Food Shopping Bill ......

[yelenots]

Fot the past 3 or 4 wks my usual weekly shopping (in Asda) has increased by about £15 and thats just normal shopping - no treats - has anyone else noticed this or is it just me!

[berniecuddles]

quite right yelenots said the same to the mrs the other day, paying for the cheap petrol they do!

[chelle7272]

yes same here, still trying to figure out which items have gone up or if it's across the whole lot....

[yelenots]

I think its everything!! I try to buy the things on offer - that we want - usually buy the same 'boring' stuff!

[berniecuddles]

asda make me laugh for instance bought something for £1.45 a couple of weeks ago then for about 3 days it went down to £1 then when i next looked it was £1.89 fiddling gits!

[boxtops]

I've spent more this week because I went shopping on two nights at two different supermarkets - couldn't get all I wanted in the first one, bought a bit more in the second one. Generally though, our bills are either a bit less or about the same, we are being much more picky about what we buy.

[lucca]

I don't find Asda cheap, despite all their claims. Don't like it much, anyway, so don't use it often - but last week they had 4 tins of tuna on offer at £5.79. I know tuna prices are higher than they used to be, but this is ridiculous! Found the same at 2 other places for much less.

[Andyvon]

Hi yelenots,

I usually shop at Tescos as it's most convenient for parking etc. I've always been in the habit of mentally adding up my purchases from when I was in a real financial mess many years ago! I always know what my bill will be at the checkout within a pound or so, and often exactly. I've always been surprised how often I'm overcharged at the checkout - and it's never in my favour! I've always estimated on an average trolley of £40 that I'm overcharged once every four visits by an average of £5. I've been overcharged between £5 - £10 on quite a few occasions, and just occasionally over £10.

The price differences come from those marked on the shelf being different to those at the checkout. When I query the bill the staff go and check the shelf price then come back and say it wasn't put on the computer correctly. I often find this with reductions and offers such as Buy One, Get One Free or Half Price, but the checkout charges full price for both items. Reduced clothes are another example where the checkout ignores the reduction and charges full price.

The number of times I see people in front of me never checking the amount at the checkout. They just wave a card, sign their name and wander off. So many must walk away never realising they have just paid much more for their shopping than they should have. I think supermarkets must make so much money that way.

Maybe next time you go to Asda yelenots, take a pencil and make a point of adding the shelf prices up so you have a good idea of the amount you should pay before you checkout. I think you'll be surprised.

[Andyvon]

Of course, people don't sign their name now, they just type in their PIN. It's getting late.........

[ELVIS68]

A few years ago £50 would fill a trolley, now it only fills a basket

[mike11111]

In my lifetime £50 was a month's salary, and a bloody good one at that!

[yelenots]

Andyvon - thanks for your answer! Everytime I go shopping I write a list and a menu of meals for a week, tick everything off as I go along - buy several things that arent on the list!! Usual spend around £70 but now its £90+ I've even done it online which is great coz you can see how much you spend-but then it comes and I've always forgotten something!!

[A.Guest]

Probably the b iggst price hikes are washing products, ie soap powders. Ridiculously expensive. Also treats can be costly too. For instance, Cadbury's Dairy Milk bars. 18 months ago at Asda there was a 250gram bar selling at £1.15 or two for £2.00. Then the manufacturers reduced the bar size to 230gram. Today the price is £1.95. Fiddle or what?

[Andyvon]

£50 to fill a basket Elvis? I suppose if you are shopping for a family yelenots then the bill might come to £90 or so. There's just the two of us and our weekly bill is about £40 for a trolley. It's never £50 unless we buy something extra like a pair of jeans or a shirt.

[sherrardk]

I buy roughly the same stuff every week and I thought that this week's shopping was really expensive and couldn't work out why. They must be sneaking the price of things up so they can have all the 'deals' to tempt you in in the first place.

[Andyvon]

I'm always tempted sherrardk. Quite a percentage of our total bill consists of special 'deals' I wouldn't have bought otherwise! I always think "That can go in the freezer". We've got two freezers and they're always full!