h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just moved here from the states (to Scotland, specifically), and can i just say...everything here is so expensive!!

OK, now that that's out of my system...

I'm not sure if this thread is even kosher since I'll mention actual stores but here we go...

In the states there are three kinds of stores that i would shop at; a regular grocery store/supermarket, a co-op (not like *the* Coop, more like a hippie farmers market vegetarian supplies store), and a warehouse store (like Costco, where in a huge warehouse you can buy 20 cans of tomatoes for 10 cents, that sort of thing). The closest I've found, respectively, are Tesco/Safeway/Asda, Holland and Barrett, and Aldi. The lattermost appeals to me because, well, it's cheap and I'm po'. However, I have to buy quorn and whatnot, and I don't have a car and Coop delivers, which makes that appealing. But am I missing anything? Things just seem to cost more than I'm used to, and I wonder how on earth pensioners manage. Where in Fife do people buy really excellent organic produce? Where do all the hippies buy their fair trade cereal and lefty magazines? And for crissakes, where can one find black beans and orzo? And is there a 20 pound sack of flour anywhere? I feel so buying my flour in tiny bags. Do you have bulk foods stores where you pull as much stuff as you want out of bins?

OK, assuming this doesn't get deleted, I think that's all for the moment. Thank you for any help

I can't help you at all, seeing I'm in quite another country...

What is orzo?

Ivan.

Hmm, are you going to a Tesco/Safeway/Asda or whatever that's actually in the town have you got any large, out-of-town supermarkets on the edge the town where you live? The out of town versions they're cheaper, they have a better choice and they sometimes deliver.

As to getting 20lb bags of flour - your best bet there is probably to make friends with someone who owns a pub or restaurant and see if you can pinch their MACRO or BOOKERS card - two chains of stores reserved for catering professionals - i.e. you can buy stuff in there in bulk - however, you need a card to buy stuff.

If you're after stuff in bulk and you ain't got a card, go find an Asian supermarket. You won't be able to read half the labels, but the quantities are vast, the price low, and the staff friendly. Just don't make the India/Pakistani mistake.

>And for crissakes, where can one find black beans and orzo?
Err, what the Hell's that? off to Google...
...Oh, it's a sort of pasta. Well, that explains it. You can't fry it. There are laws in Scotland about that sort of thing.

Honestly Nyssa, have you tried the markets?

orzo is a rice shaped pasta that i do so love.

black beans i was tantalizingly close to finding. at this whole foods and fishmonger () shop, i found dried 15 bean soup, in which there was included black beans. i couldn't just *buy* a bag of them though. lol.

market...i've seen nothing like a market here. apparently in the boonies there are farmers markets, every once in a while, 5 miles from any bus stop :P. at some point, the time and money spent getting to the place makes it hardly worthwhile. especially considering i only have a few hours sans kids during the day in which to attempt it .

i'm interested in those bulk foods ideas. at costco in the states i think you might still have to be sponsored by someone who already has a card (but by this point, who doesn't know someone with one?). i wonder how the scheme is different..and then where the closest ones are. i'll probably have to get to edinburgh to find an asian market, but by the time i do that, i'm, well, in edinburgh and can probably find anything i want. but that requires 10 pounds and i have only 2 arms to carry stuff.

something i haven't tried yet is the local produce wholesaler, which is apparently open to the public. i'll have to see if the money saved is substantial.

thank you, y'all

wait, what is the india/pakistan mistake?

To get a Costco type card over here, you need to be a pub landlord, or the secretary of the local Brownie pack, or something like that. Or a chartered engineer, oddly.

The Pakistani/Indian mistake is someting to avoid if you want to shop successfully in Asian shops. Basically, it's don't call an India a Pakistani, or vice versa. It's not an Asian 'market', it's an Asian supermarket. Any town with an Asian district has one. They're like mini-wholesalers.

If you can get yourself to one of the farmers markets there is usually a stall of organic veggie delivery and if they can't deliver to your area they can usually advice on who can. You can sign up to get a delivery of whatever in stock at the moment which can be fun as you never know what you will get in your basket until it arrives. Its very handy but can be a bit pricey but then its hard to get organic stuff that's not! I also had a quick goggle and found these links that might help http://www.organicfood.co.uk/shopping/fife.html
Just out of interest how much more expensive is shopping in the UK?

Thank you I did manage to find some organic shops who would deliver to Fife.

Well, my point of reference is a little skewed. The exchange rate between the US and the UK is about 2 to 1 (to make things easy). I spend the same number in pound son food as I would in the States, so to me, it's twice as expensive. If we earned twice as much as we would in the States, I wouldn't be so concerned, obviously. Makes me want to invest in property back home :P. lol

twice as expensive! That's quite a difference no wonder your feeling the pinch. Still don't you get more holidays over here? I've heard the norm is 2weeks in the States.

Depends on what you mean. If you're a student, you probably get as many. If you work retail, you *may* get christmas off

For the Black Beans you may get the dried version at what is known here as a healthfood shop.The largest chain of those is Holland and Barrett but I have one or two small independants I use.The nice thing about them is that if you want a larger or greater quantity they are open to negotiation.However I'm not sure if they are into health foods north of the border.

Is it much of a culture shock moving from the states to Scotland?

Incog.

Why on Earth did you move to Scotland, of all places? It's so remote, stuff there is bound to be expensive, you should have move to a big city in England

we've got holland and barretts up here. for some reason they're not big on the black beans though . my mexican dishes are suffering.

i'm in scotland, frankly, because that's where my husband got a job. ultimately we're trying for much farther south. and when we're rich and famous, back to the states in the california redwoods *dream*

"Why on Earth did you move to Scotland, of all places? It's so remote, stuff there is bound to be expensive..."

I DO hope that comment was tongue in cheek... Remote my ar*se. Remote from where axactly Scotland is a better place to live than England on just about every level.

The water is better.(the soap actually creates a lather here and do you know- i've never actually had to remove limescale from any bathroom or kitchen utensil in my life... ever)

The scenery is better( goes without saying really)

the people are far nicer (ditto)

You can actually drive through a city without being tailgaited (well sometimes)

You can travel from a city that has all the bustle, shopping and social activities of London, to the quiet countryside in well under an hour.(that is, *proper* countryside, not the bland, featureless fields of grass and hedgerows with gentle boring hills, non-city English folk refer to as countryside)

The meat is better (i had the misfortune recently of tasting some 'prime' English beef- I do beleive i found some meat amongst the gristle, fat and bone..)

The beer is definately better.(you see, we have taste buds north of the border..)

It is cooler- That humid heat South England suffers from would literally kill me.

You can buy a 2 bedroom flat for less than £100,000


Oh and you do of course realise that many of the goods you consume in England come from Scotland- so don't give me that 'stuff has to be imported' sh*te. This aint Iceland for gawds sake.

And if it's so darned undersirable to live here, how come i have such difficulty in finding anything other than English accents whenever i holiday anywhere in the highlands? Come to think of it most places i go here- rural or urban i hear Englsh accents.. kind of makes you wonder why the English cannae wait to fly north...


As for the cost of food here versus America.. well perhaps we should be grateful for small mercies- if food was that cheap over here our population might have a similar obesity problem to your average American.

Bye the way, Sir lurkalot, have you actually ever ventured north of the M25? You might be amazed to discover that the British isles actually improve as soon as you leave London

Of course i may be totally wrong about you- it's hard to know when you don't have an intro on you page. So do feel free to tell me how well travelled you are.

'The water is better.(the soap actually creates a lather here and do you know- i've never actually had to remove limescale from any bathroom or kitchen utensil in my life... ever)'
But on the downside, the stuff tastes of soap.

'You can buy a 2 bedroom flat for less than £100,000'

I should damn well hope so, my three bedroom house cost less than that.

'You can travel from a city that has all the bustle, shopping and social activities of London, to the quiet countryside in well under an hour.(that is, *proper* countryside, not the bland, featureless fields of grass and hedgerows with gentle boring hills, non-city English folk refer to as countryside)'

Ever been to the Dark Peak? That's less than our hour's drive from several major cities.

To be fair you can actually buy 3 or 4 bedroom houses for less than £100,000 and still be within commuting distance of Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Actuually utentiles don't taste of soap that is what the second sink is for rinsing stuff off.

Kerr I wasn't thinking the previous statement was against all of England but particularly the Londoncentric nature that some people have.

BTW Scotland is far from boring. There are enough pubs in Edinburgh for it to be one of the stag and hen capitals of the UK. Every August there is the International Festival, Fringe Festival, International Book Festival etc. To see everything would take years not hte month that you are allowed to see it.

What I meant DD is that soft water (from where-ever, not just Scotland) tastes of soap in itself. I don't suppose hard water atstes very nice to those raised on soft, either.

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Ok then. Though from what I've noticed in Fife, the area has no shortage of fat people. It's a general Westernization problem, I think. Also, since it tends to be quality food that's expensive, it's the same problem as in the US - people in poorer income brackets live off of convenience food that is really bad for you. In my case, spending was a stretch in the states to begin with, so you can imagine how nervous the cost of living makes me in a new place in which I'm trying to feed my little family.

The water is just fine. And when I have more money I'll have to take more day trips. The nicest part of Scotland I've seen is St Andrews, and unfortunately I think I was in the wrong part, because all that I saw was a kind of dirty coastline and all I did was get cross at mean, rich golfers. The only countryside I've seen has been along the train line