Friday, 25 July 2025

'New to Me' Blogs ... and Price Increases


I was looking through the sidebars on all my blogs yesterday, both this current one and my old ones ... Our New Life in the Country, A Smaller and Simpler Life, Challenging Myself and My £2 a Day Food Shopping blog, (which was the most recent challenge I think and the shortest lived blog).  

The reason for my searching was to try and find 'new to me' blogs to read or ones that I had previously read regularly but then stopped. Instead I found that I have been quite loyal to the same list of blogs over the years and they nearly all appear over and over again on all of my own blogs.


Then somehow I ended up falling down a rabbit hole on my Challenging Myself blog and read the whole of a challenge I did in 2021.  The £3 a Day Challenge.

 I went out three times a day and spent £1 for each meal.  The prices were an eye-opener, in fact I really doubt I could do the same again.  Of course I lived directly across the road from Sainsbury's when I did this challenge, so nipping over three times a day on foot was not a problem.

While I was very tempted to do this again, I don't live as close to the store now and it would mean getting the car out three times a day.  So I decided a quick online comparison would suffice. 😀


This was my Day One shopping basket, a total spend of 78p.

Pitta breads - 35p, onion - 15p, and tinned tomatoes - 28p.

Todays prices in the same store are -  pitta breads 50p, onion 11p, tomatoes 45p.  This can't be a perfect comparison as the onion was weighed out and the current shopping basket could be showing a lighter one.  But even so at todays prices the same three items would now cost me £1.06, a whole 28p more.

Now this doesn't sound a lot, but if you're living on a tight budget and this was the rise in price for just for one meal, it's a pretty big increase when wages and benefits here in the UK have not risen at anything like this rate.

And I'm still looking for 'new to me' blogs to read, challenge ones if possible ... any ideas?


Sue xx


14 comments:

  1. I enjoy the Old Style Money Saving posts on the Money Saving Expert Forum, especially Fashion on the Ration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've never really got on with the MSE forums, but I know a lot of people that love them.

      Delete
  2. Prices have gone up here, too, and they will probably increase even more when more tariffs go into effect on August 1.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And August is almost upon us isn't it, July went by in a flash!!

      Delete
  3. I like when I find new blogs through others like yourself. I left it too late to have a blog I think and just use FB instead. Catriona

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's never too late to start a blog, just click on the Blogger button or find Blogger via Google. You would get a lot of support from the blogs that you regularly comment on. :-)

      Delete
  4. It's almost a third more, and when you look at it in percentage, its an huge increase.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really is isn't it. The people that can least afford to pay more are having to, thanks to the most basic of foodstuffs shooting up in price.

      Delete
  5. I think you already do this, but I have found some lovely blogs by reading the comments left on ones I already subscribe to and clicking through on those comments which interest me. If someone has left an articulate & interesting comment on a blog then my logic says if they have one of their own it is worth a look.

    As for food prices, like you I keep spreadsheets of all our expenditure and the price increases since March 2020 are horrendous. I agree with Marlene - reckon we are spending 25%-30% more on food than five years ago and we are not eating particularly differently (other than much less meat).

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm doing our food shopping online at the moment as we are now almost 10 miles from supermarkets.
    I think we eat fairly simply but find it shocking seeing the cost of basics in black and white.
    Alison in Devon x

    ReplyDelete
  7. It is truly shocking how the simplest of foods have gone up in price. There doesn't seem to be an end to the rises either,
    Angie

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like this blog. Toni has a lot of interesting info.

    https://simplefrugallife.org/

    Have a nice weekend. It feels like 104F outside Philadelphia today. UGH!
    Bun

    ReplyDelete
  9. Many of the blogs I began reading as I started mine in 09 have stopped entirely, sometimes moving to other platforms or ceasing entirely. Most of the "frugal" blogs I read came from the UK and I am on fixed income and living in US, so I am glad you are still here and thank you, Sue. My thanks also to Bun above for the link. It is 93 here today.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The prices have skyrocketed just about everywhere including here in Montreal, Canada. You have a nice blog, thank you so much for sharing.

    ReplyDelete

Anyone may leave a comment, but please keep it nice and keep it friendly ... or you will be deleted. I have no time whatsoever for nastiness or trolls, but differing opinions are usually welcome.

If you find you have to comment Anonymously for technical reasons please always leave your first name at the end of your comments. I'm sorry but comments with no name will be deleted.