these days $45 at costco is like two things, and $50 at a regular grocery store is six things.
but the analogy still holds that walking is much cheaper.
Maeve 23 points a year ago
I just spent about 150 my last trip and I'm set for a month. No oj though, it's expensive there, too. I could have gotten more but I held back in case I don't get back for a minute.
ETA: I don't have a car and the walk would take days.
Cris_Color 16 points a year ago
Yeah I've been price comparing by unit volume between aldi and BJs cause my dad put me on his BJs membership-
Almost nothing is cheaper at BJs. Rice is. A whole bundle of coconut milk is cheaper.
But like... Unless you're already buying brand names it's frankly a bad deal ๐ and even then I'm curious how much better than Walmart it might actually be
Khanzarate 9 points a year ago
BJs offered us a deal so we took it.
Almost every product there (all name brand) costs the same as buying the generic brand at Walmart. Cereal, yogurt, Mac and cheese, toilet paper, I have compared all of it while we have the one year membership.
Sure, I get name brand, and Jif is better than great value, but I have saved nothing. Won't be renewing when they actually expect me to pay the membership. Sam's club beats Walmart by a little bit but not a lot, and I dont have a Costco or Aldi's near me. How does Aldi's stack compared to BJ's?
Cris_Color 4 points a year ago
Thank you for sharing, that's super helpful!
Aldi seem almost always cheaper or the same price compared to BJ's, as everything at Aldi with a small number of exceptions is store brand. Even buying in smaller quantities many things are cheaper at Aldi, by at least a little bit.
The exceptions I saw were things like rice since you can buy store brand jasmine at BJs in a huge 25 lb bag, which if I remember is a good deal compared to Aldi (obs ignoring membership cause you can't really factor that in). Basmatti was even steeper of a deal I think, since Aldi sells less basmatti and so only sells a smaller bag and for a bit more money. And I do remember dry black beans being cheaper but I believe that was even cheaper at Walmart. That might also be true for canned coconut milk which I think was cheaper at BJs, but it might be a bit cheaper still at Walmart, I don't recall.
Milk has weirdly been way cheaper for me at target in my area, than basically anywhere else, which feels very strange, but it's close to me and I'm usually there to pick up perscriptions anyway so it's not too inconvenient to get only milk there.
It's been a bit since I did price comparisons though, and my memory is exceptionally bad ๐ . I almost always shop at Aldi so I don't compare them ongoing, I just went through the process of checking a bunch of things recently.
Shopping at Aldi I would generally expect you to save a bit of money vs BJ's unless you're buying stuff you can buy at BJs in much larger volume.
Plus Aldi doesn't make political campaign donations, and as such isn't using my money to purchase my political institutions away from me, which I very much appreciate
Khanzarate 2 points a year ago
Cool thanks for the info.
Also didn't know bjs was donating lije that. Terrible.
Cris_Color 1 point a year ago
Can you shop at BJs without a membership...?
Its a wholesale club, like sams and Costco. But yes, you can get a membership, I think that's the default/standard way of shopping there, shopping without a membership I think would be an exception to the norm
Is there like an option to pay an added fee on top of whatever you're buying to be able to shop without membership? If so, how much is it?
StarvingMartist 55 points a year ago
Where are you shopping where you can get a weeks worth of food for only 50
Catoblepas 22 points a year ago
Aldi
Korhaka 10 points a year ago
ยฃ50 would be pushing 2 weeks for both of us. We normally spend ยฃ20-30 a week between us. May reduce it further as my garden becomes more productive, already never need to buy rosemary, thyme, sage, chives or mint again.
blackn1ght 6 points a year ago
I'm intrigued what you could be buying where a weeks worth of food for a couple only costs you ยฃ30. Like, what do your daily meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) look like?
Korhaka 7 points a year ago
IIRC the following is roughly what we bought for this week, obviously some ingredients left over from previous weeks and some won't be completely used and gets used in following weeks.
- Fresh: 3kg carrots, 1.5kg potatoes, 500g leeks, 250g spinach, bunch of bananas, 100g mushrooms, 12 eggs, 900g cheddar
- Regular size tins: Chopped tomatoes x3, mixed beans x2
- Other: 500g rice, 1kg pasta, quite a bit of honey/vinegar for making chuntey, frozen peas, 1.5kg flour, cinnamon, cloves
I grow quite a few of my own herbs to help as well: Rosemary, sage, thyme, chives, mint. Adding oregano soon. My garden is fairly small so only growing herbs rather than veg but hopefully getting an allotment soon. I also forage for fruits when they are in season, made 2L of apple chutney this week which is why I needed the honey/vinegar, though could do with a proper stockpot to do it in larger quantities.
If you don't have a garden, the herbs I am growing would be pretty easy options for some guerilla gardening. Maybe not the mint as it can be a bit invasive. There is even a large rosemary bush near one of the supermarkets in town here that I have taken cuttings from before. A little cheeky but you could probably even take a little cutting from someones front garden if you are desperate.
MintyFresh 6 points a year ago
Aldi is the shit
louisinidus 12 points a year ago
I get groceries for a week in auckland at about 70. Considering auckland is the most expensive city in my country, I reckon 50 is fesible in other cities.
Unlearned9545 2 points a year ago
Whangerei about $100 for 2 of us a week and we eat yummy
louisinidus 1 point a year ago
Hell yea bro! Thats pretty good :)
PokerChips 11 points a year ago
If you're single and no kids, it's very doable. Considering this person prefers an active lifestyle, they probably don't spend money on junk food.
Eggs, milk, bread and some vegetables and maybe some fish. Add some soap and hygiene every once in a while then about 50 sounds about right.
My average was around 25 bucks with about a trip every 4 or 5 days or so unless some kind of splurge is added.
KatakiY 6 points a year ago
Salmon is 9 dollars a pound at Aldi's milk is 2 bucks eggs are like 2-3.
Deodorant is about 3-4 dollars. Protein powder is like 2 dollars a serving at Aldi's if I remember right?
Anyways when I go to Aldi's I usually spend about fifty and that lasts a few days. I have three people in my house though and a growing teen. You can definitely do 50 a week on lean diet that requires you to cook every meal but the more people in the house and the more you work the less this is viable and the more you have to rely on premade shit.
Aldi's is the shit tho. 8 bucks for three pounds of ground turkey goes a long way
rumschlumpel 8 points a year ago
Salmon is one of the more expensive fishes. Try something cheaper like pollock, or just buy chicken instead.
Also, no shit your bill goes up when you add more people to the household!
rumschlumpel 7 points a year ago
How much are rice and dried beans per pound in your parts?
rumschlumpel 3 points a year ago
Damn, that sucks. Maybe lentils? Or try a mexican, indian etc. store?
Resonosity 2 points a year ago
Trader Joe's
baltakatei 46 points a year ago
Living within 1 kilometer walking distance of a grocery store is amazing. Instead of expensive fast food I can get comparatively inexpensive deli food. And if I want to be frugal and cook meals myself, cheap beans, rice, fresh meat, dairy, and produce are all available. Plus, I get a nice daily walk instead of checks notes from a previous life drive twenty minutes to the gym each day to walk on a treadmill.
MintyFresh 7 points a year ago
I got a rice cooker recently, great investment. I pan fry up whatever, some protein and vegetables, I've got a few good recipes going. With rice. I've been eating healthier and way cheaper. Tonight was chicken, green beans, and various seasonings. Was delicious af and cost me like 1.50$, if that.
Swedneck 5 points a year ago
do grocery stores where you live not have frozen food? that's the ideal in my book: perfectly decent quality and you just have to heat it.
This is the best one i've tried, it's literally just frozen veggies, precooked pasta, chicken, and sauce. Healthy as fuck while tasting great and taking 0 effort to prepare.
jenesaisquoi 11 points a year ago
Healthy as fuck is a bit of a stretch for industrially-processed food grown with pesticides. It's better than fast food.
Catoblepas 7 points a year ago
Come off it, chopping veggies up and freezing them (โindustrial processingโ) doesnโt make them unhealthy. Thereโs also not a way to guarantee that your food has no pesticides (itโs permissible under the organic label in some conditions) unless you grow it yourself.
Kuinox 1 point a year ago
The secret is cooking yourself.
The pasta you sent, have a Nova Score of 4, which means ultra processed food:
https://world.openfoodfacts.org/...
fx242 1 point a year ago
Maybe its a cultural thing, but mostly fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, fresh meat, fresh fish... I think you got the idea. Frozen veggies are good too (if not pre-cooked or seasoned).
MintyFresh 3 points a year ago
I just broke my 12 year streak of not having a car. I took a job as a city bus driver. Whaddya do when you're supposed to run the first bus out of the garage and it's too snowy to bike? I feel like a failure and a jerk. But I am trying to move close to the depot, so hopefully I could walk.
Catoblepas 4 points a year ago
I think if anyone gets a pass for needing a car to get to work itโs the early working bus driver, haha.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod 3 points a year ago
I live less than a kilometer from a grocery store but it takes me a half hour to walk there because Iโm in a subdivision and thereโs no direct sidewalk.
I used to be able to cut across yards but somebody put up a fence to stop that.
Alcoholicorn 42 points a year ago
Buy used 110cc motorbike for 250-300USD
pay 30USD a month for fuel because 160mpg
flop over in the middle of traffic because the 25kg bag of rice you're balancing between your legs shifts
Alcoholicorn 9 points a year ago
Yes, but the rack is already being used to hold the rest of your groceries, family of 5, dog, refrigerator, and all the other things car owners claim they absolutely need a car to transport.
Tilgare 16 points a year ago
Hey there, Rice-a-Roni - there are 8 billion other people in the world, so it's pretty bold and exceedingly stupid to speak for all of them. In fact, I'll bet there are literally a billion people in the world that buy their rice 25kg at a time. I know it is very common in Hawaiian households, I'd guess that there are more Hawaiians buying 25kg bags of rice than there are Hawaiians buying 1 kg bags.
Tilgare 8 points a year ago
Right - and my point was that the whole rest of the world doesn't see or experience life in precisely the same way that you do. It is only stupid to make broad generalizations about the whole rest of the world from your tiny little corner of it.
jenesaisquoi 16 points a year ago
Extremely common in Asia.
Alcoholicorn 11 points a year ago
That's what the average SEA eats in like 2 days. Its the big bags at any grocery store
Correct. I have not been riding motorbikes since before I could walk, so I cannot do what the locals do. Yet.
destructdisc 14 points a year ago
Thatโs what the average SEA eats in like 2 days. Its the big bags at any grocery store
No the fuck we don't. A 5kg bag lasts an entire week for a family of four adults
Alcoholicorn 13 points a year ago
Slight exaggeration for comedic effect.
birdwing 0 points a year ago
The average south east Asian eats that much? I find that hard to believe. Maybe you mean 2.5 kg? Then I could see that being plausible for a household of four, spread over a week.
jenesaisquoi 2 points a year ago
lb
You and your funny units
hector 2 points a year ago
What I hate is stores that give the price per unit in ounces. Especially when it is in pounds elsewhere, like the more expensive one the price will be in ounces so then you have to multiply times 16 in the store in your head it is super annoying.
slaneesh_is_right 2 points a year ago
I buy 5 or 10kg bags of rice at once and i live alone.
Philharmonic3 33 points a year ago
Once again a post about zoning laws instead of cars.
UnderpantsWeevil 22 points a year ago
"I would like to live in a carless society"
v
"I would like somewhere to park my car"
is a real dichotomy that spans both issues.
A great example is my own hometown of Houston, a city famous for its lack of zoning.
By 1978, the city had gutted itself in order to clear space for more parking. It took decades to reverse that mistake and rebuild the interior of the city. A big part of that was the introduction of (still very modest) bus and light rail.
UnderpantsWeevil 5 points a year ago
couldโve been replaced by bicycle racks, apartments, and parks.
We did actually have a ton of public racks and even rental bikes installed under Mayors White and Parker. Turner kinda neglected them. Then, over the last year, John Whitmire tore them all out again.
I'll also note that the Main Street light rail has created a boom in apartment housing along its length. South of downtown was basically a slum until the rail was installed. Now it's a bunch of 8+ story apartments and a few high rises with shopping/restaurants on the first floor.
birdwing 5 points a year ago
Then I hope Whitmire gets ran over by a car. Hope he plucks the sour fruits of his own policies.
Reading more on him and he sounds like an ass. No AC for inmates in hot summers... then he's a criminal himself for making people die. Maybe he should undergo a lack of AC himself.
He also seems awfully willing to lock people up, instead of actually making the situation better by ending his own life.
moakley 5 points a year ago
There's a series of underground shops and restaurants in downtown Houston, connected by tunnels. Great way for someone working downtown to walk to lunch when it's too hot to go outside.
There is some underground parking on the edge of downtown.
With that said, it's actually very difficult to build underground in Houston because of the high water table.
SorryQuick 30 points a year ago
here itโs more like this:
donโt own a car no store in reach ??? starve
pjwestin 28 points a year ago
This is assuming you live in a walkable town or neighborhood. I remember a reddit post (can't find it anymore) of a guy trying to walk less than 2 miles to an appointment in Orlando. He followed Google Maps directions down the shoulder of a highway that led to a dead-end, backtracked, tried again, and finally made almost all the way to his destination, which was on the opposite side of a 6-lane highway Google wanted him to cross.
I've only ever visited the theme parks in Orlando, but I experienced one intersection I had to share with cars. I spent every walk sign waiting for cars making a turn to yield. Even though I had the right of way, literally none of them did, until I finally had to run across the street because the cars at the red light, who could see I was 1/3 through the intersection, floored it the second their light turned green. Sure, fuck all of those car-brained drivers who refuse to yield to pedestrians, but also fuck that city for not fining drivers for shitty behavior, or at least changing their traffic lights so all cars have red lights when pedestrians have the walk sign.
Anyway, point is, personal choices are important, but they can't overcome the systemic issues created by car culture without collective action. And Orlando sucks ass.
Soup 9 points a year ago
Congrate, your first sentence figured it out.
Maybe you just got here but bud Iโm getting so tired of people assuming that people like the person in the post arenโt also the same people screaming for better infrastructure so we can ditch this high dependence on cars. We know that not everywhere is like this and thatโs why we also have a MOUNTAIN of examples of even the shittiest places in the US, but also all over the world, doing things to build better for not that much money.
The entire point of the post is to show that people who fight against that change donโt have much of an argument. We know how things are but they donโt need to be like forever. Nearly every city used to be a 15min city before the car and then 50-100 years ago we fucked it all up(because of bribes from car manufacturers) and kept that shit train rolling.
pjwestin -2 points a year ago
Yeah, that would be a great point if the entire post wasn't a 4Channer framing this as personal choices and not systemic ones. The dudes not talking about how the car industry destroyed railcars, he's dunking on people who drive to the grocery store, and the implication is clearly, "everyone can and should do this," which is bullshit.
Soup 4 points a year ago
Except there are places where thatโs true. There are also people in places with the same mindset who buy trucks for twice the price of a reasonable hatchback and act like the extra $30k+ is less than occasionally renting a U-Haul.
You not being smart doesnโt diminish my point.
pjwestin 1 point a year ago
Except there are places where thatโs true. There are also people in places with the same mindset who buy trucks for twice the price of a reasonable hatchback...
Yeah, I never said this wasn't true, but again, none of that is in the fucking post. The dude's not making a nuanced point about people who live in walkable areas but buy large trucks over sensible hatchbacks. He's making a sweeping statement about how people who don't walk to the grocery store are idiots, but America has the walking score of a developing nation; if you live somewhere where you can walk to the grocery store, you're breathing rarefied air, and calling other people stupid for driving is entitled.
Like, what are you so pissy about? That I was responding to the content of the post instead of the points you assume the 4Channer would make, but didn't? OK buddy, in the future, I'll try to infer what you presume the OP's hidden beliefs are and tailor my comment to that. Seems reasonable.
pjwestin 6 points a year ago
Oh, this wasn't even a right on red. The green light for cars was lined up with the walk sign for pedestrians going rhe same direction. In a situation like that, when a car with a green light needs to turn through the crosswalk, they are supposed to yield to any pedestrian crossing at that time, but apparently the people of Orlando have so much car entitlement that they don't even slow down when a pedestrian is standing in the middle of the crosswalk trying to complete a legal crossing.
vala 3 points a year ago
American here, this is just as stupid and dangerous as it sounds. The idea is that it's very easy to check for pedestrians before turning but literally almost no one even looks. Even if the crosswalk light is lit they don't notice and just plow right through.
FireRetardant 2 points a year ago
Id argue the idea is that its easy to check for cars as you only need 1 lane of traffic. Traffic engineers don't really consider the needs and safety of pedestrians, they just do the bare minimum to accommodate them. And the engineers that do try to care about pedestrians are told things like "well thats not how its done in this book from the 50s" or "that would reduce our throughput by 5% meaning we'd need to invest in another car lane"
lapping6596 3 points a year ago
In NYC it isn't allowed and now I think it's insane we allow it everywhere else.
Ansis100 2 points a year ago
I know this is fuckcars, but I personally I think it makes sense. Our brothers in Lithuania are also doing it (tbf there needs to be a specific sign next to the light saying you can do it).
The less people spend waiting on pointless traffic lights, the faster cars get to their destination, the less cars there are on the street. At least that's how I view it.
All of this is of course keeping in mind to always yield to a pedestrian.
jumping_redditor -1 points a year ago
it works great if you just break check the fucker that's trying to turn, if you lack the confidence it works less well
pdqcp 3 points a year ago
Finns would like to have a word: Why Canadians Can't Bike in the Winter (but Finnish people can)
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU
j_overgrens 2 points a year ago
Cycling in the cold really is no problem.
CallMeAnAI 1 point a year ago
What do you spend 1k a year on maintenance on?
Pothetato 2 points a year ago
It's always something with a 20 year old car. Tires, brakes, fluid changes, oh the radiator is leaking, oh a sway bar link broke, oh I destroyed a tire on a pothole, oh I will try in vain to sus out that error code again.
Rai 2 points a year ago
Iโve had two cars before that took about 1k yearly on maintenance. One just had a weird electrical issue that I hoped would actually get fixed eventually (and a tie rod just fell off at one point) and the other carโs A/C went out a couple times, requiring maybe 400USD to recharge. That car was totaled before the AC was ever fixed.
confusedbytheBasics 20 points a year ago
I lived next to a little natural grocery for a few years. Prices were about 20% higher than the ordinary grocery and maybe double what I'd pay at Costco. At first I was resistant because they seemed to be overcharging so much. Overtime I talked to the employees and realized the savings I made on time and not needing a car more than made up for the higher price. Plus they had to keep prices high because shoplifting was very common.
I started figuring my time and car expenses into future shopping trips and now I don't mind paying a bit more for the local co-op.
paraphrand 20 points a year ago
Ok everyone. Make weekly groceries $200 and Costco $190. Does that make a difference about the point of this post? Yaโllโฆ
winkerjadams 4 points a year ago
The website has higher prices than in store
burntbacon 2 points a year ago
The only thing costco really has going for it is the odd item that is truly on sale, dependable low prices on some stuff, and quality control. Quality control is the big one. I can't remember most of the tests now, but when olive oil was being looked at, costco was one of the two brands out of something like 32 that was actually what it said on the label. On a couple of other things as well that I remember, like honey, they had the same finding.
Zoomboingding 2 points a year ago
It's also ignoring how this person spent so much in gas if they're able to walk everywhere. Surely they're talking public transportation, biking, or they simply have 4 extra hours a day.
But yes owning a car is an expensive grift, but it's one that's hard to avoid in many parts of the US
dependencyinjection 19 points a year ago
Ok letโs flip this to cherry pick my example.
Donโt need a car most of life, get to 40 and upskill and become a software engineer. Job market is terrible due to saturation and I suck at interviews so can only take a job 40 miles away from home.
No problem.exe. I can take 2.5-3 hour commute each way 5 days a week.
Fast forward a few months and Iโm just dead on my feet, do nothing but go to work come home goto bed get up and repeat.
Decide this canโt continue. Canโt afford to move to the bougie town where I work so decide I need a car finally.
Save 12-15 hours per week and itโs not too much more expensive than taking a Metrolink and a train to work with 30 mins of walking too. Plus all the meals you need to eat out of the house when youโre out for 14 hours in a day.
On my days off Iโll take the tram 20 miles each way to go rock climbing but some people actually do need cars and they shouldnโt be made to feel bad for it.
wabasso 17 points a year ago
Also the sunk cost of the carโs capital goes toward all the other things youโll use your car for, like leisure time and driving other humans around. Also the practicality of walking to get groceries decreases as you gain more mouths to feed.
moakley 6 points a year ago
I've got a family of four, soon to be five. There's no way I could possibly do all my grocery shopping on foot. It's just too much to carry. I'd have to bring a wheelbarrow, and all the ice cream would melt.
onslaught545 5 points a year ago
It's also not super practical to walk to get groceries if you live in a hot climate.
jumping_redditor -1 points a year ago
or cold climate
dependencyinjection 3 points a year ago
Exactly. Iโve actually used the car at weekends to do some work for friends. So can earn more money with it.
gerowen 18 points a year ago
Walking to my grocery store and back would be an all day affair and I'd have to have help hauling everything because I'm married with two kids, so our two week grocery bill runs between $200 and $300 depending on what all we need. My closest Walmart is 25 miles away. My closest local grocery store is about 7. And there is no public transportation here.
causepix 5 points a year ago
All american cities were built that way until the suburbs were deliberately built to destroy that, because there was more profit in the system of private vehicles. (Along with everything else that falls on each individual in the suburbs, which also prevents us from organizing, which benefits the designers of this system)
Your problem is assuming if it can't be done by one person, single-handedly, then it can't be done at all. For every person that thinks like this, our capacity as a class is reduced.
P13 6 points a year ago
Rough!
I have 3 large supermarkets in less than a 10 minute walk and another small one that would be โwalking from the parking lotโ distance.
We also have a local sourdough bakery and a sort of farmers market pickup point within walking distance.
flippinfreebird 2 points a year ago
We must have grown up on the same street. Lol
Fedizen 17 points a year ago
This is also coincidentally how the math works on big box stores.
- Big box parking lot/strip mall opens
- Save $100 on groceries annually
- Pay $150 extra in taxes and gas to maintain and drive on an additional 10 miles of road
- Local options shut down, prices go up, and it takes 5 extra minutes to get to box store with increased traffic.
- Box store eventually closes due to not being in suburb anyway.
FireRetardant 2 points a year ago
More like box store closes to cash in on real estate sale and then opens new location just a few blocks down the road on the outskirts. Rinse and repeat.
queermunist 17 points a year ago
If it weren't for weather I wouldn't have a car. Sure, 90 minutes by ebike is a serious time commitment, but I'd save so much money a year it makes sense as a part time job.
But fuck riding a bike on ice for two months lol
Pulptastic 6 points a year ago
Studded tires make this a non issue.
queermunist 5 points a year ago
Does it really? I'd think they would help, but actually a non-issue? I'm skeptical.
Also getting sprayed by a passing asshole car showering me with slush+sand+road salt doesn't sound great either.
Pulptastic 8 points a year ago
Personal experience, yes. Iโve biked trails in all conditions and only had any trouble on one of them. It had snowed a bunch, thawed, froze again, and then rained. I could still generally bike around and never fell, but didnโt have enough traction for the short steep climbs found on trails.
queermunist 1 point a year ago
My commute is pretty hilly, doesn't sound like I'd have a good time on ice.
TheSambassador 4 points a year ago
But it cold and I don't want to bundle up like that kid from A Christmas Story.
BanMe 4 points a year ago
Yeah I lived a car-free life when I lived in Seattle, working on Magnolia Hill, living on Capitol Hill. That was doable year round. The midwestern flyover states I grew up and live in, tho, no it's not workable. In the North there's snow for months, in the South we have monsoon season where it rains for weeks, in the summer heat index gets above 110 regularly and these people don't plant shade trees. Plus nearest grocery stores are miles away (I live downtown in a capital city).
Even though I work a few blocks from my home, I can't live car free here without significant ride-sharing expenses (the bus system is a joke and only runs part of the day, grocery shopping would eat an entire day of my week that way), if I did that I couldn't go on roadtrips on weekends either, unless I rented a car - and all that is more expensive than my (20k, not 40k) car.
But I do love this community and it's coastal approach to shaming people who rely on cars... take the tram or train, lmao
saigot 1 point a year ago
Studded tires are illegal on public roads where I live (i'm pretty confident it applies to bikes too), but i do fine with fat tires. My chain slips if its actively snowing though and for some reason my bolts loosen rather quickly in winter.
slaneesh_is_right 6 points a year ago
I haven't had a car for two years now. Well technically i had the car i use for my job, but i never use that in my free time. While public transportation is pretty good here, i still live close to nowhere and i have to get to the next bus stop. Ebikes are fantastic but they do have their limits. Gettig groceries on a nice sunday morning, i can go on a 90min trip without any roads and no cars and a view that would blow most people's mind. But a rainy Thursday evening in the cold, there are just days that i'm not in the mood for that.
queermunist 7 points a year ago
Do they do it for 20+ miles? In the dark?
Maybe they do.
I don't want to die.
Swedneck 4 points a year ago
you don't want to die? that doesn't sound like weather is what matters to you, that sounds like safety from traffic is what matters.
and if you're talking about slipping on ice, uh.. studded tyres exist.
queermunist 2 points a year ago
It's a pretty hilly commute. Besides the ever present threat of being murdered in traffic (and this is a rural area, so traffic actually is a lesser concern), I have to contend with going up and down half a dozen steep slopes.
On ice in the dark.
I might just wreck my bike and freeze to death.
Katana314 5 points a year ago
I ride a bike in winter, though admittedly itโs in a city where frequent plowing and ambient heat make it less of an issue. Funny thing is, I bought my bike in December.
I wear thick winter gear, including gloves, socks, and mask. If I drove, Iโd want that sort of gear as soon as I exit my car at the parking lot, so Iโd rather just have that all on beforehand and be warm the whole way.
Itโs also just not that snowy/icy around here anymore. You might get it for a few days but otherwise itโs just cold and dry.
Blisterexe 3 points a year ago
90 Minutes????? Jesus christ
queermunist 3 points a year ago
I do it about once a week. Plenty of time for audiobooks and podcasts!
Blisterexe 6 points a year ago
That sucks, where I live I'm a 3 minute walk from two supermarkets, with like 4 more in a 15m radius.
I don't say this to brag, but that's why I reacted incredulously to your original comment, it just seems crazy to me.
slaneesh_is_right 2 points a year ago
Living in between supermarkets sonds like absolute hell to me.
rumschlumpel 19 points a year ago
sounds unhealthy, NGL
bier 9 points a year ago
I just got diapers according to the store it was a great discount, they where from the stores own brand (not even a "premium" brand)
Anyway I paid 26 cents per diaper (for my daughter)
When my son was born 6 years ago I paid 12 cents per diaper.
Every government chart about inflation is just not accurate for your groceries. The official inflation numbers tell me it's about 25% inflation, but in reality for a lot of things it doubled.
hector 4 points a year ago
The CPI has been changed a number of times over the past 5 decades, each change lowering the rate. By the old rate just in 2008 social security checks would be on average some 1,200 more a month.
Mechaguana 3 points a year ago
Obviously you arent familiar with the wood and paint chip hack
slaneesh_is_right 3 points a year ago
Well yeah if they eat $40 worth of sugar a month, it can get pretty expensive
hector 2 points a year ago
Aldi is your best bet if nearby. More than 50 a week outside of rice and beans meals but you will not go through 50 a week of cereal. Admittedly their granola is lacking, but it is hard to find good granola anywhere.
Catoblepas 3 points a year ago
Other stores here are approaching $10 (!) for a bag of granola with minimal add-ins, Aldi is a little plainer but itโs a no-brainer when the same size there is like $3.
hector 2 points a year ago
$10? Jesus. Many of these big box or City grocery stores have always had really high prices especially on some Goods. All of the name brand cereals are especially High everywhere, Kellogg's and Post Cereal are like twice as high as the generic brands. Which for things like Raisin Bran are about the exact same cereal. Granola is the only one I have noticed a quality difference on.
I sort of quit milk for the past 18 months or so but if I get back into it, whole milk in the winter tastes really good when you work outside, I might just make my own granola. And by 50 lb bags of grain if I can find them.
jenesaisquoi -1 points a year ago
Have them eat oatmeal with fresh berries and (plain) yoghurt instead of industrially processed sugary garbage.
slaneesh_is_right 2 points a year ago
Overnight oats are a game changer. Even if my nephew makes them super sweet, it's still only like a quarter of the sugar of cereals.
blackn1ght 10 points a year ago
The price of new cars has gone insane since covid. I regularly watch car reviews and the prices are always shocking - SKODA's costing nearly ยฃ40,000, which a few years ago would have got you a decent BMW or Merc.
blackn1ght 3 points a year ago
I'm not, but people are. There's plenty of brand new cars on the roads here.
DeathByBigSad 2 points a year ago
My parents have two Toyota RAV4s one at $23000 the other at $25000 -- $31000 or something (don't remember cuz it's not my car lol), one was pre-covid, the other was post-covid.
I don't have a license, I suppose I could borrow one if I need to to somewhere (if they have a good mood, that is)
CallMeAnAI -6 points a year ago path: 0 19302492 19304008, hotness: undefined, score: -6, children: 0
Iceblade02 13 points a year ago
Usually I need to be at work 08:00 or 08:10. Furthermore, the same trip by car takes approximately 30-35 minutes during rush hour. This means my car saves me approximately 1-3hrs every working day (valued ~4kโฌ/yr based on my current wages).
My car cost ~1kโฌ 8 years ago and maybe an additional 1.5kโฌ maintenance per year (a lot of which I do myself) + 2.5kโฌ fuel + insurance + tax - compared to 800โฌ for a public transit card.
Our family home is valued at 110kโฌ, the same money would buy a 1 room studio apartment in the city.
Korhaka 10 points a year ago
I can cycle to the next town over in 25 minutes at any time of day, less if I got an ebike. Driving during rush hour can take an hour.
Though they moved our office 50+ miles away so I am using that as my reason to never return to the office. Looking for a new job just in case though.
Iceblade02 3 points a year ago
Sounds nice, it would be lovely to have the means to live like that.
AdamEatsAss 3 points a year ago
If I value your time at 99999999999999999โฌ/hour how much do you make?
Iceblade02 2 points a year ago
I'll give you a 99.99% discount on that rate, when can I start working? Get in touch at Iceblade02@proton.me
;)
TimewornTraveler 2 points a year ago
conclusiรณn?
Iceblade02 2 points a year ago
a) Housing is expensive in urban areas.
b) Public transit has difficulty competing outside urban areas due to being relatively slow and inflexible when demand and service is low.
c) Cars win on convenience and service, due to the alternative cost of time.
PlzGivHugs 1 point a year ago path: 0 19302508 19303727, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
phdepressed 11 points a year ago
Must be nice to live where public transit works. 2h to get to and from work each way not including daycare dropoff just ain't it. Give me feasible public transit and a walkable city and I'll get rid of my car.
Only the rich or the dumb buy new. You can still get decent used cars for a fair bit cheaper.
frezik 5 points a year ago
Used car market is getting cooked. People are holding onto their cars longer. When they get into even a minor crash, they are often totalled because of how expensive parts are. Independent mechanics are being pushed out because there's nothing worth fixing.
The end result will be buy new or don't.
coriza 11 points a year ago
I hate cars and love walkable cities as much as the next guy in this community, but this comparison is just nonsense.
If the only thing you do and are comparing is 4 trips a month to the grocery store that is in walkable distance you are not spending $200 a month on gas and probably also less on maintenance and stuff. And if you are only doing that you also don't need the newest and best car.
I feel like this type of bad faith analogies just hurts the message.
anthropomorphized 9 points a year ago
It would be so much we easier if they just admitted they were in highschool. Sure. The only thing I need a car for if groceries. The only thing this person needs a car for is 45$ of Mom's Costco membership worth of Doritos
astutemural 15 points a year ago
Have you heard of public transit? Quite useful for getting places.
azimir 15 points a year ago
I moved to a major European city. Seeing people (and now doing it myself) bringing home furniture on the bus or train is great. I don't own a car anymore. Between a small wheelie cart and larger stuff coming via delivery with the order, we've been furnishing our apartment without trouble.
The percentage of days we needed a big vehicle was always low. Buying and maintaining a car when there's actual modern public transit is only for extreme edge cases.
rumschlumpel 7 points a year ago
Many european cities also have car sharing, which is pretty cheap if you just use it for buying furniture or weekly grocery trips.
PokerChips 4 points a year ago
Not really useful in many places. And for most homes, it's non existent
A bike maybe. But you can only carry so much groceries on a bike without it being a very frustrating experience.
infinitesunrise 1 point a year ago
I'm almost 40 and that's about all I use mine for, outside of camping trips.
SoleInvictus 9 points a year ago
Just one box? Look over here at Mr. Self Control!
FireRetardant 5 points a year ago
I would walk with my backpack full of grocceries about once a week. The execise is great, walking with extra weight is called rucking and many athletes train by rucking as it builds muscle, endurance, and a bit of cardio while being easier on the joints than running.
jumping_redditor 3 points a year ago
backpacks are still cheaper than cars
FireRetardant 3 points a year ago
Im sure your physical health will thank you for that in the long run. Granted most people live farther than a 15-20 minute walk from their nearest groccer and thats the bigger problem.
Treetrimmer 7 points a year ago
You could take a bus to Costco.....
HiddenLychee 6 points a year ago
Where i live that makes a 10 minute drive 50 minutes ๐ญ
Treetrimmer 3 points a year ago
Yeah same, if not longer. I just like Costco, that's all lol
PrettyFlyForAFatGuy 5 points a year ago
2 hours, two trains (the first being 21 miles in the wrong direction) and 4 busses for my closest one
Treetrimmer 1 point a year ago
Ah yes, I love when my city's shitty public transit also takes me completely out of the way of my destination
jumping_redditor -1 points a year ago
buses tend to question people carrying more than a backpack full of stuff
Alcoholicorn 1 point a year ago
Where? I've lugged 3-4 bags onto public transit without issue beyond feeling like a jackass.
Treetrimmer 1 point a year ago
Lol I've seen contractors and day laborers get on the bus with pressure washers, tool boxes, etc. And don't even get me started about what the fent fiends bring on the bus
LemmyKnowsBest 6 points a year ago
Let green text guy live his own definition of an ideal life, but it would be a pretty pathetic life for me if the only place I ever had to go was the grocery store.
rumschlumpel 2 points a year ago
If you live in a place where walking to the grocery store is feasible, chances are pretty good that you can get to your job and most other important places via sidewalk, bicycle or public transport.
LemmyKnowsBest -1 points a year ago
But I like traveling. My boyfriend is in arizona, and my two favorite beaches are in California 2 hours apart from each other. I like to drive and travel. Some people prefer car-free life for its simplicity & economy, but freedom & travel define my whole life.
Alcoholicorn 1 point a year ago
A month ago, I took a bus to a beach and was literally the only person at that beach. You get much greater freedom when public transit goes everywhere.
But also cars aren't the epitome of individual transport, lightweight motorbikes are. Last week I saw a mountain and was like "there's farms up there, I can probably ride to the top", and then I did.
minkymunkey_7_7 1 point a year ago
He works there too! Eat, sleep and shit at the grocery store. The civilized dream.
Unsightly3055 6 points a year ago
@destructdisc this is pretty close to the reasoning I used to talk myself out of car ownership. The big thing for me was the realization I mostly used the car to go literally nowhere. Most of my driving was just aimless time wasting. I can waste time at home on my couch thank you very much.
Sagan_Wept 2 points a year ago
Yup! It would take me a couple hours on a e-bike just to make it into town, and bit more to get to a grocery store
CallMeAnAI -7 points a year ago
My house was 420k in an upper middle class single family suburban home with 2400 sq ft vs 1M for a 600 sq ft condo.
Eat my ass ๐คฃ
baltakatei 9 points a year ago
Do you have two gyms and a pokรฉstop, though?
CallMeAnAI -1 points a year ago
I'll take my 911 tyvm
CallMeAnAI -4 points a year ago
My take is fantastic. If your only concern is cost it's clearly cheaper to live in America without public transit. It's dead simple shit.
Going to start name calling again with nothing to back up your little meme ๐?
CallMeAnAI 0 points a year ago
It's one of the few communities that regularly pops up ๐คทโโ๏ธ
CallMeAnAI -3 points a year ago
That was your take? ๐คฃ๐๐
eskimofry 1 point a year ago
how much do you spend on fuel commuting to the city? that 1M in the city is buying you a lot more than the 600 sq ft.
from your 420k suburban home, what's the average distances to your: doctor, groceries, place of worship or study or work?
Do you own a car? Whats the median distance of commutes in a typical year for you?
We also shouldn't forget time cost of your commutes. Median time spent commuting in a year you could have spent doing other things.
Sure i agree with you that suburb is better if you have public transit connecting you to the city from your home in the suburbs and you use it regularly.
CallMeAnAI 1 point a year ago
About 2k miles a year. I'm my f150 I spend about $800 a year in gas. Maybe 15 minutes a day.
Ignoring every other part of cost of living, it'll never be even, it's not even close.
Oh and the time, it's 10 minutes through my neighborhood. I don't get on a road with a speed limit above 35 and I have a single stop sign along the way. My daughter is with me, we're going to daycare, and I'm going to miss it now that bus service picks her up literally in my driveway.
eskimofry 1 point a year ago
now imagine this same scenario where you have a choice between driving your truck vs. public transit or bicycle infrastructure. Sure you may not use it but others may no longer be required to own a car and drive it for such short distances in the first place.
the net difference of owning a car vs not needing one and hence not owning it goes beyond just monetary gains.
The argument is not one based on changing behavior at an individual level. Its about policy and urban design.
CallMeAnAI 1 point a year ago path: 0 19304051 19323254 19326150 19440531 19440857, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0
fuckcars
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fuckcars
@lemmy.world
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A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!
Rules
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You may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.
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Don't discriminate or disparage people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexuality.
3. Don't harass people
Don't follow people you disagree with into multiple threads or into PMs to insult, disparage, or otherwise attack them. And certainly don't doxx any non-public figures.
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Do not repost content that has already been posted in this community.
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In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, letโs try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:
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Forgot the gym membership. With a car you can drive to the gym to walk on a treadmill.
save