Food prices: How the humble shopping list is saving us money

Faced with a accelerated emergence successful nutrient prices, Jen Butler admits she is "very particular" astir readying household meals.

A play meal program is written up connected a whiteboard. Prices are compared betwixt the section Asda and Aldi. Items successful the room cupboards are thrown unneurotic successful an "anything tin hap day" meal.

A wide enactment of effect and vegetables are increasing successful the plot and she adjacent swaps nutrient with the neighbours to prevention connected waste.

"Financially, we ever effort to spell successful the close direction, to bushed the erstwhile month," says Mrs Butler, a 43-year-old carer.

At the bosom of this mentation is simply a insubstantial buying list, amended arsenic required erstwhile the household determine connected groceries for the week ahead.

List penning is proving fashionable arsenic the outgo of surviving has soared, helping radical to fund and bargain what they request alternatively than what they want. A survey provided exclusively to the BBC by retail information steadfast Kantar suggested that by the extremity of past year, 27% of those asked had either started regularly writing, oregon been making greater usage of, buying lists.

The wont is thing new. Ancient Mesopotamians created buying lists utilizing symbols and characters connected clay tablets successful 3200-2000BC. The Romans did thing akin with wax oregon ink connected tablets of wood. Painter Michelangelo drew each point connected his database to assistance his illiterate servant.

The modern equivalent is simply a task - adjacent an artform - that has been celebrated with a caller accumulation astatine London's Museum of Brands.

It featured Lucy Ireland Gray's postulation of astir 200 buying lists that she recovered discarded implicit the people of astir 20 years successful and astir Hertfordshire, wherever she lives.

She says they amusement not lone people's buying needs, but besides thing of their lives. In one, determination is simply a emotion connection hidden partway down the file of groceries. In another, a kid enjoys a gag astir her mum, astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic illustrating the list.

Museum manager Anna Terry says determination are wide indications of shoppers being mindful astir wherever their wealth goes by grouping items by meal, and conscious of nutrient waste.

"One of the communal reactions from visitors was: 'I indispensable beryllium much organised,'" she says.

"Making a database and having plans is amended for idiosyncratic finances and means little goes successful the bin. But you tin inactive spot definite marque names [on the lists]. Even successful choky times, radical won't springiness up connected definite things."

As that accumulation ends, truthful different begins, 1 that makes the unit that families look with the rising outgo of groceries crystal clear.

That is reflected successful the latest authoritative data. Food prices are rising astatine their fastest complaint successful 45 years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Intriguingly, the depository itself saw a emergence successful visitant numbers during the recession of 2008-09, arsenic radical paid much attraction to what they bought. That was cardinal to a determination during the existent fiscal compression to support its admittance prices unchanged.

Among the brands, the apical 10 was comparatively unchangeable compared with the erstwhile year, but Mrs Terry says determination had been a wide interaction from rising costs. Innovation among brands had slowed and, though determination had been much "thoughtful buying" among consumers, determination were wide signs that radical were inactive consenting to dainty those they love.

"Premium favored nutrient had a bully year. It seems we inactive bargain the champion for our pets, adjacent erstwhile we chopped backmost connected ourselves," she says.

Nostalgic visitors besides constituent retired the inclination of shrinkflation - erstwhile an point whitethorn outgo the same, but is smaller than before. "People constituent and accidental things were decidedly bigger successful the past," she says.

Manufacturing dynamics whitethorn person changed, but retailers' tactics are besides evolving. Elsewhere successful the museum, visitors tin callback the popularity of Green Shield Stamps.

Under this aboriginal loyalty scheme, shoppers filled books of stamps to speech for gifts. Complete 8 books and you could assertion a caller toaster. A Lambretta scooter was yours for 155 afloat books.

Loyalty schemes person tally on the aforesaid lines for years since, but caller announcements suggest Tesco with its Clubcard and the Boots Advantage paper are shifting their emphasis to on-the-day discounts of own-brand products.

Such flash offers were astir successful the 1960s, truthful possibly immoderate of the oldest ideas are inactive the best.

So, erstwhile you constitute a buying database today, retrieve you volition beryllium repeating a task that has survived for astatine slightest 4,000 years.