Households across Edinburgh and the rest of the UK are feeling the squeeze due to household bills and rising food costs.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average spend on food and non-alcoholic drink at home for families in the lowest income bracket is £175 a month. That works out at £43.75 a week.
Which? price comparison analysis shows that out of UK supermarkets, Asda can boast having the cheapest online food shop at the moment. So keen to take on the challenge, I tried to feed my family of two for a week- myself and my seven-year-old daughter.
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Firstly, I added to the basket the usual veg and fruit and basics including eggs, bread, butter and milk.
Then there was the lunchbox essentials, bread, and ham for the sandwiches, pepperamis, frubes and fruit yoyos - but cheestrings were all out of stock.
With all of them between 25p and 65p more expensive than they used to be. I got a few meals for my daughter, and a few we would share – tacos and chicken curry.
I also had a few meals including a stir fry, salad, stuffed peppers and a meal with mediterranean vegetables, rice, hummus, and pitta bread. We still had some snacks, and a variety of breakfasts of either fruit salad, toast, or an omelette.
I didn’t have to cut back or go without and managed to get the shop for £45.41 - just slightly over the £43.75 budget. A few of these items will last over a week as well so should even out over the month.
Looking at a previous big order in January which cost me £78.51 for 56 items and if I was to make the same order today, it would cost me £82.85 which comes in at just over the five per cent increase.
This increase in the price of food as well as the soaring energy prices mean that everyone is cutting back and buying more of the supermarket’s cheaper food ranges. Asda have recently released an “essentials range” to help households keep to their budgets.
It doesn’t seem much at the time, but if you get a lot of the same items each week you will notice the prices going up.
A price increase of 20p, or 50p here and there might not seem much but It all adds up and households, including mine, are feeling it.
