Atlantic Xpat

Come now. One can never have enough televisions and speedboats!

scrubbedexpat091

Unit prices on the shelf label is one thing I miss about San Diego (not sure if its done in other regions in the US) the grocery stores have always had the per unit price of things right on the shelf tag so its an easy comparison.

A lot of times when it comes to name brand vs generic, at first look the generic appears cheaper, but a lot of products the generic choice is smaller, so while the cost is lower you get less, making the higher priced name brand the actual cheaper choice. A lot of people don't notice this and only look at the total price.

My GF gets frustrated with me at times, a grocery trip for us is 60-90 minutes, I meticulously make sure we are getting the most bang for our grocery money.

(I do the cooking of meals, hence why I do the majority of the shopping.)

scrubbedexpat091

I very rarely find things at Costco cheaper, most of the time the unit price comes to the same or higher then a normal retailer.

I find their meat to be higher priced per pound as well. Their produce is on par for the most part with the grocery store as well.

There are a few select things that we go there for that are cheaper, but we would not save enough over 12 months to justify the membership has we not been gifted it, its doubtful we will renew.

Costco milk is cheaper by about 9 cents.....lol... But cost more in parking to save that 9 cents... (Costco in Vancouver charges for parking.)

rivingtonpike

I suppose Costco is all about personal circumstances. We're a family of 4 with enough storage space to buy almost anything in bulk. When Finish dishwasher tablets have $5 off, say, we'll buy 400 of them. We won't then buy them again for over a year. We also get most of our gas there as for us it's the cheapest. Also, because we have the membership we do, we get 2% cash back. This more than covers the membership fee over the course of a year.

scrubbedexpat091

True true.

We don't have a Costco locally, so have to drive 60-70km's or so, then pay for parking, and the store has no gas station so can't even get gas there....

We also can't buy in bulk since we neither have the space nor income to do so.

We don't make special Costco trips, we just stop by when in Vancouver once a month to grab a hot dog since they are indeed the cheapest place to grab a quick bite and drink when away from home.

Probably cost more in gas to get there and back then any savings...lol

BristolUK

Some of the pricing practices in Canada.....

I was looking at hospital beds the other day. I saw one advertised as a 'package' but it was just the bed. Mattress and rails were extra. How on earth is it a package?

rivingtonpike

God knows I love living in Canada - and I'm very grateful for the opportunity, but when it comes to pricing and "claims" of cost - Beware!! Like the U-Haul vans I see about. I think it says something like "$19 an day!!! (plus appropriate tariffs, mileage, race, creed and gender surcharges.....)
o idea what the real cost must be

dbd33

I rented one of those $19 vans. It was $120 before we moved it. I don't think there's any obligation to be truthful in advertising here, firms can say anything at all. That's ok for the consumer so long as everyone knows but a bit of a shit for a firm that is genuinely trying to compete by offering a better price.

scrubbedexpat091

If you look closely you will see the fine print. 19.99 local rentals only + mileage which when I rented was 45 cents or something per km.

A short 4 hour rental with the taxes, insurance, and km's came to around 90 dollars.

Home Depot's short term local rentals tend to turn out to be a better deal.

dbd33

Yes, before we had a truck we often rented their vans. The price is great so long as you're on time. If you're not then five minutes stuck in traffic translates to an awful lot of money.

scrubbedexpat133

I am a bit o c d when it comes to shopping and prices. I am not tight as such but object to paying what a lot of things cost here. I think part of the problem is the Cradles themselves - they just pay whatever something "costs"!!

I used to shop at Atlantic Superstore (Loblaws) for meat - I would not buy anything that did not have a 30 or 50 % off sticker on it. I would pay attention to price per kg and keep a note of it. I would then clear the shelf and fill the deep freezer. The same for Bread. I went on different days and soon realised that most of the locals seem to do the shopping on a saturday. All the best bargins seem to be on a thursday and friday night. Time to pounce Veg from the farmers market on saturday morning - much cheaper than the shops.

I am now a Walmart convert - still look for the money off stickers - albeit 25% off but still cheaper on average than Superstore. Bread at 99c a loaf vs $4 in Superstore!!!!

To answer the op:

Just me to shop for but I have 3 lodgers.

Groceries - 35 - 70 a week depending if I need non regulars eg cleaning stuff or having dinner party etc

Cable Internet Phone bundle 113 a month + extra channels = 150

Petrol 20 a week ish

Mobile 65 a month

Mortgage, Property tax and Insurance 530 bi weekly

Power bill average 150 per month

scrubbedexpat091

That is the opposite of my farmers market which has such inflated prices, but we have a captive urban hippy community here so they don't need to compete with the stores as the hippy folks don't shop the chain stores.

I wish the grocery stores put food on sale here, it's pretty rare, even when the best buy is the next day, still no discount, although Shoppers does on occasion.

izzi81

The farmers markets here are a godsend, I've learned their fruit and veg is nearly always cheaper than the supermarket stuff (with the occasional exception of Walmart now that they have fresh veg). Because we live in an agricultural area we have permanent farm market stores, there must be around 8 different ones in my local area, and only 1-2 of them close over the winter. We save a lot on fruit and veg buying from there (at the moment 15lb of apples = $5 lol... not that I need that many apples! )

scrubbedexpat091

We have a weekly farmers market, and at least 1 farm store, (might be others, but I know of 1) but they have such inflated prices its not affordable.

Local grown = premium price in BC (in my experience) But we are a captive audience here, so the local suppliers know they can charge more and they do. Even Wal-Mart does.

Pretty Flowers

For us monthly expenses: (Downtown Toronto)

Mortgage $1,700
Car loan $330
Insurance $600 (home and auto)
Hydro $90
Gas $120
Internet $40
Cable $140 :0
Groceries $600

... Water (not sure since we had the meter installed - are still to get a bill
Municipal Tax - about $300 month max

I'm always looking for ways to save money, which often include shouting at the other half to turn lights off (what is it with Americans not turning stuff off?)

We're lucky in that I bought our house on my own and these days we likely own 2/3rds of it, so have a low mortgage.