Is food increasing in price

[byrned]

Just got back from the supermarket, and everything seems to be getting a lot more expensive, is this just me or have other people noticed the price increase, in safeway for 2 small crumbed chicken Kiev's $7.50, I really am going to have to start shopping smarter, and become a little more creative in my cooking.

[Guest chris955]

It certainly isn't just you, we have noticed it more and more. Things seem to be going up way more than the rate of inflation, not just food but electricity, rates etc. We just got our registration renewal for one of our cars...$806 for the year :shocked:

[northernbird]

Just got back from the supermarket, and everything seems to be getting a lot more expensive, is this just me or have other people noticed the price increase, in safeway for 2 small crumbed chicken Kiev's $7.50, I really am going to have to start shopping smarter, and become a little more creative in my cooking.

 

Convenience foods are generally some of the first foods to go up if production costs rise. Invest in some good cookbooks and make your own chicken kiev, it isn't difficult and will taste far better than that processed muck.

[byrned]

It certainly isn't just you, we have noticed it more and more. Things seem to be going up way more than the rate of inflation, not just food but electricity, rates etc. We just got our registration renewal for one of our cars...$806 for the year :shocked:

 

 

I know just received letters from tru energy for my electric and gas they have both just gone up as well

[Guest mtcosby]

Im still at the word...''safeway'' you have a safeway....... you lucky lucky things... hahhahahhhhhha sorry not much help with the thread........

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

I know just received letters from tru energy for my electric and gas they have both just gone up as well

 

 

Hi byrned

 

we pay almost $4,000 a year for our gas and electric whats it cost you in Melbourne also our rates are $3,000, how much do you pay. we have just come back from Brisbane and alot of food items were dearer than the uk, but wine was half price, we could get 5litres for £7.

 

jim

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

It certainly isn't just you, we have noticed it more and more. Things seem to be going up way more than the rate of inflation, not just food but electricity, rates etc. We just got our registration renewal for one of our cars...$806 for the year :shocked:

 

Hi chris

 

whats this renewal for the car mean, is it road tax, or insurance, or MOT, or is it an extra tax thing.

 

jim

[sykestykes]

I do tend to make more of my own stuff now I'm in Oz, for 2 reasons - it is more expensive to buy anything ready-made, and because I'm at home all day (still looking for a job at the moment!)

 

If you fancy a nice fresh fruit pavlova off the shelf at Woolworths....take a chair with you cos you'll need to sit down to get over the shock at the price ($17.00) :elvis:

 

I think the way forward is to buy meat in bulk from super-butcher style shops and get your fruit and veg from the little roadside shops that are everywhere...cook in bulk and freeze for later...and buy non-perishables in bulk when they're on offer.

 

Sue x

[Guest smileykylie]

registration is like road tax - i don't think every state has it though. In nsw you have registration and compulsory insurance.

[byrned]

I do tend to make more of my own stuff now I'm in Oz, for 2 reasons - it is more expensive to buy anything ready-made, and because I'm at home all day (still looking for a job at the moment!)

 

If you fancy a nice fresh fruit pavlova off the shelf at Woolworths....take a chair with you cos you'll need to sit down to get over the shock at the price ($17.00) :elvis:

 

I think the way forward is to buy meat in bulk from super-butcher style shops and get your fruit and veg from the little roadside shops that are everywhere...cook in bulk and freeze for later...and buy non-perishables in bulk when they're on offer.

 

Sue x

 

like the bit about the chair made me laugh, I hate cooking get no pleasure out of it at all, but at these prices may have to start, suppose there is always the soup kitchens.:laugh:

[byrned]

Hi chris

 

whats this renewal for the car mean, is it road tax, or insurance, or MOT, or is it an extra tax thing.

 

jim

 

 

Car rego is something you have to get every year, its a bit like your road tax in England, each state charge different prices, in melbourne last year it was $550.00, not sure if its gone up this year, you also pay car insurance.

[sykestykes]

like the bit about the chair made me laugh, I hate cooking get no pleasure out of it at all, but at these prices may have to start, suppose there is always the soup kitchens.:laugh:

 

Make sure the soup doesn't come in a tin, it'll be Ritz prices if it is!! LMAO!

 

Let us know how you get on with the cookery thing, I don't even give it a second thought it just gets cooked and half thrown in the freezer for another time when I just CBA!! :laugh:

 

Sue x

[fish.01]

Doesn't seem unusually high looking at the figures: 6401.0 - Consumer Price Index, Australia, Mar 2010

 

Food up 0.7% for the whole year to Mar 2010.

[sykestykes]

Thought I'd add another post to clarify what I do differently here.

 

When I first got here, I used to shop like I did in the UK, I went round the supermarket and tried to buy everything I needed in there.

 

It definitely cost me more to do that, even though I was trying to avoid expensive stuff and making sure I tried "Home Brand" stuff for things like dishwasher tablets and things like that - stuff that you can economise on when you have to (we were trying to keep our living costs lower until we knew how far our money would go, having only one of us working for the first time in the whole of our marriage).

 

I started to look further afield and realised that alot of people seemed to buy fresh fruit and veg from the fruit stalls. Then my friend discovered a super-butcher style shop where you can get all meat products and fresh fish too for a fraction of the price of the supermarket.

 

As I say, I cook a big quantity of food and then freeze alot of it which makes it easier for those times when you just cannot be bothered to think of anything else to cook.

 

I try to remember to buy petrol when it's cheaper (sometimes they catch me out and I forget that the price of petrol goes up and down throughout the week and is very expensive at weekends) and anything bargainous that can be frozen, is frozen for a later date.

 

Another good tip is to look at the endless leaflets they deliver to your house with that week's special offers in them, they can actually be really useful.

 

Hope this helps

 

Sue x

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

Hi sue

 

its clear by what you say that if you shop around you can pick up bargains. Here in the uk we, or i mean i, tend to shop at one place, i found it odd in Oz when you had to get your booze from seperate bottle shops and thats probably why it costs more apart from wine which was half price.

 

jim

[sykestykes]

I agree Jim. I just bought a 5 litre box of rose wine on Friday that cost just 15.00 dollars it'll last for ages and for that price it was a pleasant surprise to find it was really palatable too...although I haven't found an Aussie wine here that hasn't been!!

 

All my research is strictly in the interests of passing on my experience you understand .. Hic hic hooray LOL

 

Sue x

[Guest chris955]

It's the yearly registration we pay here, it includes 3rd party INJURY insurance. It is in all States and varies from one to another. I'm just thankful I don't have a V8 as it's $1000.

 

Hi chris

 

whats this renewal for the car mean, is it road tax, or insurance, or MOT, or is it an extra tax thing.

 

jim

[Guest chris955]

I must say I don't know anyone that would pay close to 600 pounds a quarter for gas and electricity, you need to turn some lights off :wink:

We pay $2400 a year for rates where we are but that isn't near the city though.

I'm a wine drinker now, where did you find 5litres for $7 ?

 

Hi byrned

 

we pay almost $4,000 a year for our gas and electric whats it cost you in Melbourne also our rates are $3,000, how much do you pay. we have just come back from Brisbane and alot of food items were dearer than the uk, but wine was half price, we could get 5litres for £7.

 

jim

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

I must say I don't know anyone that would pay close to 600 pounds a quarter for gas and electricity, you need to turn some lights off :wink:

We pay $2400 a year for rates where we are but that isn't near the city though.

I'm a wine drinker now, where did you find 5litres for $7 ?

 

Hi chris

 

i don't pay £600 per quarter my yearly bill last year was £1800 which was £450 per quarter and this equated to about $4,0000 because the exchange rate was 2.2 dollars to the pound. I have had this discussion before and its a case of equating the wages to the cost of living and the exchange rate has nothing to do with it, unless you are visiting on holiday, or emigrating with alot of money, then you really feel the difference at 1.6 dollars to the pound. No one would disagree that Australias wages are based on an exchange rate of about $2.2 to £1. My rates are £1450 which again is about $3,000 and the 5 litres wine wasn't $7 i quoted £7 about $15.

 

please note it wasn't long ago when the dollar was at $2.6 to the £1 at those rates my gas and electric would have been nearer $5,000 and my rates would have been $3,600 roughly, which is crazy it would make it really cheap in Australia, but the wages of our jobs we were offered in Australia would be the equivalent of $2.2 to £1. This was a rate that stayed fairly steady for quite awhile, todays rate is disaster - for people thinking about emigrating from the uk.

 

sorry for being long winded and its just my own equation, you don't have to agree, but you can't base it on todays exchange rate, it would mean everyone would have got a massive pay rise in comparison to people in the uk, without even knowing it. Great for Aussies visiting the uk though.

 

jim

[Guest chris955]

That is exactly the problem, half the people on here seem to earn less in this country and the other half earn more with an overlap in the middle where some earn about the same.

[Guest The Ropey HOFF]

That is exactly the problem, half the people on here seem to earn less in this country and the other half earn more with an overlap in the middle where some earn about the same.

 

 

Hi chris

 

its just the same in the uk, my figures are based on my government job and my wifes nursing job, which to me is a pretty good yardstick of wage equality in each country to go by and our wages in each country are the same if you work it out at a $2.2 rate to £1.

 

It doesn't help though if you are emigrating to Australia and say someone is offered a job at say $55,000 and they then mistakenly equate it to the $1.6 current exchange rate, which is a disaster to them when they get there and realise instead of their wage being the equivalent to about £37,000 that its actually nearer to £25,000 in relation to the cost of living in Australia.

 

People need to really be aware of this and unfortunately it also effects uk citizens closer to home, when holidaying in europe, Ireland and just about anywhere, because the pound as a currency is at rock bottom and hopefully it can only go upwards, when that will be is anyones guess, but it is the worst possible time financially for people to emigrate and the only good thing is that the wages in Australia should reflect the cost of living there rather than the exchange rate to the pound.

 

jim