Phil & Vikki Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 We have not read all the replies, but thought we would add our ideas to the pot. We were initially worried about the food bill before we moved out here, but when we got here we found out that it was not that bad. We usually are able to get our weekly food bill down by a third on the amount you originally quoted. If you are willing to shop at local markets and shops like aldi, the food bill can be managed. That is for the four of us. We only shop at places like woolies and coles when they have the specials on. We have found that making soup is good around this time of year. It is healthy, good and filling and the best thing is that it is nice and warm, something we have found that we need in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bazinga Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I get my meat from a butcher who does bulk packs, my father in law catches fish, all fruit and veg from the market and anything else from costco or aldi. Also live near a great bakery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil & Vikki Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Oh yes forgot to mention that Costco appears to be really good out here too. We used to go to the one in the UK quite a bit, but have not been to the one here yet. Everyone we speak to though says it is really good and when we get a car that will be one of the first places we visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 As Bill Bryson noted in Notes from a Small Island, poms are addicted to supermarkets, even more so than the spams who invented them. Supermarkets are expensive, and the food is poor compared to markets. If you can't be bothered shopping outside s'markets in Oz then be prepared for the high prices and poor choice/quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 As Bill Bryson noted in Notes from a Small Island, poms are addicted to supermarkets, even more so than the spams who invented them. Supermarkets are expensive, and the food is poor compared to markets. If you can't be bothered shopping outside s'markets in Oz then be prepared for the high prices and poor choice/quality. did the poms invent supermarkets ptp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frostie Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 We are a family of 5 in Sydney, 3 kids 10, 8 and 3... We average $200 a week at the moment but only spent approx £120 a week in the uk. Our kids eat plenty of fresh meat and fruit on that along with packed lunches for school plus husbands packed lunches. We budgeted for $1000 a month and do far have come in under that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 (edited) Interesting. If you compare all the posts where people provided a UK and OZ figure and convert at the costs of living average salary rate of 2.2 OZ comes out cheaper in almost all of them. That's a surprise. I would have expected them to be about equal given the comparison shops people have posted. We use 2.2 to compare because that is the average difference in wages. This gives a more accurate guess as to the percentage of your wage you spend on food in each country. This gives a more accurate idea in cost of living comparisons as the exchange rate is meaningless when comparing cost of living when earning local currencies. Note: I had to guess what some people meant so have noted it next to their figures. We used to spend around £150/£200 p/w in Uk.....Now spend around $400 p/w in WA Im told if you really shop around, you can get much better deals, but in the Uk I only really shopped at Tesco or Sainsburys & here I only shop at Coles UK £150-£200 = $330-$440 versus OZ $400 UK cheaper or OZ cheaper - depends on upper or lower figure In Sydney we used to spend about $100 each week at the supermarket for 2 of us. Over here in the UK we average about £80 with a baby who's food is £25. so not too much difference. You can go onto the Coles or woolworths site and do a pretend shop I think. I know others on her have UK £55 = $121 versus OZ $100 Note: £55 is £80 - £25 to remove cost of new baby. OZ cheaper Thanks for the responses. I went onto coles and was around $300 AUD. Which is about double what i spend, but my job will pay 2 1/2 times what im earning here. So in a way its cheaper. Note: Richard said costing him double so that is below the 2.2 rate. Oz cheaper We spend about $250-$280 a week on groceries now and spent about £120-£150 a week in the UK. There are 5 of us. £120-£150 = $264-$330 versus OZ $250-$280 Oz cheaper For 2 of us we used to spend about $150 a week in tescos or asda and that included a bottle or two of wine and some beer, the only extra was everynow and again we would stock up on nice sausages (god i miss good sausages) from a farm butcher. Here we never spend less than $200 a week, thats with no booze, no meat other than the odd chicken, no fish, meat bought in bulk from a farmers market and fish stocked up from IGA every couple of months. We do eat fresh but I'd also say we buy a lot less of random things here because they're not available or not good so I'd say overall spending more on less, we do waste less here though £100 ($150/1.5) = $220 versus $200 Note:RoseBrown gave their UK figures in dollars so assume they used the exchange rate to convert so converted back into pounds at 1.5 before multiplying by 2.2. Oz cheaper We are a family of 5 in Sydney, 3 kids 10, 8 and 3... We average $200 a week at the moment but only spent approx £120 a week in the uk. Our kids eat plenty of fresh meat and fruit on that along with packed lunches for school plus husbands packed lunches. We budgeted for $1000 a month and do far have come in under that.... £120 = $264 versus $200 Oz cheaper Edited June 12, 2012 by fish.01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I'm proud of yer fish, I couldn't have put it better myself, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fish.01 Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I'm proud of yer fish, I couldn't have put it better myself, lol lol, it does seem to suggest that "if" you achieve the 2.2 difference in wages (eg £40,000 pounds -> $88,000) then food should work out similar if not cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tandcmum Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 i would say we are spending about $250 - $300 per week on food, we try and go to the local meat/veg market type thing and buy stuff in bulk once a fortnight, then just get everything else from woolies, or coles or wherever seems to have the most offers on what type of things we need. We have found we eat slightly different here though and dont eat anywhere near hte amount of processed food we did in the UK. Overall though it doesn#t seem anymore expensive overall, some things cost more, some are less, toilet rolls seem to last longer here for some reason....lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartertucker Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 toilet rolls seem to last longer here for some reason....lol. :eek::twitcy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laguna Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 But in Oz you always have to try and buy things on offer whereas in UK you didn't have to worry about it so much. And most people's wage is not 2.2 more. My husband's wage is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartertucker Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Same here Laguna... :dull: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 We don't buy things 'on offer', but then we don't buy the second rate 'food' on offer at supermarkets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laguna Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 ????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartertucker Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I buy things on offer if I see them, even if not needed at the time.....Although we now have 3 HUGE bottles of washing machine liquid, which STILL appears to be on offer :laugh: Sometimes the 'offers' here arent all they appear!! Used to love the Tescos buy 1 get 2 free :swoon: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 But in Oz you always have to try and buy things on offer whereas in UK you didn't have to worry about it so much. And most people's wage is not 2.2 more. My husband's wage is not. If you look at the skills list for migrants, you will see that the 2.2 to £1 rate is about right, most on PIO are skilled migrants, everyone knows that theres people working for less in Australia, but that is exactly the same as people living and working in the uk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laguna Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 My husband is a skilled migrant and he is not earning the 2.2 rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 My husband is a skilled migrant and he is not earning the 2.2 rate. nor me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I buy things on offer if I see them, even if not needed at the time.....Although we now have 3 HUGE bottles of washing machine liquid, which STILL appears to be on offer :laugh: Sometimes the 'offers' here arent all they appear!! Used to love the Tescos buy 1 get 2 free :swoon: you mustnt besmirch this forum by mentioning the 'T' word Kelly! Didn't you know? Pommy style supermarkets are the work of satan! You must have a worthy shopping experience visiting multiple shops and causing maximum environmental damage rather than getting EVERYTHING at the same shop! MADNESS!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cartertucker Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 you mustnt besmirch this forum by mentioning the 'T' word Kelly!Didn't you know? Pommy style supermarkets are the work of satan! You must have a worthy shopping experience visiting multiple shops and causing maximum environmental damage rather than getting EVERYTHING at the same shop! MADNESS!! Love it ^^:notworthy: :wink: Must be honest, did always prefer Sainsburys anyway!!! :biglaugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpodom Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Love it ^^:notworthy::wink: Must be honest, did always prefer Sainsburys anyway!!! :biglaugh: me too....although Waitrose was my absolute favourite. Fancy liking pre prepared food?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ptp113 Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Pre-prepared is good for lazy people, and there isn't a lot of pre-prepared organic food anywhere. Apart from that you can get anything food wise a supercrap has at a. Good darmers market, and at lower prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy Robinson Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 We don't buy things 'on offer', but then we don't buy the second rate 'food' on offer at supermarkets. Well good for you then, Must be nice to be able to afford it! Unfortunately for people like 'me' with 4 children, one of which is a nappy wearing, formula drinking baby and 2 kids that have hollow legs and could easily eat enough food to feed a small country, then I will gladly buy what's on special and shock horror "second rate food". My kids eat a healthy diet, which includes lots of fresh fruit and veg and meat most meals, So if I find lamb, mince, chicken and the like on offer then of course I'm going to stock up, foolish not to IMO. Same for cleaning and washing products, If they are on offer then I will buy. As far as I'm concerned you can never have enough loo rolls,soap powder and dishtablets. These are things I use regularly and stock up on when on special, again stupid not to IMO. Just out of interest, what is your perception of "second rate food". Also the people that keep quoting $2.2 to the pound, Not everyone one here is lucky enough to be earning that exchange rate. I know of at least 3 people on the same or slightly less than they were on in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest janeubu Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 If you look at the skills list for migrants, you will see that the 2.2 to £1 rate is about right, most on PIO are skilled migrants, everyone knows that theres people working for less in Australia, but that is exactly the same as people living and working in the uk. hi hoff remind me are you living in oz or have you ever lived in oz ?i live in wa and can asure you that food is very expensive and you have to always buy promo offers to get by unless of course you are working in the mines. my oh is a carpenter here and believe me the wage is crap compared to the cost of living ,certainly does not work out to the figures you have stated:huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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