Shopping

I’m often asked how expensive the islands are to live on, so I thought I share my shopping receipts with you, to give you some idea of what the costs are. And if you stick through this I knew for sure that I could write about my shopping lists and still hold your attention!

So, I went shopping today, Monday, a national holiday (Commonwealth Day) and bought the following (I’m working on a £1=$1.90 exchange rate):

17oz box of honey nut cheerios: $7.60 (£4)
2lb box of pancake mix: $3.99 (£2.10)
8oz pack of saltine crackers: $3.89 (£2.04)
4 activia yoghurts: $4.20 (£2.21)
32oz pot plain active yoghurt: $3.85 (£2.02)
1 gallon milk: $4.15 (£2.18)
2 limes: $0.33 (17p)
1 gallon orange juice: $7.85 (£4.13)
2lbs peppers: $4.80 (£2.52)

So, all in all, probably more expensive than the UK, and no doubt way more expensive than Canada, although I confess that I didn’t pay much attention to how much food cost in the UK. That said, with a very hungry 17 year old to feed plus the rest of us (we are 5 at the moment: Nicky, me, Osh, Daniel and Nicky’s Dad) we spent around $400 on food last week and we are never short of food or a variety of yummy things to eat. Given that I’ve seen British families forking out £200 in Tescos that doesn’t seem too bad. I think what probably happens is that whilst some processed foods are much more expensive than elsewhere, the fresh fruit is far cheaper (fresh foods are not subject to 33% import tax) and so it all evens out.

I'm learning slowly how to feed a large family. Up to now, I've only had to feed myself and the Oshlet, now I have a ravenous teenager to feed, plus a very hard working man and Osh and me. Needless to say, I tend to err on the side of caution and end up with heaps of left over food which goes into the freezer.