clarity1971

Hi everyone, just wondering if I can get your thoughts on grocery store prices?

I have noticed on the UK forums, many Americans moving over find UK prices a lot higher then in the States and yet I have also seen Brits on here saying the same thing

We are a family of 6 (but our kids are not little anymore and so have the appetites of adults!).

We tend to do most of our UK shopping with Tesco but also a bit of Sainsburys/ASDA if needed.

Our monthly grocery bill is approx £840 or $1350

How would this budget translate in the states? Particularly California?

We tend to cook most of our meals from scratch - particularly lunch and evening meals - does it tend to be cheaper to do it this way? Luckily for me - I enjoy cooking!

Can you do online grocery store shopping? This would be a good way to compare prices?

Kar98

There are many items that are cheaper/more expensive in the US/UK, respectively. Cooking your meals from scratch is always cheaper than buying processed crap or eating out

penguinsix

Check out Safeway.com or peapod.com. That will give you an idea of grocery prices in your local area. These are two large groceries in the USA and you can compare item by item to see.

Noorah101

You can, but keep in mind that 2 years from now when you actually have a visa and are ready to move over, prices might be very different from what you find out today, in both countries.

Rene

clarity1971

Very true - safe to say that everything will be more expensive in both countries. Just trying to get a comparison on whether our current UK budget is likely to be enough in the US now.

scrubbedexpat099

I would assume the same, some things will be cheaper, others more expensive.

Same with cars/petrol etc.

Big difference is Medical costs.

Bob

Regional variation has a much bigger impact I find over here.

You can get 13 cobbs of corn for a buck up in Maine and down my way near Boston, you'd be lucky to get 5 for that price.

Some things are much more expensive, some less...but it's hard to make fair comparisons because quality also varies so much.

Bread, cheese, milk, flour...the basic staples, you can get really cheap here, but they tend to be shit, you can get great bread but cost a fortune, it's finding decent bread that's not got crap in it for reasonable money that's tricky.

Thing is though, folks moving to the UK, and back, are they moving to similar CoL regions? NY city to London kind of thing? Moving from podunk Alabama to London would be as big a difference as moving from a town in Wales to San Fran.

fatbrit

You're best just looking at the income required for a family of 6 with two of college age to live comfortably in California. I'm assuming you're living in a metropolis rather than the sticks.

I'll open the bidding @ 200k.

penguinbar

If there is a Costco near where you'll be living that could save you alot of money. You seriously need to figure out the cost of health insurance as well. The area you live in will make a huge difference on what things cost.

AmerLisa

+1

We live up in Western Washington and when a friend came to visit a few years back she thought our grocery prices were higher than what she paid in California.

Everything has shot up extremely high (in my opinion) and there are ways to be frugal.

Anyway, best of luck in your adventure!

clarity1971

Fatbrit - are you calculating Health Care in that?

Thanks

fatbrit

It's 3 to 4 times the median family income in LA.

Health care is just a random number generator functioning only with additions and multiplication. Provided the idiots of America don't elect the GOP in 2012, the health care provisions of the current administration should start to reduce the theft a little. Unlike the UK, however, health care will always be a concern for you if you move to the US.

clarity1971

Thank you - the type of job that my husband would go for would almost certainly involve a very good health care package but I know that we would still incur costs of our own.

Something else that we need to investigate

N1cky

Definately do lots of your grocery shopping at Costco for such a big family. It doesn't work out cost effective for us, as we are 2 and a 9 year old, but you can buy boxes of apples, big punnets of berries...

I cook most things from scratch and find grocery shopping very expensive in CA compared to the UK.

Wibblypig

I don't live in CA. I find grocery shopping here A LOT more expensive, in the UK my weekly food bill was £50-£70 for a family of 5, here it's around $200 I am trying to get it cheaper by bulk buying certain items when they are on offer....