Shropshire and Mid Wales households are feeling increasing strain amid warnings from experts that prices of food, fuel and other basic necessities are soaring at alarming speeds.
Many families have already started to make cuts to their budgets, but with predictions of a recession just around the corner the situation looks likely to get even worse.
Unfortunately for consumers, salaries are just not keeping up.
This year has already proved tough, with the price of an average food basket, containing 24 basics like bread, apples, tea and pasta, going up by an average of 21 per cent since last year.
On average, this equates to a price hike of £1,092 per year - and that’s just on simple, own branded items, according to research by mySupermarket.co.uk.
Those sticking to strict spending limits are now having to be more careful about what they buy and take time out to look for special offers in a bid to keep up.
Experts say families and pensioners will be hardest hit by soaring prices.
According to research by Alliance Trust, pensioners, especially over 75s, allocate 16 per cent of their household budget to food compared to less than nine per cent for the under 30 households - so the food price rises over the last year will have the biggest impact on them.
The situation is intensified because of the pressure on family budgets due to other increases including the soaring price of fuel.
Despite reductions this week by some of the major supermarkets, the UK is now the most expensive place to buy petrol and diesel after an increase of 38 per cent in two years, according to uSwitch.com.
Then there is the added worry of running homes, with energy insiders predicting gas and electricity prices are to rise a further 40 per cent this year, bringing the average household energy bill up to a crippling £1,467, a total increase of 61 per cent in a year.
But it is food which has seen the fastest increases since the 1970s.
Shoppers out and about yesterday were certainly aware that the era of cheap food is coming to an end.
Michelle Cox, from Muxton, who was shopping for a family of five at Asda in Donnington Wood, said she had noticed her bills creep up over the last few months.
“I have been aware of my bills going up and of course we are all worried about the situation getting worse,” said Michelle.
“I have always been aware of the offers going on but I am probably more keen now to seek them out when I go shopping.”
A firm fan of Sainsbury’s, Hannah Mitchell, from Bridgnorth, said she was now trying Tesco occasionally and had also been to Aldi in recent weeks as part of a bid to cut back on spending.
Granted
“I suppose you just can’t take it for granted that the supermarket you have always used will be the cheaper one so now I am shopping around a bit more,” she added.
“I’m not sure yet I would do a complete swap but I am certainly weighing up the options because we all have to think a little more about what we spend at the moment.”
Prices are increasing sharply for some of the most basic foodstuffs for a number of reasons.
The price of wheat doubled in a year, while other staples such as corn and soya are trading at well above their 1990s average prices.
The sharp increases seen this year could be due to the breakdown of the “Goldilocks era” for global commodities - a period stretching back more than 30 years, during
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