How to estimate a grocery budget for a new city

Choose what the budget includes

Separate food bought for home from restaurants, delivery fees and household cleaning products. Use the same boundaries in both cities. A household that cooks most meals and a household that eats out often should not be compared through one unexplained food total.

Normalize quantities

For a comparable product, divide the pack price by its quantity, then multiply by the quantity you expect to buy. Keep milk litres, rice kilograms and egg counts distinct. Check product type, pack size, promotion status, tax treatment and the observation date before treating two prices as interchangeable.

Illustration only: a 500 g pack costing 3 has a unit price of 6 per kg. Buying 2 kg would cost 12 at that unit price. This does not establish a real price in any city.

Do not turn a partial basket into a full bill

A subtotal for seven available items is useful but not a complete grocery budget. Keep the missing items visible. National reference prices can support a rough planning comparison when allowed by the methodology, but they are not evidence of prices in your particular shop or neighbourhood.

Sources and further reading

• Lifovra — How it works