As my wife and I were shopping in the local supermarket this morning, I decided to jot down some prices at random to share with anyone who might be interested. (We get lots of good information from this site as we try to plan our future, and thought this might be of some interest to U.S. expats.) These are everyday prices at a chain supermarket. They do not reflect weekly "specials" and coupons, which can reduce costs a lot. We're in a relatively small town in southeastern Connecticut, roughly midway between NYC and Boston:

$3.99 -- Gal/milk
$4.99 -- Lb/butter
$1.49 -- Doz/lg. eggs
$3.59 -- Pint/Ben & Jerry's Icecream
$1.59 -- Perdue whole chicken, per/lb
$5.49 -- Baby Back Ribs per/lb
$2.79 -- Lean ground beef per/lb
$15.99 -- Beef tenderlion per/lb
$9.99 -- Ribeye steak per/lb
$10.99 -- Porterhouse steak per/lb
$3.99 -- Portabella mushroom per/lb
$6.99 -- Shiitake mushroom per/lb
$1.49 -- Granny Smith apples per/lb
$1.29 -- Macintosh appales per/lb
$2.99 -- Honeydew melon each
$2.99 -- Cantaloupe melon each
$1.29 -- Artichoke each
$1.99 -- Navel oranges (for three)
$2.69 -- 1 lb. Arnold white bread
$1.99 -- French bread
$ .99 -- Barilla pasta per lb.
$1.89 -- Carolina rice 2/lb. box
$2.99 -- Sugar 5 lb.
$1.69 -- Flour 5 lb. ($.99 sale)
$15.49 -- tide liq. laundry det. 200 oz.
$ .99 -- Scott toilet tissue 4/rolls
$1.39 -- Brawny paper towel each
$2.09 -- Bounty paper towel each
$6.29 -- Reynold's Wrap 200 sq ft
$5.49 -- Oscar Mayer Bacon 1 lb.
$3.99 -- Ham steak per/lb
$19.99 -- Krakus Polish ham 5 lb.
$7.99 -- Deli breast of turkey per/lb
$4.99 -- Black Forest ham per/lb
$2.99 -- Broccoli per bunch
$1.99 -- Celery per bunch
$1.99 -- Fennel per bunch
$3.99 -- cauliflower per head
$2.99 -- Endive per/lb

Gasoline ("regular" 89 octane) was $2.21 per gallon this morning -- up a dime from last week!

Well, Gasoline in my neck of the woods (Northern California) is about $2.45 and that's at Costco! UGH! Looking at your list, is seems that most things are a tad bit more expensive on the west coast....

Interesting. All those sound about right here, although I am less familiar with meat prices. Last weekend I bought a pound and a hlaf of salmon and a pound and a third of halibut, both fresh and those two items were $40. (Jeez...) I will add these few things, non-grocery items.

Last month's gas bill----$115
Cable modem---- $58/month

Water bill(family of 4,
two small children) $13.80

Well to make you all feel better if my math is right I'm paying about $2.80 US for a US gallon of gas. That was yesterday at least.

well...not to elaborate the skyrocketing inflation that the media hasn't(nor the government)reported here in seattle...seattle mind you, my water bill is 37.00this month...I live alone, shower once a day and do not use clothes washer and load up dishwasher every three days...plus, I buy separately, spring water to drink...on the east coast, my same useage amount was costing 6-8 dollars every 2 months...gas is now 2.499$ per gal and of course...Stellar Artois is 5$ a pint...(but Stella is worth it)!!! hahhahah

Right here, right now, the price on gas ("green" - 95 octane, no led. The cheapest and most usual.) is:

SEK 11.06 / liter
= € 1.02 / liter
= € 4.548 / gallon
= $ 5.86 / gallon

this after the 18th raise on gas price THIS YEAR. 7 of the 11 SEK are taxes.

Stop complaining

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Annika,

Annika that's an imperial gallon. A US gallon would be only $4.89 at those prices

huh? Is an US gallon different? I was not aware of that! We don't use gallons here, so I used a conversion chart I found on the internet. Well anyway the price is still almost double the US price...

ah, the fog clears.
1 imperial gallon = 4,55 liters
1 US gallon = 3,79 liters
I'm learning new things all the time!

Man, I always thought Sweden was expensive, but that petrol price is cheaper than both the UK and Italy!

Really? Then this must be one of the few things that is less expensive here - but it is still outrageous!
Now I don't really care too much because I don't have a car; but when the day comes..

I read in the newspaper today that prices are this high now because the Americans are expected to use a lot of gas driving around this summer. Thus, for some reason, we have to pay for it. Shame on you!

I don't even pay attention to the price of gas. I need it so what is the use? It is over $2 per gallon, but I couldn't tell you exactly.

Here also you have the choice of cars--HUGE or tiny. If someone chooses a huge car, I am not sure they have room to complain. In addition, people in the USA drive a lot more. It is average to put 25,000 miles on your car in one year. We don't live close to work usually and there are only a few cities with reliable public transportation. The gas prices right now are expensive for US cities, but it doesn't bother me. Now, paying $1.27 for one pear at Whole Foods? That bugs me.

Yeah, Uk is around €1.17/ litre, here in Rome its about €1.20/ litre

something else that we haven't mentioned is that the vehicles over there get much greater gas mileage...a celica GT over here gets about 22 mph...in the UK and in France, it gets upt to 48-52 mph...there vehicles do get higher mileage, but on average, they about equal out with each country economy and the purchasing power of their curencies...I had a Vauxhall, cluncker, an it got 33 mph...and that was without the new anti smog attachments and regulations!!!!

Scotto,

I assume then that the cars there have different engines in them?

How can the same car get gas mileage that's twice as efficient in one contry as in another?

I also noted that the cheapest gas in Sweden is 95 octane. Our HIGHEST grade is usually 93, cheapest is 89. Does this have some implication on mileage? Does anyone know why it's different, anyway?

And how do I import one of those European Celicas?

Gas here is anywhere between $2.23 and $2.47 a gallon (I don't know why the great discrepancy). I'm beginning to wish that I got better than 23 mpg city, although that's not awful for a car here.

As far as the rest of the prices, most of those in the original post would be considered high here, but we are talking about the midwest!

Arrivederci per ora,

- Michael

The cars are smaller=less weight. Also many have tiny engines (Fiat Seicento, Lancia Y10, VW Lupo, Nissan Micra range from 600cc to 1300cc).

The massive US appetite for fuel for cars has meant that Bush is finally getting to open up Alaska for oil extraction. This is an absolute environmental disaster. The money should be spent on reducing the need for fuel, like public transport, encouraging vehicles that don't guzzle so much gas etc.

A few things I have a hard time to understand:

1) Why do you have to have so big cars just because you are in America?
2) Are the public transportations too bad, or is it too dangerous, or are there just not enough buses, subways etc?
3) Is it not actually so that you are a little bit lazy, after all it is a lot more convenient to drive your own car?

oooh I am stepping on a lot of toes now, I can almost feel it! But I am really just curious. As I said, I don't have a car, I don't even have a driver's license. Here where I live, we have quite a lot of buses etc, it only get tricky when I go shopping (grocery, furniture) and buy too much so I can't possibly carry it. But most of the time it works just fine! Although I know a lot of people here too who could barely survive a week without a car.

I guess it all depends on where you live, and what you are used to. How is it in America, and how is it in Italy? Can you live without driving?

1) Some cars in American are too big because there has been no incentive for most American car manufacturers to build smaller and more fuel efficient motor vehicles. Even the Asian and European car manufacturers are shipping larger and larger motor vehicles to the United States. Bigger is NOT better.

2) Depending on where one lives in the States, public transportation is not consistent. Some cities have better tranportation options than rural areas and some cities are better than others. There are exceptions. The Federal, State and Local governments have not made public transportation a priority. They all depend on the gas taxes to pay and fund other services for their respective constituents. There are many individuals in America that take public transportations, car pool, ride bicycles and even drive fuel efficient vehicles. However, the majority of folks drive everywhere, no matter the distance.

3) Many people are lazy in America. Some will jump in their car's and go to a store that is less than 5 minutes from their home instead of walking. However, it should be noted that in and around a lot of American cities, affordable housing is distant from an individual's workplace and shopping areas. To have an affortable house/dwelling, some of these individuals will spend hours on the highways going to and from their places of employment. Many individuals in America have a desire to own their very own single family stand-alone dwelling including townhouses. Townhouses are single or multi-store residences that are connected to one another, usually 5 or more.

Having lived in Germany for 4 years and traveled extensively in Italy and France, public transportation is better in most parts of Europe than it's in the States. One may have to catch an early morning bus/train from a remote village or rural area but there is a bus/train out there.

You may note that I wrote "people" and "individuals" and not Americans. Because even the individuals that may of utilized public transportation in their respective country of origin, will now drive everywhere here in the States.

I agree with Kerry that opening the Alaska wilderness for oil exploration will be an "environmental disaster".

I am sure you will get some interesting responses to your post.

Ben Licodo
traveling_the_planet@att.net

Annika,

I forgot to add. Yes, I can live without driving. However, in the States, I am in the minority.

Ben

Partly it's because North America is so spread out. California may be one of the heavier populated areas but it's about 1/2 the population of Italy and maybe a little bigger in land mass. Many parts of North America are much much more spread out then that. That makes public transit not the best solution.

Partly it's because nobody makes any money from transit. That means nobody pushes for it. If we had clean disel then all those high mileage disel cars sold in Europe could be here. But clean disel cost the refineries money so for years they've lobbied against it. Finally in 2007 that's supposed to change.

Partly it's because people tend to work/live a 24 hour day. It's not the 1950's anymore with people working 9 to 5.

Alot depends on where you live. In Toronto proper you don't need a car. Unless you work outside the city. Many do. Unless you work late hours. Many buses don't run in the very early morning.

BTW I bet the average North American car is smaller then 30 years ago.

Thanks Ben for your response! This is actually something that I have been wondering about for a long time, but I haven't had anyone to ask. Public transportations here are very good, but of course if you don't have access to that, you have to find another way to get ahead - drive.

THe only cities that I would say have RELIABLE public transportation are NY and Chicago. Sure most cities have busses, but you would have to take several busses and hours of travel to get where you want to go. Unless you are a University student or live right downtown in a city, you need a car. Not to mention soccer practices, dance lessons, visiting family who live 400 miles away. USA is so spread out, it isn't practical to go without a car in 99% of the places. Some families have more than one car per person! That is where it gets ridiculous.

It is just a different lifestyle here. When I was in LA they built a subway--and nobody uses it. Sad, but true. Yes, some people are lazy, but that is a whole different post.

Where I live, being without a car would be very difficult. THere are 5 or 6 buses per day but with the timing of them (2 or 3 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and one at around 7),we would spend way too much time waiting around. For example, I could take the bus to the city then transfer to the grocery store at 8:30 in the morning but then I would have to wait until 1:30 to come back home. There isn't a bus early enough for my husband so he takes his scooter when the weather is nice but when it is rainy or snowy he takes our extra car. I use the big car (a four wheel drive car/truck) when I need to do things and I have to pick up kids.

When we lived in Siena, we had to jump our battery a few times because the car sat for long amounts of time without being driven. I walked everywhere with the kids but now, on top of a hill, I have to drive.

Annika...as well as the size of North America, part of the American Culture...(and Canada's), it is part of the American psychie (sp?)...check out the movie "American Grafitti".
US cars were built to go very fast in a straight line 'cause of the highways and it's vastness