rafay24 said:
Thanks for the reply. Its good to know that all desi stuff is available
Can you please share a list of food items that are available but expensive there compared to Pakistan, which I can bring in bulk and save money for a few months?
obviously every thing here is expensive as compare to Pakistan, whatever you are going to buy will be in Canadian dollars which at least in the beginning for you will look/feel like it is very expensive (cuz you will be doing currency comparisons/conversions in your mind), But eventually you will get use to it and wont look/feel expensive.
just for a comparison
Atta (9kg): price ranges from 6 to 15 Canadian dollars (lots of brands available)
bread : price ranges from 1.77 to 3 dollars (large size)
chicken from a desi store is like about 8-12 dollars.
all type of Daals available in different weight packings and none is below 10 dollars
all type of vegetables available and price varies from day to day (sometimes you buy the same thing at 10 dollars which you bought previously at the price of 5 dollars)
Pakistani massalay (national and other Pakistani brands) all at about 5-10 dollars a pack.
obviously you cannot (or not feasible) bring daily use grocery items with you and you have to buy them here in dollars as per your weekly/monthly consumption. (i am sure most of food items wud NOT be allowed to be imported in canada). Yes the trick here is to buy things in bulk and in large packing which reduce the cost significantly.
I personally do not see any food item feasible to be brought from Pakistan. yeah if you smoke cigs then you can bring your stock (allowed quantity) from Pakistan (here it may cost you 12-17 dollars a pack)
Things to bring from Pakistan:
Food: (none)
cloths: basic cloths for 2 seasons (summer and winter)
shirts, pants, 1-2 leather jackets (best item to bring), basic cloths for kids, under warmers (also a good item to bring),you can bring good shoes (i really miss the variety of gents shoes that are available in Pakistan). ladies will be happy with the shoes available here (price ranging from 20-500 dollars which ever price range she wants). joggers for summers (the service shoes) is a very good item to bring. So basically just list/bring the basic items in clothing which can accommodate you in your initial 2 seasons. I focus on basic things only because once you are here you will be forced to buy things from here due to the weather and usage requirement of this place.
House hold items: you can get every thing from here at any price you want to pay.Yes it may save you some money if you bring your basic cutlery, few serving dishes,cooking pots etc so that you can instantly activate your kitchen here without spending dollars..
Other items:
-if you are cricket fan and your kids like to play cricket then bring a good Bat and wickets. it is worth bring them.
-basic urdu books for your kids (if they are minor)
- Electric items: NONE they wont work here.
-bed sheets (dont bring them as hey wont fit in to the size of beds available here)
-furniture: doest make sense.
Conclusion: instead of food items focus on things which will help you to instantly start your living without spending too much dollars.
nothing else special coming in my mind right now....if anyone else wants to add something in the list.
