Families invariably spend more despite price freeze

Dubai: With Ramadan comes iftars and suhours and an inevitable increase in grocery shopping trips. But how much more does an average family spend during the month?

Despite the price freeze on most essential items implemented by the Ministry of Economy, families often spend more because of a change in purchasing behaviour.

“Grocery shopping becomes more frequent, not necessarily more expensive,” Daoud Khalaf, a Jordanian national, told Gulf News.

“In all likelihood, we would go twice or thrice to the supermarket instead of the average weekly visit. Of course, the nature of things would change, too. When you are fasting, you start craving certain things like sweets and chocolates. We also tend to experiment with juices and try out new flavours,” he said.

His family of five experiences an approximate increase of 25 per cent over their average monthly spend, with his wife and three daughters preparing appetisers like cheese pastries and fatayer for the entire month before Ramadan begins.

“We would also have soup, salad and fatoush for iftar. That goes without saying,” he said.

This increase in grocery expenses happens despite the fact that the family also likes to eat out.

“During the end of the month, when the wife gets a little tired, we like to treat ourselves and eat out,” he said.

For Pakistani Tayeba Hussain, the story is quite similar. As the family of three likes to entertain guests regularly, they end up making a lot of appetisers and trying out different dishes.

“There is definitely a change in what we buy. There is a focus on fruits, puff pastry sheets, samosa sheets, juices and oil. Staple food items like rice and flour aren’t used as much,” she said.

How does that affect her monthly budget?

“Earlier, I would not focus a lot on how much more we were spending, but this year I want to be more conscious about our expenses. Regardless, I do expect an increase of almost 30 per cent in our spending,” she told Gulf News.