Listen to the teacher Mrs Saukuru: Price and convenient supermarket car park is vital

SIKITI Saukuru enjoys shopping with her two older children as they usually help her identify cheaper food options and quantities of food to purchase.

She loves shopping at Shop N Save in Nakasi or Hansons Supermarket in Makoi as they have affordable prices and are also very convenient for her family.

Another reason she chooses these supermarkets are because of the spacious parking facilities they have.

“When I was working in Suva, I used to shop at CJS (Nabua) because the prices are affordable and the parking area is accessible. Now as I have been transferred to Nausori, I prefer to shop at Shop N Save Supermarket in Nakasi or Hansons Supermarket in Makoi because of their spacious parking facilities and reasonable prices in-store.”

Sikiti spends about $200 per fortnight.

Her shopping list includes food items such as canned stuff, snacks for kids, fruits, frozen goods-chicken, sausages, mixed vegies, ice cream and toiletries.

For their market shopping, Sikiti spends about $50 to $60.

She loves to buy eggs from the market along with vegetables and other root crops.

Her market list would include vegetables such as English cabbage, ginger, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, capsicum, celery and dalo.

Sikiti also includes sea food such as fish, lumi, nama and sea urchins onto her market shopping.

Apart from eating healthy, Sikiti also practices healthy living by exercising, walking and doing 30 minutes activities at home on a daily basis.

“I used to have a walking routine from the school where I teach - Saraswati College to Nakasi, but since I must drive the kids to and from school, I have resorted to Wednesday wellness and daily household chores at home as a form of activity to keep me active and healthy,” she said.

Sikiti encourages shoppers to watch out for whatever items they’re buying.

“Always be well informed of the quality and prices of goods by different sellers before you shop.” She said that we should live within our means and include more vegetarian options in our family menus rather than buying meat most of the time.

“With the inflation we are facing, it’s best that we plant vegetables and root crops and avoid spending too much money on meat.”