Sailing around the world on a budget

[veshengro]

Potatoes, onions and eggs lightly greased, and remember to turn the eggs in their trays once a week I seem to recall was Sheila's advice in one of their books.
I waited until the ARC had left Las Palmas and the prices had returned to normal... Then I went up to the Municipal Market and bought Onions, a bag of those little spuds they grow in the islands, Oranges and Bananas which I managed to eat before they went too squishy. I was well stocked up with tinned stuff,** Cereal and powdered milk etc: bought in Morrisons in Gib. I had a few onions left and ate the last Orange a day out of Martinique.



** Fray Bentos pies... ( I put it down here for the squeamish )

 

[Wansworth]

Potatoes, onions and eggs lightly greased, and remember to turn the eggs in their trays once a week I seem to recall was Sheila's advice in one of their books.
I waited until the ARC had left Las Palmas and the prices had returned to normal... Then I went up to the Municipal Market and bought Onions, a bag of those little spuds they grow in the islands, Oranges and Bananas which I managed to eat before they went too squishy. I was well stocked up with tinned stuff,** Cereal and powdered milk etc: bought in Morrisons in Gib. I had a few onions left and ate the last Orange a day out of Martinique.



** Fray Bentos pies... ( I put it down here for the squeamish )

Excellent!

 

[Tranona]

A standard block of butter is about £3 in the Uk now, but a standard block of butter was recently made smaller and so is now only 200g so a pound of butter is around £7, more if you want a premium brand.

And that’s assuming you’re wanting the “steal my personal data” price. Without a Clubcard or similar it’s probably 25% more right now.

I acknowledge that price is high, but the UK price has gone crazy in the past 6 months.

Simply not true. A standard supermarket butter pack is 250g and £1.99 - salted or unsalted. It is a benchmark product and all the supermarkets charge the same (as with milk!) It has been this price for months. Price is not dependent on loyalty card use. Prices have not gone crazy in the past 6 months. current food inflation is 3.3% slightly higher than the overall rate bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l18pzrz00o Many popular products have fallen in price through promotions and average food inflation is You clearly don't do the weekly shop.

Maybe you are following Mr Trump in his understanding of truth

 

[Wansworth]

On my epic voyage Istocked up with tinned fish……my wife ,then girlfriends mother was responsible for the fish factory economato,moretinned fish than you could shake a stick at….Masso one of the best brands inthe rias…..like coals to Newcastle!

 

[john_morris_uk]

Ouch. And that's US, not EC?
We just stocked up in St Martin. Freezer is stuffed full of butter, chicken, mince, and pain au chocolate.
Given the price differences between islands, I would say a freezer is absolutely essential if your want to cruise on a budget and still eat relatively well.

Yes that’s US $. But don’t fret too much. We’ve found some food in the US supermarkets in St Thomas very favourably priced and comparable to UK prices or cheaper. Chicken and other meat is MUCH cheaper than other parts of the Caribbean (including St Martin) The butter price I photo’d caught my eye as it was so expensive. Other makes were available cheaper.

I’ve just ordered a Victron Inverter Charger so we’re here for a couple of weeks yet waiting for it to come from the USA. Ard you on your way soon? We’re looking forward to seeing you.

 

[Sea Change]

Yes that’s US $. But don’t fret too much. We’ve found some food in the US supermarkets in St Thomas very favourably priced and comparable to UK prices or cheaper. Chicken and other meat is MUCH cheaper than other parts of the Caribbean (including St Martin) The butter price I photo’d caught my eye as it was so expensive. Other makes were available cheaper.

I’ve just ordered a Victron Inverter Charger so we’re here for a couple of weeks yet waiting for it to come from the USA. Ard you on your way soon? We’re looking forward to seeing you.

We've finally escaped from SXM. But only as far as Anguilla. Needed a wee shakedown for the new mainsail.
Plan to set off again in a couple of days and likely stop in at BVI.

 

[lustyd]

Simply not true.

I know what I’ve seen in my local supermarket. What a ridiculous thing to say, you have no way to know what my local shops have or charge.

 

[lustyd]

Maybe you are following Mr Trump in his understanding of truth

Please keep politics out of this, go to the lounge of you can’t keep it in.

 

[BobnLesley]

...shocked, and disappointed, to find much higher prices and more limited stock... through other parts of the Caribbean...

Be sure to take a deep breath and try to relax before making your first shopping trip once you reach the Pacific islands

 

[CrossedThreads]

As somebody who is now in the early planning stages of extended cruising, this thread is exceptionally insightful. Thank You.
(Not so much the sniping, but suppose you can’t have everything in life)

 

[BobnLesley]

Tesco/Aldi/Lidl/sainsbury own brand, butter £1.99/250g in Scotland. Premium brands are more, and at least some have suffered shrinkflation but if you look beyond the main eyeline better options exist.

The main eyeline being those package labels.
The recipe for UK/European block butter (all sorts of crap, but mainly cheap oil and water goes into 'spreadable' butter) is dictated by law, so every block, irrespective of who makes it, even Lurpak, Anchor and Kerrygold (different brands are often packaged off the same line) contains whole milk and cream churned to a fat content of 80% with a dash or less of salt added and NOTHING else, they are all exactly the bloody same.

 

[BobnLesley]

As somebody who is now in the early planning stages of extended cruising, this thread is exceptionally insightful. Thank You.
(Not so much the sniping, but suppose you can’t have everything in life)

Good luck with your plans.
And when it comes to advice on here I would recommend that you give most credence to those who are offering first hand and current or at least recent experience; I'm aware that my own is nowadays getting past it's sell by date.

 

[Tranona]

Please keep politics out of this, go to the lounge of you can’t keep it in.

Nothing to do with politics. You made a statement about the cost of butter and other foods that was totally untrue. The person mentioned also tends to make statements that are untrue No politics allowed in the lounge

 

[Tranona]

I know what I’ve seen in my local supermarket. What a ridiculous thing to say, you have no way to know what my local shops have or charge.

You live in the UK and it is swamped with Sainsbury, Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Morrison, Lidl and so on that all sell butter at the same price. Nowhere is plain butter of any type £7 a pound (it has been sold in grams for years anyway). tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/fresh-food/milk-butter-and-eggs/butters-spreads-and-margarine?sortBy=relevance&productSource=GhsAndMarketplace&count=24#top
The most expensive is £12 a kg or £5.45 a pound and own label is £7.96 a kg or £3.26 a pound.

The inflation figures quoted are the official government figures just published. Butter is not discounted for loyalty cards, but is usually promoted under "Price match" programmes.

 

[capnsensible]

Let them eat ....margarine.

 

[lustyd]

Nowhere is butter of any type £7 a pound (it has been sold in grams for years anyway).

every supermarket near me it is. Perhaps you’ve not been paying attention, but I certainly have.
Your understanding of supermarket pricing is extremely oitdated. The idea of known value goods and benchmark products was replaced with big data analytics years ago and supermarkets are absolutely pushing the limits these days. I know this because I helped design those systems for three of the big supermarkets.

Nothing to do with politics

Looked political to me, what does Trump have to do with a discussion on cruising costs?

 

[steve yates]

Simply not true. A standard supermarket butter pack is 250g and £1.99 - salted or unsalted. It is a benchmark product and all the supermarkets charge the same (as with milk!) It has been this price for months. Price is not dependent on loyalty card use. Prices have not gone crazy in the past 6 months. current food inflation is 3.3% slightly higher than the overall rate bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0l18pzrz00o Many popular products have fallen in price through promotions and average food inflation is You clearly don't do the weekly shop.

Maybe you are following Mr Trump in his understanding of truth

They havent gone crazy in the last 6 months, but they are significantly more expensive than a couple of years ago. Grocery inflation has consistently been running higher than the overall inflation indicator, a year or more ago I remember seeing figures of 19%.
And although inflation may come down, those price rises rarely do and remain baked in, so although 3.3% may seem low, its on top of earlier double digit rises.
There has also been significant reduction in content volume to sneak big price rises past customers.
So yes, uk grocery shopping is vastly more expensive than it was a few years ago.
I would say a trolley of the usual stuff from Aldi last year was 25-30 % more expensive than 3 years ago, and it will never go back down, only up.

 

[Sandydog2]

I know what I’ve seen in my local supermarket. What a ridiculous thing to say, you have no way to know what my local shops have or charge.

You said ‘a standard block of butter in the UK’. It simply isn’t true. All the big name supermarkets have butter for about £2 for 250g. None of those prices are with a loyalty card. Waitrose is £2.25 but everywhere else including M&S is under £2. It’s even cheaper in 500g blocks.

 

[[194497]]

I'm not sure how it's possible to argue about the price of butter in this day and age. All the big supermarkets have websites where you can quickly check prices and weights - opinions are not needed when the facts are readily available!

 

[BobnLesley]

I'm not sure how it's possible to argue about the price of butter in this day and age. All the big supermarkets have websites where you can quickly check prices and weights - opinions are not needed when the facts are readily available!

No point in your introducing 'facts' into the debate; there are several on here who don't hold with those at all; most especially when their mate down the pub says different.