misse1

Hi everyone,

I've been here since Dec 2013, and although I love much about the lifestyle here, I am becoming increasingly disillusioned about the cost of groceries here...

I am spending on average between RM3000 and RM4000 PER MONTH to feed a family of 4 (and we're not what I would describe as 'big eaters'), including one gluten-intolerant hubby. Our diet is not especially 'Western', as we eat a lot of local rice and noodle-based meals at home. We do not eat red meat hardly at all and only limited amounts of chicken and fish because of the extortionate supermarket prices, eat NO processed/prepackaged garbage, try as far as possible to buy local fruit and veg, and only a few boxes a month of breakfast cereals and loaves of bread (again, because of the extortionate prices here).

I know I earn a lot more than many locals, and THEY'RE not starving... and yet I know there is NO WAY a lot of them could afford to spend this much per month on food... there MUST, therefore, be cheaper sources of food than what I have found so far!

I do the bulk of my grocery shopping in Tesco (was told that they're pretty good value, and I would agree that they are for local fruit and veg) because they do home delivery - which is a god-send for me. I also shop occasionally in the Village Grocer and a local branch of Hock Lee. But I NEED to find cheaper outlets... I quite simply cannot afford to live here long-term if I don't :-/

Where does everyone else do their shopping? I especially need to find cheaper sources of things like apples, beetroots, nuts (esp cashews and almonds), mens toiletries (esp razors), breakfast cereals, cat food, meat and fish. (I am in the Bukit Damansara area). I am aware of the wet markets, but as I do not have a maid to send out at 7am each day to do my shopping there for me, this is a difficult 'regular option'. Are there really no other money-saving options?????

All tips and heads-ups greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

ex reg

I don't think we spend that much with a family of 4 in Singapore.
We eat really well with a great diet.

We do use the wet market a lot though but also Tesco like shops here - NTUC Finest etc and buy stuff from speciality butchers.

I'm surprised KL is that much more expensive but having looked around Cold Storage in JB then it's not that much cheaper than Singapore.

bakedbean

I would try wet markets if I were you, for a start off. You don't have to get there early. I don't. I'm normally there 10.30 or 11.00 and stalls are still lively. If you're working, I imagine there will be a pasar malam one evening. Chicken and fish will be cheaper at the market than supermarkets and probably better quality.

Tesco is pretty reasonable if you buy local foodstuffs. Don't buy apples...they are imported. Buy mangoes, melons, bananas, jackfruit....tons of choice of local produce. Ditch the cereals and have fruit and yoghurt for breakfast.

Same with veggies, avoid the imported stuff.

misse1

Just back from my first - and last!! - outing to TTDI.

So much for the wet markets being economical places to shop... I went along with my 'Tesco price comparison' list, so that I could take pleasure from calculating how much I was gonna save. No such luck.

Celery - Tesco price: RM1.84 each. TTDI price: RM6 each (knocked down from RM8 per kilo)

Beetroot - Tesco price: RM1.54 per kilo, TTDI price: RM7 per kilo

Medium/large watermelon - Tesco price: approx RM8, TTDI price: RM15

(At this point, I stopped bothering to ask, and gave up on my grocery shopping trip).

It seems that my white face made all the stallholders completely forget how to calculate realistic prices - a common phenomenon in this part of the world, I know. Still, this level of price hiking is totally unjustified, highly insulting, and REALLY p***es me off.

I guess if I had a maid or a local friend who could either do my shopping for me or come with me to 'police' the stallholders' prices, I would fare better. Until such a day should come, I think I will stick to Tesco. Atleast their pricing doesn't depend on your skin colour >:-(

whybirda

I agree that supermarket shopping here is generally slightly more expensive than in the UK, me also being from the UK as well.
As some of the stuff we're reliant on are imports then yes you pay through the nose for them, especially dairy products such as milk, butter etc. I tend to shop mainly at Aeon (Mid Valley), and Giant. I also use cold storage and village grocer but very occasionally as they're expensive. I'm also a family of four and probably spend around 3000 rm per month as well, we don't eat like kings and I generally do a lot of home cooking. Eating out at local street hawkers is most definately the cheapest option for eating, but there's only so much rice and noodles you can eat! Having kids who aren't fussy eaters would help (I've got one so we don't eat out locally a lot!).
I can't give you any advice on how to cut your shopping bill, but rather than just relying on Tesco as they do home delivery, why don't you go out to Aeon and Giant to get a feel for their shopping prices. To be honest I only find Tesco here good value for toiletries, as they do they're own brand and I've always thought they were an expensive supermarket even when I lived in the UK. I avoided Tesco like the plague.
The one thing I do miss about the UK is definately supermarket shopping, and being able to get your hands on the stuff you want at a much more reasonable price than here in Malaysia.

JC3

Hi Misse1,

What we do in Penang to reduce our shopping bill and to get good quality meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables, is to buy from the suppliers that the hotels and restaurants use. Prices are about 25% -40% less than the supermarkets. Ask around and I’m sure you’ll be able to identify similar suppliers in KL.

That said, we still use Tesco, Cold Storage and Sam’s Groceria for household goods, coffee, wine etc. We keep an eye on which supermarket is cheapest for what (we find prices vary by up to 30%) and stock up with cartons of juice, bags of coffee, honey, wine, beer etc.

Shopping at just one place is a lot more convenient of course, but as you say, expensive.

JC3

misse1

Thanks, everyone, for the tips so far - much appreciated :-)