Weekly Shopping

[Good Witch]

One thing I seem to go through tons of here is toilet paper! I am sure there are less squares on each roll and it is more loosely rolled, I seem to go through masses! And that is with boys, can't imagine what girls must use!

I have noticed the same! Incredible actually seeing as we are only 3 in the house and I am the only girl!!! LOL!

[lyall]

lol...this is so amusing, we noticed it too, so did friends of ours here..i think its the way its packaged, pretty cheap though...so we dont worry about it....it doesnt even help to keep it into a pretty holder, you will be filling it all the time...we just keep the open pack in the bathroom cupboard...

just a quick slightly off topic subject..when we were is new zealand, the food prices seem to be a bit higher than in australia. anyone else noticed that? and salaries there seem lower - is that why we came to australia and not new zealand? ha ha

[euroblue]

I see cigarettes were not on the poll.

To the smokers out there, add on AU$70- plus minus per week.

[lyall]

a packet of peter stuyvesant, (pack of 25), costs around $12.00....can be very expensive!

[EricaC]

Our weekly shop is usually about $250 a week, remembering a 6ft teenager that eats

like a horse, but am shocked to discover that now in winter, it has gone up a little more...

Comfort food maybe.......summer a lot cheaper, just gooi some meat/chook on the

barbie and toss a salad!!!

Erica

[Blossom]

Just a quick fact....once you arrived here and it is a month or two down the line, you will notice a plus/minus 7 kilo increase in weight!

Be warned...it's all the tasting of foreign food.....especially Tim Tams!

[Alibaba]

Aldi's is cheaper, but you will need to stock up on other items at Woolworths or Coles too as they don't sell everything. Time-poor mum like me I tend to do all my shopping at one place (mostly Coles), but I do stock up on some Aldi's stuff every few months. I have found a place that sells cheap meat, especially mince. Look out for the specials and if you can shop late afternoon/early evening as they mark down products like milk, bread and meat because it's near the expiry date, but it's still good.

For example, I buy Huggies nappies (biggest size). They are normally about $40 a box of 64. Safeway had a special a week ago of 2 boxes for $66 and Big W has a special at the moment of 2 boxes for $62. So, watch out for the specials and buy bulk when you see it.

I also noticed changing the toilet rolls very often and was wondering if it's my imagination.

We also eat better than in SA, I even buy my dog some dog biscuits which I didn't in SA. As my daughter gets older (she's nearly 3) I tend to buy more snacks for her (and eat it too!!).

I have learned that some of the wholesale chemists (like Chemist Warehouse, The Chemist) and even Big W have cheaper toiletries than the supermarkets. You sometimes get specials like 2 for the price of one and if it is something like the big Pantene shampoos, it lasts you ages. The formula milk is also a lot cheaper ($5-8 a tin) at The Chemist.

The weight gain is a problem, I put on most of it during the summer (strange?). I gained 2.5kg in 6 weeks when my parents visited earlier in the year and it took me nearly 3 months to loose it. Now to get the other weight off is still a challenge.

Grocery bills are the least of our financial problems, but we have only one toddler. Phone calls to SA can sometimes be quite high, depending on how much I need to hear my mother's voice and other expenses that includes labour (how is $2000 for a car service?).

Medication (prescription) I find not that expensive. I am on antidepressants which is $19 a month and my husband got antibiotics today which was $11 (ok, it is the generic versions). I think it's reasonable and the medical aid pays all of it. Also, I recently got new glasses which cost me about the same I paid in SA 4 years ago. Since 4 years has passed and the AU dollar is stronger than the SA Rand I expected it to be much more expensive. I also choose one of the more expensive frames and I have a high prescription, so I had to get the extra thin lenses which is more expensive. The medical aid even paid for my contact lenses, I only paid for the frame.

Edited July 18, 2009 by Alibaba