Shopping for Groceries and basic items in Sweden

The first day i went to a glocery shop in Sweden i got scared of prices and ran out of the shop,took a deep breath and went back inside. You might think i saw something scary but that was not the case. After looking at prices of various items in the shop, I immediately converted them to my local currency . I could not believe those were the prices because they were, way to expensive for me and i did not think of gloceries as being so expensive in Sweden. I ask myself if i was at the wrong place.I kept on multiplying all prices of articles by seventy(exchange rate of my Cameroonian currency to the Swedish kronor). After my mathematical calculations and brain storming in the shop i got tired and ran out.

You might guess what happened next. I told some guy we lived in the same corridor and he advised me not to convert anything to my local currency and he kindly took me to a cheaper shop in town. I did not do any more brain storming that day and bought the things i needed. I mistakenly got cat food that day, thinking i wanted to try somethng new and because it was cheap.

My tip to every one who will like to move to Sweden or has just arrived in Sweden is that, stop converting prices to your local currency while in Sweden and instead seek advise by asking your neighbours the location of low- priced glocery shops. Do not expect much for there is no really big difference between them. Nothing is really cheap in Sweden and it is an expensive country to live in. Buy what you need and avoid subscribing for unnecesarry things that will not help you.

You can ask people around you to tell you the cheapest shops in town for groceries and other articles you want. They are also second hand shops and you can visit blocket or your local newspaper pages to buy or look for furniture or whatever you might need for housing equipment. You just need to somebody to be shown them. There are also many shopping centers in the bigger towns and you can be lucky to make good deals that suit you. Here are estimated prices of certain basic items you will need:-
(1 Euro = approx. 9 SEK )or ( I dollar =approx 6 SEK:)

• Milk-(Mjölk) SEK 8/litre
• Bread- (Bröd) SEK 10-20/loaf
• Cornflakes box: SEK10- 30
• Margarine/Butter: SEK 20 /500g tub
• Cheese – (Ost) 30 to 50SEK 30-50/kg
• Lamb: SEK 60-90/kg
• Beef: SEK 70-140/kg
• Pork: SEK 50-100/kg
• Chicken:(Kyckling) SEK 30-50/kg
• Chicken Legs(Kyckling klubbor)SEK 20-30/kg
• Eggs: SEK 2 each
• Rice: SEK 30-35/kg
• Pasta: SEK 12/kg
• Soda: SEK 5/33 cl
• Cigarettes: SEK 35.50/packet
• Beer: SEK 6-10/33 cl, 2.8 to 3% alcohol at a Grocery shop
  Beer: SEK 10-20/33 cl , 5.2 to 7% alcohol at Systembolaget - the Swedish alcohol retailing monopoly(Opens Mondays to Satudays) The cheapest beer is 33cl, 5.2%alcohol and cost 9kr.
  Wine: SEK from 55 /75 cl bottle ( Systembolaget - the Swedish alcohol retailing monooly)
• Newspaper: SEK 12Cinema: SEK 85Theatre: SEK 50-200
• City-centre bus ticket: 16 to 20 Kr
• Dinner with wine or beer:200 to 300kr
• Pizza: 55 to 65 kr
• McBurger:20 to 58 kr
• Bananas:14 to 19kr(kg)
• Apples:12 to 16kr (kg)
• Dinner is an average resturant with wine cost about 250 kr

I hope you do not buy cat food mistakenly like i did or get items and because you read the prices wrongly and be forced to give it back to the cashier because you cannot afford for it. Take all your time in the world if you have it to look for the best deals.Finally it is very expensive to get drunk in Sweden.