It is with great pleasure to announce the long-awaited 2017 Cost of Living Report, Sardinia, Italy. The last report was almost five years ago, so I thought it was due for an update.
Most villages in Sardinia have a weekly fresh market that sells local fruit and vegetables, cheese and salami, clothing, kitchenware, locally made leather goods, locally made pocket knives and fresh flowers. I prefer to buy local and go to the town’s weekly market every Monday morning. I fill my re-cycled cotton sacs with enough in-season produce to last about a week, I also buy about 400gr of aged pecorino and local salami at the market. It’s fresh, it’s local and I’ve bought like this for over 10 years and I wouldn’t change a thing!
There are many shops where you can get your daily meal:
- Buy local from the farmer at his farm or farm stand.
- Buy from the local supermarket.
- Buy from larger supermarkets like Sigma, LD, LiDL, Nonna Isa, Auchan, Sisa, and many others.
Prices will vary across the island, closer to the sea expect to pay 25% more than in rural areas. Prices will also greatly vary from supermarket to supermarket. The prices listed below are a median price between discount supermarkets, Major Brand supermarkets, and the Local Farmer supermarket.
Cost of Living ReportSardinia, Italy
|
2013 |
2017 |
| 1 liter of Gas | €1,65 in the city €1,85(rural) | €1,39 (city) to €1,95+(rural) |
| Electricity (every 2 months) and depends on the time of year. | Winter €63
Summer €48 |
Winter €75 (now includes a €10 a month fee for RAI television channels.)
Summer €68,80 |
| Home Internet – Vodafone, Wind, 3, Telecom Italia (Alice), Infostrada, Tiscali, Fastweb are the main providers. Most bars and restaurants offer free Wi-Fi. | €15/month for 10 hours of internet time, a day.
|
€20/month for 10GB of usage per month. (Much better 4 years ago when there was longer internet usage, could watch videos, the odd movie, and even MotoGP. The only way around this is to have a fixed line for home internet and a contract. I prefer pay-as-you-go with zero contracts as some companies automatically charge crazy amounts for going over your usage, not recharging the monthly payment on time, taking GB from the user and the list could go on.) |
| Cellphone – same companies as above. | €10 a month, only calls & texts. | €7 a month with 4GB, 300 mins to Canada, 500 mins within Italy, Unlimited text to other Vodafone users, 1 free text to other telephone companies. |
| Water | Drinking water we get from a freshwater fountain a few towns over. | Still get drinking water from the same fountain. Great water! |
| Eating Out | Two pizzas €5-€12 plus cover change €2,50, a bottle of local wine €8, dessert €4-€8, coffee €2.
Let’s not forget the high-end restaurants in areas like Porto Cervo, Palau, Cagliari City and Santa Teresa where you can pay anywhere from €100 to €600++ a person for dinner out.
|
About the same. Pizza prices haven’t changed in 5 years. Some places have charged a higher cover charge; bottles of wine will be more expensive than local wine.
There are still those fabulously glitzy restaurants to spend those euros on. |
| Rent | By the sea €700 to €1200. Interior €300 to €600. | By the sea €800 to €1500+. Interior €400 to €800+. |
FOOD |
||
| 6 eggs free range | €1,15 | €.99 (discount store) or €1,20 to €1,99 in other supermarkets. |
| 1 liter of milk | .79c to €1,77 | .99c to €2,99 |
| 300 grams local bread | .95c | €1,20 |
| 500 grams major brand pasta | .64c to .83c | .50c – €1,10 |
| 1 kg potatoes | €2,50 | €3,00 |
| 5 large bananas | €2,39 | €2,79 |
OTHER |
||
| 6 two liter bottle of water | €1,80 | €1,99 – €3,28 |
| 16 regular maxi pads | €2,39 | €2,79 (for 11 pads)
|
| 8 Tampons | €3,29 | €3,49 – €4,29 |
| 6 Condoms | ??? | €8,00 |
| Major brand toothpaste | €2,39 – €3,59 | Prices haven’t varied much here. You can find good toothpaste on sale for .99c. |
| Laundry detergent | €2,50 – €8,99 | Roughly the same. |
| Dish Soap | .99c | .99c – €1,50 |
| Diapers (small pack) | €4,99 – €7,29 | €5,29 – €8,79 |
AT THE BUTCHER |
||
| 5 thinly sliced chicken breast | €5,41 | €2,39 – €3,50 (the only thing that has gone down in price.) |
| 400 grams minced beef | €3,85 | €4,19 |
| 500 grams local salsicca | €5,48 | €6,15 |
| ¼ local pecorino cheese | €4,23 | €4,65 |
Have I forgotten anything or is there something I missed that you’re curious about? Please tell me about it in the comment section below.
and …
How does the Cost of Living Sardinia 2017 compare to where you live?
My Sardinian Life 
Hello, thank you for the post. Is it easy to order products online (i.e. fashion, beauty supplies, tools, household objects, etc.) from mainland Europe or further abroad? Do you find that it is generally more expensive to have goods shipped to Sardinia, or that some companies won’t ship there at all?
Yes, you can order many items online and have them delivered. I’m not sure about household appliances though. That might be better to buy from a local shop. I don’t buy much online here as I can find everything I need in the larger cities.
Thank you Jennifer! That’s helpful 🙂
Hi, I have just visited some friends who live in Mallorca and the residents get 75 pc off on all the flights and fares to Spain.
I was wondering if you get a discount on the connections to Italy?
Thanks a lot and bye from Austria
We did with Meridiana, now it’s owned by AirItaly, so I’m not sure of the discount still applies. But that was the only airline that offered discounts to the mainland.
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Hi Jennifer, have you tried the praline chocolate of Peano, artigiani del dolce in Ozieri? They are super!!! flavoured of olive oil and pecorino cheese (among others) tHE SHOP WON some national chocolate price and they deserved it!!!!! I go by car from Nuoro to Ozieri just to get them, they cant be found in normal shops, unfortunately.
Tamara Delli
Hello, I have not, yet, tried the praline chocolates from Ozieri. But the next time that I’m there I will be sure to. Thank you for the advice.
Prices are much higher than you would expect, especially the bread which is exorbitant, compared to any place in continental Europe. One wonders how that is possible, it’s produced locally.
Rent prices are for houses or for apartments? This is not clear.
Very nice blog, keep it up.
Yay Canada!
Thanks for stopping by. Rental prices are a general price for a home or an apartment.
I use a stuffa placed inside the fireplace which is not connected to a centralised system. I open all doors to let the heat through. Our gasolio is centralised.
We have our gasolio delivered and we must take at least 500 litres (over600 euros). It’s a lot to pay out in one go. However, 4 years later I have discovered you can collect it from the gas station in canisters as it’s the same stuff. The only difference is the colour.
Interesting, thanks for sharing.
Does it get cold in Tuscany? Are you living in the mountains?
Yup! Snowing now. Further up the mountains the more snow you get. Abetone has a ski resort.
There’s even a ski resort here in Sardinia! 🙂
Splendid😁
Hi Jennifer, your blog is so helpful and insightful; credit to those who take the time out to post comments that are of value as well. Though I’ve recently come across your website, I tried to read as much as I could, so as to absorb as much information as possible. With that being said, I’m sorry if I ask a question that you might have already covered in a post. I’d like to know about the overall health care situation on the island. Have you had any experiences at any of the local or regional hospitals? Cost is always a factor to contend with; however, I’m most interested in patient experience for expats. Do you have any insight from actual employees at these facilities?
Stange that you ask the question about hospitals. I just spent 12 hours in one for a day surgery and although the surgery was successful everything else was a headache. You’ve given me an idea about a future post. Thanks.
Yikes, that is strange! If it’s any consolation the reason I asked is because I majored in the health sciences, as well as health care management, so naturally it is an area of interest for me. Overall it’s a topic I try to familiarize myself with when planning a trip overseas. I’m sorry you required surgery (never fun), and I hope all is well. I will be anxiously awaiting your future post on this topic!
When I first read my gasolio bill, I almost coughed up a lung😱. I was a newbie, 800 euro in 6 weeks. We now use wood and it’s about 500 euro for 4 months. Happy Days😍
Woah! That would have been a tough bill to swallow. Wood, the safe and cheaper choice.
And less polluting too, because they didn’t have to get it out from the earth first. The carbon from the wood is already there as it’s part of a natural cycle, any carbon from coal or oil had to be dug up and is an addition to what’s already here.
This is probably a silly question; however, I have to ask. Are you referring to a wood burning fireplace, or a centralized wood burning heating system that disperses heat throughout the residence? I would imagine as far as the stove is concerned that must operate on natural gas, or “gasolio”? Just trying to get a better grip on utility options in Sardinia.
Thanks!
Hello there, and thanks for leaving a comment. There are no silly questions in my books. 🙂 The ‘gas’ that I was refering to was for a car, not for the home. We heat our home with gasolio and it’s super expensive. I’m not sure the quantity because we have a massive barrel that holds the gasolio. I do know, to heat our home, just one level, for the winter months costs close to 800 euro, that gasolio is also used to heat the water. It just depends on what type of home heating you have. We do not have a fireplace, but now wish we had installed one when we built the home. There are centeralized “stuffa’s” that burn pellets, each bag costs around 5-8 euro, and I believe a bag of pellets lasts for just a day, maybe less. I’m sure some of the commenters here can provide more accurate price points. I sure hope this helps. 🙂
I would like you to understand my heating in my loverly bright home.I have an open fire place most or all houses do in Sardinia.I cook my food on a grill and I roast chestnuts and as the Sardians say the fire is a componey for the ones who live alone.I spend 330 euros each winter and my fire burns more or less night and day from the middle of November until the end of February.Many people in Sardinia have replaced their open fires and installed pellet stoves some heat the water ect.My house faces South so I get on like this each year but I am going to install a small pellet stove in the sitting room I leave all my doors open in the house and I am cosy.
People, good isolation is of supreme importance. I think adequate isolation for your house can save you as much as half of your heating bills.
In any case, I didn’t think heating would be that much needed in Sardinia. How cold does it get in Winter anyway? It should be comparable to Spain for chrissakes, although the coastal regions.
It was snowing yesterday in Tuscany, it gets to a minus during the peak of winter. What I believe is Spain stays hot all year round. I’m not aware of Sardinia’s climate.
Hey Jennifer-What are classic muscle cars going for-Like a 1967 Chevelle SS or a 69 GTO convertible-Just saying
Hahaha. Nice one. 🙂
I pay 1.80 for a liter of wine.I buy local and buy 5 liters at a time in glass bottle.
Eggs hear are 35 cents each,fresh free range from neighbour . Electrics are more expensive if you do not have residencedency the same with water. ,if you own your own home you have tax to pay.remember their is the rubbish collection to pay anualy roughly 70 euro paid twice in a year.electric for me in winter about 140 each two months from December to end of march and summer about 30.I am on the night time cheaper rate.and all weekend .If you need to buy logs ,Each winter I order 20 quintale for 330 euros last me all winter and cut in three different sizes
My broadband is very fast I pay 28 per month for unlimited WiFi.
I remember some years ago having unlimited internet here, that didn’t last lone. LOL.
Dear Jennifer
what happened to your internet are you with Tim once Telecom the main supplier, they have put in fiber optics hear but it cost more it is the council of your area who do all that stuff mine is good, perhaps have a word with the local Mayor, it is much better to pay extra and stay with the main supplier, that is a shame for you,I need good broadband for work and family I am sure like most people,what does LOL mean I am a bit thick.
God Bless you for your Blog thanks.
Because we left Italy for close to three years we had to cancel our internet contracts. When we moved back, we didn’t want a fixed line, so went pay as you go, this was the best option at the time.
Rosalie Stuart, LOL mean “lots of laughter”. It stems from the early days of the internet.
Hi Jennifer. Interesting reading thank you. I think I would also include beer and wine – we get our Cannonau from Perfugas at €2.15/litre. Large bottle of Ichnusa from local Chiaramonti bar €2.50 but around €1 from the supermarket.
On a lighter note, I would have put condoms, diapers and alcohol in the same category as I believe they are all linked!
Thanks again.
LOL! I can see your point and it made me spit my wine out in hysterical laughter. Thank you. Not sure how I could have forgotten about beer and wine, thanks again. 🙂
So, I’m wondering about the price for electricity during the winter…does that price include leaving the heating on 24 hours a day?!?! lol! I need to know how many hours a day I can keep mine on without breaking the bank! 😉
Lol. What type of heating do you have? Ours is run by gas and can get expensive, we try to run it from the later afternoon on.
Don’t forget it’s the Mediterranean, unless you live in some mountain it never gets really cold (AFAIK).
On the other hand, it does get below zero here, and there are plenty of areas in Sardinia which are covered in snow during the winter months. Mediterranean or not, it still gets cold.