There’s only one thing as high as
the condos in downtown Vancouver: the cost of living.
To live in city centre is bloody
expensive, and out of the reach of most of the ordinary people I suppose.
Last Saturday I went for my first
real food shopping since I left my home family.
This is a picture of my healthy
effort.
I committed to greately reduce the intake of meat for a while. I previously ate so much of it that now I will stick to a less fat diet, with more fresh stuff.
But if I can keep healthy my veins
on the other hand my wallet risked a heart attack: altogether the stuff you see
in the picture cost me over 50 bucks. That’s pretty a shame.
I understand quality comes at a price,
but I do not see such a great quality in the things I bought.
To make the shopping issue even more
difficult I had to spent over half an hour wandering in the streets to find a real
supermarket.
In fact against any logic the
Pacific Center, a huge shopping centre 3 minutes walk from my flat, has no supermarket. I don’t
know how it is possible to think of a shopping center without the most basic
thing, i.e. a supermarket.
I now understand the joke of a
colleague of mine: “People in downtown do not buy food, they just live to spend
money”.
If I think about the rent I can only weep: yes, I got
a stunning view over the city but it costs me 860 dollars a month! If you want
to live in downtown get ready to open your wallet or to find a cheaper place
(and I confess I have already restarted having a look at Craigslist).
More luckily I got 4 decent tee-shirts for 31 dollars.
They’re no great, but who cares. I’m Italian I know, but I’m also living in the
third worst city in the world in terms of style, so I will be great anyway.
Here it comes a list of items I purchased at IGA
Marketplace in Richards Street, just to give you an idea of the prices:
Granola for breakfast…………………………….....…...3.99
Granola bars……………………………………..………...3.89
Sandwich turkey & cranberries……………................4.49
Orange juice………………………………………….....…2.39
Bottle deposit (wtf is that???)………………............…0.25
Recycle fee (wtf is that???)……………………............0.10
250g of tasteless Canadian cheese………….............6.09
Herring fillets……………………………………..…..…...4.89
Carr’s crackers……………………………….....…...3.39 X 2
Sushi……………………………………………...…......…6.99
2 carrots……………………………………….…..…........0.71
Raspberries……………………………………............…5.99
Cucumber…………………………………………...........0.99
Coconut Tofu……………………………...…................1.85
Total (HST included)……………............…….……....50.41 dollars (as of right now = 38.95 euro).
… and they even dared to place on the bill in bold
letters: You saved $3.06
They must have thought at least irony can be given away for free, with no additional cost.
And by the way: 2 litres of organic whole milk cost
5.29 dollars.
Welcome to Costcouver!
I's not more expensive than Dublin, is it?
ReplyDeleteHi Nia, thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteI left Dublin in 2010, so I am not aware of the current prices in the Auld Fair City.
Yet I remember Dublin was very expensive, but not as much as Vancouver now.
My average weekly shopping for food was something around 25-30 euro, including also meat (steaks or chops) ham, pasta and sometimes salmon.
I reckon I'd need a mortgage if I tried to simulate my exact Irish lifestile.
I remember my favourite brand of milk, Golden Vale, costing 2.20 euro for a 2 litres bottle.
Here it's roughly twice as much, and the milk tastes like plastic.
Finally, yeah, Celtic Tiger payslips where something really nice to see, whereas in BC they're not so high.
It's quite convenient instead to get out for food. Yesterday night I couldn't resist the scent of an Afghani kebab: it cost me 5 dollars, while in Dublin it would probably have been 7 euro.
Si vede che mangi poco. O che fai attenzione a spendere poco. ;) Io spendo almeno il doppio a Dublino, anche più del doppio spesso.
ReplyDeleteNia, a questo punto è d'obbligo la domanda: dove fai la spesa a Dublino?
DeleteIo la facevo da Dunnes Stores. Qualità così così, e customer service non proprio ottimale (mentre qua i cassieri ti sorridono e augurano buona giornata).
Tuttavia per la mia spesa settimanale spendevo mediamente intorno ai 30 euro, includendo (a differenza di Vancouver), prosciutto, sottilette, pane, braciole di maiale o bistecche.
Insomma, uno shopping più sostanzioso dal punto di vista calorico ma certo più economico.
Sono comunque riuscito a scovare sabato un posto cinese dove si riesce a risparmiare, anche se non trovo tutto quello che cerco.