paddy234

Me and my partner spend about $250 a week on grocery shopping which we feel is quite expensive, and that is at pak n save. I was wondering is this normal? Also have any people on here found any smart ways of cutting costs a bit? I just feel it is too much money for a just two people

SSky

We can easy spend that amount and usually a lot more but there are four of us. Grow your own veg, buy from roadside veggie shops if you see them. Maybe invest in a big freezer and buy half a beast instead of little amounts every time. Not really got any other suggestions. NZ can be an expensive place to live.
i

Kotare

$250 a week, that incl a doz beer and two bottles of wine. But we have chicken and a small veg garden.

j19fmm

Wow! That's a lot for 2 people. We are family of 3 at home (DD away at Uni) and I spend about $70 per fortnight at the local butchers and about $140 a week at the local Countdown. Actually that'd be a 'bad' week in my eyes. We also have a dog and a cat to buy food for and a few bantams - but they repay us with eggs.
Where I work we're pretty good at sharing excess fruit and veg around.
I generally stock up when things are on offer and never buy the top of the range - I never did in the UK either.
We don't buy wine or beer but there always seems to be some in the pantry in cases of emergency.
Jeez we sound like a bundle of fun......

escapedtonz

We spend around $250 a week now since changing supermarkets. We did shop in Countdown as it was the closest but after a new Pac n Save opened nearby recently we're saving maybe $70 a week just by shopping there. 2 adults a 5 year old and a 10 month old. The most expensive things we buy are all related to baby stuff - formula, baby food etc. Don't buy beer much - just make sure there's always a few cold ones available. Tend to try and buy veggies at a specific veggie store now as they are way cheaper than the supermarket and better quality.

Pom_Chch

Yeah I would say $250 is a fair bit for a couple. We spend about $150/week all up with everything including alcohol, cleaning products, toiletries etc. We save money by getting most things in Pak 'n Save and also growing veggies. If we need a top up of veggies that we don't have in the garden then I'll go to the local green grocer. I refuse to buy fruit and veg from supermarkets as it's such a rip off. Try places like Vegeland on Marshlands Road, we used to go there when we lived in Chch:

https://www.facebook.com/Vegeland-204634389673013/

Crazy Dave's on Blenheim Road was also good.

We spend more than in the UK for sure, probably about 1/4 more on top in NZ, but we were much more careful in London as we were skint, but not so skint here

Tom H

I've noticed since moving north that the shopping costs are far cheaper here than the city center.

Ever since the Pak and Save opened in Rangiora, our grocery bill decreased to about $135 a week and that's feeding 2 little mouths. Thank goodness our youngest doesn't have formula anymore

Plus I spend up to $25 on vegetables at the local fruit and veg in Woodend. I refuse to pay the extortionate fruit and veg prices in supermarkets when I can pick cucumbers up for less than $2 and tomatoes for less than $3.99. Even grapes are under $5.

Plus they have nashi pears all year round and they are my favourite.

LittleGreyCat

Is booze classed as grocery?

Difficult to equate to NZ spending; I suspect we spend less than £100 per week on everything apart from booze because we mainly shop in Lidl for essentials.

This could have been as high as $250 a week before the Brexit vote; now it is around $170. Somehow we don't seem to be saving any money, though.

With "decent" wine at £6 per bottle when on offer (and around £10 per bottle when not) we bulk buy when the offers are on, so a weekly shop can be 48 bottles of wine @£6 (£288) and a packet of crisps.

This makes it difficult to work out average spend and anyway we don't track stuff like this in fine detail. Other expenditure is generally low (just thinking of changing the 20 year old car that we have had for 10 years) so we thankfully aren't feeling the pinch at the moment.

Next few years are likely to be harsh, though, as exchange rates and trade barriers rear their ugly heads.

Never mind, still got the home brewing kit.

Bo-Jangles

Yeah in the good old days we use to live like that. Life used to be so free and easy and I didn't know and really couldn't care a carrot how much I paid for a cucumber.

That was until we moved to NZ.

I spend anything upwards of $140 per week in Pak N Save for two of us and easily another $60 elsewhere from other shops. We rarely drink and buy alcohol only for special occasions; cat has 'special' food from vets at $43 every few weeks.

LittleGreyCat

[QUOTE=Bo-Jangles;12088391<snip>; cat has 'special' food from vets at $43 every few weeks.[/QUOTE]

Renal?

Our two 20 year old cats (one is helping me type) are on the special renal food and probably cost more than we do to feed.

Bo-Jangles

No, Gastro. I think the cost of all those 'prescription' type of foods such as Hills Science, Royal Canin are all pretty much of a muchness though.

LittleGreyCat

Yeah. Our two are on Royal Canin renal.

On a vaguely related subject, I looked at dried meal worms to feed the birds (especially Robins) and worked out it would be cheaper to use minced filet steak.

Does that count as grocery shopping (not that I bought either meal worms or filet steak for the birds)?

MrsFychan

article on the cost of food for a family of four

Kiwis are facing a 'double squeeze' from increasing food costs and housing pressure | Stuff.co.nz

As researched from Otago University

Kotare

I feel sorry for anyone with teenage kids. We have a couple staying and it seems impossible to keep the larder and fridge stocked despite cooking large cakes etc every few days - a bit like a locust swarm

paddy234

When it comes for food we buy for three as an entire extra portion of dinner goes into my lunch of the next day. I know most people spend very little on lunch mostly eating sandwiches, salads etc but i eat alot to maintain mass. When i came here i was 67kg and after working out for years and eating much more to build mass i'm at 81kg. To keep this i eat a ridiculous amount of food that makes my partner very jealous lol. If i didn't do any of this i could save at least $50 a week. Hopefully my body slows down as i get older so i can eat less (save money) and still keep good mass