The first reason for such an extreme dinner plan is that it's already 5 p.m. and I'm still in the lab. I can see the sun setting from the window. You're probably wondering that if I have time to write this, then I should probably just go home, right? Well that's not a good idea. One guy in the lab said that he will be doing the first half of a certain experiment today, and I REALLY wanna see that, but he'll be doing it at 6 or 6:30 p.m. Seeing it is definitely worth the wait! 
However, I will get home even later and to a grocery shop later yet.The second reason is that I hate to spend money. Really I need to go grocery shopping but it's amazing how tedious that is! No wonder I always let my husband do that for me in Estonia! I feel guilty every time I break open a $20. And each time I go to the shop and buy only a few little things, I end up spending like 20-25 dollars. I'm not really much of a spender, but there are just things I want to get. Like for example, I wanted some mint tea. In Estonia, that would cost like 20 kroons for the cheapest, or maybe 25 kroons. That's about $2, but here all tea costs $3.80 to $5. Of course I got the cheapest and it didn't even look like any fancy tea. Or I don't know, there's barely a choice with the things I want to buy. 90% of what they call tea is some sweet powder they pour in a mug. Even Lipton is making that. I also wanted regular butter for frying stuff and I think I paid like $3 or $4 for that. They take so much bride in adding plant oils and other junk to their butter, that I found only one real butter and even that was imported!
And even that was salted and not nearly as tasty as Estonian butter. 
Not something you'll likely find being sold in Estonia.
I also bought some bread. I took the cheapest tasty looking bread, and it was half a bread so that was even cheaper. I paid like $2.50 for it. Can you imagine spending 30 kroons for half a bread? Another time when I went shopping, I got something a little cheaper - whole bread for ONLY $2.79.
Fruit costs around 100 kr/kg - I paid $5.25 for four oranges. 230g pack of sliced cheese costs $3.99. My 340g of turkey ham costs $4.49 (that is 158 kr/kg). However, I got a really good deal of two for the price of one with my shop member card. And just to make this clear - I buy the cheapest edible stuff that I can find. I won't buy stuff I wouldn't even eat if someone paid me for it, but I try my best to keep keep my shopping basket simple and low-price.
Another cereal package just said, "Image is enlarged to show more detail."
I'm a really cheap person when it comes to money. I'm not exactly low-maintenance, but I almost never spend without even realizing it. Here, no matter how much I try, I constantly spend more than I planned. Everything just costs so much more and the the store bill builds up so fast. So far I have spent $380 and it's been 11 days. That doesn't include today's shopping. I'm just hoping that the grocery bill has just been somewhat bloated from the things I buy only once to get settled in and then it will stabilize at around $150 (per week). Also, I'm starting to get the hang of making lunch to go. This means I won't spend money on eating outside, but all the components are still so costly, so I don't think it will change my expenses so much. The only thing I can say for myself is that I barely waste any food. What I buy I eat.And lets not forget that I had to get many one-time purchase things. The body lotion cost $6.80 and it was the pharmacy brand. I also went nuts and I bought a sweater and a tank top. The store selection looked a lot like the New Yorker store in Tartu and it was having a sale, so I got a really good sweater for $8 and the tank top was less than half of that. I didn't bring enough sweaters with me, so I happily bought it. I definitely didn't over pack after my husband said, "clothing in US is cheap, so if you need something that you didn't think of, you can always buy it there". I didn't buy any new clothing for my trip from Estonia.
Well spending money here is just so easy it's insane. Now I'm nervous because today I'm going to have to buy just about everything - bread, ham, cheese, salad mix, muesli, some basic fruits, and food for as long as I can possibly imagine. I wonder how much it will be this time...
I have food now!...Update. I bought everything that I needed and a bit more, except I have to go to another store tomorrow to get some fresh salad. I only spent $29 for all the stuff I got today. That's half the amount I was afraid I would spend. Anyway, I have lots of food now.
Yay!
6 comments:
Päris hullud hinnad tõesti.. ja igal pool täägitakse muudkui sellest, et USAs on elu odav :P Hmm.. aga kui Eestis paneb hinnale hullult palju juurde transpordikulu, siis ei tea, mis seal seda niimoodi mõjutada võiks - bensiin on seal ju nii odav. One of life's great mysteries, I suppose :P
Meil on siin ilmad külmemaks läinud - eile oli isegi esimene lumi, kuigi seda oli väga vähe (isegi nii vähe, et ei tea, kas seda päris lumekski nimetada saab). Aganoh, õues on piisavalt külm, et mütsita on päris nõme juba olla - st ma pean millalgi mütsi ostma minema :P (ma olen niiiiii kade, et sul seal siuksed ilmad on. A samal ajal on su pärast ikka hea meel ka :))
Kusjuures mulle väga meeldis see müts, mis ma Seppäläst ostsin. Väga klassikaline müts, aga niiiii pehme. Ja siin läheb jälle nädala sees jahedamaks. Pikakäiselisega tuleb ringi käia.
Aga siin on vist üldine ostujõud ka kõrgem. Palgad kõrgemad, hinnad kõrgemad... Aga mul on hea meel et sa kommenteerisid, sest mul on vahel tunne, et need hinnad on ikka sarnased Eesti hindadega ja ma lihtsalt ei oska majandada. :p Aga samas jällegi need hinnad tegelikult ka on kõrged.
Aitähh Sulle, et blogitad - see on mul igapäevane hommikukõrvane lugemine. Mõnus ennast värskendada uute uudistega ülemeremandrilt. Täna hommikul oli ikka õige esimene lumi maas - ei teagi, kuidas mu uus ratas lumega sõidab. Tuleb järgi proovida.
Hinnad USAs ehmatasid ära ikka küll - meil on ka ju kallis juust, kuid tavaliselt saab ikka alla saja krooni/kg kohta mõne allahinnatud variandi kätte. :)
Pea vastu ja too palju päikest meile ka siia - siin läheb ju aina pimedamaks ja jahedamaks. Kinnasteta väljaminek on juba enesepiinamine.
Tallinnas on jõulukuusk juba püsti!
18. november - mõned saavad nüüd viisavabalt, Sul, Krista, oli napikas! Ega Sa nüüd ometi oma reisi pooleteise kuu võrra pikenda?!:)
Sinu mainitud hinnad on tõesti päris kobedad-koledad. Ja ei saaks öelda, et Sa laristad - teejoomine on normaalne ja seda Eestist kaasa vedada oleks vist eriti tobe :)
Ega ei olegi midagi soovitada - vbla et tee nimekiri kaasa ja siis käi poes nagu silmaklappidega hobune :D Aga ma tean, et minu puhul see ei õnnestuks - Eestis küll, aga kui pooleteiseks kuuks välismaale minna, siis on minu meelest uute asjade proovimine-maitsmine täiesti õigustatud, st ei ole mõtet osta leiba-juustu ja siis ürditeed peale rüübata. Küllap DH ka aru saab. ;)
:D Aitäh hoopis kõigile kes lugeda viitsivad. Wow, jõulukuusk ja lumi. Poleks arvanud et juba nii varakult.
Pikendada ma reisi küll ei tahaks - ma tahan ju jõuludel õiget kodust hapukapsast ja päris pohlamoosi! :D Ma siit ostsin kah konservi hapukapsast. Pole veel lahti teinud, ag ama kardan et see on pettumus.
Catharina (või noh, Kati), Ma ise jõudsin samale järeldusele. Pealegi on USAs odavalt toitumine see, kui ma söön väga töödeldud toitu. Ja seda ju rasedale küll mitme nädala vältel ei soovitaks. :)
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