Today was much less gory than Friday. For one thing, the hordes of people were not as great, which is weird. The original idea was that a Friday wouldn't have as many people in the stores. I think what we forgot to take into account was that it was a Friday between a holiday and a weekend. So plenty of people were opting to take the day off, do all of their shopping and then get out of dodge for the weekend. Wal-Mart and Loblaws were positively sedate today in comparison to yesterday.
Having said that, we dropped probably another $500 at Wal-Mart and about $200 at Loblaws. On the up side, it also means we're now finished our sealift order. Grand total is about $5,500 which is, believe it or not, under budget. Yes, we still have to actually get it to Iqaluit, and that's going to cost, but we managed to buy a year's worth of groceries, plus enough laminate flooring to kill an invading horde.
As for some of the other things, I still haven't bought the TV set yet, although Best Buy has a sale on, I've done some more research and it looks like I know which one I'm getting. It's a slightly older model, but the difference between it and the brand new one is minimal in technology and about $600 in price. So the older one it will likely be.
I also went and bought curling supplies today. Because it is, after all, July, which is clearly the time to buy such things. But I now have new shoes, a couple of replacement broom heads, new gloves and a new pair of pants. There's some big changes at the club next season, so new gear is nice.
It is a lovely distraction from the thought that we're supposed to be seeing U2 this evening, if only Bono hadn't thrown out his back. sigh...
You know, I understand to some this might be viewed as "crass consumerism" - I was once accused of it - or perhaps even bragging to others. However, this is a method to the madness.
1. For those new, or contemplating a move to the north - I throw some of these numbers out there to give you an idea of the costs. Even if you remove the flooring and some of the stuff from IKEA, we just spent around $3,500 for groceries and supplies for a year for two people. That's the cost of living up north.
2. I do have friends who find this kind of madness interesting. The whole concept of doing a year's shopping in a few days and what kind of things you had to budget and plan for.
3. The blog also serves as a kind of historical record/diary for myself. So next year when we're in the planning stages of doing this madness again, at least I can look back on these few posts and remember what we did and what mistakes to avoid.
Sunday is shaping up to be a day of sloth, I think. Perhaps a few hours at the Market. I'd like to catch a movie, but I'm having a hard time convincing Cathy to go see Toy Story 3 for some reason. And I might go and pick up the TV. I'm pretty sure I can take it as luggage on the flight up to Iqaluit. I've seen others do it before.
And then on Monday, back to the grind for me, and off to Rankin for Cathy...
Last Five
1. Gimmie a sign - Ryan Adams
2. Only love (live) - Kathleen Edwards
3. Get in line - Barenaked Ladies
4. The spirit of radio - Rush*
5. Night driver - Tom Petty
8 comments:
I have lived here my whole life and have never done sealift so I am positively fascinated with the process. I know shockingly little about it.
If only we had more room in our house for sealift supplies...
Now I know where to go when I need flour or a can of diet soda... I'd like to see your receipts so I know what else I can get. Heheheh.
For those of us also thinking of making the TV purchase, which one did you decide on? Tks.
I opted to go with this one - a Samsung UN46C5000. The reasoning being Samsung's LED sets are constantly are near the tops for reviews. And the only difference between that set and a UN46C6300 is the amount of Mhz available - 60 vs. 120. From reports I've read only, and seeing it for myself, the difference visually is small, but the difference in price is about %600.
I'm not even bothering with the 3D sets. Too expensive and no content worth speaking of. Plus, I don't know if they're going to catch on.
Funny, it never occurred to me that this would be crass consumerism - you're buying supplies for a year that you just can't get where you are! Of course you have to go on a bit of a spree to get it all at once.
But I wince a little bit that you're supporting Wal-Mart... they are really quite evil actually in many, many ways. Any chance of choosing a slightly less evil alternative next year?
I hope you enjoyed the 30°C today in Ottawa (and southern Ontario in general). I would have laughed if it was only 10° in Iqaluit, but it's actually quite 'warm' over there...17°! Wow, that must be considered a heat wave over there right?
Anyways, enjoy your sealift all next year!
@In Iqaluit: How do you live in Iqaluit, and not do a sealift? I thought that was the normal standard for people up there? You must pay even worse prices than Townie if you're having to pay at the Northern...(or Arctic Ventures)! Enjoy your little heat wave too! (If you don't think it's too hot, that is).
Great to hear everything is going well with your shopping. Was Costco as helpful as predicted when you mentioned the magic word "sealift"?
@Melodie: this is our first year in Nunavut and we planned to do the sealift. However, our shopping list only came to $800 in total (just food for 2 adults for a year). When you take into account all the fees for TSC and sealift, at that amount it is just cheaper to buy locally. I read somewhere that you need at least $2000 in shopping to break even. Maybe if we needed extra things for the house, like Craig and Cathy, it may be worth it.
Thanks. Good advice. Future Shop has 'em for $1499 here in St. Jns.
@Melodie: it's crazy that I have never done sealift, isn't it? But I know many that haven't either. We simply don't have the room. We did food mail, though. And we travel south A LOT so we pick up things bit by bit.
@pSRjK: Wow, $800 sounds cheap for food for a whole year! It must be the bare-bare essentials?
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