Financial investment

[jansman]

Financial investment. What has that got to do with food storage ?

Well today I started ramping up my storage foods, as redundancy will rear it's ugly head again within the year. While there is money spare ( and to save it being frittered away)
, I have decided to use ten quid a week to bulk out the stores. This will include toiletries etc. also. I kicked off with £20 today.

I called at Tesco first, as it was easiest. On my list was tinned new potatoes. Now last time I got those there, they were 15 pence a go. Now 20 pence. Not a lot. However, that is a 30+% increase. Sugar was 79 pence a kilo. I use it mainly for my homebrew. I decided to buy neither. So I went to Aldi.

There I found the spuds to be 15p. The sugar 49p. The sugar some 40% cheaper than Tesco. So where is this going?

Well whilst pickling some eggs this afternoon, I was listening to 'Moneybox' on R 4. It was on about returns on savings and investments. To be fair, the money investment market is a dire place to put moneys at the moment, and it struck me that my twenty quid( and ,boy I got some swag) was better invested in stuff we will use anyway, than in the bank or whatever. I certainly would not get 30% in a bank!

I am not suggesting that you should not save cash for a rainy day, but foodstuffs with an expiry date of 2018 is not a bad return IMO. Your thoughts please?

[Decaff]

Totally agree with you Jansman, not just food but everything is getting so expensive. I bought over 500 dishwasher tablets a couple of years ago for a bargain price and to get the same amount now would cost a tech of a lot more, from the same supplier!!

Tinned tomatoes used to be really cheap but now they are extortionate prices, I know you can get the really cheap ones but they are full of skin and stalk end bits and I've even found rotten bits in them. I'm noticing the monthly shopping bill creeping up month by month when buying the same stuff to the extent that I find myself not buying things to keep in budget.

[Briggs 2.0]

I totally agree. We have been 'investing' in food stores, making the most of the supermarket price wars to stock up on rice, pasta and tinned goods.

[jansman]

So not just me then? I just figured that if we have to buy this stuff later up the line, we will pay more. And at a time when we may not be so flush with cash. I noticed rice was dearer too ( compared to when I bought it last ), and that price difference is huge. 30 pence in the pound is a lot.

I have been poor, well off, damn rich, and not so well off in my life. But one thing that makes me, and my Wife, feel good is a full fridge and groaning shelves.

[Brambles]

Couldn't agree more J. I've always considered my store cupboard part of my investment portfolio When you have lived from hand to mouth, having food in the cupboard is a top priority.
Just one of the advantages of living in a town, albeit right on the outskirts, is the flexibility to shop wherever and whenever I wish. Now more than ever I often visit several shops to compare prices before handing over any cash. I haven't shopped in one shop since I moved out of the middle of nowhere to where I am now a couple of years ago and I defo wouldn't consider doing so now.
I also buy in bulk from work when things are on offer.

[jansman]

Interesting you say thatBrambles. I am 8 miles from nearest supermarket(s). Price comparison is a big plus.

[izzy_mack]

Couldn't agree more, supplies to me are the best investment. The prices go up at a greater rate than any bank would give and you couldn't eat gold or shares if you couldn't get to a shop.

The savings I make buying in bulk ahead of needing stuff, especially after careful shopping, which we all seem to be doing, is how I sell the idea of why there are boxes of food and stuff under their beds, on the landing etc...to my family. and I do definitely save. The tuna in store at the moment would cost me £11.50 more than i paid and the honey about £5 more that's only two items! My main bulk buying at the moment is sugar, I have plenty but have just found CANE sugar in poundstrechers for49p, same as I was paying for beetsugar in lidl. Hasn't been that price for a long time and it's almost jam season.

Having siad that I also agree with Jansman that it is also important to keep at least a little money back for an unexpected event, I like to have at least a months worth of billpaying and general expenses in hand.

[Arzosah]

Another one agreeing: but being without a car, and only having one supermarket in my town, I'm stuck for a big shop unless I order a delivery, which often has to be fairly big to take advantage of good prices. Deliveries can work well tho: as I work from home, I can get them at the unpopular times, so they're only £1, and the time it would take me to go to the supermarket, buy all that stuff and cart it home again is much, much more costly. I also shop according to whatever shop's got offers on, not just the standard prices - if somebody's doing a £10 off offer, then that makes a big difference to the unit cost.

What I *do* notice, as well, is that the prices of the basics range - Basics in Sainsbo, SmartPrice in Asda, etc - can go up massively in one jump - 500g cornflakes went from 31p to 39p in Sainsbo, for instance.

Plus I stock up in summer, so I don't have to handle goods/go in shops quite so much when the flu virus is about

[Brambles]

I have the same problem Arzosah. I don't drive and generally walk everywhere. I may be cash poor, but I'm time rich and I'm quite happy to walk here and there to save money. I have 2 supermarkets and Lidl in walking distance and another supermarket and Aldi a bus ride away.

[Bad Wombat]

On the other hand - Food Inflation in the United Kingdom averaged 2.87% from 1989 until 2015. In comparison, from Jan 1989 to Jan 2015 the FTSE100 has increased 266%. This excludes dividend returns which is currently an additional 3.49% per year.