Customers will see a range of promotions like buy one, get one free
A price war has broken out between the UK's largest supermarkets with discount offers designed to win back cash-strapped consumers.
Asda and Tesco have cut the cost of many staple goods to persuade customers they provide the best value when shopping. Recent figures show consumers are increasingly turning to discount chains such as Aldi and Lidl for their weekly shop, in the wake of food price inflation and rising energy bills.
Asda says it is helping customers "fight back against inflation" with price cuts to certain staple items.This includes a basket of own-brand bread, eggs, butter and potatoes, reduced to 50p each. Asda said it would carry the cost of the discounts rather than passing it onto its suppliers.
Darren Blackhurst, Asda's food trading director, says: "We are investing in price cuts where they really count for our customers, on everyday staples such as bread, butter, eggs and fruit and veg.
"With our monthly income tracker showing the average family in the UK is £8 a week worse off now compared to this time last year, we're aiming to reverse that trend."
Tesco responded to the price cuts with a series of newspaper adverts for "inflation busting prices" on almost 40 branded products, including Pampers nappies and Anchor butter. A spokesman for Tesco said it had cut prices on 5000 items, and would be reducing the cost of 3000 more.
"Customers will see a range of promotions like buy one, get one free, as well as cuts of up to 50 per cent," he added.
Sainsbury's has reduced the cost of some food items, but is focusing its offers on kids' clothes and home and garden items.
Tenants spend less
New research shows the cost of renting a property is lower than buying a home. As the UK faces the threat of recession as inflation rages the prospect of interest rate cuts seems far off, but those renting have fewer outgoings.
Website MoneyExpert.com found an average tenant spends £133.90 per week on commodities and services, which range from food, clothing and transport to phone and energy bills.
But homeowners spend up to 62 per cent more on the same items, with average outgoings of £216.60 per person per week. When it comes to rent, tenants pay on average £9.40 a week per person, while homeowners' mortgage repayments hit £50.30 per person per week.
UK veggie shortage
British consumers have the lowest supply of fresh fruit and vegetables compared with other states in the European Union, a recent EU report shows.
The EU's statistics agency Eurostat points to considerable variations of different types of fresh fruit and vegetables that consumers could buy in different member states.
"Per capita availability of fruit and vegetables was highest in Greece and France and lowest in Lithuania and the UK," the report says, referring to product availability and "gross human apparent consumption".
Mobile rates too high
The European telecoms regulator European Competitive Telecommunications Association has urged the European Commission to force mobile networks to cut mobile termination rates, which it says are excessive, discriminatory and have wasted more than £80bn of consumers' cash over the past decade. Mobile termination rates are the charges mobile networks make for connecting calls to other networks.
Currently the average European Union mobile termination rate is 9 euro cents per minute, though this charge varies between networks.
Five-carat cherry on top
So what's for pudding? Gelato or rice pudding, perhaps? The price tags on these sweet treats will leave your appetite stone cold:
The Sultan's Golden Cake, as the name suggests, is an edible 24-carat gold brick, sprinkled with apricots. US$1000 served in an Istanbul palace.
Macarons Haute Couture are the most extravagant French sweets in the world, priced at US$7414. They are made to individual specifications.
Stilt Fisherman Indulgence is a sundae with a difference — there is an 80-carat gem on the side. US$14,500 at The Fortress in Sri Lanka. Strawberries Arnaud are six strawberries marinated in port and garnished with a five-carat pink diamond ring. US$1.4m at Arnaud's in New Orleans.
Where does your dosh go?
Cameron Pritchard
Job: Dancer
From: Melboune, Australia
Lives: Hackney
Age: 28
"My biggest expense is renting studio time — it costs an arm and a leg. It's OK when I'm working, but in between jobs it can be a bit of a burden.
But I love dancing — it's not like I want to do anything else. So I just find a way to pay the rent every week. Other than that, my money just goes on clothes and partying. I love hitting the town looking fabulous.
Sometimes I splash out on concert tickets or vintage disco albums, which I collect, but I try not to blow too much cash on stuff I don't need.
My partner and I have been saving for a deposit on a house, but I want to spend the money on a trip to Ibiza instead."
How do you manage your money? Share your tips (and weaknesses) by emailing realitycheck@tntmagazine.com
