Genesis

I thought I would make a comment on BarnsleyMatt's very realistic observations about NZ shopping and pricing. I have always been amazed at how expensive too many things are here in NZ. Food is obviously the biggest issue for all of us and I think its something to do with NZ's grocery duopoly. I don't see why the commerce commission don't actively promote an environment where other players would enter the market. This article is relevant.

NZ v the world: How we rate on prices - National - NZ Herald News

Some may say NZ is too small for more grocery stores. I do not believe that. I am sure our rising population could support more grocery suppliers.

There are some things about NZ that are cheap in comparison to the UK. Car insurance is very cheap. The day they make it mandatory is the day it will go through the roof. Petrol is cheaper. Oh, and no TV licence. Can't think of many more unfortunately.

Personally I only pretty much only buy anything that is half price or significantly reduced. When beans are a buck a tin (still bloody pricey!!) I buy a load, washing powder at half price? The same, I buy a load. Anything significantly reduced I buy a load of it. I have noticed that only Countdown seems to do stuff labelled 'reduced'. I buy cheese that is at its sell buy date and get up to 70% off and just freeze it. The same with chicken (up to 75% off but normally about 50%
0ff), prawns (30% off the other day). I only buy lamb when its $22 bucks a leg, $48 normally WTF?????

I never buy my fruit and veg in a supermarket, chinese shop everytime. As for herbs, cling film, olive oil, olives, etc and tin foil I buy all these in bulk at a wholesaler. All the latter, if you work out the cost pro rata are about 4 to 5 time more expensive when bought in small amounts at your local supermarket.

This link is interesting too, but somewhat skewed as the writer is American which is apparently the cheapest 1st world place to live.

http://youngadventuress.com/2013/10/...and-expat.html

And just to finish off......
https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rc...35258522,d.dGo

Snap Shot

Really ? I've never seen that.

I bought a $1.240kg lamb leg, fillet end for $15 and put it in the freezer. It had been reduced from $22.31 as the per kilo price was $17.99. That's presently defrosting and will be our Sunday roast tomorrow.

Yesterday I purchased a 412g pack of chuck steak for $6.79 priced at $16.49 per kg. I'll make a casserole with that tonight. I don't think $6.79 for meat for a meal for two adults is to bad.

Both the above were purchased in Pak N Save.

In countdown, for $6.13, I purchased a 533g pack of 'premium beef stir fry meat' that was $24.99 per kg prior to being twice reduced because it was the day before it's expiry date.

Half of that will go into a stir fry for a mid week meal. The other half will go back in the freezer for a repeat in a couple of weeks time.

Like anyone, I like a good deal.

Genesis

[QUOTE=Snap Shot;12071132] I think it was about 3kg. The leg of lamb that is

LittleGreyCat

Sounds just like our life in the UK.

Lidl is great value but tends to have "specials" of anything once every 3 months or so. We buy in bulk and store/freeze. The "reduced" sticker is like jam to a wasp!

It seems (cross referencing with our son) that we shop very much like students but in larger quantities.

Seriously considering bringing a poly tunnel over if we ever get to NZ.

[Not long until the next round of Parent Category draws when we will get a hint about when we might be pulled.]

inkedneonurse

I've heard that the mad butcher is a good place to go for meat. Is this right?

sjs1

Here in uk we did a shop at local supermarket:
2kg nz lamb mince frozen £5
Milk 1l £1
Feta sheep goatmilk cheese 97p 250gm
Crisps 150g 80p
Cherry tomatoes 450g £1.20
Rocket 79p a bag
Kiwifruit 15p each
Steak 400g 21 day matured £3.56
Marmite big jar £2.50
Marmalade jar 25p
Fizzy water 44p 2l spring water
Gerbal teas 99p box of 20 bags
Coffee ground Columbian £3.29 500g
Prawns seafood mix cooked £2.17 250g
Bottle of nz sauv blanc £5
Filled up car petrol £46
Electricity a week £20
Dentist check up nhs £28
Olive oil 500ml £2
Hope that helps

LoCarb

Not so much that prices are high but that wages are so bloody low thanks to deregulation.

Clappy

It is harder than it seems at first to make like-for-like comparisons.

The insurance in New Zealand does not have to cover someone suing you for personal injury - the Government picks up that bill for which they charge you ACC levies for which there is no equivalent in the UK.

This is one of those things where a significant proportion of the pump-price in both countries is tax so can't be treated in isolation of everything else that tax is charged on. Petrol price in the UK is about 60% tax according to this article in the Telegraph British fuel tax highest in Europe - Telegraph and in NZ it is about 40% tax using rough calculations based on this article by the AA Petrol Tax - How Fuel Excise is Made Up | AA New Zealand

I can see that would be a benefit for the sort of people that don't ever watch TV so in the UK they are forced to pay for something that they are not using but in this country I don't remember ever hearing anybody sing the praises of the 100% commercial model but I suppose you get what you pay for ...

I think it will take many million more people to have much of an impact so that is unlikely to happen in my lifetime and I have resigned myself to the status-quo.

scrubbedexpat094

Is petrol that much cheaper though? As the price at the pump is for 91 in NZ and in the UK it's for 95. Here on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, petrol prices are inflated by 4 - 8 cents per litre compared to those on the North Shore! So I usually head there to fill my car up. I haven't done the comparison because I'm not that bothered right now .

Not sure how long car insurance will remain that cheap. The insurance companies are seeing a large rise in costs given that cars are becoming more complex in terms of the technology installed. Hence they are becoming more expensive to fix. Enjoy the low prices whilst you can.

It's the price of groceries that really gets to me. I hate going shopping for food, the choice is so uninspiring.

paddy234

I find wages here to be similar or even slightly better than the UK and Ireland. Some things are more expensive here while others not so much

paddy234

Can someone answer me this question though as i don't fully understand but how does someone working in a supermarket in Australia get paid alot more than someone who does the same job in New Zealand yet the cost of living in Australia is only slightly higher meaning more expendable income? Is it because of the influence that unions have in Australia?

chocolate cake

Yeah, agree. It's difficult to compare like with like. As you say, the main reason car insurance is cheaper here, is it not needing to cover injuries. Indeed I'd say 3rd party car insurance should be mandatory, from personal experience chasing payment from someone uninsured is a nightmare.

Food - most food is VAT free in the UK, where everything has 15% GST on it, so that's a fair difference to start with. Also UK food prices are sure to get higher in GBP terms with the falling sterling.
That said no doubt the lack of competition does make for high supermarket prices, and the ridiculous weekly special offers mean prices vary considerably, e.g. butter $3 one week, back to $6 the next. I don't recall weekly junk mail from the likes of Tescos and Morrison back home, but from Countdown and New World there's something in the post box every Saturday.

Also quality control tends to be lapse as well, often items past best before date are left on shelf at full price.

Clothes again more expensive.

Tax system different.. every $ taxed with no personal allowance.

Practically no capital gains taxes, hence a high % people (those can afford it) investing in second homes - the high number of MPs renting homes seems to be disincentive for this to change.
Outside of Kiwi Saver which is limited, payments into pension are after tax.

LoCarb

The theme constantly running through British Expats NZ threads is that wages here are lower than the UK. So I can only go on the majority view.

All depends on exchange rate comparisons. For example, the New Zealand $ is by all accounts over-valued by a wide margin (money laundering?).

The British pound is now considerably under-valued (scare-mongering?).

The historical comparison (pre-2008) was three-to-one.

LoCarb

Australia has a higher standard of living.
That's why (until recently) hundreds-of-thousands of Kiwis moved there.

bourbon-biscuit

When you look at Australia and NZ's median family incomes you can see the difference.