4 ms·

I was once poor (grad school) and I can attest that the first point is valid. I didn't have a car, the grocery store was 3 miles away and the bus ran once a hou

by ajju 17y ago

I was once poor (grad school) and I can attest that the first point is valid. I didn't have a car, the grocery store was 3 miles away and the bus ran once a hour on weekdays and much less frequently on weekends - making it hard. 9 out of 10 times when I ran out of groceries, I ended up buying them at the gas station nearby. I did work only 20 hours a week but gradschool easily consumed most of the remaining time (including weekends).

sho 17y ago
But that was a while ago, right? Don't most supermarkets deliver these days? Seems like that one, at least, should be a solved problem. The biggest thing with groceries IMO is having the spare money to "stock up" when the prices are low (eg on sale, large sizes, etc) and then getting into the cycle of just replenishing that opportunistically, instead of constantly running out of things and buying replacements on demand. For example, if you notice your favourite brand of washing powder is half price, don't buy one, buy ten. And then a few months later when you notice it's getting low, keep your eyes open the next few times you go to the supermarket, then buy up big again when you see a good deal. This is far better than repeatedly buying small quantities at high prices because you don't have any choice and need it that day, but it does require some spare money to start.
- Dobbs 17y ago
  I've never seen a supermarket that delivered. To a degree I could order some groceries from amazon but thats it.
  - gaius 17y ago
    Really? In the UK almost every supermarket does, from Iceland at the low end of the market to Waitrose at the high end, with Sainsbury's and Tesco in the middle. Getting a big shop delivered every couple of weeks and picking up small items yourself on the way home from work is normal now.
    - sho 17y ago
      Same in Australia, I was pretty surprised at apparently causing offence. Even my unemployed bum friends get their groceries delivered, it is the cheapest way to shop.
      - gaius 17y ago
        Yeah, Iceland for example targets the sector of the market that wants highly processed food in large quantities for a low price. The idea that home delivery is just for the so-called rich is ridiculous. Even Waitrose, the most expensive grocery store in the UK apart from maybe Whole Foods Market, charges GBP 99/year up-front for as many deliveries of over GBP 40 as you want. If you are doing the majority of your shopping this way (incl. household supplies, alcohol etc) esp. for a family, it's pretty economical. Probably less than driving to the supermarket once a week would cost.
        sho 17y ago
        Yeah, and certainly much cheaper than owning a car in the first place. Being able to carry things is half the reason for having a car, and groceries would be the #1 thing most people carry, I would think. For example, I have a friend who rides a motorcycle, and that's fine for him since he gets anything big delivered. You have more supermarket chains in the UK I think - here there's only two really big ones, but their coverage is pretty much universal. Delivery costs start at $5 and get more expensive as the time window narrows - eg, delivery sometime between 3pm-9pm is $5, between 5pm-9pm is $9, or between 7pm and 9pm is $13. We're not advanced enough to have annual "plans" yet though : D
        gaius 17y ago
        Maybe that is a UK thing - Amazon.co.uk also does a scheme where you pay GBP 50 up-front and get a year's unlimited first-class post. Tho' I guess that's kinda the point of the original article - if you can afford to buy into the plan in the first place, you save money.
- oldgregg 17y ago
  Riiight, I mean can't everyone just FreshDirect to their UES studio?!
  - sho 17y ago
    Well, can't they? For $5 I can get a load of groceries delivered to any suburb in Sydney, you don't even need a credit card. I had assumed there was something similar there. No need for the sarcasm.
    - cema 17y ago
      Available in some places.
cema 17y ago
Graduate students are only superficially poor. They can be better called "temporarily out of money". They are not at the life's dead end, on the contrary, they invest heavily in their future lives. Very different from the poor people lacking education to get ahead as well as means to get the education. Different from those poor people who lack the capability (or habit?) of planning their life. In addition, grad students typically do not have families and kids to take care of.
- ajju 17y ago
  I never argued any of the points you refute. I merely pointed out that when you are poor (temporarily or not) and lack a car, you do end up paying more for stuff that you have to buy nearby.
jules 17y ago
Use a bike!
- ajju 17y ago
  I did. (I am neither a grad student nor poor any more). It wasn't very convenient carrying large milk and juice containers and large serial boxes back on the bike and Atlanta is not a very bike friendly city.
  - jules 17y ago
    These kind of bags are very convenient: http://www.gazelle.nl/assets/Producten/Accessoires/Fietstassen/Blog/DubbeleTasMPB.jpg http://www.gazelle.nl/assets/Producten/Accessoires/Fietstass... Riding a bike instead of your car has advantages even if you're not poor: it's good for your health & good for the environment. But if it's dangerous because of the city I can see why you don't use a bike...
    - ajju 17y ago
      Thank you for that link. I have been living life with a rather short sighted perspective of late due to dayjob+startup leaving me no time to breathe. I plan to change that in the near future and a bike is part of that plan :) These bags should be helpful!

by ajju 17y ago

sho 17y ago

But that was a while ago, right? Don't most supermarkets deliver these days? Seems like that one, at least, should be a solved problem. The biggest thing with groceries IMO is having the spare money to "stock up" when the prices are low (eg on sale, large sizes, etc) and then getting into the cycle of just replenishing that opportunistically, instead of constantly running out of things and buying replacements on demand. For example, if you notice your favourite brand of washing powder is half price, don't buy one, buy ten. And then a few months later when you notice it's getting low, keep your eyes open the next few times you go to the supermarket, then buy up big again when you see a good deal. This is far better than repeatedly buying small quantities at high prices because you don't have any choice and need it that day, but it does require some spare money to start.

Dobbs 17y ago
I've never seen a supermarket that delivered. To a degree I could order some groceries from amazon but thats it.
- gaius 17y ago
  Really? In the UK almost every supermarket does, from Iceland at the low end of the market to Waitrose at the high end, with Sainsbury's and Tesco in the middle. Getting a big shop delivered every couple of weeks and picking up small items yourself on the way home from work is normal now.
  - sho 17y ago
    Same in Australia, I was pretty surprised at apparently causing offence. Even my unemployed bum friends get their groceries delivered, it is the cheapest way to shop.
    - gaius 17y ago
      Yeah, Iceland for example targets the sector of the market that wants highly processed food in large quantities for a low price. The idea that home delivery is just for the so-called rich is ridiculous. Even Waitrose, the most expensive grocery store in the UK apart from maybe Whole Foods Market, charges GBP 99/year up-front for as many deliveries of over GBP 40 as you want. If you are doing the majority of your shopping this way (incl. household supplies, alcohol etc) esp. for a family, it's pretty economical. Probably less than driving to the supermarket once a week would cost.
      - sho 17y ago
        Yeah, and certainly much cheaper than owning a car in the first place. Being able to carry things is half the reason for having a car, and groceries would be the #1 thing most people carry, I would think. For example, I have a friend who rides a motorcycle, and that's fine for him since he gets anything big delivered. You have more supermarket chains in the UK I think - here there's only two really big ones, but their coverage is pretty much universal. Delivery costs start at $5 and get more expensive as the time window narrows - eg, delivery sometime between 3pm-9pm is $5, between 5pm-9pm is $9, or between 7pm and 9pm is $13. We're not advanced enough to have annual "plans" yet though : D
        gaius 17y ago
        Maybe that is a UK thing - Amazon.co.uk also does a scheme where you pay GBP 50 up-front and get a year's unlimited first-class post. Tho' I guess that's kinda the point of the original article - if you can afford to buy into the plan in the first place, you save money.
oldgregg 17y ago
Riiight, I mean can't everyone just FreshDirect to their UES studio?!
- sho 17y ago
  Well, can't they? For $5 I can get a load of groceries delivered to any suburb in Sydney, you don't even need a credit card. I had assumed there was something similar there. No need for the sarcasm.
  - cema 17y ago
    Available in some places.

cema 17y ago

Graduate students are only superficially poor. They can be better called "temporarily out of money". They are not at the life's dead end, on the contrary, they invest heavily in their future lives. Very different from the poor people lacking education to get ahead as well as means to get the education. Different from those poor people who lack the capability (or habit?) of planning their life. In addition, grad students typically do not have families and kids to take care of.

ajju 17y ago
I never argued any of the points you refute. I merely pointed out that when you are poor (temporarily or not) and lack a car, you do end up paying more for stuff that you have to buy nearby.

jules 17y ago

Use a bike!

ajju 17y ago
I did. (I am neither a grad student nor poor any more). It wasn't very convenient carrying large milk and juice containers and large serial boxes back on the bike and Atlanta is not a very bike friendly city.
- jules 17y ago
  These kind of bags are very convenient: http://www.gazelle.nl/assets/Producten/Accessoires/Fietstassen/Blog/DubbeleTasMPB.jpg http://www.gazelle.nl/assets/Producten/Accessoires/Fietstass... Riding a bike instead of your car has advantages even if you're not poor: it's good for your health & good for the environment. But if it's dangerous because of the city I can see why you don't use a bike...
  - ajju 17y ago
    Thank you for that link. I have been living life with a rather short sighted perspective of late due to dayjob+startup leaving me no time to breathe. I plan to change that in the near future and a bike is part of that plan :) These bags should be helpful!