Solarfish

I have been using a home finance package for many years and have always categorised certain expenses, one of them being groceries. Today I ran a comparison report for groceries.

During our first six months in Canada, 1 Aug 2007 - 31 Jan 2008 we spent about $6400 on groceries.

The equivalent six months in the previous year, 1 Aug 2006 - 31 Jan 2007 we spent about £5000 on groceries.

I also ran a report comparing the year before we left with the previous year out of interest

1 Aug 2005 - 31 July 2006 we spent about £8300 on groceries

1 Aug 2006 - 31 July 2007 we spent about £7400 on groceries

So from this information it certainly seems like Canada is cheaper over all. I also seems that food prices have gone down in the UK, something I had suspected for a while. However even taking that into account I believe we have spent less here that we would have done at home.

This is all based on a family of four and I don't think our eating habits have varied widely between the UK and here or from one time period to another. The vast majority of our shopping in the UK was at Tescos with occasional trips to M&S. Here it has been almost exclusively Safeway (Canmore).

startwin

I agree, and I'm also a Safeway shopper with a few trips to Superstore in the month for their flax bread, which I love.

Solarfish

The interesting thing is I was genuinely shocked by these results, I had always stated that food was at least as expensive here and often more so. I can only put it down to the fact that in the UK the price 'was what it was', we had nothing to compare it to, so I never really took any notice. If someone had asked me I would have said we spent about £100 a week on groceries whereas we were actually spending nearly twice that!

ann m

I also run all our finances on a similar computer package and it's very interesting to do comparisons. The only time it goes slightly awol is with something like a Costco shopping expedition (where you always spend $200, regardless of what you went in for). Sometimes only a small percentage is groceries and I am unable to split the costs on my system within one transaction .... so I kind of cheat and force it in under two transactions sometimes. It's a bit hit and miss ....

We spend less on food and fuel here. But we eat out more.

Eve N

What's a home finace package and where can I get one?

Solarfish

I use an old version of Quicken, it stopped being sold in the UK some time ago but it is readily available in Canada. Only problem is I'm not sure if I can upgrade from my old UK verison to the much more recent Canadian version so I am sticking with what works!

Purley

I had Quicken for years and found it really useful. However, my version was old and I didn't load it when I got a new computer. The only thing I would say is, don't make the mistake of having too many sub-categories.

I tried to make things clearer by having sub-categories under groceries, and trying to figure out how much I spent on (say) cleaning products and how much on various other categories, until it became so darn complicated I couldn't see the wood for the trees!

Keep it simple!

R I C H

The figures are fairly meaningless unless you can calculate what % of your income is spent on grocery items in Canada compared to the UK.

As a % of earnings, our overheads (utilities, groceries, fuel, taxes etc) are slightly higher here.

bazzz

You can't put a price on the availability of orange squash and bisto gravy granules.

ann m

Tis true

gryphea

Solarfish

Clearly you need to spend more time skiing and less time working out whether you can afford to!!!

However very interesting results - we spent a fortune on groceries in UK, between £100 and £140 per week, I do think we are spending less here- its just you notice the pricier things more, so you kind of self-bias!

Gryphea

PS Hope ALro got our email?

Solarfish

Not sure the figures are meaningless, they are evidence of the statement in the title. They would be meaningless if I claimed that groceries are more affordable. I and others in the past have stated that groceries are more expensive here and my figures seem to dispute that.

Solarfish

I ski/board for free so I can always aford that

Yes I'm sure it is the focus on finances that we had when we first arrived that made us think things were more expensive. It is nice to see that they are not really.

Not sure, she has taken our daredevil daughter to a speed skating meet in Calgary this weekend so I won't see her until tomorrow. Don't want to jinx it but she is second overall in her level at the moment with 4 more races tomorrow. Not bad for someone who had never skated before October

destinationnovascotia

I still live in the UK (sadly), so my observations on grocery prices are based on short trips of 2-3 weeks only. However, I do think that your perception of grocery prices depends upon what you eat.

For example. when I have shopped in Canada, I found that the type of food I buy is cheaper than the UK. We eat alot of fresh fruit and veg, buy fresh meat and fish and cook from scratch.

I have noted however, that processed food appear to be more expensive, so if you live on a more convenience food type diet, or if you are chasing "English" products, you are probably going to spend more than in the UK.

This would also explain why different people have differing perceptions of whether food is more or less expensive in Canada.

Just my observations for what it's worth.

R I C H

Look at it another way - I have evidence that fuel is cheaper here, but it's fairly meaningless if your salary is lower too (a situation many seem to have to deal with).

You only have evidence that the groceries you buy are cheaper compared to what you purchased in the UK. In my opinion, the figures are still fairly meaningless, and don't relate to my experience.

DNS - I think it can be more complex than that - local prices can differ (to use the fuel analogy again, gas is up to 10c per litre more expensive in BC interior than on the coast), and competition/choice can differ according to your location.

We don't buy pre-packaged/convenience food, buy whole cows/lambs direct from local farmers and yet proportionally still spend slightly more on groceries than we were used to paying in the UK.