We do not got to town any more than absolutely necessary. And for the past two weeks, Tanya has been cleaning the house one room per day like it has never been cleaned before. I fetch and carry and have Pledge-ed allegiance to anything that looked like wood. Friday she finished and Saturday we went for groceries. Critters and hoomans were out of everything. Good time for me to learn Ukrainian words for items and check out what we are paying in CAD. USD is for other readers.
The cats get Whiskas and a small amount of meat morning and night as a 'treat'. Lucky gets dry dog food at night and rice and meat in the morning. Chicken livers is one of his favourites. I'm going to make pork and beans and chili. The government invested in the poultry and pork industry to ensure there was affordable protein for the masses. Beef is catch as catch can and usually from retired dairy cows. The beef roast we bought has ZERO fat and will be ground for chili. I'll have to add oil to fry it. Bread is highly subsidized. According to the Kyiv Post, 60% of the population is below the official poverty line so government keeps basics affordable.
Sometimes our supermarket brings in luxury items which do not always sell. There was a 750 g T-bone steak, well marbled but black as your boot, marked down 33%. I bought it for $12 CAD. Cheaper than going to a restaurant in the big city.
Here is the list of items we bought and prices in UAH, CAD, USD. Click on it to make it readable
Meat prices have skyrocketed here. News reports say that dairy items like milk and cheese are going to be next.
ReplyDeleteSome of our prices sync with Europe and relatively speaking have been rising too.
DeleteI found making comparisons a little challenging because America works in ounces and pounds, and also because I buy different things. I did notice shaving cream. I'm not sure just what that means, but I'll mention that mug soap is dirt cheap, and although it doesn't make an impressive lather, I find that it works better than spray lather, and then there's not all that waste.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm wondering how your supermarkets compare in size and variety to US and Canadian supermarkets. I'll also mention that I buy as much as I can from a large chain store called Costco in which one has to buy larger containers, but pays less per unit of measurement. I only go to a supermarket for things that I can't get at Costco.
DeleteWhen I am in Canada I also shop at Costco. We are in a town of about 45,000 people. We have one large supermarket that would be comparable to a grocery store in a similar size Canadian city which is where we mostly shop. We also have many smaller stores ranging from decent grocery selection to specialty shops to corner stores to open markets. Because most people have to walk, they do not want to travel far to a store. Of course in the big centres like Dnipro or Kyiv, there are several large chains with lots of choices, including beef you can actually eat.
DeleteI have used a soap mug but prefer foam from a can.
DeleteSome of the prices are cheaper than ours and some dearer. Our cauliflowers for example are often $A4+ each (and it would be a rare cauli that was over a kilo.
ReplyDeleteOur meat is certainly much dearer than US prices (but then it seems that most things here are). Our wages (for those that get them) are also higher. They need to be.
I find COSTCO overwhelming and the sheer size of many of the purchases does mean waste in our household.
Costco is great if you have a large family or for non-perishables but yes, for many things the amounts are simply too big for one or two people.
DeleteThe Australian dollar is worth close to the Canadian dollar.
Child, Costco has good prices and a good return policy, but they move their merchandise around so much that even their employees don't know where things are. The reason for all this merchandise moving is that they think that while people are walking around...and around...and around looking for one thing, they will buy other things. Costco also causes a great deal of environmental damage in the form of packaging waste (even apples come in clam-shell containers) and the distance their merchandise travels. For instance, in winter, much of their fruit is flown to the US from from Australia and South America.
DeleteSnowbrush, your experience with Costco is different from mine so some stores must have different approaches. They do have a good return policy on most things. My oldest got her husband at Costco and she can't return him she says.
DeleteI know people with large family leave the area, and do there shopping. Walmart, Winco, and Costco seams to be quite the catch for shopper. If I'm down in area of Sandpoint (about 30 minute drive) I will get items out of walmart. But to go a Costco and or Winco it little over hour and half drive. So I will stay in my home town.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
Yes, driving 90 minutes to save a couple dollars is not good thinking. I am sure your local businesses appreciate your patronage.
ReplyDeleteWow, I see what you mean about the subsidized pork and chicken. MUCH cheaper than here. Of course, our groceries here on the Island are much more expensive than anywhere else, too. There are only two of us, but it's rare that we get out of the grocery store for less than two hundred dollars now. We grow all our own vegetables and most of our fruit, so the things we buy in the store tend to be pricier items like milk, eggs, meat, and cheese. A package of 2 steaks here is $40. Eggs are $5 - $6 per dozen, and a litre of milk is nearly $3. Apparently the dairy union is about to increase prices by 10% to 15%, too, so there's more joy to come...
ReplyDeleteOur grocery runs usually run about $100 to $150 including none grocery items, as we also grow our own veggies. Pork and poultry prices are too low for our producers and they are hurting. Our critters eat as well as we do which adds up but Tanya can't not. Our cats love cheap fish in tomato sauce. They lap up the tomato sauce and the neighbours cats eat the fish. The dog gets meat and rice once a day and good dry dog food at night.
DeleteI need a Guy like you around the House Pledge-ing allegiance, I can't even remember the last time I dusted, I'm no Domestic Goddess. *Smiles* I remember prices in Europe being so high compared to anywhere we ever lived in the U.S.. But then, I went to Hawaii and OMG, I'd have to learn to be a Subsistence Farmer or something to afford to eat there! One of the Brothers-In-Law lives part of the Year in Alaska and their prices also are high. Here in AZ we're spoiled because a lot is grown here year round and there's lots of Dairies and Egg Ranches. We now live in a Community of Mini Farms in the City and everyone around us has Livestock, Citrus, Fruit and Nut Trees, so they Share a lot of whatever they Harvest and have overages and abundances of. I've been contemplating whether to get a couple of Hens for Eggs and them to eat the Bugs/Scorpions?
ReplyDeleteIf your house looks like the pictures you post, you don't have enough money to make me dust. I am no minimalist but your decorating style blows me away.
DeleteBy all means get some chickens. I know several town people even who have a backyard flock. You can get some meat types too. You will need a decent chicken proof fence to keep them in. Any predators in your area?