this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2025
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Used to buy the frozen large beer battered haddock from Aldi, it was £3.19, and then during the price gouging, it rose to £4.79... then they had the cheek to lower it 10p and put a big label on on it proclaiming the reduced price.
It's now back up to £4.79 and it's often missing from the freezers because I think people have stopped buying it... like we did.
Their nice sausages, used to be £1.79, now £2.59.
We used to spend around £200-220 a month on groceries for 2 people... Now we spend £300-320 a month whilst cutting back on a lot of the treaty stuff we used to buy. We've also switched where we can to local shops (butchers, bakers) for a few things which is more expensive, but the quality is 500% better.
We stopped shopping in the big supermarkets entirely because the grocery bill would be closer to £400 a month otherwise... So as much as I complain about price rises in Aldi/Lidl, they're still better than anywhere else.
Plus, if I want to go to a Tesco, it's a 15 mile round trip now, Morrisons at least a 30 mile round trip, M&S is a 50 mile round trip... we do at least have a B & M, Home Bargains, Lidl, Aldi, Farmfoods & Iceland within a few miles. Most of them less than a 3 mile round trip... The downsides to moving to a more rural location... But the upsides to being nearer to the sea and mountains are immeasurable... So I suck it up and grumble to myself about food prices, stick to the basics from the supermarkets and buy my treaty stuff from local stores... Nice dry cure bacon and the occasional bit of steak for example, sourdough loaves of bread.
If we want some nice fish and chips, there's a large number of local eateries that do great meals, all of the local chip shops are garbage, the only good one is a 30 mile round trip, same for a decent kebab shop... But almost all of the local cafes and pubs do excellent food at reasonable prices. So we treat ourselves more that way now. Moving here and going mortgage free has lead to a massive quality of life improvement as well as improving mental health and stress levels.