There has been much written about the ongoing, and growing, cost of living crisis. Of course, this refers to the fall in ‘real’ incomes that the UK (and much of the world) has experienced since late 2021. The crisis is expected to worsen when planned tax increases are brought in from April.

Although all of us will be out of pocket, the most vulnerable in society will (as ever) be the worse hit.

Recent figures have shown that some 4.7 million adults, or 8.8% of households, experienced food insecurity in the last month, an increase from 7.3% in July 2021. Of those, 1 million reported that they or someone in their household had to go a whole day without eating because they could not afford or access food. Energy bills will also be going up. Ofgem announced a 54% price hike in energy bills affecting 22 million households, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak being forced to announce an emergency £350 of support per household to help with the cost of heating. The Bank of England is expecting inflation to hit 7.25% in April… ouch.

Whilst this is worrying, there are some, small things we can all do to help, or to make savings. It’s really great to see that the supermarkets have made their own brand and cheaper ranges more widely available. This was due to the brilliant work of anti-poverty campaigner Jack Munroe. She shared evidence showing the price of the cheapest pasta in her local supermarket had surged by 141% in one year, while rice cost 344% more. Jack praised Asda in particular for cutting the cost of products in its Smartprice range and making sure they was plenty of them on the shelves. Well done Asda!!

The crisis has also given me yet another reason to work hard and I am determined to continue sourcing and providing quality goods at the best possible prices. I work with brands and suppliers all over the world to ensure that no unwanted stock goes to waste. This would be a total travesty, because not only does it often end up in landfill, which has huge environmental repercussions… but now more than ever we need to use whatever we can and get it to people that really need it.

I help get top, household name brands onto shelves in discount retailers for a fraction of the cost, products that would have basically been thrown away. If you want to find them for yourselves, head to the likes of Poundland, B&M, TK Maxx and Poundstretcher. It’s the same product and it costs SO much less. There’s no shame in hunting out a bargain!

Rather than selling the product I source, I regularly donate it to charity too, and this is something I will continue to do. I’ve donated to the likes of Centrepoint, Manchester Dogs Home, and FareShare and will continue to do this.