauce which was priced at £1 and added it to my basket. Close by was a 500g box of pasta (79p) which I also picked up. I was desperately searching the shelves for something else edible and spotted some 55p Supernoodles, which I'm not the biggest fan of, but I picked them up as I wasn't exactly spoilt for choice.
But my next spot was a gem, priced at only £2.89 a four pack of Heinz beans. I carried on scoping out the shop, coming across a corner of shelves stocked high with cereals which certainly caught my attention. It was packed with brand name boxes, from Lucky Charms to Reese's Puffs and Kellogg Favourites. I put a box of chocolate Kellogg shells in my basket, which cost £2.
There was also a huge section dedicated to tea and coffee, where I also picked up a 65p bag of sugar. Crisps were my next spot and so I grabbed a six pack of Walkers Squares for £1.50.
Whilst there was no freezer section, my local B&M did offer a small fridge, where I picked up a 1 pint bottle of milk (60p) as well as some Cathedral City cheese (£2.95) and some Lurpak butter (£3.25). There was also shelves homing bread near by, so I added a 400g loaf of Warburtons bread for 95p.
I had now walked all of the food-dedicated aisles and so went back to where i begun to see if there was anything I had missed. There was! I was particularly impressed by the range of tuna, again, all the top brands. I opted for a three pack of John West Tuna which was priced at £2.99.
I was feeling particularly unhealthy, as the lack of fresh produce meant that there was no fresh fruit and veg on offer. I instead grabbed a tin of sweetcorn, priced at 50p. I accepted that I was out of options and decided to take a trip to the till.
Considering the big brand names in my basket, I was prepared for my total to be a little more costly but at £21.71 I was relatively content.
I managed to grab a few gems but it wasn't the easiest shopping trip and I'd still have to visit another supermarket to finish stocking my shelves. Some of the food on offer really did take me by surprise too, particularly the steak and gravy pie in a tin along with the tinned chicken in white sauce.
However B&M aren't short for big name brands and there were a range of basic essentials, so my shopping trip was a lot more successful than I initially expected.
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