Suggestion: Let's start posting Grocery Prices

Xislandgirl · Post by **Xislandgirl** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:45 pm

njhdrider wrote:When I traveled to St John the last thing on my mind was the price of anything...I was there to enjoy the beauty of the island...share the memories of the island with my kids and show them where I went when I was a kid....the last thing on my mind was how much I spent for a gallon of milk...because if I had to worry about that then I wouldnt go anywhere...

Vince H

I never worried about the prices, I just took notice of them. As a former resident, I knew that things were nore expensive, but the newbies that I traveled with had no idea. I think that they were shocked when we walked into the grocery store. They didn't complain or worry about it, they were just shocked.
I think most people just like to be aware.

njhdrider · Post by **njhdrider** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:52 pm

I never cared...just had my hand in my pocket and enjoyed.....if I worried about the little things I would be a mess....

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 10:29 pm

I save receipts in an envelope so that we can split costs. I took a look in my old trip envelopes trying to find that $700 Starfish Market receipt - nope. I did find a $559.66 receipt from Starfish from 2005. Have a look for grins and giggles. This was not our standard shopping trip; we had a vegetarian and a woman on a diet (!?!?) on this trip.

Cheers, RickG

a boy's mom · Post by **a boy's mom** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:39 pm

I think this is a great idea! We tend to bring a lot of dry goods and then stock up at Starfish on the first day for our perishables and treats.

We have a rule on our vacation... as long as there is beer in the fridge, there is ice cream in the freezer! I'm the ice cream addict, and my husband enjoys his beer. I don't say anything about the amount of liquor that he brings in... and he doesn't remind me of the fact that its $7.50 for 1 pint of Ben & Jerry's!

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 11:12 am

This is great guys! We should encourage people to include this info in regular postings.

Don't get me wrong, the fact that a half gallon of Breyers is $8.00 doesn't discourage me from the purchase. I'm still gonna buy it.

But I think many of us who are regular visitors to STJ just know what to expect in terms of grocery prices, but the newbies don't. And since we are such a wealth of info I think this is a helpful addition to those folks traveling to STJ for the first time.

Also, I don't know about you, but I often find that cooking in for two (unless you are doing something absolutely basic) can cost as much as eating out.

The exception of course is breakfast. We usually eat a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on an english muffin before heading to the beach. That holds us pretty well until lunch!

Anyway thanks for humoring me with this suggestion, let's encourage people to keep this subject included in their posts!

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 11:19 am

Gromit wrote:Also, I don't know about you, but I often find that cooking in for two (unless you are doing something absolutely basic) can cost as much as eating out.

For two? Maybe. For 6 or 8, no way!! I can feed and booze 8 adults for $800 in one week. $100 per head works out just about right. Dinner at ZoZos for 8 is over $600, for one meal. When Christine and I were on island in April/May and ate out most meals our expenses were easily 50% greater than normal.

Soft drinks, juice boxes and chips can raise that price a good bit. This is one case where rum and beer are cheaper than soda and juice boxes.

Cheers, RickG

Teresa_Rae · Post by **Teresa_Rae** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:19 pm

3oz of bug repellent per person should be plenty.

Perhaps for you, but not for everyone

...unfortunately I am a bug magnet. I wasn't adequately prepared for my first trip to STJ and was frustrated to have to pay $10 per can of bug spray on island. I usually go through 4 cans of it on a 10 day trip...my husband only uses about a 1/2 a can for the same period of time, and I still get 10 times as many bites as he does.

On our first trip to STJ I had around 200 bug bites (I stopped counting at 180), and that was with moderate bug spray usage...now I know that I have to douse myself in it and I usually get around 20 or so bites per trip...a vast improvement!

As for the milk that someone asked about, there are two types of milk available...the cheaper version is partially reconstituted, meaning that it is mixed with dry milk and water...the more expensive milk is the stuff you're used to at home. It's around $5.50 for a gallon of the reconstituted stuff and around $6.50 for the good stuff. Check code dates though...I haven't been able to get the good milk our past two trips because it was out of code.

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:29 pm

Hey RickG,

Dinner for 2 at Skinny's or Shipwreck or even Island Blues will run about $50-$75 bucks. Maybe a bit more depending on drinks and what you order.

Trying to prepare the same thing we would get at any of these restaurants (exception of Skinny's) when you figure that you have to get all the ingredients to even come close will cost you the same if not more IMHO.

Now when you've got a larger group and are dealing in quantity you're better off eating in.

But for two IMHO it's a wash unless you're talking a basic burger, hot dog or grilled cheese sandwich.

But again, that's just what we've found based upon our past trips.

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:41 pm

Gromit wrote:Hey RickG,

Dinner for 2 at Skinny's or Shipwreck or even Island Blues will run about $50-$75 bucks. Maybe a bit more

Now when you've got a larger group and are dealing in quantity you're better off eating in.

But for two IMHO it's a wash unless you're talking a basic burger, hot dog or grilled cheese sandwich.

Agreed, we generally find our group trips to be VERY economical. The bottom line is that cooking for 6-8 is only slightly more work than cooking for 2 and there are more hands to prep and clean up. Honestly, humbly, our cooking is better than most of the restaurants on STJ and the setting is usually better. We generally have 3 or 4 people actively prepping and cooking dinner, frankly trying to out cook each other. But, when there's just two of us I'd rather not cook every night.

There's a lot to be said for having a great group of adults that pitch-in and share all of the costs. I've learned some lessons about who and how - that's why we've got 3 couples on our Halloween trip rather than 4 or 5. This one will be the best of the best.

Cheers, RickG

Gromit · Post by **Gromit** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:45 pm

Yeah, I've been drooling over your additions to the food porn thread. You ought to seriously hire yourself out. In exchange for a free trip you agree to prepare Dinners!!

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:48 pm

The food porn thread is inspiring me to plan meals for our next trip. I agree with RickG, active participants can make all the difference.

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Fri Aug 03, 2007 4:49 pm

Dinner for 2 at Skinny's or Shipwreck or even Island Blues will run about $50-$75 bucks. Maybe a bit more depending on drinks and what you order.
Trying to prepare the same thing we would get at any of these restaurants (exception of Skinny's) when you figure that you have to get all the ingredients to even come close will cost you the same if not more IMHO.
Now when you've got a larger group and are dealing in quantity you're better off eating in.
But for two IMHO it's a wash unless you're talking a basic burger, hot dog or grilled cheese sandwich.
But again, that's just what we've found based upon our past trips.

Grommit - you nailed why "cook" is kinda a four letter for our small family of 3 on vacation.
The time and expense for shopping, prep, clean up, not to mention not having your own tools, not being used to the stove/grill, etc. - yikes, I really dont know how you all you villaphiles do all that cooking in, especially if you both work back in the real world.

usvi-on-line