Cost of Living Page

i just paid $2.69 for a loaf of Natures Own Honey Wheat bread at a chain grocery store in FT. Myers Florida (south west florida) this afternoon.

well if you live on the upper east coast, the cost of living will be the same here overall

i just finished a long comparison of prices, and came to the same conclusion. my concern is how old some of the prices are which are listed for STT. do any of the newspapers have their inserts/flyers/ads online as well? i was figuring i could get some of the most current prices from there.

anyone else notice the price of anything they bought recently that can be compared?

Hi Simkiss,
Hopefully some locals can give you an idea about how up to date the prices on the site are. You asked about flyers. I saw some in the online island trader (go to daily news and then you'll see island trader tab on the right hand side, midway down). I saw flyers for pueblo and another grocery store that I cant remember the name of.

thanks, i just checked it out and it's funny because it's the inverse of my assumption. in my mind, i saw fruit and vegetables being cheaper because of the climate, but in fact, oddly enough, up here in philadelphia, the fruit and vegetables are a lot less expensive. however, meat is far cheaper on STT than here, where, i would assume, there is a lot less livestock than we have up here. I wonder how that works.

Much of our food is transported in by boat--Meat can be frozen easily while preserving quality whereas if you freeze a vegetable if turns all mushy and never becomes a "fresh" vegetable again. So vegetables are harder to transport. STX has livestock and chickens up in Annally for meat but I'm not sure about STT since there is less space and all the dairy cows were recently shipped off island.

When I left last week, premium gasoline could be bought at 5 corners for $2.99 a gallon. When I got back to Arizona, it is $3.48 a gallon. Diesel in Arizona is $3.99 a gallon.

premium here (philadelphia) is about $3.50/gal
diesel is $4.25/gal

ouch!

I just paid $4.07 at the Pollyberg Texaco which is usually a few cents higher than Domino.

Just got gas for $2.91 in STX near Bank of STX in Peter's Rest. It made all my stateside friends jealous! They're green with envy.

wow, sounds like there is a big difference in gas prices between st croix in st thomas. Does the gas on average right now cost $4 this week? Its 3.25 in Orlando.

StX gets its gas from Hovensa on island, the rack rates are cheaper there. STT has gas shipped here, often via PR. StT, gas this AM was $3.99 at texaco for regular.

Not at the Pollyberg Texaco. 🙂

Airport,Frenchtown and Smith Bay Texaco -- sorry.

I always wonder why that Texaco is more expensive.

All of these below are about right for STX. I took out the ones I didn't know about because I don't purchase or keep an eye on. Didn't need to change the prices, they are right on (many to the cent). I made a note on eggs. I get green peppers instead of red, I can usually find them for 1.99/lb.

Banana .79/lb
1 Stalk Fresh Celery 3.79
Red Pepper 5.99/lb
Red Potatoes 3.99/5lb
Baking Potatoes .99/lb
Lime 5/$1
Green Cabbage .89/lb
Grapefruit 1.49/lb
Avocado 2.39/each
Granny Smith Apples 2.79/lb
Bosc Pears 2.49/lb
Heinz Ketchup 32oz. 3.19
Chez Boyardee Ravioli 15oz 1.59
Prego 12oz 2.69
Mueller's Rigatoni 16oz 1.89
Campbell Chunky 18.6 oz 2.89/can
Betty Crocker 18 oz Cake Mix 2.19
16 oz Kraft Singles American 4.59
1 Dozen Eggs 1.89 - Maybe a little higher on average
Gold's Flour 5lb 1.99
Ritz Crackers 1lb 4.59
Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal 13oz 4.69
Frozen Mixed Veges 16 oz 2.09
Del Monte Pears 15 oz can 1.69
Jiffy Peanut Butter 12 oz 2.89
Tampax 40 pack 9.99
Heineken 6 pk 6.99

great stuff! thank you for taking the time to list all of these. it's a great help. one theme that i see consistently stressed vis-a-vis moving to the VI is planning, planning, planning. so any planning no matter how great or small helps us to prepare. of course there's so much you'll never know until you see it firsthand, but things like this help us prepare the wallet :o)

I posted this on the "Bugs in bags and boxes" thread but didn't see any replies, so thought I'd ask here, too....

Do you find any organic products in the regular grocery stores on STX? Are there any specialty places to buy organic or "green" products on STX (I mean primarily boxed items like pasta, cereals, baking supplies, cleaning supplies, etc.)? Do any of you shop for those type of items online? If you do, what retailers have you found that will ship there easily?

Thanks for any input!
Tamara

Prices are ALL over the place here (on STX at least) Pueblo is generally the cheapest but some items are cheaper at Plaza. For example, red peppers are only $2.99/lb at Pueblo and $5.99/lb at Plaza–HUGE difference! Some other examples: New Horizons organic milk is something like $3.99 for a half gallon at Pueblo and something like $7.99 at Plaza. Another HUGE difference! Lean Cuisine frozen ravioli is $2.59 at Pueblo and $4.59 at Plaza! You could almost buy two and get one free at Pueblo at that price! Yet, Bryer's ice cream is only $4.99 or $5.99 per gallon at Plaza and up to around $7.99 or $8.99 at Pueblo! It really pays to shop around.....Like other posters have mentioned before, you usually have to go to three stores to get what you need!

out east at the gas rock and weed station regular gas was 305 a gallon at the station next to the avis building i paid 289 a gallon

"Are there any specialty places to buy organic or "green" products on STX (I mean primarily boxed items like pasta, cereals, baking supplies, cleaning supplies, etc.)? "

Tamara, I can't answer for STX but here on STT you'll find health food stores & some organic items but they might be in the more specialized stores. For example, I can get Horizon Organic Milk at Gourmet Gallery here so I assume there are similar stores on STX.

Thanks Trade,
Figured as much (that the organic would be available) just wanted to make sure.

Island Joan,
Noticed the Horizon organic half gallon milk price and it is not much different than here in the states. Soooo glad to see that as I have a kid with allergies to soy so I only buy organic milk, yogurt, and cheese since she is a girl (have to watch those crazy hormones with the pre-pubescent girls).

Thanks for posting the helpful info!
Tamara

hey Tamara
You're welcome! Actually I forgot to reply to your query about organic products. I read somewhere recently that the Pastry Hut (on centerline road, on the way to frederiksted heading west from c'sted) now sells organic grocery products. But I keep forgetting to go out there and check. Also Health Conscious (near Hovensa) sells organic products. Finally, Plaza has a pretty decent selection of organic products, but they are scattered throughout the store, not in their "own" section. Sometimes you can find Amy's brand, Cascadian Farms, and a few others. Yeah, those crazy hormones are scary and I'm sure they're the cause of lots of diseases and other problems...All the best to you!!!! Joan