I find myself gaining a much better appreciation for the frequently higher cost of groceries in urban areas...
We moved in last friday, and I'm trying to get groceries to stock our new apartment's kitchen. We have no car (yet), so any grocery run is limited to what I can carry back from the grocery store near here (or via bus/cab).
I really need to do a big shop and get a bunch of basics - we're really starting with nothing. But, I'm coming to the realization that even if I cab it home from the grocery store (willing to do that, it's ~$10-12 cab fare), I still have to somehow manage to get what I buy from the cab at the base of my building up to my apartment. And, well, unless I can move all of it in one go, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to manage moving the groceries from the cab to the apartment. (language barrier makes having the cab wait for me while I take a load up and come back for the rest not doable) At least there is an elevator.
It makes me appreciate that buying small amounts of things at places that are more convenient to home than a typical grocery store is a not-bad idea, even if I have to pay a slight premium for it.
How do folks in urban areas handle this type of thing?
Maybe twice a year we drive to suburban grocery stores to stock up on pantry essentials and a lot of stuff that we just can't find at our grocery stores. Even if we just drive to Hoboken, grocery stores are about half as expensive as in the city (but there's a $10+ toll to get there so I don't do it often).
Otherwise, we buy only 2-6 bags worth of stuff at a time and schlep it home. The grocery stores I go to most often are a 10-20 minute walk depending on which one I go to (there are closer options, but they have disgusting produce and meat).
get a small wheelie cart that you can pull behind you.
In more than a decade of city living, I've never had the need for one! And if are were stairs or subways or cabs involved, a cart would be more annoyance than it is worth.
get a small wheelie cart that you can pull behind you.
In more than a decade of city living, I've never had the need for one! And if are were stairs or subways or cabs involved, a cart would be more annoyance than it is worth.
To get to the base commissary, I need to take at least one bus and the subway. It depends which base I am going to - two of them are bus, subway, and bus away, one of the bases is walking distance from a subway stop.
There are Korean grocery stores considerably closer to home (one within walking distance), but let's just say that for some things, the cost differential makes it worth the extra time and effort to go to the commissary. There are some things I'd much prefer to buy at the Korean grocery store, and I'm still figuring out what makes sense to get where, but for this trip, I want to run to a commissary. I want a goodly amount of western kitchen basics (baking supplies, meats, cereal for DH, cheese...) and most of this is _much_ cheaper on base.
Post by dreamsofdesign on Jan 21, 2013 17:35:54 GMT -5
I have never had this issue as we've never lived in a large city, but a friend of ours (who has no car) says he has to make more frequent small trips for groceries. He also says that he eats out more than he used to living in our smaller city because it's just easier.
Where did you move? I must have missed an update. And I feel you on getting groceries up to an apartment. Even with a car we have to doublepark and then tag team the bags, fill up the elevator while the other person goes to park. Thank God they started offering delivery a few months ago.
Do any of them offer delivery? That might be worth it for a big staple purchase.
Nope, none of the commissaries offer delivery. Boo!
I think there are a couple Korean grocery chains that do offer delivery, but there are some things I plan on buying that are literally 3-4 times as much at a Korean store vs. the commissary, and some things just aren't available (or I have yet to find them)...
I do now know that I'll be offering some help when other folks from DH's unit get here. We're in the first wave, and we should have our car here by the time the next wave moves into apartments...
I think my plan will be to get what I can on the list that I can transport today, and go back tomorrow for more. I need everything from dish soap to olive oil to baking basics to eggs and bread to chicken to frozen veggies to canned tomatos to dry beans, etc... the list is scary-long. I just need to make sure that today's purchases include what we need for a meal or two.
Post by simpsongal on Jan 21, 2013 17:58:33 GMT -5
When I lived in the city I used to hang grocery bags off my bike and stuff groceries into a hiking backpack. Probaby not the safest approach.
Do you have Peadpod or Safeway type delivery? It's a pretty good deal for big orders and they bring it right to your door. The pull cart is good too. Some groceries are just more expensive in urban areas. Moving just 6 miles farther from DC, our grocery bill has gone down quite a bit. I hope you at least have a farmer's market in walking distance - nice city perk
Bags that hold a lot of stuff and are sturdy enough not to break while you're walking home are a must-have.
It is amazing! So sturdy and the thicker straps make the walk much less pain free.
my boyfriend hates how it looks (it's really big in person and is too structured to fold up) but he still reaches for it every time because of its functionality.
Post by DarcyLongfellow on Jan 21, 2013 17:59:55 GMT -5
I'm laughing at the idea of a base commissary having delivery :-)
I'd just buy some really big bags. One huge backpack, a few bags like that Trader Joe's bag, then maybe a rolling cart too. As much as you think you can manage alone.
And I'd definitely pay for a cab.
When I lived in London for a summer, I just carried big bags with me like I suggested above, but I really wished I had an old lady rolling cart. Especially whenever I bought milk or something heavy!
When I had no car and lived 5 blocks from the store, shopping took great strategy. I would make a separate trip just for flour. I usually took my backpack so I could fill it and bring things home that way. It was a huge pain in the butt, and I did pay more at the small local store than the bigger supermarkets.
Small frequent trips just become normal, vs. my once a week giant trips now.
I am way too lazy for these multiple small trips people are talking about, lol.
we shop once a week. it can be done if you're determined enough. I've had a few times where I overestimated my skills and thought for sure my shoulders were going to fall off, but ya deal. think of all the muscles you'll build!
I am way too lazy for these multiple small trips people are talking about, lol.
we shop once a week. it can be done if you're determined enough. I've had a few times where I overestimated my skills and thought for sure my shoulders were going to fall off, but ya deal. think of all the muscles you'll build!
We go to the grocery store like once every 3-4 weeks We may stop at the Greenmarket or I'll stop at this market across the street from work maybe once every 1-2 weeks to pick up some veggies, but we're pretty set even if we don't shop often, and we still don't end up buying more than we can reasonably carry home when we go for our monthly real grocery shopping trip. Also, we eat out a lot but with all the ridiculously good restaurants nearby it would be a travesty not to! (And with how expensive groceries are here, there's much less financial incentive to us to cook for ourselves).
I do have standing Amazon orders for cereal and canned tomatoes.
No way would I go to the grocery store several times a week. No way.
When we lived in the City, we would shop together to deal with just this issue. One person can hang loose with the groceries, while the other carries stuff upstairs. We had a zip car membership (hourly car rental place) to handle events and we would plan a big trip to the Costco/Sam's Club/Target/Grocery Store. The zip car membership was cheaper than dealing with missing or busted wheels/windshields etc. Car vandalism and theft were common in that part of town.
I am way too lazy for these multiple small trips people are talking about, lol.
we shop once a week. it can be done if you're determined enough. I've had a few times where I overestimated my skills and thought for sure my shoulders were going to fall off, but ya deal. think of all the muscles you'll build!
I suspect that once I get a decent pantry built up, I'll be able to usually manage with once a week shopping and carrying home, or at least, once a week shopping on base with some additional shopping at the Korean stores near the apartment.
I think, at least. We'll see how it goes once I have a decent pantry set up. Of course, once we have a car here, this will be less of an issue, too - there's parking underneath the apartment complex, and I can do multiple trips between a car and the apartment if I have to.
It's probably worth mentioning that I actually have a large kitchen here. It's easily as large as the one I had back in WA. Aside from the oven being teensy, it's a good size, with quite a bit of counter space and storage...
Well, if anyone cares, I made it home with $135 in groceries. Backpack, cross-body insulated bag, and two largish fabric bags and I was good to go. The baggers at the commissary even helped me put on the backpack (good thing - it weighed a ton!).
I did get stared at a bit on the way home. There was one guy who seemed concerned about how much I had attached to me. Older guy, kept looking at me with what felt like a subdued WTF look, and then looking away.
ETA: might be worth mentioning the nearest commissary is two buses and a subway away, along with about a mile of walking...
When DH and l lived in Australia, we didn't have a car. The grocery store and farmer's market we frequented were probably a mile to a mile and a half away. We would bring a large, rolling suitcase with us. Packed all the groceries in it and wheeled it home. Lesson learned after trying to carry several large fabric bags filled with groceries back to the apartment. We had to stop so many times. Anyway, I'm sure we looked ridiculous, but it worked.
Glad you got it figured out with the backpack and such.
I have a similar problem living in Shanghai. We are about a 1/4 mile plus from the smaller grocery stores, and much further from bigger ones, and we have no car. I'm lucky in that I have ample time to make the trips and can generally get most places with a combination of walking and buses, but getting home is a hassle sometimes and I've definitely had sore arms and shoulders more often than I can count.
We have a couple more expensive stores that will do delivery, free if you spend over a certain amount. Are there any like that near you? I have thought about getting a wheeled cart, but it would really only be helpful for the trips to the closer stores, not when I'm taking buses and metro.
Have you met any friends you can share rides home with from the store? A group of ladies I know does bi weekly trips to Sam's Club and we share a ride home in a cab which makes the cab much cheaper and means we aren't struggling with tons of bags on the metro or walking. You could suggest doing that with some other ladies.
Sometimes I just bite the bullet and take a cab if I have a lot of stuff. The frustration and stress of trying to carry all the stuff home just isn't worth saving the money in my mind.
Post by Willis Jackson on Jan 22, 2013 5:53:42 GMT -5
I used a wheelie cart when I didn't have a car.
When I had a car, I would double park if needed, unload into the lobby/stoop, park the car, and then bring the groceries up from in manageable loads. I never had anything stolen, even in the apartment that was broken into. I guess it's harder to turn groceries into drug money? IDK, maybe it was just luck.
get a small wheelie cart that you can pull behind you.
In more than a decade of city living, I've never had the need for one! And if are were stairs or subways or cabs involved, a cart would be more annoyance than it is worth.
This is what we use. But we don't use stairs or a cab, we just walk. When we drive to some place farther away we often toss it in the car so we can bring stuff upstairs easier. I Love old lady carts!
I have a wheeled shopping cart. I can carry a 70-80 Euros' worth run of groceries in it and wheel it back to my house. Depending on how heavy it is, I either carry it up the stairs in one go when I get home (no elevator), or leave it at the bottom of the stairs and unload it piecemeal. The stairwell is only accessible to my neighbors, so I am not worried about someone running off with my groceries.
I buy things like canned food, lentils, rice, jams, etc. on big grocery runs and then I run out often during the week to buy things like meat, cheese, milk, yogurt... I also hit the farmers' markets often.
Basically, I spend many of my waking hours food shopping.
To v's comment about wheelie things, I resisted them in NY for 10 years. But in NY, I also did a lot of Fresh Direct orders and many of my local stores offered home delivery. That is not the case here, so I've given in to the shopping cart. A bag like Tacom's is also quite handy to have.