'Butter has gone up by 40%': readers on rising UK food prices

As inflation sticks at a five-year high of 3%, readers share their experiences of how they are coping with the squeeze

I shop at Lidl and Asda and consider myself a savvy shopper on a budget, as I'm on minimum wage. Butter has gone up by 40%, but is a little luxury I do not want to give up. Meat has increased so much that I rarely buy it and make do with very cheap chicken or pork shoulder - lamb and beef joints are out of the question, so I use minced beef and burgers from Lidl. I have entirely changed the way we eat - we have soup a lot for our main meal, for example - and make do with less, or change meals to use jars of ready-made pasta sauce for 52p and cheap spaghetti for 20p at the end of the month. On the plus side, nothing is wasted and we are very inventive, but I have the time and skills at this time of my life, but I worry about the younger people who are time and skill short. We spend a lot on existing, so there is nothing left for anything nice.
Yvonne Bidwell, care worker, Swindon

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