At the beginning of June, I wrote a post about the cost of living in Sardinia, Italy where I have listed the cost of internet, electricity, gas, water, eating out and cell phone bills.
This morning I did a little shopping and by little, I mean very little, just the necessities to get though the next few days plus a few cleaning products.
A grand total of €37,08 or $45.95 Canadian dollars.
The most expensive items on my list:
4 Yogurt €2,98 and freshly made hamburgers – €2,46.
The cheapest items:
Canned chickpeas and canned lentils – €0,55.
I think it’s rather expensive but that comes with island life.
Curious to see what the Daily Groceries cost in China? Check out my blogger friend – The World According to Woman – Come grocery shopping with woman.
How does it compare to where you live?
My Sardinian Life 
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Hi there, just came across your blog and would love to ask you some further questions on moving there as I’m having difficulty finding the right places to research. Would you mind emailing me?
Thank you!
You can ask any questions here for email me via my contact page.
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@ aussiegirl995 not sure if you are referring to Jenny’s Costa Paradiso or possibily there is a Paradiso downunder aswell, whatever earning paradise has it’s costs!!!! 🙂
I think she was referring to the fact that living in paradise has it’s price.
It does cost a little more to live in paradiso. Here in Australia everything that is a necessity is expensive.
.now you mention beans how about this classical trash treat I found at my local Leclerc… http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4477192214139&set=a.3235090602375.2161495.1419994681&type=1&theater @€1,77 per 415g I wonder just how much does it cost elsewhere??
LOL!!!! I’d have to go to four different stores/shops to pick up what you got there!!!!
But, the majority of your items I could never buy. Discovered I am highly allergic to all dairy and quite a few processed foods and meats.
I spend about ten dollars for two days worth of fresh fruit and veggies and beans. mmmmm…. beans.
Wow, I spend about 10 euro a day on fruit and veg. I don’t buy much processed foods, just the beans in the can and read everything on the label to make sure there are no ingredients I can’t pronounce. 🙂
Canned beans are usually just beans, water, salt. They get my digestive systems seal of an okydoky!!!!!
I m so not looking forward to this coming winter!!! Yikes! WAit… I am not here for the most of it! I should be ok!
I don’t know why I automatically think of processed foods as being only in the can. Now I look at my list I have: nutella, cookies, and possibly the diced pancetta. Hmmm….maybe I should bake more, but not in the summer, it’s too hot!
AH! I lost my reply!!!
Yoghurt, hamburger (unless bought directly from the butcher where you can see the meat from the cow itself to the grinder!!), panchetta…. These are all thing that have preservatives that I cannot eat.
It would be really neat to do the same thing over here!!!!
Hey don’t be so harsh on the Eurospin food chain stores, when you go to places like that you just have use that “best buy instinct” in terms of value for money and also take a close look at where the products come from. I regularly shop there and take time and care to choose only certain items which I know are a-OK (their cottage cheese is yummy and cheap). A good example of what I mean is milk, last month I took a closer look at their milk branded LAND and discovered that it was actually produced and boxed in Arborea! which is Sardinia’s top quality milk producer if not the best to be found in Italy – you can hardly define that rubbish. The same with mineral water, they are presently marketing a pet bottle they call BLUE, and guess where the mineral water comes from? “Siete Fuentes springs – another indisputable quality product from Sardinia, all at a fraction of the “normal” retail price. Another quick way to guess if the store is robbing you is to use the average price method i.e. you just take a quick glance around and make a mental note of how many items are priced at less than 1 euro, apart from those eye catching discounts if you notice that the pricing is in something decimal point 99 it would be better to clear out. What you save on one item is compensated with others which you just throw into your shopper because you need them regardless of the price. Also the end of the day method is always valid, after shopping at certain stores you have an empty shopper and an empty wallet others like, Eurospin, may leave you with torn ligaments in your arms due to all the stuff you take away but at least you’ve got a healthier wallet. By the way here’s a tip to get round that fussy hubby syndrome (Barilla biscuits), you must have somewhere at home those Tupperware things for storing food, all you have to do is empty the sad looking bikkies and store them nice and tight into the container. You’d be surprised, apart from saving space in the cupboard, they also tend to disappear in no time at all – it works for my super sophisticated come spoilt come fussy kids so it will surely work with your sweetheart too!
Just a post scriptum regarding the Nutella issue ; rule of the thumb ALWAYS consider the price per kilo, it’s that itty-bitty figure near the price label on the product shelf. Where I last bought Nutella the glass container was more expensive (per kilo) and also the bigger “eye catching” jars – the best buy turned out to be the medium size – I know that depends on the shop-keeper but it’ a lesson that hard times are forcing us to consider.
I find this super interesting too…..you should post a list of say 6 or so items and we could price them and post the amount and where we live! It would be fun to see the differences!
Denise,
That is a great idea! Thanks! 🙂
Dairy and meat remain the most expensive here in the states too. We don’t buy either in our house anymore and it’s been interesting to see what we can get by on. We buy a lot of beans (dry and in the can) – always cheap and always go a long way. Thanks for posting this – always fascinated to see what is in another’s “shopping cart”. 🙂
Ciao Marion,
I would be interested to see your Daily Groceries from the states. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. 😉
Well that’s quite an interesting pole and right on the mark considering the economic slump. The international feedback helps shrug of the lonely islander feeling I sometimes get. Imo you could have saved a few (handy ) euros by steering away from some of those heavily publicized products which notoriously cost more due to their shelf prices bearing the burden of national or international campaigning. Barilla, Activia and nutella cost so much more than their average equivalents .You could have got a better buy by loading your shopper with the exactly the same biscuits which are usually located on the bottom shelf (you know those sad looking packets with no glossy logos splashed all over them).Well I can’t bring myself to suggest you to use imitation nutella (I’m an addict) but how about avoiding the nutella in “collectable” glasses, which apart from being tremendously kitsch also costs several euros more than the drab classical jars – due to my addiction, I must suggest you take into serious consideration those jumbo jars – they are a life saver. As for the yoghurt, being an islander, I suggest you just buy 1 original jar of your preferred bacteria or yeast, a litre of milk and get that homemade production going 🙂
Really awesome points here, but Im just not that kinda girl! Making yogurt, no way! 🙂
My husband only eats Barilla, if I buy a cheaper brand he won’t touch it. So it sits in the cupboard collecting dust for a few years.
The cheaper type of chocolate spread states like plastic. And the collectable glasses are 1,00 cheaper than that of the jar.
1kg of cookies coast 2,39. Not too bad for a huge bag!
I also don’t drive. And the nearest Eurospin (which I think is also garbage, the quality is very low) is 30mins away from us. So we would have to put gas in the car, which costs money and drive.
The cleaning products were on sale: the soap was ,95 and the bathroom cleaner was … I can’t see the price listed on the receipt. Strange.
expensive, yes. And you are right about all island groceries being more expensive- but I have to believe it’s worth it living by all that beauty and water 🙂 I am currently land-locked and saving my pennies for someday….
It’s the price you pay for living in paradise, that’s for sure. The same was when I lived in Cayman Island, oh boy were things expensive there! And if there was a storm and the ships didn’t come in for a few days the prices skyrocketed!
Here (Borgomanero – Novara) is pretty much the same if not more expensive…. 😦
I saw someone replying from Isili…it’s where my father was born and I still have family…so, sorry but left her a message too….
No need to apologize. It’s nice to find someone from your hometown. 🙂
I ought to post my pile of groceries too on my food blog. Health food isn’t always cheap. i appreciate seeing what you bought. I’d love to live where you are. I feel that I spend probably about that much for quality products here in the US. When buying store brands, it would definately be less. Nice comaparing apples to apples. lol
Norway is of course more expensive on most groceries, but Italy is more expencive than we would think..
Love this post! One of my favourite things to do while travelling is go to the supermarket so I’ve loved checking out your grocery receipt. I I think this basket would be a little cheaper here in the UK, on average. Definitely the yoghurt and biscuits would be at least half that price. The meat might be a little more expensive though, depending on the quality.
I love the idea of posting the cost of groceries/living where you live. I think I might start doing this too, and maybe link up with others taking part, so we can all compare.
Great idea!
Ciao Marianne,
That would be a great idea! Let me know when you’ve posted yours. Thanks for the comment.
Most of these items would be much more expensive in Australia.
Wow, really?
We have a eurospin here (in isili) and i am so relieved…I like to buy fruits and veg at the markets but for cleaning stuff, and most other stuff (yogurt for ex is over 4$ in the states, here is 1.89 euro)–the discounts are great stores as you can shop several of them when you need stuff-they dont sell barilla, so i use the local groceries. also if you need butter you can go there on foot and get it-but for water, and other things the eurospins cut the budget in half. there was one in senorbi i used to go to-but once a month-now this one is 5 min away. makes a big difference. there are enough things i have to buy here for ‘the regular price’.
You live in Isili??? That’s where my father was born! He emigrated almost 45 years ago to the Netherlands where he still lives… But my uncle (dad’s brother) is Gino Argiolu who still lives there…they have a dealership…you know them??
You may be paying a lot for the yogurt. My local supermarket generally has one of the three top brands of yoghurt on special for $4.00 for 900g or 1kg tubs.