Groceries and Meals, While Living in Sydney!

By barefootjonJuly 16, 2013 ( 1 )

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Hey everyone,

This post is for anyone who will be staying in Sydney for a long period of time with a group; basically this is for people who are here studying abroad or interning abroad. Below are going to be a few tips that I think are incredibly important to have sustainable cost effective meals so that you can save money and spend it on the more costly things in Sydney.

Well let’s begin:

Tip # 33 Prioritize Your Groceries and Diet

Groceries are not too terribly expensive here. One thing to remember here is that everything is in kg, so if you are from a pound oriented system just multiply the kg by 2.2 and that is how many pounds it would be. For most things, they are around the same price at home: milk is about $3, a bag of salad is $3, a large bag of carrots is $2, and so on.

However, if you are accustomed to region specific vegetables that are not produced in Australia…you may be in for a rude awakening. For me this happened with tomatoes. I LOVE tomatoes, I can’t go a day without eating a tomato. Here I’ve gone weeks without one, it’s pretty sad. Tomatoes are imported here a lot and they are really expensive. This is similar with other vegetables and fruits, as well. Bananas for example are quite a bit more expensive as well.

RECOMMENDATION: Figure out what you want to eat week by week, buy groceries at the beginning of the week and stick with that food. One or two weeks of groceries will cost only around $50.

Tip # 44 Go Domestic   

Kangaroo…The Healthy Choice

One of the best things about Australia is that they are incredibly health conscious. This can be seen in their food. Anything that is locally Australian will usually be cheaper and probably healthier than most imported products. For example…Kangaroo.

Yes it’s true, kangaroo is eaten a lot here in Australia, and it is actually damn good. It is also very cheap because they are everywhere. What I’ve found myself doing for meat is going to the grocery store and spending around $9 for either 8 kangaroo burgers or around 20 kangaroo sausages. Once you get past the concept that is an adorable kangaroo, the meat is super lean, super rich with nutrients, and very tasty.

This works the same with their cheeses as well. Cheese is already fairly expensive, so if you are looking for imported cheeses, good luck. Australian cheese is quite good though, so rest easy. I often times by a pack of 30 slices of Bega cheese for $9. That will last me a week or so on snacks and sandwiches.

RECOMMENDATION: Throw some Kangaroo on the barbie!

Tip #88 MAKE FRIENDS (Preferably Girls) 

I cannot stress this enough. It really comes down to a basic trend about food; guys are empty pits that eat, eat, and eat…girls often order meals, or prepare meals, and don’t finish anywhere near all of it. Thus, leftovers or additional food is put up to their friends around them.

As it is, many of my friends here will either overestimate how much food comes with their meals or simply make more food than they can eat because it is more efficient to cook their food that way. As a result, they end up offering some of it to those around them. It’s a great system.

However, don’t be greedy guys. If you’re not hungry, don’t go for extra food. I always wait to hear what everyone else says and then suggest that I’ll take what’s being offered. Just remember your manners everyone.

RECOMMENDATION: Be friendly, be yourself, be helpful.

 

Categories: Australia