Canberra - Post Report Question and Answers
How would you describe the availability and cost of groceries and household supplies relative to your home country?
Inflation everywhere is a bugaboo right now. Australia produces most of its own food so is both protected from global fluctuations but also tends to have funny things like "it's cold up north so the chickens are sad and not laying, everybody do without eggs" hippie life, support the farmers, etc. Everything is in English, but you might need new vocabulary to search what you actually want to buy. Take a few months to figure out what you really need to order in - May 2023
Pretty much everything is available - there is a Costco, Target and Woolies and Coles (the two biggest grocery stores) have pretty much anything and everything you could want. We sometimes struggled to find some more "American" things like graham crackers, canned pumpkin and cranberry sauce, but even those things could be found in a bigger city. Price was generally more expensive than the US, but the Australian dollar continued to decline while we were there and I, at least, found it was a mixed bag. Some things were definitely more expensive, but others could be cheaper (ie: avocados when in season = cheap), beer = always expensive). I didn't find the prices to be of particular hardship - especially after living in Africa. - Aug 2020
Groceries are easily twice as expensive as in the United States. Quality of produce is not as good, and fresh food tends to go bad quicker. Cured meat products and sausages are not as good as the States. Meat products are good, cookies and things like that are excellent. Bakery isn't as good as the States, nor does it have the variety. - May 2012
Almost everything you could want is available in grocery stores, although some brands are different than in the States. Groceries are significantly more expensive. - May 2011
Groceries are expensive! We spend $500 per month for 2 adults. - Dec 2010
Groceries are very expensive, especially compared to DC. You get used to it after a year. - Nov 2010
Again, more sticker shock. Australia is a VERY expensive place to live. Think $3.50 for a bottle of Coke when it's on sale. We were spending about $500 every 2 weeks on groceries for just the two of us. Use the butcher shops, though -- the meat is much better in quality at a lower price! - Apr 2010
We consider it higher than in the US. Our (2 adults + 1 kid) weekly grocery bill is at least 200 AUD (about $180 US). Most of it is basic stuff like milk, bread, meats, canned goods. - Oct 2009
With the current exchange rate the prices are fine. But if the dollars are equal Canberra is very very expensive. You can find most products here expcept for a few things like Mexican food supplies, grape jelly and bisquick. - Apr 2009
