Monday 20 January 2014

Frugal Bytes - Historic Shopping Prices

Clearing Clutter is so Time Consuming!

Following on from my previous post about list-making, I managed to tick off a few items from the list:
  • I made laundry liquid
  • I baked biscuits
  • I did the floor plan for the redesign of my kitchen space
  • I picked and pickled some beetroot
  • I began sorting out the next box of old paperwork
The trouble is, I need to read all the paperwork before I turn it into firelighters and this current box contains the receipts from my 2007 moneysaving challenge. Folder one turned out to be the year's grocery shopping receipts!
 
Now I don't know about you, but the changes in food prices over the years are something that greatly interest me, so I had to browse these receipts and find out which products were escalating in price, which were fairly constant and which, if any, had actually reduced.
 
Priority note - I bought cigarettes in 2007 and the cost, then, was £4.27 for 20 of the cheapest available. Not having bought any for some years, can anyone tell me how much 20 Richmond King Size now costs?
 
As you'll see by the receipts, I had the choice of two main stores - our local Co-op or the Somerfield store in town, which has, since, changed to Sainsbury's and had an Aldi store built next door to it. Still, it's a 20 mile round trip to Co-op and a 40+ mile round trip to town, so Co-op needs to suffice for most things.
 
The biggest price increases over the last 7 years, for me, have been in the following products:
  • Chicken (£2.98)
  • Bread (57p)
  • Biscuits (HobNobs 42p)
  • Firelighters (49p)
  • Cheese (£1.67)
  • Butter & margarine (99p for 2)
  • Baked beans (18p)
  • Sugar (76p)
  • Washing up liquid (14p)
  • Total for the above: £8.20
Based on current supermarket prices for the same items, the above items would now cost me £16.62 That is MORE THAN DOUBLE the price of 2007! Detergents seem to have escalated in price to beyond belief, while a decent, mature cheddar cheese is slowly creeping out of reach unless it's on offer.
 
You can see now why I now make all my own bread, biscuits, firelighters, laundry liquid and cleaning products! I do allow myself the luxury of washing-up liquid, but at FIVE TIMES the 2007 prices, it isn't used as liberally as it might otherwise have been, that's for sure!
 
NYK, Frugaldom

6 comments:

  1. I find grocery store prices to be fascinating too. I have been tracking my spending for over three years and occasionally look back to compare. ~ Pru

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    1. It is amazing how often the basic Frugaldom diet has had to adapt to fit the financial aspects of grocery shopping. Extra effort will be going into growing more veggies this year and some renewed enthusiasm for improving the microholding is needed here.

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  2. It is amazing how the prices have risen isn't it, yet I wonder if wages have done the same! How do you make your fire-lighters? We normally just screw up newspaper and add kindling

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    1. I usually wind up newspapers and add half a shop-bought firelighter when I have them, but a piece cut from a milk carton works well, as does a dry pine cone dripped with wax. I have saved all the candle ends from my candle heater experiment and am going to use that to make the next batch of firelighters from cardboard egg cartons, photos in blog post as soon as I get around to making them. :)

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  3. I was just doing the same, decluttering old paperwork and like you it took a while due to getting side tracked reading things!!! Glad its all sorted now though, another job over with.

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    Replies
    1. Well done! I wish I could say I've completed the job here but I have years' worth of stuff that's been carted from place to place, boxes unopened, since 2001 and what's inside them goes back much further. LOL It's a mammoth, on-going job. Old paperwork has already boiled countless kettles of water and I'm sure it will cook many more meals. :)

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