Food shopping

[MACDONALDO67]

I've not been to Oz or appear to be going there anytime soon in the immediate future so my knowledge of shopping there, apart from Coles and Woolworths, is non existant. However, reading threads and comments by others that have been there, or are there now, does send me a signal that we have far more choice here in the UK.

 

I get so many good deals here in the UK on beer and wine that when I compare the price to that in Oz I think "My god the price of that".

 

Is that a trap that people fall into when they get to Australia in comparison to wages? Comparing the price of an item to what you would pick it up for in the UK?

 

 

When I go to Spain each year I can't help myself comparing and converting prices to see if it is cheaper or dearer and I wonder if people that go to Oz get wrapped up in this to a point comparing becomes an obsession. Not a good start for new migrants if a downside is painted.

 

I know I would fall into this category but may be able to off set that comparison on the wages earned.

[Guest]

I've split this out from the thread it was originally posted in as I thought it was worthy of its own thread

 

Lets not make it an Aus v UK debate over which place is cheaper (or more expensive) if we can help it. The OP has asked some questions that some might be able to share experiences on.

[Guest]

It is an easy trap to fall in to on holiday. Compare prices or convert back to £££ or $$$ depending on where you are holidaying from.

 

I find once I am living somewhere I make a far more conscious effort to not keep converting as it really doesn't help any. And it can serve to keep you hankering for what you left behind or add to the homesickness feeling that may rear its ugly head. So I do my best to work in the local currency and learn to live within my means, though sometimes I can overspend or buy something not realising I could have bought it cheaper elsewhere. Its a learning curve in the first few months in a new country while you find the best places to shop for you, where sells stuff you use or have need of and so on. Usually once I've been somewhere a few months I have it sorted and my food bill comes down in price as do other areas of shopping.

[starlight7]

Guess its the old, old story " when in Rome, do as the Romans do"

[PontePom]

It takes time to find where to buy what

 

I'm used to most now and buy when its on offer

For example special k normally over $7 a packet when on offer $5 and are on offer regularly

So if I run out I buy 1 box and wait til on offer again

 

This is the same with so many items now

 

It can save you a fortune and having a freezer does help for bread ice creams on offer etc

 

I shop differently here to when I was in UK but It saves you money so it's gotta be done

[Alaska]

I think it is a trap that people fall into and people compare the price to £ and aren't happy. It takes a while to get out of that mindset and to think in dollars.

I also think it's easier to notice the expensive stuff rather than the stuff that's cheaper (like pasta).

 

I think that once you know how to shop in Australia then things become a lot more manageable. The whole "one stop shop" like Tescos in the UK doesn't tend to be the best way to shop here if you want to keep your bills down.

 

I think it's natural for us to want to get the best deal when we are shopping so we compare with what we are used to. I still can't buy a ball of mozerella here because I paid 40p for a ball in the UK and the cheapest I've seen here is $6. My brain just won't let me do it.

[PositivePixie]

does send me a signal that we have far more choice here in the UK.

 

 

We were walking around Coles the other day, and they had loads and loads of products with 'NEW!' emblazoned on them, and I mentioned to hubby that Coles really is just Tesco with a different logo now - all the products seemed to be things that we were used to in the UK, but hadn't seen out here regularly (if at all) before - eg streaky bacon (on the shelf with the other prepackaged bacon for those interested), and proper pancetta cubes (not fake bacon pieces from the deil), and I wouldn't be at all surprised if Coles own brand herbs and spices are from the same place as Tesco, just with Coles on instead of Tesco . We were wondering if they had got someone up high in product procurement that used to work for Tesco or something, as its just looking more and more like little Tesco (or not so little).

 

So that's changing recently

 

Don't know if this was what you meant or not about that

 

With regards to comparing to the UK, I think that depends on the person. I generally don't, but then I know I will never ever ever go back to the UK unless it is for a (short) holiday, I am 100% on that, so the £ means very little, if anything, to me now. Sometimes, if its a product I might not buy often, or if its something I might be able to very easily get from the UK and posted over to me I might compare prices, but then have to convert the $ back into £, and also factor in the wage I would be in if I was in the same job as I was in the UK (which is a lot higher for me as a teacher) - (I'm not working in the same job out of choice at the moment). Generally its not very different, but that might be to do with the things we buy - we generally don't buy booze at all (I think 6 bottles of beer have lasted us 3 months now), which I do think is expensive out here, but as I didn't buy it in the UK either, I have no idea how much it is there. But at the end of the day, you don't need booze, so even if it were 3 billion times more expensive out here, it wouldn't really bother me at all tbh - as long as I can get the basics that I need (fresh fruit and veg, grains and meat) at a price I can afford to pay, I'm a happy camper.

 

I have recently been looking at some clothes (specific reasons for this and the comparing) and comparing it to UK prices, and initially I think 'oh, clothes are so expensive here' but then I convert it into £ rather than just looking at the initial $ figure, and realise actually its not that bad, depending on your pov I guess (anything is expensive, Oz or UK up against Primark LOL).

 

If you want to be happy in Oz with Oz prices, then you will be. If you want to find fault, you will - imho, its all down to your outlook on moving here in the first place, and taking it all as a big package not thinking 'the sun is great, the price of booze bad' and having a little internal checklist. Life is for living, not comparing if the grass is constantly greener!

[ali]

Honestly, the best thing to do when living here is to think in $ .. you're earning $ and you spend $,

[Guest Ptp113]

Poms are addicted to supermarkets. In Oz they are crap and expensive but food is generally better here. Obviously you need to buy elsewhere

[NicF]

I've never really compared prices here to prices in the UK but that's because I never used to pay much attention to what things cost in the UK. Fortunately our disposable income was such that it didn't matter. Our disposable income here is such that it does matter now and I do pay attention to prices so that I can compare prices in different stores and buy things when I find them cheap or on offer.

 

When we first got here I did sometimes convert what we were spending in dollars to pounds - not to compare with the cost in the UK but to give the prices more meaning for me if that makes sense. When you first get here you don't really have much of a sense of how far your dollar can go or what your earnings are compared to what you are spending so a bit of converting back to punds gives you a sense of the value of the money you are spending. You soon get used to using dollars though and start to forget what it means to spend pounds. I've been here less than four months and I've converted to dollars completely now.

[PositivePixie]

 

When we first got here I did sometimes convert what we were spending in dollars to pounds - not to compare with the cost in the UK but to give the prices more meaning for me if that makes sense.

 

Thats exactly what I was thinking, but unable to get out of my brain lol

[NicF]

Oh, and as an added point, you can buy alcohol here cheap if you are not too fussy about what you drink. We bought a nice late harvest riesling for $5.49 on Friday, and if we had bought 6 bottles each bottle would have cost us just $3.99. They had a chardonney, a rose and a red in the same range. Other wines can also be bought for less than $10 a bottle either as the standard price or when on offer.

[Johndoe]

I'm actually buying my meat cheaper here than when I was in the UK all those years ago. If I was shopping for meat in Coles or Wollies, I wouldn't be. We lived off cheap cuts back then..............belly pork and the like and even bulked our beef curries out with soya cubes. We were double (lowish) income/two kids/high mortgage (relatively speaking) and so I've always shopped wisely. The night before we left, we treated ourselves to two rump steaks (I remember it well). They cost us 8 quid! Now, all these years later, I'm getting my beef cheaper now than I was back then....................we're great meat eaters now but I do still miss my shopping for asian stuff.................used to have a trip out to Preston to stock up, but they're very thin on the ground here.

 

Alcohol is, and always has been a shock for us, except for wine. We drink chateaux de cardboard box and buy 8 5litre boxes at time when it is on special at 9.99.................beer is a luxury as I drink Coopers sparkling ale (5.8%) at $59 a slab!

 

I also used to make all my own chutneys and pickles back then but my first attempt here had them exploding all over the ceiling as they fermented.............too much sugar and too much Qld heat I think.

 

I never shopped at Aldi in the Uk but I do now as their pork snags are great if cooked slowly............they burn quiick on a high light which indicates to me that they're less fatty than they are in the UK.

 

As for not converting...............old dogs 'n all that but I'm sorry to say, I still do..................stuff seems even more expensive here as I only remember 1995 uk prices :goofy:

 

On my last (and first) trip back 4 yrs ago, I loved shopping in Booths...........thought it was quality food at reasonable prices...............we were in a campervan and shopped wherever we layed our hat, but I honestly felt like staying in Keswick for a whole week due to them having a Booths.

[jhampa]

90c a kilo watermelon from coles YAY !!!! prices change daily im finding,,,,,,

so far our wages are more than adequate for our modest simple lives WE LOVE AUSTRALIA

[calNgary]

I dont think comparing is a 'trap' as such, i actually think its a normal part of life to compare to what you know when you are somewhere new. I remember my weekly shop taking hours when i first arrived as i compared everything to uk pounds,,lol,,

 

Cal x

[PontePom]

90c a kilo watermelon from coles YAY !!!! prices change daily im finding,,,,,,

so far our wages are more than adequate for our modest simple lives WE LOVE AUSTRALIA

Wait til you're pay 90c for a whole watermelon at the fruit barns

[starlight7]

Most people round here get fruit and veg and meat at Aldis and then 'top up' at Coles or Woolworths . The Aldi range is getting bigger, too- so less side trips needed now. Their alcohol isn't bad either but trial and error. They have a good Corona beer lookalike.

[Guest guest17301]

I used to convert everything back to pounds to get an idea of what it cost when we first arrived, nearly four years on I obviously don't and actually have forgotten what things cost in the UK now...I can see how holidaymakers and new arrivals would be in shock at prices though given the exchange rate right now...must remeber its not representative of when you are fully earning the $$

[Candygirl]

I have lived here (Spain) for 7.5 years now and I never convert into Pounds when I go back to the UK. I just accept the price and know whether I am happy or not to pay it. My Mum comes over here to Spain 4 or 5 times a year and is always converting the prices of things from Euros to Pounds and it drives me insane. Even if things are more expensive, you have to weigh up the quality of the products as well.

 

Personally, I think it is best to just look at the price of something and think whether you really need or want it and that will determine whether you will buy it or not. Even if you have converted your sterling to dollars, you are using dollars in Coles or Woolies not pounds so why keep converting all the time:confused:

[PontePom]

You'll know how much money you have to spend on shopping so why not buy based on that and if you can't afford something don't buy it

 

You'll soon realize you have enough money for plenty of shopping

 

You just have to shop more wisely and in a few stores but it's easily done and enjoyable

 

Forget £'s and think $'s ASAP