Aldi shopper shocked by food bill asks ‘how are people surviving?’

Supermarkets have hiked price tags across the board in the UK after inflation in 2022 saw food prices rise by more than 10 percent.

Even budget retailers like Aldi have been forced to do the same, as one woman recently discovered.

Leah Nicole, 32, who makes content on her TikTok account @whodareswins_ was horrified at the total she had to pay for just a few essentials at the store, claiming that “something has to change”.

In the caption of a recent video posted on her profile, she wrote: “This cost of living and prices going up is mad. I need to try and make some cuts somewhere”.

The concerned mother explained that she had only purchased a few items from Aldi to feed her family, but managed to rack up a total spend of £78.

Leah proclaimed: “£78 I’ve just spent in Aldi, on basically naff all”. As well as vocalising her frustrations over the cost of food shopping in the UK, the TikTok creator posed an important question to her followers.

In the caption of her video, which many social media users related to, she wrote: “I can’t keep spending this much, how are we surviving?!”

For the sum of almost £80, the angered Aldi shopper revealed that all she had got was ingredients for a roast dinner and packed lunch items for her children, that would last “two, maybe three days”.

She added that fabric conditioner, milk, and a bottle of Pepsi Max were also in her basket, but she had “stuck to exactly what I [she] needed”.

Speaking to The Mirror, Leah said that she was “taken aback” when she was told how much her shop would cost, adding that the steep price tag prompted her TikTok “rant”.

But the budget-conscious Briton has forced some good come out of the incident after she created a series of low-cost food meal plan videos to help others who had suffered the same shock at the cost of living crisis.

Despite beating rival Lidl in the Which? cheapest supermarket of 2023, Aldi has become a second option for many shoppers now due to food prices, Leah included.

She explained: “I’ve shopped in Aldi for years, it has always been my go-to for a big full shop. I noticed things doubled in price since the cost of living if not tripled. I used to be able to get a big full trolley-worth for around £100 and that lasted ages. I’d barely get a week’s worth for that now.”

Some people in the comments of her video agreed that they’d had to shop elsewhere to help them stay on track with budgeting.

One TikTok user wrote: “I very rarely go into Aldi anymore as I feel it’s the supermarket that has increased its prices the most! M&S/Sainsburys is the way forward for me.”

But some loyal Aldi shoppers defended the retailer, with one noting: “I must be doing something different, I get five meals for a week, all the ingredients, stuff for packed lunches etc for 50-60 quid.”