Grocery Bills - help please

piglet · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:45 am Post subject: Grocery Bills - help please

Hi ...just completing a little exercise on COL in various countries and wonder if you ladies can help me with the Grocery section, please ?

Even if you can only help with a few of the items it would be a great help Very Happy

thanks....

* Shopping Basket *

Bread (large)
1ltr milk
Butter (250G)
Fresh Chicken (per Kg)
Pork Lombo (loin of Pork per KG)
Beef (rump steak) per kg
Fish (please choose a fish and specify per kg)
1doz large eggs
Sugar (standard size)
Flour (standard size)
Coffee 100g - nescafe/local please specify
1kg Potatoes
1kg Apples
Cheddar (english)per kg
Shampoo 400ml
toothpaste 75ml
Toilet paper pack of 12
5L bottle water
1L bottle Coca cola
Wine Local

Beer Local
Spirits branded pls specify
Whisky branded pls specify

20 Cigarettes
Eating Out
White Coffee
Meal for 2 -(3 course)Local Spanish restaraunt

Mitzyboy · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:03 pm Post subject: Re: Grocery Bills - help please

Sorry Piglet this is not going to help you much. We've established on other forums that the cost of living is so different in different areas of Spain its almost impossible to give an accurate acvcount.

For instance in CB North I maintain that I can live cheaper than in the UK, whereas in the CDS I'm told the cost of living is higher than the UK.

Twofilas · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:43 am Post subject: Re: Grocery Bills - help please

This is one of those ‘itchy’ questions from those wishing to move to a different country and one in which I indulged before moving. The first thing I did was to prepare a spreadsheet and list every conceivable expense of living in the UK. Hell, if you don’t need to know, don’t bother, it’s frightening! I then forwarded it to three friends in Brazil and asked them to fill in their expenses in the appropriate column so that I could make comparison. To my surprise [and I shouldn’t have been] the expenses varied tremendously. I hadn’t taken into account life-style.

It would be a different picture today because of the strength of the Brazilian currency which has increased by 30% over the years against the pound and 25% against the dollar. Currency fluctuations can be friend or foe.

Any old hoo, I asked she who must be obeyed and with today’s exchange rate she said that shopping trolley costs for five mouths is about £800 a month. I realise that this has little relevance on this thread but it gets lonely over on the Brazil forum. Crying or Very sad

piglet · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:44 am Post subject: Re: Grocery Bills - help please

Hi Twofilas...oh bless...thankyou.

You spend £800 on food per month... Shocked

my goodness how many maids and dogs do you feed Laughing

thats an awful lot of money... Shocked

or Is food very expensive in Brazil?

Mitzyboy
The majority of people moving to another county want just an indication of COL its one of the first questions I am asked...I like xx country...but can we afford to live there?

The shopping basket or typical Grocery Bill is intended to be an "indication" only. Shall we say a snap shot in a particular month in the currency purchased. There will also be regional and brand differences in pricing. People can simply make their own comparisons and come to their own conclusion.

Piglet Very Happy

Twofilas · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:33 pm Post subject: Re: Grocery Bills - help please

piglet wrote:

Hi Twofilas...oh bless...thankyou.

You spend £800 on food per month... Shocked

my goodness how many maids and dogs do you feed Laughing

thats an awful lot of money... Shocked

or Is food very expensive in Brazil?
Piglet Very Happy

Quite frankly I hadn’t given this subject much thought until I recognised some shock in your response. Certainly I am diligent about recording expenses and have kept accurate monthly records since arriving in this country – one of the woes of retirement that sets a keen eye on expenses and in particular, that modern day killer, inflation.

As I mentioned, the shopping trolley cost is for five mouths – the family of three, a housekeeper/cook and a gardener. The two dogs are expensive to feed, certainly, but this cost is not included. The trolley also includes other stuff that one picks up in a supermarket such as washing powder and all of the other ‘new & improved’ must have miscellaneous items including personal hygiene products etc.

I note from my old spread sheet of four years ago that a similar monthly UK shopping trolley cost was £650 that serviced four people. It’s just coincidental that the pro rata costs today and back then are almost identical – about £160 a head per month. Meanwhile of course we must factor in any increase in the cost of food and, from my end, the currency exchange value; as I mentioned the Brazilian Real has appreciated by 30%.

Of course one can live at a lower cost and millions survive on the minimum wage that is currently about £150 a month. Now there’s food for thought about a country that will host the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

piglet · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:23 pm Post subject: Re: Grocery Bills - help please

Hi Twofilas...

No panic I did not realise it was for 5 people! If you rework the figures pro rata... its about the same as we pay for 2... Laughing

It just sounded an awful lot... Shocked

Phewww...Piglet Wink

Mitzyboy · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:31 pm Post subject: Re: Grocery Bills - help please

piglet wrote:

Hi Twofilas...oh bless...thankyou.

You spend £800 on food per month... Shocked

my goodness how many maids and dogs do you feed Laughing

thats an awful lot of money... Shocked

or Is food very expensive in Brazil?

Mitzyboy
The majority of people moving to another county want just an indication of COL its one of the first questions I am asked...I like xx country...but can we afford to live there?

The shopping basket or typical Grocery Bill is intended to be an "indication" only. Shall we say a snap shot in a particular month in the currency purchased. There will also be regional and brand differences in pricing. People can simply make their own comparisons and come to their own conclusion.

Piglet Very Happy

Yes I realised that piglet .... but what I'm saying is its not unfortunately an accurate indication because the cost of living varies so much in different areas of Spain.

On another orum there are endless debates because people in the South claim the cost of living in the UK is lower than Spain, whereas in the north or campo people say the cost of living is less in Spain!

If you are doing regional then you really need maybe a city, the Costa Del Sol & maybe the Costa Blanca North or Costa Brava. But even here I can save a huge amount by going to Aldi & Lidl rather than Carrefour, and thats a 7 km difference!

Good luck with it anyway

piglet · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:24 pm Post subject: Re: Grocery Bills - help please

Hi Mitzyboy

I take on board your comments. However, I can easily shave 10 or 15 euros off my weekly food shop just by hunting around for special offers, shopping at Lidls, Mini preco, Aldi, buying none branded products and taking advantage of discounts using my supermarket card.

Us woman just realize these things Laughing

and as the advert goes..."Every Little HELPS" Laughing

So if a standard hop costs €100 in one area it could well be €110 in another or even €130.

By listing specific products rather than saying "your weekly shop" we know I have not included lobster and cavia, for example.
So Mitzyboy how much is the jar of Nescafe in your area for example?

Anyway, there is always a North south divide...even in good old Blighty Laughing

As far as twofilas monthly shopping bill was concerned, I did not realise it was for 5 people...and actually when I recalculated his figure for 2 people it is very similar to our own monthly bill. ...as I said.

COL examples can only be used as a rough indication.
Very Happy

Piglet