Reasons to be cheerful....

[Guest Tracijbc]

So, we are returning to the UK in June next year, and we can't wait! Flights booked and ready to start looking at shipping costs in the next few weeks.

 

Just in case anyone reading this is wondering why people return....well, the reasons are many and varied. One of them became apparent this evening when we unpacked our shopping from Coles and realised that this tiny selection of basic goods had just cost us the equivalent of just over 70 quid (sorry, no pound sign on this stupid keyboard).

 

For those of you planning to move here, enjoy your cheap shopping because once you get here, you will be working hard to just have the basics....Merry Christmas from Coles.

 

Traci and Matt.

 

x

[Guest Guest5035]

give us a break down of the prices,

 

stevo

[Guest kelv&haley]

hi guys,sorry your hating it here so much,good luck in your return..... i just wanted to tell you that we have only been here nearly 8 weeks,and prior to leaving uk we were shopping at lidl,as everywhere was getting dearer for food,even asda and tesco,i am assuming you have many reasons for returning,but if your expecting more food for your money i shouldnt..........in your remaing months maybe try foodland,we try and keep our costs down and foodland seems cheaper,good luck to you xxxx

[Guest Tina P]

Hi,

 

We have been in Oz for 2.5 yrs now and we went back to the uk for 3 weeks in October and food is sooo much cheaper than here, better choice and quality. In ASDA they were lots of BOGOF's and 2 items for £1.

In the bakery at ADSA they had 4 freshly baked small bread rolls for 10p ???

 

 

Im not returning to the uk but do wish the prices, choice and quality was better, I do think that it will but very slowly.

 

Good luck with your return

 

Tina

[Guest kangomik]

Hi there.

 

May i ask how long you have been in SA, and which part of SA you stay in.

 

All the best for the trip back to blighty.

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Tell you what man i would not buy half if that stuff that you have got....Kellogs...Tetley...Ski..it IS all expensive over here we do our main shopping at Woolies and or fruit shopping at Foodland in Moana Heights...we find it ok...we dnt buy the big brand stuff....

 

Shoppping at coles and buying the brand stuff is like shopping at Waitrose in the yUK...

 

HG

[Guest familygood]

Tell you what man i would not buy half if that stuff that you have got....Kellogs...Tetley...Ski..it IS all expensive over here we do our main shopping at Woolies and or fruit shopping at Foodland in Moana Heights...we find it ok...we dnt buy the big brand stuff....

 

Shoppping at coles and buying the brand stuff is like shopping at Waitrose in the yUK...

 

HG

 

 

I second that. We found while we were over there as long as you buy cheaper Aussie brand stuff it wasnt too unreasonable. I find over here that the average £70 shop I do in Asda has increased to well over £100 so don't expect what you were used to. If you buy brands like that too it will also be more expensive!!

[jo_marnes]

I don't agree at all. I have a family of 5 and we shop at Woolworths and Foodland and the fruit mart - our weekly shop is around $150 including nappies. It takes time to find the best prices and things are seasonal so you can buy certain things cheaper depending on the time of year. But if you go to the same shop, buy the same stuff week in, week out then you will pay more.

[Riponian]

So, we are returning to the UK in June next year, and we can't wait! Flights booked and ready to start looking at shipping costs in the next few weeks.

 

Just in case anyone reading this is wondering why people return....well, the reasons are many and varied. One of them became apparent this evening when we unpacked our shopping from Coles and realised that this tiny selection of basic goods had just cost us the equivalent of just over 70 quid (sorry, no pound sign on this stupid keyboard).

 

For those of you planning to move here, enjoy your cheap shopping because once you get here, you will be working hard to just have the basics....Merry Christmas from Coles.

 

Traci and Matt.

 

x

 

 

Sorry to hear your going back hope you can enjoy the summer here.

 

We are still getting used to shopping around heard it can take 6 months to get out the habit of gping to one shop! (only been here 8 weeks lol

Jo - I need your shopping tips we are spending far too much a week! Do you have any cheap meal ideas for the kids? What does your weekly meals look like.

 

Michelle

[Guest the4hopes]

Hi, Just wondered how long you have been here and whether you have been back to the UK recently, all in all there is far more to do here than be concerned how much the shopping is, that is bottom of our list I'm afraid! Good luck with your return and hope you find the happiness you are looking for. Have you tried a different state in Australia as there may be what you want there? It is a very big country worth looking around while you are here.

[jo_marnes]

Jo - I need your shopping tips we are spending far too much a week! Do you have any cheap meal ideas for the kids? What does your weekly meals look like.

 

Michelle

 

We mainly make everything from scratch. We eat a lot of stir fry, curries, chilli, homemade pizza, pasta and BBQ of course! We bulk buy meat on offer (I'll never pay more than $8.99 kilo for chicken breasts!!) or get stuff that's reduced and freeze it. Ditto with bread - my loaves today were 99 cents. I also picked up a ciabatta bread, rolls and lebanese bread (wraps) all at 99 cents each. I've noticed how fruit prices vary massively from week to week so just buy what is cheap - I'm lucky that the kids aren't too fussy with fruit and veg. We've been without bananas for a while as they have been over $5 a kilo, but got loads today now they are at $1.50! I buy homebrand milk, cheese, tins and dishwasher tablets etc. I would have done this back home too - I won't buy homebrand if it's not as good as brand stuff. Take rice krispies - I can buy the exact same thing in a red and white box for $2.60 or get a colourful Kelloggs box and pay $5+. Its a no brainer. We never buy cereal bars, cakes or ready meals. I bake a lot with the kids and that saves on having to buy that sort of thing. It doesn't take long to make a batch of brownies or flapjack etc - much nicer than shop bought crap too!

[Guest Nick11]

So sorry Traci -it hasnt worked out for you.

Have you got your permanent visa yet? Ever thought of giving somewhere else in oz a try or is the pull of the Trent too strong for you both.

Nick

x

[Riponian]

I am sure I will get into the swing of things soon! Thank you

[sueoc]

Yep,Coles just squeeze every cent out of us,even sneakily lowering the weight of chocolate ever so slightly,and ever so gradually,because they assume we are all thicko's and wont notice.They also do this with other products like bread,biscuits,cheese etc,but of course the price never goes down,in fact the reverse is true.Never seen any real great bargains there,only crap like buy 4 get one half price,or was $15.99 but now only $15.81,hurry and save!Like i am going to be doing cartwheels down the road whistling with my mega savings(Yeah,all right) I wouldn't go home though,just because my least favourite shop has yet again got me riled,better to go look for other shops,of which there are plenty,and also eating out is good value here.Nah,it's better here for me at the moment.Best of luck for the future,Sue.

[Guest Libby1971]

Hi

I'm not sure of your visa status but assuming you are free to move around might I suggest having a look at Perth and or Brisbane before you go? Even if only for a holiday. Some other famillies have left Adelaide after finding it wasn't for them and moved to these other areas and found what they were looking for there.

Either way though, I think it takes courage to make the kind of decision you have and I wish you the best of luck

[Guest kangomik]

I am gutted that the rise in food prices 12 months ago was put down to the price of fuel over $1.50 a litre, yet the prices remain hig and fuel has dropped for a considerable length of time.

 

You have to shop around, and you have to look at the specials if you want to save money, and you can save a lot on a weekly shop

[Scousemouse]

Seriously, good luck with the move..............

speaking on a shopping level, i recon you get what you pay for.............the quality of goods here is better in general than back in the motherland, but maybe im lucky with my greengrocer, butcher etc.

 

I miss the bargains, of course i do, but i grow some fruit and veg, and what i find is a great grocer and butcher make the world of difference.

 

Send back some decent sausage rolls, and the occassional asda cornish pasty.................yum!!

[Guest Guest5035]

realised that this tiny selection of basic goods had just cost us the equivalent of just over 70 quid x

 

What you save back in the UK you will spend on petrol. Good luck when you get back.

 

Stevo

[Willber]

Your shopping might be cheaper back here but get ready for all the tax hikes and the vat increase as we are in deep sh1t over here with all the borrowing this goverment is doing. I would gladly live in a tent in Oz for the rest of my life than be here in the UK as things are taking a serious turn for the worst. We have billions of debt to get rid of and we the joe public are going to have to pay it off. Oh by the way the bankers (rhymes with *ankers) have still had there bonus payments! Sorry for the waffle but i'm just sick of being the minority in this country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest Guest75]

Sorry to hear this Traci .

 

But some of those items are expensive for here.Fray Bentos tinned pies ??

Posh ice cream.

Looks like best bacon.

Beef Jerky - see that as a treat.

 

Comparing back to the UK does not help either I'm afraid,it can really confuse you.

 

I notice the "living in the culture less void of South Australia" comment in your location.

Have I been asleep for too long or something?Lots of culture here ,you just have to make an effort to go and find it.

:santatrumpet::santatrumpet::santatrumpet::anisanta:

[Moosh]

I completely agree with Tykes post above.

 

All brand names, alot of English stuff. Beef Jerky!!!! Didn't think anyone actually bought that stuff. Sorry Traci but you did buy all the really expensive stuff and mainly imported items too.

 

You are in Australia now, their food isn't that bad! You have to let go of what you had in the UK and learn to accept what is available for you here and now and adapt. Think of all that money you wasted getting here in the first place!

[Guest Tracijbc]

Look, in answer to the questions that seem to be quite a common theme...

 

We have been here for 2 years.

We buy the things we enjoy, not because they are either English or Australian, or Swahili or anything else for that matter.

We are leaving Australia FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS, not because we don't like Coles....do you honestly think anyone would put themselves through the hassle of moving 10,000 miles just because of a supermarket?

 

The reason we posted on here in the first place was not so you could have a look at what we buy from the supermarket and criticise us because you don't like our choice of shopping. I might not like the things you buy, but that doesn't mean that it's wrong....you people are strange, and, on the whole, very judgemental.

 

We simply unpacked it and then reeled with shock at just how expensive things are here and just how little we got for our hard earned dollars. Just to also let you know, following the (albeit expected) deluge of shouting down from the "we love SA soooo much that nothing else exists" crowd on here, we did a comparison shop on ASDA online. The cost was 55 quid. And just to let you all know, the big brand name stuff was about the same, the wholesale shafting by Coles comes from fruit and veg, coffee, olive oil, tinned tomatoes and mince pies. If your local butcher sells coffee, olive oil etc and the petrol you use to drive all over SA sourcing your cheap stuff actually saves you money in the long run, then good for you! I prefer not to spend my two days off per week driving all over to save $10.

[Guest Guest75]

Look, in answer to the questions that seem to be quite a common theme...

 

We have been here for 2 years.

We buy the things we enjoy, not because they are either English or Australian, or Swahili or anything else for that matter.

We are leaving Australia FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS, not because we don't like Coles....do you honestly think anyone would put themselves through the hassle of moving 10,000 miles just because of a supermarket?

 

.

 

Sorry if this has offended but it did come across as though your main reason for your return was the food shopping here.

 

Discuss your other reasons,it may well help others :santa3::santa3::santa3:

[minty]

I dont think no one is having a dig but just pointing out the obvious. You pay a high price for branded and imported food and local brands and produce are a lot cheaper. We are a family of 4 in the Uk and spend £80 a week on food so at a rough exchange rate im sure you can still feed a family of 4 for a week for $150. (at least we could in April) And eating out is cheaper so all in all in aus food does work out cheaper.

 

And so is petrol and houses.

[Scousemouse]

Oh Traci,

i wasnt being critical, sorry if it seemed that way..................

 

Like you, and others here, i buy stuff on special, and try to keep costs low by getting the unbranded stuff, but..................there are some things you just cant scrimp on, like decent olive oil, toilet rolls etc, and the costs here are higher for them.

 

My butcher and grocer are a 5 minute walk away, btw, and whilst i might pay a dollar or 2 more for meat etc, i save time and effort by using them instead of woolies or coles.