My life

Cost of living

How much does it cost to live in the UK at the moment.  Unemployment is at a high so purse strings have been tightened and budget shopping is more popular.  I can imagine the cost of living in the UK has actually gone down, not because food and every day essentials have got generally cheaper but because people are shopping around.  Now is the era of the discount shop, and the after best before dated foods.

Home bargains and B&M have sprung up everywhere selling things cheaper than the supermarkets.  Somebody needs to, I think things sold in supermarkets are overprices.  They are always sticking the idea of them cutting costs to help you out on adverts and then post billions of pounds profits a year.  A quick search in financial news shows how much the make, the 52 weeks to February 2010, Tescos made £54b and unbelievable amount of money at a time when everyone is struggling.  Out of the big 3 supermarkets Tescos is my least favourite with their adverts about how the average basket at Tescos is cheaper than Asda.  I have done weekly shops at both supermarket and I have always been more impressed by the prices at Asda, it is just a shame there is not one near me.

The important thing at the moment is to get your finances sorted out, know how much money you have and how much you can afford to spend.  If you are not every good at them then get a independent financial advisor to help you.  Also shop around, don’t just rely on expensive supermarkets.  When I go shopping, I have a route that takes me to Home Bargains, Alidi, Lidl and Netto before I get to the supermarket so I can get as much as possible cheaper.  When you do get to the supermarket try to get as much as possible from the central isle where all the offers are.  I am very careful at the moment to make sure I don’t go over my over draft limit on my current account, as the charges the banking world charge can be horrific.