Cost of food in Switzerland

[Vespar7]

I've just moved to Switzerland and I am completely shocked by the price of food (and everything else). I was just wondering how much I should be budgeting per month for food for me and DH. DD is 20 weeks so doesn't cost much yet.

Thanks

It takes a while for the £15 chicken and the £12 Mc Donalds to actually sink in.

Generally you'd want to multiply your UK budget by around 1.5 - 2?

What area are you living in?

I shop in Germany, it's similar, and sometimes cheaper than the UK, then I get my form stamped at the border office and when I revisit the supermarket I get the cash back on my German VAT. Also works in H&M, Pharmacy, Muller etc. I save it all (about 15 euros a week) and use it for Christmas.

So if you are on the border of France or Germany go there and do a "big" shop then go to Aldi Suisse for your last minute things in the week. Milk and bread aren't that much more.

I have to say though - Swiss meat is on another level of quality - incomparable with German or French.

If you don't want to do cross border shopping, well you will numb to it someday and you just have to buy as you usually would. You can't spend every day questioning the price of everything and not enjoying life. Take heart that the money is ensuring that Swiss workers are on a good salary supported by the prices.

You also have to remember the salaries most people are on in Switzerland are in line with the cost of living, and ex-pats usually earn more, when you add in a nice 8-10% tax rate you have more disposable income than you would in the UK.

Thanks. We are not too far from Austria but at the moment i can't drive so am having to make do with the village shop. I just spent 40 CHF on not very much (no meat) and was pretty shocked. Would like to set myself a reasonable budget and stick to that.

Grüezi Vespar!

Yes the village shop would be eye watering even in UK terms. Was it the Volg?

Bregenz is the big Austrian town for tax free shoppers. Maybe make a little weekend trip of it and have an explore/compare the prices. Then perhaps do a monthly trip over for larger items. Remember you are only allowed 500g of red meat per person to bring in from outside.

I'd have a look out for your local Aldi or Lidl as they are cheap too. Co-op and Migros can be expensive.

Denner. Don't forget Denner.
I used to go to France and do a big meat shop. I found the supermarket happy to make two receipts. One with non customs interesting stuff on it.
TBH, I was never stopped so that was OK.
PS Tuesdays at COOP are the one when they reduce everything perishable.

Ha ha Denner, yes it is cheap.

I never really shop there as the one locally to work has so much stuff blocking the aisles and two malevolent girls staring me out and chewing gum at the till that I never get what I want.

Maybe those two are shipped from canton to canton. Do yours have really thick eye liner and a mouth piercing?
You mustn't forget the old man who guards the coffee grinder and adjusts the coarseness. Unless that was just in Zug. He didn't even work there, but was very protective of the machine.

Denner for nappies! 28 chf for 120 rather than 24 chf for 56 in migros or coop. And migros often have very good deals on meat. Chocolate is cheap though....

Also, anyone near Luzern there is a Migros outlet type place which is well worth a look at.

Yes for Denner nappies! They seem to leak much less than Pampers. WallyBanters - did you multiply what you spent in £ by 1.5/2 and then convert it to swiss francs? My MIL told me she spends about 900CHF a month on food for 2 people which sounds insane! Wanted to buy some filled pasta in Migros the other day and it was 7.50 CHF. Put me off eating them!

Yes I would multiply by 1.5 and then convert.

900chf is very steep to me for two people- even in Swiss terms. Was there wine included in that? Do they consume a lot of meat?

I don't drink so my bill tends to be food only.

I remember coming to stay with a friend in Zug 15 years ago and bread was the same price in chf then compared to a fresh loaf for 55p in the UK, so actually in context some things have remained stable. It's just certain items don't seem to compute!

I've noticed that Swiss people generally consume less, you never see the same levels of people as you do in Asda for example, barely in control of a groaning trolley careering sideways across the car park due to the multipacks of biscuits, crisps, chocolate and pizza boxes nearly tipping it over!

You'll also never see as many 3 for 2's in your face as the UK. The only ones I see are multipack pasta deals or on washing powder. It has turned me into a totally different type of consumer. I no longer buy "armageddon" quantities of food.

It may also explain why they have the lowest BMI in Europe.

(Don't believe the hype, believe the European statistics - it's not the French women, it's the Swiss women]