Food Prices

[JG]

Weve talked about the high inflation, but whats your guess on what an average expat should expect to spend per person per month on food. we could separate eating out costs and supermarket prices.
I will go today to buy something and next week its more. ok, maybe just 20 cents more, but then a week or so later its higher again. ive many examples i could give. up and up and up and up again.
i deny myself many things i wouldnt back home. in fact, i eat quite well back in the states. good quality food. here, im getting much lower quality stuff and im paying more. the packages are tiny here and half filled with air. i bought the kids favorite cereal. back home id throw a box or 2 into the cart. today, i bought 9 bags. thats a weeks worth. add it up, it comes out to more than the box or 2 back home that i buy on sale.
Im spending about 100 pesos per visit to the market. over 500 a month. thats for me and the kids on weekend. im not buying seafood (cant afford it plus its often not good in argentina), not buying cheese (costly and tasteless. if you want good cheese here, youll REALLY pay for it). im hardly buying any imported things. Eating out is not the bargain it once was.
So, whats your figure? (lets keep in mind, that english teachers make about 20 to 25 pesos per hour, call center bilingual workers earn 7 pesos per hour, etc).

 

[masalsur]

I find prices very good but then I always buy fresh food and cook it from scratch. No kids so I don't know about cereals, but things like pasta sauces in those tiny boxes make me wonder sometimes how much I'm paying. The quality of grocery store vegetables is somewhat low and very variable so I shop at three different ones (Disco, Coto and Norte). But I get a lot of my fresh fruits and vegetables from the verdulerias which are everywhere in my neighbourhood. Usually much fresher and better tasting. If you eat meat you must be impressed by the great prices for beef and pork! Chicken is drier and tougher than at home but I've adjusted my cooking methods. You're right about the awful seafood; the mariscos are frozen and terrible but you can get edible fish in the grocery stores. I eat the regular cheeses here and occasionally spring for something imported. It's all about local vs. imported, whether you are talking about food, clothes, alcohol, you name it. I feel that I eat really well for quite a bit less than back home.