Is it possible to know an approx cost of food shopping for 4 people in France? Is it more than or the same as the UK in cost?
Are prices for living more than the UK roughly speaking?
Even without all the other variables it’s a bit meaningless comparing between two different currencies. Are you counting on £1=1,40€ or £1=1,10€? Because it makes quite a difference, as folks living in France on a fixed UK pension will probably tell you…
But on the grand scale of things, probably works out roughly similar overall.
Anna I dont understand your reply? I am not on a UK pension. I was asking about general monthly living costs food etc for a family. I am not comparing any currency just asking for an approx figure in Euro a month.
Justin…
I know folk who reckon France is more expensive than UK and other folk who think France is cheaper.
Personally, we eat the local produce NOT imported items (eg UK) which are usually more expensive. Some folk cannot survive without the UK type food, so spend much more.
Frankly, it all depends on how you shop and what you buy. Weekly publicity arrives through the letterbox and details all the special offers and bargains to be had in the supermarkets.
Small local shops can be excellent… as I say, it all depends …
Why not look at the websites of Leclerc, Carrefour, Auchan and see what they are offering… gives you an idea of what you can buy and the costs involved.
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For what it’s worth my income buys me a much higher standard of living than it would in the U.K. but I don’t live near the capital city.
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Thanks Stella. I use Auchan where I am now (not in the UK) and it’s cheap. I’m inclined to think Achan is cheap while Carrefour etc are more like M&S in price? I dont live in the UK now so can’t compare prices. If I can grow my own on my terrace, I will or make bread at home etc anything to keep costs down.
Hi Justin…
All the Hypermarkets/supermarkets (including Carrefour ) offer excellent value for less money.
M&S prices can be found in smaller, specialist shops and boutiques…
Home-made is (to my mind) always best… except for the bread… yum yum… so many varieties…delicious.
Take a deep breath… all will be well…
250/300 € per week.
We have many friends who live around/near Paris…in each suburb there are splendid markets and shops… I am sure their houses cost more (taxes/utilities) but not necessarily food products…
No, you actually asked for a comparison with the UK '(i.e. €/£). That was the post I was responding to:
For my situation I find I have a LOT more money than I had in the uk, Whilst in real terms our wages are lower, the numbers are the same on the payslip but the euro is worth less, when we were in the uk we struggled to get by and make the money last the month, here we have found that my partners income covers all the necessities, ie, rent, leccy, gas, food, water, etc etc, so my income is basicly disposable income.
I have basicly gone from wondering if there will be food on the table at the end of the month to where I am now, for example, looking in the fridge, thnking i can’t be bothered to cook and going to a restuarant on my way to work instead
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Of course in the UK your pay has already had income tax deducted when you got it, and here it doesn’t, so the budgeting is different.
Makes budgeting different, yes, but that doesn’t change the fact I have gone from diddly squat to about a grand and a half a month disposable just by changing country
Lucky guy. Enjoy life and cheap wine and good cheese 
I hate french cheese, and cold meat, and pate, and undercooked roasts, oh and french “beer” is just basicly carling in disguise… give me a cheese and onion cob off of the back bar and a pint of Tiger any day… guess you can’t have everything!
but in all honesty, if i had listened to what people were saying i would nevere have moved here, if i were you, don’t think about it, rent a place for a year, see if you like it, and if you don’t go back, nothing ventured, nothing gained
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Joe you must feel like a Vegan at a Hog roast living the land of foods you hate! Cheese, colds meats etc etc. As Alf Garnett would have said in the British “non PC” sitcom “Im not eating any of that foreign muck!”
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/3698670335/1820400c5be8830a7512d8e0fbf44fc3_400x400.jpeg
I can’t speak to four people but I can speak for two. I kept a spreadsheet of every centime that we spent for the first two years that we lived here (rural Languedoc 20 km from Narbonne) full time. Keep in mind that we are careful shoppers, buying mostly in supermarkets like Carrefour but maintaining trade locally as well. We eat out occasionally but not often, a couple of times a month plus a weekly pizza night. And we stayed close to home for concerts and day trips and the like.
We spent just under 2,400 euros on regular monthly expenses that included food, wine, eating out, mortgage (550 euros monthly), utilities (230 euros monthly), and such miscellany as keeping ourselves and our cats happy and healthy. If you add certain one-time expenses like buying appliances and furniture that you expect to last for many years or the cost of satisfying our immigration requirements, the monthly costs average out to just over 2,600 euros.
Unless your income or the savings from which you draw your income is in euros, you do have to consider the exchange rate.The strong US dollar today means that our income in dollars buys 25% more euros than they did when we first moved. That’s a significant difference.
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Can you tell us who you are “anon29052452” … makes things so much friendlier… 
I think he was the chap who was scared of moving to france
I’ve banned user Mr Morley
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