Prices continue to surge as the cost of living crisis shows no sign at all of stopping - with fuel, electricity and gas prices rocketing. Struggling singles and financially challenged families alike are feeling the pinch in the supermarkets - with food prices also stealthily rising.
For the last two weeks we have compared the price of eight basics in various main supermarkets - buying the cheapest of everything available. On our shopping list was a loaf of bread, a two-pint bottle of milk, coffee, teabags, butter, beans, chicken breasts and mince.
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Last week Aldi came out as cheapest overall, at £9.13 for the lot, but a week later it's cheapest butter had risen from £1.48 for a 250g block to £1.55, Morrisons' milk had risen from 95p for a two-pint bottle to 99p and Lidl's chicken breasts had risen from £1.79 for 300g to £1.99.
Aldi still came out as cheapest overall, at £9.26 for the lot. That was with 25% fat mince though, compared with 20% at all the others. In second place was Lidl at £9.34, followed by Asda's £9.44. Its budget Smart Price range helps to keep prices down, with its coffee in particular, at £1.40 for two of its 100g jars, the cheapest of all the supermarkets.
Tesco's Aldi Price Match helped keep its bill down to £9.52, while Morrisons, which has its budget Savers range, came in at £10.18 overall, followed by Sainsbury's, which was most expensive at £10.55.
The only slight difference in size was the baked beans, ranging 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.
This week the only change at Aldi is a rise in the price of chicken from £1.79 to £1.85 - a price rise of 6p meaning the same shop now has a slightly higher overall price of £9.26 - still making it top of the price busters.
Morrisons saw price hikes on a 410g tin of beans - rising from 22p to 39p - and the cheapest salted butter I could find was branded Lurpak at £1.77, whereas in our last check the salted butter was £1.49 - a rise of 45p in the overall shop.
Aldi
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - 95p
Coffee 200g - £1.65
Teabags 160 - 99p
Salted butter 250g - £1.55
Beans 420g tin - 22p
Chicken 300g - £1.85
Mince 500g 25% fat - £1.69
Total £9.26
Lidl
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - 95p
Coffee 200g - £1.49
Teabags 160 - £1.09
Salted butter 250g - £1.45
Beans 420g tin - 22p
Chicken 300g - £1.99
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.79
Total £9.34
Asda
Loaf of white bread 800g (Smart Price) - 39p
Milk 2 pints - 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) - 22p
Chicken (bigger 350g pack for £2.35) - equates to £2.01
Mince 500g - £1.90
Total £9.44
Tesco
Loaf of white bread 800g - 36p
Milk 2 pints - 95p
Coffee 200g (2 x 100g) - £1.50
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack) - £1.10
Butter 250g - £1.55
Beans 420g tin - 22p
Chicken 300g - £2.05
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.79
Total £9.52
Morrisons
Loaf of white bread 800g - 59p
Milk 2 pints - 99p
Coffee (2 x 100g) - £1.50
Teabags 160 (2 x 80-pack Savers) - £1.10
Salted butter 250g - £1.77
Beans 410g tin - 39p
Chicken (bigger 330g pack for £2.25) - equates to £2.05
Mince 500g 20% fat - £1.79
Total £10.18
Sainsbury's
Loaf of white bread 800g - 60p
Milk 2 pints - 95p
Coffee 200g - £1.65
Teabags 160 - £1.09
Salted butter 250g - £1.75
Beans 400g tin - 21p
Chicken 300g - £2.20
Mince 500g - £2.10
Total £10.55
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