Originally Posted by Rete (Post 12924544)

Curious why would you bring bedding with you to the US from the UK? You do know that the bed sizes are completely different from those in the UK and the bedding is useless.

Why wouldn't expect your fiancee, then HUSBAND, to pay for food and things when you are married and/or only living together until the wedding. US supermarkets do have a British/Irish section for popular foods, i.e. biscuits (cookies), pot noodles, salad dressing, and yes, chocolate.

Originally Posted by Phathamster (Post 12924554)

Rather than wasting money shipping these food items, take some dollars and get yourself to store over there.


You have been to the USA before right?

Originally Posted by SanDiegogirl (Post 12924547)

Crisps ..... !! US supermarkets have got multiple shelves of this product......

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 12924564)

Did we ship foods? Yes, but on balance not a good idea. We shipped some bits and pieces - we shipped most of our house contents, so a couple of boxes of various foods from the kitchen didn't add any measurable cost. There is a risk that food can attract rodents or other animals, which is one reason why many shippers don't allow it, and some of our sealed packets had some sort of larvae/ grubs in them, so retrospectively shipping them was pointless. :(

Our stuff was not subject to an additional search. May be we were lucky, but I am sceptical that more than a small percentage of freight containers of household goods arriving in the US are subject to anything more than a review of the paperwork. There are many containers of household goods arriving every day, so the idea that they are regularly searched in detail just isn't realistic. Our shipment included 80 bottle of spirits, about half malt whisky and half a variety of other spirits and liquers, and even that didn't attract a search of our container, though it did lead to my wife being dubbed "the lady with the liquor" at the US shipping agent's office. :rofl:

Honestly I think that US chips (Lays) are better than most British crisps, but generally I think if you're coming for the long haul, as presumably you are as you're coming on a K-1, that hanging on to a taste for "foods from home" is a recipe for spending stoopid amounts of money on things that aren't that special, and mostly serves to feed homesicknees, not cure it.

Originally Posted by stuwoolf (Post 12924598)

Good insight. Thank you.

We had considered shipping some Patak Tikka Masala sauce and maybe a slab of Irn Bru. Apart from that, I doubt we would take anything else.........no point shipping a steak pie made by our butcher😔

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 12924564)

Did we ship foods? Yes, but on balance not a good idea. We shipped some bits and pieces - we shipped most of our house contents, so a couple of boxes of various foods from the kitchen didn't add any measurable cost. There is a risk that food can attract rodents or other animals, which is one reason why many shippers don't allow it, and some of our sealed packets had some sort of larvae/ grubs in them, so retrospectively shipping them was pointless. :(

Our stuff was not subject to an additional search. May be we were lucky, but I am sceptical that more than a small percentage of freight containers of household goods arriving in the US are subject to anything more than a review of the paperwork. There are many containers of household goods arriving every day, so the idea that they are regularly searched in detail just isn't realistic. Our shipment included 80 bottle of spirits, about half malt whisky and half a variety of other spirits and liquers, and even that didn't attract a search of our container, though it did lead to my wife being dubbed "the lady with the liquor" at the US shipping agent's office. :rofl:

Honestly I think that US chips (Lays) are better than most British crisps, but generally I think if you're coming for the long haul, as presumably you are as you're coming on a K-1, that hanging on to a taste for "foods from home" is a recipe for spending stoopid amounts of money on things that aren't that special, and mostly serves to feed homesicknees, not cure it.

Originally Posted by BennyBall (Post 12924637)

I really love your enthusiasm for British foods and goods and I can appreciate that you have a budget and feel bound to stick to it.
My take ..... bring Tea Bags, Tea bags and more Tea bags, PG Tips, Yorkshire..... anything your heart desires.
on a budget you can find pretty much everything in a Dollar store ... cheap as chips.
You are about to experience a brand new life, wonderful adventures, sights that will make your jaw drop .... if you have to give up the mushy peas .... it’s a very small price to pay. .... good luck and safe travels.

Originally Posted by nikkif99uk (Post 12924609)

What kind of food did you ship that had grubs/larvae in. ....

Originally Posted by BennyBall (Post 12924637)

.... on a budget you can find pretty much everything in a Dollar store ... cheap as chips. .....

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 12924669)

Starches - flour and rice. Definitely things not worth making a point of bringing, but we had them, they were a miniscule fraction of what we were shipping, and brought them rather than throw them out. Of course in the end we had to throw them out anyway. :(

I have posted that before, but it's probably been a year or two, maybe longer. :unsure:

Some British groceries are quite readily available at a non-entirely-insane price on Amazon - I was able to get 2x500g jars of Marmite a couple of years ago for $20 total. Now I am almost out but the Amazon price for Marmite still seems to be suffering from the covid-19 Marmite shortage back in the summer. A couple of weeks ago the best prices I could find were all about $33 for one 500g jar, :blink: unless I bought 6x500g jars, and even then it was about $25/jar. :( But there is light at the end of the tunnel - I saw someone offering 2x250g for $18 last weekend, and I can hang on for another week or two so hopefully the price will come back down closer to the $10/500g I paid previously. :fingerscrossed:

We usually get two giant boxes of PG tips teabags on Amazon for a decent price, and we get Heinz beans for $2/can (if we buy a case of 24 cans) which is expensive, but not absurd, especially as US bakes beans taste more like baen jam - they are so sweet they're ghastly, even my wife agrees, and she's American born and bred.. :sick: The $3/can that our local supermarket charges for Heinz beans is absurd! :nod:

On the occasions I have ventured into any of the dollar store chains, the best they can usually do is to match Walmart proces, but we find that many things in dollar stores are no cheaper than a regular grocery, and often more expensive. Maybe dollar store shopping makes sense if you buy a lot of soda and chips - though soda and chips are one thing that Walmart, groceries, and membership clubs all seem to want to compete over. :unsure:

Originally Posted by Boiler (Post 12924787)

Crisps go stale, Cadburys here seems to be from S Africa, now Brown Sauce is worth bringing.

Originally Posted by circusplaza (Post 12924680)

Shipping things here will cost more, given the weight-volume than buying here. We do have a great British shop down in Grapevine, a suburb next to Dallas, with a impressive variety of stuff and decent prices.

There is no way you can find Tesco or Poundland prices here but we can afford them; marmite, beans, lemon custard and biscuits are always in our pantry.

Regarding the crisps, I really like US Lays chips and honestly you can find Kettle Salt&Vinegar (my fav) in many places. If you like thinks like prawn cocktail then you are not likely to find them in a regular supermarket.

Originally Posted by Boiler (Post 12924799)

Crisps/Chips can pop coming up from Denver!

Originally Posted by Rete (Post 12924676)

I don't have a clue where in the US you will be living but if on the upper eastern coast of the US there are many Irish small grocery stores that are well stocked with all things British/Irish and you can get your pot noodles, candies, birds custard, bisto gravy, walkers crisps in weird flavors, i.e. shrimp, etc., biscuits, mushy peas, etc. all for a decent price. The larger supermarket such as Stop N Shop also has nearly a full aisle of the same products. You won't be home sick for food products.


P.S. My aplogies, I didn't know you were in a same sex relationship. Assume double crossed me :o

Originally Posted by nikkif99uk (Post 12924801)

By mail you mean?

Originally Posted by Rete (Post 12924544)

Curious why would you bring bedding with you to the US from the UK? You do know that the bed sizes are completely different from those in the UK and the bedding is useless.

Why wouldn't expect your fiancee, then HUSBAND, to pay for food and things when you are married and/or only living together until the wedding. US supermarkets do have a British/Irish section for popular foods, i.e. biscuits (cookies), pot noodles, salad dressing, and yes, chocolate.

Originally Posted by Pulaski (Post 12924855)

I think he means driving home. From what he has posted in the past, he lives above the tree line in the Rockies, which I suspect puts him above 11,000 feet, or more than a mile higher than Denver and two miles above sea level!

Originally Posted by nikkif99uk (Post 12924858)

Oh wow that would do it :)

Originally Posted by Nicola1234 (Post 12924946)

I saw you mention Aldi a few times, just as heads up they have lots of stores in the USA including Orlando - in case that helps

Originally Posted by stuwoolf (Post 12924598)

Patak Tikka Masala sauce

Originally Posted by excpomea (Post 12925298)

All available in a multitude of stores.

Originally Posted by excpomea (Post 12925298)

All available in a multitude of stores.

Originally Posted by Boiler (Post 12925302)

Yep, Safeway City Market even my local mini supermarket has them and similar types.

Originally Posted by hmvsdog (Post 12925309)

You've also got a Cost Plus World Market near Orlando (Winter Garden) and one a little north-east of it (Sanford). As well as their standard furniture, they also sell worldwide foods and I've often found prawn-cocktail crisps and other UK foodie items not found in Publix etc there. Well worth checking out.