Bit clickbaity though... like I went to Save On Foods last week (I don't normally shop there, but needed some items only they had) and was like... wtf... 3 chick breasts is $23???

And then I realized it was the free range hormone free blah blah some brand name package.

The regular filets and whatnot in bulk were like $11 or something. Nothing wrong with them.

Not to say prices haven't gone up, but just have to look a bit harder or not be stuck up about labels.

If you spent $400 at Costco for just you and you wife, what did you get? Was it all food? Sounds a bit unreasonable... or tonnes of frozen stuff?? Which translates into a LOT of future meals... if it was snacks and other things then, well... hmmm.... luxury items always cost the most.

Buy a lot of protein and freeze it etc. so yea it will cover a couple weeks but that same load used to be under $300

Stuff like the bag of peppers which used to be 4.99 or 5.99 is 8.99 etc.

Obviously things can be had for cheaper but at the same time, i can’t be going to 5 different places for protein, veggies, etc. also imo the quality of veggies at Costco is typically better than most of the regular grocery stores

We can still afford to eat well and relatively healthy but for your average single person dunno how you can afford proper protein intake etc

Well that's me... but like I said I just buy the $11 filet pack that's enough protein for like a week's worth of dinners for me and a $9 pack of extra lean beef would be something for my lunches.

I actually spend more money on meats for food I make for my 16 year old doggy, my monthly grocery bill for myself alone is about $200 or so? My dog is about the same.

I would be more worried about families... or people with special eating concerns. My GF has a bunch of allergies and I can imagine things would cost a LOT more for her to eat.

In case the secret hasn't been discovered yet, veggies and fruits are usually the cheapest at those messy and chaotic Chinese markets -- think Crystal Mall marketplace and similar. Large grocery chains can always beat them on price and quality if they want to do it, but in general, Chinese markets are where the deals are.

Of course, you'd be elbowing and fighting your way through with tons of other middle aged C Lai's, and the place will be packed like sardines. But the price and quality of the produce are legit.

I like the place at 5 and Wsstminster in Richmond for produce... lots of selections and the prices are pretty solid.

Winter I go to just Superstore mostly... summer I'll do Superstore and that place, they're both like 5 minutes from me.

I will admit that sometimes I don't think Superstore's produce is all that great... maybe it's because they don't stack it neatly like Whole Foods or others do or whatever, but it can be somewhat disappointing at times.

Yea those fruits and veggies at those places are ready to go bad in a day or 2 though

we buy tons of fruits and veggies, but mainly a lot of fruits.. we don't eat meat but we do eat a lot of fruits on the side of our normal meals. she eats bananas like a damn monkey, probably 2-3 per day. luckily banana prices are somehow totally frozen.. im guessing at the expense of the lowest on the chain in the poor countries that produce them. we also go through a lot of frozen berries, oranges, apples, and whatever is in season. our compost fills up so fast with peels..

I buy bell peppers a lot and they don't go bad for like 5 days or so?? And even then bad is just like the skin wrinkles a bit. It's not so crazy? I don't find any problems with longevity being too short with my produce. Except some organic blueberries recently, they went bad a bit faster than I expected.

I cannot believe how cheap bananas still are, I been practicing making gluten free banana bread for my gf and buying 3 bananas at a time when I make it... less than a dollar for 3 huge bananas, seems insane to me. Definitely 1 food nobody can complain about the price of.

There’s like 3-4 of those Asian grocers along Hastings a short walk for me and outside of needing something in a pinch everything looks terrible compared to Donald’s, which is overpriced but probably just needs to be to stay competitive

Protein in general is $$$ whether in meat form or otherwise. The Whey protein which occasionally went on sale at Costco for 30-35 was $75 on my last visit

i used to buy bananas at my local donalds market in new west, and they'd often have those discounted packs for whatever minor reasons they couldnt sell them at normal prices. awesome for smoothies or banana bread since you don't need a perfect banana for those. i think i used to get like 6-7 bananas for $1 most of the time.

i find the best produce is at langley farm market at one of their 4-5 locations. their stuff is always really fresh. so much better than places like kins, and very reasonable prices too for the most part. i live near H-mart and their prices are wack, but i still shop there out of convenience.

edit: wow this is the politics thread?

You’re all bananas. I’m pretty sure it’s the cheap food that’s causing us all to get cancer. Try and buy as much organic and wholesome food as possible. It’ll probably save your ass in the long run.

*says the guy who never buys groceries and eats out everyday*

Btw, in Portugal I was buying 5-7 days of groceries for under $60 including packs of chicken breasts, steaks, cheese, etc.

You could get that $25-$30 pack of chicken breasts for under $10 at any grocery store there. So I’m not exactly sure why things are triple or quadruple here. It’s obviously the shit bag corporations passing increases directly onto the customer.

That’s always been true even 20 years ago I noticed in europe fresh food was super cheap and processed foods were super expensive… opposite of North America :(

From Crystal Mall at least, the ones that go bad in a day or two are either in the discounted bins, or they are priced extra low and show obvious signs that they need to be consumed right away.

There are definitely certain grocers that sells grade B stuff with shorter shelf lives. If that works with your schedule / buying frequency, there is no harm in buying them and save a few bucks.

Shelf life-wise, I agree that Costco fruits / veggies tend to have the longest shelf lives. At the same time, when it comes to fruits, most of the time the fruits that Costco sells are really just too green to be eaten -- you pretty much need to wait another 2 - 3 days or something for them to ripen some more before they taste good.

I'd rather vote conservative than go to Crystal Mall :troll:

youre just afraid of the parking 68. WE ALL ARE.

I remember staying at the hilton for a training course that was being taught in the conference room, and smell that wafted up the escalators into the hotel from the T&T market was absolutely horrid.

Oh you don’t like my durian, persevered tofu, fish sauce smell ?!? Well exxxxccccuuusssseeee meeeeeeeee

If Portugal is so great, why don't you just move there? :derp:

my friend did just that.

he's sort of a conspiracy nut, and so we were drifting apart after the pandemic started since he kept writing crazy shit on his insta posts. when canada started doing vaccine passports, he went to portugal cause they didnt have that there. eventually they did, and a little smile grew on my face. now that it's all calmed down again he moved back.

Or Italy, or Croatia, etc. cheaper everything, fuel is the same price for 96 octane than 89 here etc. cheaper housing, same healthcare etc.

Can’t help but feel living in Canada we’re all just being played until the middle class is completely destroyed.

I know people don’t really have other options but if you’re mid 20’s to 40’s, with no education, and with no home you own, and no prospect of ever making 120k+ a year here, I don’t see what you’re doing living here. Just living dat to day to keep your head above water, it’s getting to be fucking insane

I mean in all seriousness, I totally support hondaracer going to Portugal... maybe not for the same reasons he has... but I've travelled around the world enough to know that Vancouver ain't all that and neither is Canada...

I think it's a great place to grow up and a great place to be old in... and an okay place to have a family in... but especially for DINKS I would have trouble coming up with many reasons besides social and family ties to stay here. Especially if you've built up a bit of economic power.

I saw a guy I know who's my age and has basically decided he's single for his whole life and won't have ties to anyone is moving to SE Asia to retire at like 45. Totally doesn't make sense for him here and he can afford a crazy nice place and medical attention if need be there and I'm sure he can entertain his more carnal needs (if he has them) all he wants and much, much easier than here as well lol

IMO Costco pricing has never been great for fresh groceries and produce.

Their beef is ok if you buy full primal cuts (e.g. whole tenderloin, whole sirloin cap) and butcher it yourself, but all their steaks are mechanically tenderized, which I would never buy.

One thing I really noticed while away which is very evident in Vancouver and Canada is that people have no respect for the service industry here. Those fucking losers picking up garbage or serving you food hah! Fucking bums.

People picking up garbage, or working in transit selling tickets, or serving/preparing food, all over Europe these people seem to take pride in their work and aren’t just sulking with their lot in life, have a smile on their face etc.

People here think they are hot shit when they are some junior investment adviser/bank teller and feel like they can have this holier than thou attitude even though everyone involved is making peanuts on the same grind.

Canada has basically enabled this class war regardless of whoever is in political power and it’s really gross tbh. It’s no wonder every ma and pop shop fails, greed pushes long time restaurants and businesses out of their locations etc. because in Canada that type of thing is practically encouraged

Smart man. I'm all in DINK, no plans to be in Canada post retirement, my uncle is happy as a pig in shit retired in Pattaya.

With WFH it's already wicked having the option to fuck off to Puerto Vallarta for a month or 2 at a time during the winter.

Couldn't do that with kiddos.