Hi Cecilia, I'm a70 yr old Grandmom who loves your vlog. You make me laugh so much! The 1st time I watched you shoveling snow. You slung that shovel with snow on it but it went right into that push shovel. You were going to town. You didn't look behind you. You just threw that snow! I watch every day. You are quite a woman and beautiful to boot!! Take care. NONNA😅
When I retired and started living on a fixed income, reducing my food costs became important. When bread went to $5/ loaf, it went back on the shelf in favor of that $5 going for a bag of flour, small bag of sugar and yeast packets - which yielded 6 loaves of bread. Ditch the disposables! Instead of paper towels, I use dish-clothes. Instead of ziplock baggies, I use reusable silicon food storage bags. I grow lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes in my hydroponics units in winter and on the deck in the summer. Shop the markdowns/quick sale section of the store. Now I spend between $25-$50/week on groceries for one. The wide range lets me have $ for special value purchases in the store.
I think Grim must have been having terrible tooth pains because he hasn't been crying NEARLY as much lately. So glad you were able to get to the bottom of it. What a SWEET BOY! 💜🐶💜
Must start fasting!! Lol at least 4 days every week. That's a huge spending on food alone. Must vote out the ppl in govt ASAP! They have sided with their corporate donors and lying to you to get your vote!
Given current global inflation, I think you did well Cecilia! Because I get pretty much the same things all the time and have receipts from several years, I compared prices of individual items. For me here in the northeast US, it’s increased around 25-30% since February 2020. And that does not account for some packages staying the same price but the packages getting smaller. So fab to see you all… and go grocery shopping without spending a dime!😉👏🏻 I am so looking forward to your Portugal trip! 🌅
I am really enjoying learning more about your culture and lifestyle. I live in Northern Ontario, Canada. I am so glad that Grim is doing better! He is such a sweet boy! You have such a beautiful home and a priceless view!
I love seeing these food shops. Prices have gone up here in the UK too, I’m spending £150 a month more for the same amount for just 2 of us. I’m loving cheaper stores like Aldi, it’s worth having your groceries thrown at you at high speed for the saving you make. 😆
I enjoy your videos so much! They provide a window to another world and an escape from the mundane, predictable grind of normal life in the US. I can see the time and care you put into planning and creating them. They are beautiful works of art in themselves. And…. Grim is adorable, too. Thank you, again. K
That’s such lovely words! I just stumbled upon this channel too and also feel the same about mundane life in Australia 🇦🇺 It’s refreshing to see his other people live in this world
Cecilia, I’m from Portugal and I know you’re also here now and I swear to God its becoming more and more weird to watch your videos where snow is still abundant when here in Portugal temps are rising day by day 😂😅
Also, I always wonder this: having just one supermarket and being a village with not many people, how do the supermarket decide what food to import? Did they ever asked the people living there?
Sipping coffee while my son sits next to me on the couch playing and ‘me watching ur video on Sunday is a form of self care😂 love your videos, energy and editin! Love from Florida ☀️
Food here 🇨🇦 is expensive as well. A dozen eggs is $5-$8. I grow a vegetable garden every year. I grow everything from seed. I just transplanted 150 onion seedlings and sowed 600 carrot seeds. I planted 100 cloves of garlic last fall. I will be planting seed potatoes late May. I grow lots of peppers and tomatoes as well. Zone 4 but by starting seedlings indoors in April, I can manage the short growing season. We have apple and pear trees in our back yard. Raspberries and haskaps too. I don't eat much but my husband does! A bit of yogurt with hulled hemp seeds is my breakfast. He wants eggs and turkey bacon and bagels! I can see how so many people are dependent on food banks.
Groceries are incredibly expensive here in Washington state, too. Shelves are also empty at times. This was very interesting to see your shopping experience and cost. We don’t do a budget, we just get what we need and not much extra. I loved ❤❤ Grim’s spotlight segment! I would just love to snuggle that dog! ❤❤❤ I am not a fan of hot weather and it has been unusually warm here and is finally cooling down for a few days. The snow looks so wonderful and inviting! ❤😊
I’m in Washington state too. ( northeastern tip of) Small town, one little Safeway, so many empty shelves .and it’s CRAZY right now… and trying to keep up with a 13 year old boy is killing us 😫
Eastern WA here too, by WSU. I'm a single mom on disability and we both have celiac disease so we have to be gluten free and I have a ton of food allergies. Its frustrating to pay more for medically necessary food and inflation has made things much worse. In order for my son to habe enough food I can only afford to feed myself once a day so I'm constantly hungry. This has not been good for my mental health either but my insurance won't cover therapy even though its a pre-existing condition that I've had since high school. Our food bank doesn't have food I can safely eat, food stamps is impossible to get through to on the phone to complete a review so we keep losing out on benefits and I can't afford gas to drive 45 minutes to the nearest DSHS office either. Its gotten really bad for us. I know a lot of my neighbors are struggling too. I keep reading news about food theft being at an all time high, not surprising imo considering the prices. A loaf of gf bread is between $7.00 to $12.00 depending on what is in stock, if its in stock at all and of course with grams bread you are lucky if its not full of holes or moldy and if you find a good loaf it still only makes about 6 tiny sandwiches. I heard a loaf of regular white bread in Seattle is like $6.00 which is crazy, I can't even imagine how expensive it would be to have to be gluten free over there if regular bread is that expensive, if bread is usually twice the cost of regular bread. I try to stick to meat, vegetables, fruit, rice and dairy as much as possible to avoid the gluten free up-charge but some items are just necessary like broth, pasta, cereal and bread, though meat prices are ridiculous lately too so I've had to cut back on that as well. The price of co-pay for my medications doubled this year too so inflation is just hitting from all sides, as I'm sure it is for a lot of people. My heart hurts for everyone struggling to afford their basic needs right now.
in some places, the prices have been in insane for a long time. The same reasons as longyearbyen. A lot of places, mostly in the US. Dont understand that shipping = higher food costs. As the US doesn't ship in nearly as much as food as places like canada or other cold climates. Canada is more expensive and always has been more expensive then the US. Inflation is merely inflation to some parts of canada. Living costs and grocery items have always been expensive since the 80s or older. Its so cheap in the US in comparison that border cities travel to the US for groceries. It doesn't need to be fresh, its just expensive because most food has to be shipped from the US. The dollar is higher to top it off. Other canadian provinces that are cheaper dont even realize how expensive certain parts of their country really is. Some is comparable to Alaska and thats probably the only state, with maybe an exception to hawaii because they are an island. In terms of costs. A lot of people treat inflation like its new today, as if its never been seen.
@@wildlifewarrior2670 yes, you’d be shocked at how much fresh produce we ship in. Sadly I believe we de don’t don’t grow as much of our own own produce because farmers most likely get get incentives to grow certain crops besides produce instead (ie soybeans, cotton, etc)
Here in the smokies of western NC, our prices are so high! The thing is, you buy berries and half or more are bad! Most produce does not last. This time of year, we have local produce markets and I grow some… I see prices in alaska and other countries and honestly, it’s not much higher than here.
I remmeber inflation and high gas prices and lines in late 70s and 80s . Seems people don’t know about that. My father did what people now cal homesteading then. We built cabin and grew everything and had all animals and self sufficient. Used wood stoves etc. now it’s Ike it’s new thing.
I love this subject because I realized that I was spending a lot on food but decided to monitor better. I do use a budget but I care for others in my home and it is hard to say no to snack items which are ok once in awhile. 😮😢😅😊
Where I live vegetables are really cheap. Like $1.20 for 5 Kg potatoes. $1 for 2-4 kg tomatoes (price can vary depending on the season) 500g mushroom for 1$. I don't think you can even $50 a month for vegetables here.
Hi I found your videos last night and I am hooked on watching your videos. I have always wanted to try different foods from all over the world. Thank you for all of your wonderful videos you put out on RU-vid from a very new fan from the USA
Hi Cecilia. I too love your food haul videos. I live in Northern California, USA. The grocery store used to be my happy place. NO MORE! Prices are still going up even though inflation supposedly has slowed. When Walmart raises their prices we know there's a problem. I have budgeted most of my life because I really like to know where my money goes and I don't like surprises, like gee we have no money left. I start at what the US government says is the amount a family of three gets on Food Stamps which was $745 in March. Luckily produce is quite affordable in California. Your $3.50 avocado is about $1.00 here. Watermelons are normally $5.00. Also we have lots of choices in stores. Also we have the big box stores like Costco. When I stock up for the pantry I usually add about $300-$400 to the budget. I don't have an attack if I go over but I do look at what caused it. I try to buy fresh instead of packaged and grass fed beef and pasture raised chicken and eggs just from a humane standpoint. Eating well now though is kind of a full time job to find good buys.
I'm a bit amazed that you spend basically the same amount on groceries a month as my monthly wages here in the states, I'm retired but still working so I get a monthly Social Security check which is less than my current monthly wages. Still, I only spend around a quarter of my total monthly income on food, which is pretty easy since I don't buy anything extravagant and buy and cook in bulk when I can, especially when I find things on sale. I imagine living where you do and how food has to be shipped in your cost for similar items here in the states are more expensive.
That receipt is about as long as what we get here in Australia when you buy just three things! Great to see what a food shop looks like on a remote island...thanks as always for sharing with us. :)
I live in BC Canada and went and got 1 and half bags of fresh fruit and vegetables yesterday, nothing super fancy or expensive and that cost me 89$ CAD so I could only imagine what it would have been there! Thanks for the great videos! And also if you are still looking for more topics for your videos I would be really interested in seeing and finding out more in-depth on what your medical facilities and what your hospital/ clinic has to offer the residents. I have seen your other videos but they don’t touch on that much. Just putting the idea out there! Thanks stay safe! Xoxo
I love that you show real life houses are not perfectly clean mines never perfectly clean. That just means your videos are real to me. Thank you for sharing.
What I've learned through the years in budgeting for food, is to also meal plan. Whatever is not necessary will need to go. Definitely be careful or mindful with treats, chocolate, & coffee prices.
I don't either, just frozen veggies is my fast food. I am a vegan so I buy a lot of fresh veggies. I juice ever am and I eat 2 salads daily.l need to make yogurt because I do make overnight oats with vegan kefir or yogurt
Love the videos, Cecilia! We can all relate to high costs for groceries so this video is right on the mark. I spend about $500 USD per month on food for one person and I take all the advantages I can such as customer loyalty discounts. If you assume that you are paying about 30% more due to supply issues in getting food to Svalbard, then your bill makes some sense in that my $500 would be about $1000 for two people plus 30% would be about $1300 USD per month. Have you the ability to order bulk food stuffs like canned foods, flour or even milk and cheeses? You may be able to save some money unless shipping costs negate any bulk discounts. Enjoy your vacation in Portugal! Hello to Christoffer and Grim! Thanks for the videos!
If we don’t buy non food items or extras, we usually end up spending about 100 to 140 a week. We try to buy at least enough that two meals last us 2 to 3 days each so we can make it stretch. Our splurges are coffee, creamer and espresso grounds. That’s also for a family of 3.
14-18000 NOK in one month?? I’m from Norway and for me that’s insane😅 But I can understand the costs if you buy everything you want every month. And the prices are a bit higher on Svalbard than in Norway dough🙃 Cottage cheese, dairy products, meat,energy drinks and that coffee milk you buy are incredible expensive🤯 10:52
I know right 😂and things you buy are more expensive than in Denmark, but the cost of food has risen so much here as well. I am also unfortunately out of income right now, but I have saved up for upcoming months and don't spend as much. Lactose free milk has gone up a lor as well, but it is still cheaper than plant based milk, unless they are on discount. We try very hard not to order much as well 😅
@@AlexandraAndStuff Diffucult to answer that question, the food prices are totally insane now a days, and it depends how many in a househould. I am a single mother so I have to be careful with my money. The gas and electricity are insane as well. Not fun to live in Norway now a days… But I use about 6-7000,- NOK I think. I have one teenage girl in my house. I could also cut down on my budget and use cheaper alternatives🙈
I really enjoyed this video, and seeing more of Christoffer’s life and perspective in your home on Svalbard. I’m so grateful that you have chosen to give us all a little insight into your life, and where you live. Svalbard is such a beautiful place that is amazing to learn about, and your channel has made that possible for me and so many others! So thank you Cecilia, Christoffer, and Grim 💜
Love your video at the grocery shop. I usually spend about 800 euros a month on food. In Italy taxes are very high and all in all the food is still the lesser evil. Anyway 1600 euros are a lot! Grim is a treasure! Thank you for this beautiful video
I’m in PA in the US, and prices are still too high, but shopping at the 3 warehouses here definitely make it easier to shop around for the best prices. Love your videos. Enjoy your week 😊
Jag brukar räkna ut varje måltid, t.ex vad frukost kostar, lunch, middag och snacks. För att se om något sticker iväg onödigt mycket. Ibland kan man få ”mer för pengarna” om man gör fler portioner på en gång. Älskar dessa videos önskar den va 1 timme lång❤️
I live in a small village and we only have 1 store. No drug store, nothing, just 1 small grocery store. We often don't have fresh produce either. The price of food here is unbelievable. I'm positive it's more than you spend. Maybe we should compare prices. That would be fun. Much love and as always, cuddles to that gorgeous Grimm.
I hope they restock the oatly soon!!😂😂 fun fact, oatly in indonesia use to cost 8+- usd a few years ago, they dropped to aprx 4-5 usd now due to one of the big food company here making a local version that cost 2.5 usd+- with a taste that is almost similar 😌They basically lost the monopoly and adjusted to a more reasonable local market price. This also dropped down the whole general price of coffee shop that have oatmilk alternative. (starbucks included, fancy/posh coffee shop excluded) so its a rare occurrence of deflation of JUST 1 PRODUCT!! 🤣
Always love your grocery shopping videos 😍 Yeah we spend just as much on food a month if not a little more so it really is everywhere that things are so expensive. Fresh meat and vegetables are so ridiculous now we stick to frozen as well.
Is incredibile how the life in other places like that is so different!really amazing video! We are currently in Finland also making some reportages of this country! 💪🏻🇫🇮
I love your grocery shops! It always makes me think, “Gosh, I really would love to live there!” Also, can we talk about your show dog, Grim? Omg, more tricks, please 🥰🧡🐾
As someone living in Canada's remote north, I have to say you are spoiled for choice with your grocery selection. We often have only one brand of an item and our single grocery store is half the size of Svalbard's despite having similar population numbers. As a teacher, I can't afford to spend a lot on food, so I order essentials like canned goods, toilet paper and dog food on the annual sea lift. I can often find specialty items cheaper on Amazon, and when I travel home to the South I bring back suitcases filled with the foods I miss. We have only one restaurant here and its availability is spotty due to staffing issues, so we tend to cook for entertainment. You can do a lot with the right spices and an instapot. I grew herbs and lettuce in my classroom this year under grow lights and they gave me several salads a week. We, too, occasionally splurge on items we wouldn't buy in other locales simply because our options here are limited and small indulgences get us through the long winters.
For the very first time I’m keeping track of how much I spend for our family of 5. Including household products and toiletries were going to end up near $1400. My husband thinks this is astronomical, he also hasn’t been inside a grocery store in the last decade 😅 California is expensive, obviously. But ugh, so spendy!
I live in NYC so 1600 seems like a normal amount to spend on groceries for 2 people, and that is if you just shop the basics and don't splurge too much. I guess there are some similarities between the most and least populated cities in the world 😆 And if you shopped at Whole foods and bought only organic and high end items you could easily double that!
@@kimm3385 Dude that is just for the basics. Vegan?? Meat is a lot more expensive than soy. Unless you're shopping at Walmart and eating hot dogs and discounted near expired food. That must be how you keep your food bill low. The rest of us are forking over 1600 and up for two people per month for the basics.
Great video yes Food shopping has increased so much many are finding they have very little left over end of the month after shopping heating ,water electric ,health insurance is payed 😮. Aww Grimm your such a cutie and smart doggiev❤ Cecilia hope your having a Great time in portugal visiting your Parents 🥰
Have you considered buying a few Aerogardens just to grow lettuce, tomatoes, herbs and peppers? They are small and do not take to much space. I use them year round.
Taco meat and tortilla chips? Add a little cheese and some pickles jalapeños and you’ve got delicious nachos. That’s our go-to we don’t feel like cooking meal. Yummy!
Here in rural Australia we spend 1200aud (8700 nok p/m) for family of 7. This includes 1 takeaway per week for the family. We are lucky enough to grow some salad foods and herbs ourselves. Food sometimes is also out of stock for a period of time. Great video guys ❤
I really enjoy how your videos just show a slice of life, i honesty prefer your videos about you just showing how life looks to you, the adventure videos are great too but these are my favorite ❤
Beautiful May for you! It’s been a real spring here on Long Island, New York, 60s and 70° weather Fahrenheit that is lol. My flowers are doing beautiful. That’s the one thing I wondered. Can you still buy flowers? It doesn’t look like you can grow them there obviously.
It would be interesting to what other people spend on the island spend compared to you. I spend about £85a week (1150 nok) for a family of 4 in the uk which has almost doubled from 2021 when we were only spending £45-£50 a week. (600-675nok) So it makes sense that it’s going to go up!
Living in South Africa 🇿🇦, we spend roughly R10000 per month. Including pet food, cleaning materials, etc. $1= R21. So, although prices have rocketed, not too bad, i guess ❣
Before the cheese starts to mold and you dont want to eat it everyday. I freeze it in. You cut it in slices with the cheese slicer. Put them on a plate on bakingpaper and you can easily loosen it from the paper and put it in a bag. You do it a few times from a larger block of cheese. I do that too with slices of apple and so on. I am from Nederland and i love your videos and they activate me. I talk to myself now to start getting things done. Love the scenery pictures. Goodbye.
Great ! A new video ❤I noticed you put your groceries in a cart but then carried them from the store to the car ! Don’t they let you take the carts outside ?
Dearest Cecelia, I always have this question in my mind, maybe somebody else already asked you. I am so curious about if you could grow something during the solar months like people in Alaska do. 🌻 I wish one day I will visit or live in Svalbard, the white paradise 💗
Yes! Like buy a greenhouse and get involved with gardening. It’s sad Svalbard isn’t conducive to grow a flower or vegetable or even grass. I would go out of my mind not seeing grass.
I live alone in São Paulo/Brazil (biggest city in the country) and I'm spending 150 dollars a month in groceries and hygiene products. In our currency it's about 700 or 800 reais
I live in a rural area in Calif. I've had to space out my shopping outings in order to buy fresh. I can get fresh veggies so I've figured out the stores best day to buy (I don't purchase if the Best By date is close.) I'm sure the town goes shopping after a new delivery of produce. I remember a Professor sharing his view of buying chips. When you calculate the price per pound of potatoes and then what the price per pound of potatoes is in a bag a chips, it made me realize chips are a luxury treat! I'm impressed that you are creating a budget and seening what you need vs what you enjoy. I'm assuming you keep Grim's food separate from your budget!
I can’t even imagine what it would be like spending that much. I’m picturing a U-Haul filled with food. My food assistance is $95 USD & I might be able to allot $50 of my own. Thank goodness for Walmart. Thanks for sharing this with us. Love you guys!❤️❤️❤️
@@michelleoh2735 Sounds like a nice store. It’s Walmart & I have an Indian grocery store near me that’s fairly reasonable. I’m a jeep dweller so it gets a bit tricky buying food
Chicken, salsa, black beans, corn, bar of cream cheese. Place all except for cheese in slow cooker. Once everything is cooked and you can shred the chicken, then add cream cheese until it mixes well.
I'm surprised and impressed that the supermarket has a gluten free section! When you cut back to the shop I spotted the iconic bright blue and yellow packaging of schar salti crackers. Pausing and zooming in I'm shocked but pleased that there's a fair amount of gluten free things in Longyearbyen.
Cecilia I always compare same items to same item. But the most important thing you can do is price EVERYTHING per ounce/lb. Look at everything BEFORE throwing it into cart! You will feel much better about each purchase. After watching your food shopping, you need to change the way you shop. I've always been frugal but more so now at the age of 70!
Cecelia, I really appreciate your channel. Just one thought regarding the Monster drinks…they are extremely unhealthy … better to buy high grade coffee which has health benefits.
I have had to resort to really making more of my own nut milks, coffee creamers, etc. It’s been an adjustment but so far, I’m doing it. I’ve also been stocking much more pantry items. I’m spending about $400 for one in US. I know I can do better, I just like my vegan mock meats etc. 🤦🏼♀️
You need to stop eating those fake, synthetic, factory produced fantasy meats, and just eat real, natural, unprocessed animal meat. People let these vegan ideas into their heads, and the next thing you know, they're a full-blown nutcase.
Another great video! I love watching your channel, and absolutely adore your coat. Blue is my favorite color, and it fits your wonderfully. Does anyone know the brand/name of her coat?! 🙏🏻
My husband and I spend around $700 per month on groceries for a family of 4 here in the USA. We definitely mainly buy what we need, what’s on sale, and limit the snacks. 😂 the struggle is real!
Luckily, I am in Oregon USA where we can grow veggies, fruits and grains. It is work to plant, maintain and preserve but worth it to me. Still, I have cut out a lot of drinks and snacks unless I get them at Grocery Outlet or Costco, on sale. I feel for everyone who is struggling.
You could buy 2 or 3 freezer units and freeze more food at home or make a walk in freezer room or shed, it might be cheap to power since you could use air vents most of the time.
Interesting that you keep potatoes 🥔 in the fridge. This will cost them to rot much much faster. They should be kept in a cool dark place such as a cupboard, but away from onions 🧅 (same storage rule) b/c they are a “moist” vegetable
Also keep potatoes away from apples. Apples and potatoes, when stored together produce ethylene gas which causes both to rot. As a general rule don't store fruits and vegetables together.
Have you thought of growing your own veggies/greens indoors? There is something called an "AeroGarden" that grows via hydroponics and UV lights on your countertop. I have never used one as I have a garden where I live but maybe that would be something to consider? You could have fresh greens all year long!
I loved the way you are trying to keep to budget, until I saw a couple of bottles of Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label Champagne. I’m like you and see this purchase as an essential.
Many times I've made meals from items left in the fridge or cupboard, some are more successful than others. The price of everything is going up all over the world, I can appreciate it may be harder to get food etc in remote places.
