Ana, Would you say food prices are something at the level of Whole Foods or higher? We bought groceries at New World a lot on our trip and I only found chicken to be something I would skip buying.
Yes except for fruit and veg that is in season; in season produce is very reasonable. We are carnivores through and through, so that adds up quickly. Beef mince (ground beef) on sale at the grocery store is $10 a kilo, just under $5 a pound. I tend to go to Mad Butcher and get steak mince when it's on special at $6.99/k. in the States I paid $1.49/lb at Trader Joes. This is a good general example of food being more expensive. On the other hand, even the cheap NZ mince tastes better to me than a higher quality ground beef in the States, so there is a payoff
Steve suffers more from sticker shock than I do; I just take it as a challenge to get what I want at the price I want! The exception is fancy cheese; Ossu Iraty is my favorite and it's about $8/100g. I only get a little, but it's worth it!
We are long over our Top Ramen days, but it's interesting to note that 1 brick of ramen costs $1.50-$2 here as opposed to 13 cents in the US.
Please don't get me wrong; we are so happy that we've made the move. We have gone over the pros and cons for years and we are happy to compromise for what we are now enjoying: a better quality of life