ATTN Brooklyn people- I need your help ASAP

gryp

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 8:56 pm

newmother wrote:

Lady Bug wrote:

2 bdrm apt - $1600-$2200
avrge home - $850,000
milk - $2.39
yogurt - (mehadrin) $1.09
Meat - approx. $10 a pound
Chicken - approx $4.99 lb

I pay $1,329 for a very large 2 bedroom apartment in Flatbush and other people I know who have 2 bedrooms are paying between 1200 and 1600 although I have no idea how much a 3 bedroom apartment runs.

Some of us who have lived in the same place for many years also have cheaper rent than the rest of the neighborhood. Rent goes up a certain amount each year when you're in the same place, but if you move you get slammed with the high prices.

gryp

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 9:11 pm

Seraph, I hope you also realize that many Brooklyn'ites have their health insurance, (much of their) food, and rent covered by the gov't. From what I've heard, it is much easier to get on these programs in-town, while OOT it's much harder. There is also free therapy from the Board of Ed in school, programs to help people pay their energy bills, etc etc.

Not getting into the whole debate again here (please, no one get sidetracked), but it's a reality that should be taken into account when comparing

Also, almost anything can be bought online at Amazon, Walmart, Target, ebay, etc. It's just not true anymore that in-towners always have to buy expensively priced items.

Another point- there are so many gemachs in Brooklyn, for people who need to find almost anything for free. Out of town communities don't have that as much. Also tzedaka organizations.

One more thing- the groceries here have special sales before each YT and really bring prices down substantially for local shoppers. We were surprised to find out that the chicken/meat we were buying for Pesach the past few years at a wholesale price was more expensive than the local store had it for. Purim, Chanukah, Shavuos, etc, most of what we need to buy is brought down to a great price. Before Chanukah I stock up on olive oil to last me a nice long time. Stuff like that.

yaelinIN

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 9:14 pm

ra_mom wrote:

Tova wrote:

Why do people claim that food is more expensive OOT? We don't pay more than the prices listed for food. Tuition is comparable for a yeshivish school. [And housing can be as low as under $1,000 to rent a 2 bedroom apartment and under $200,000 to purchase a 3 bedroom.]

I always tell dh that from the posts on imamother, it looks like Baltimore's food is cheaper than New York's.

And it's even funnier that since I moved from Indiana (and I did my shopping in Chicago), Chicago's kosher food prices were cheaper than Baltimore. When I went to the 5 Towns recently I got some good deals though...

Fabulous

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 9:31 pm

Rent for a 2-3 bedroom apartment in the frum area.
2 bedroom $1300-$1700. 3 Bedroom: $1800-2300

Average size house to purchase in the frum area.

Depends on price. Very small. Between 1100-1500 square feet. Also depending on the area from $500,000- a million plus as other have mentioned. The further out you go into the low, low end of bp and into deep deep flatbush like marine park (which is frum but still has a lot of non jews) you can get houses on the closer to low end (but also pretty small) and the closer to the heart in either area it will be much, much higher.

Half gallon of cholov yisroel milk.

Depends on the brand. You can get Fresh n Healthy at one store for $1.99 always. Usually around $2.69-$3.19

Cholov yisroel cheese/yogurt.

Yogurt - on sale $79, usually around $1.09

Cheese: Shredded is regularly around $3-$3.50 but does often go on sale for 2 for $5 as someone else mentioned. American: Sliced individually is usually like $4.99 but you can occasionally get it on sale for cheaper. The big block - don't know how much it is usually but on sale you can get it for like 10.99 or 11.99 (I think)

Heimish hashgacha meat and chicken.

Depends on what you call Heimisha hashgacha. I will eat regular meat and chicken from Kollel which has a good hechsher but others will only eat from a meat store, which is much more expensive, sometimes double.

Chicken legs on the bone - $2.29-2.69 lb but can go on sale to $1.99 occasionally

Chicken cutlets family pack - $4.99 lb but can go on sale for like $3.69-$3.99 lb

Ground meat: Usually $4.99-$5.99 lb but goes on sale often for like $3.99 lb

Minute steak- betwenn $8.99-$10.99 lb, occasionally goes on sale for $6.99-$7.99 lb

Cheap chulent meat - $7.99-$8.99 lb but can go on sale for $4.99-$5.99 lb

If you want any other prices on groceries in Brooklyn, let me know. I think I'm a maven LOL

spoons

Tue, Feb 14 2012, 10:06 pm

paprika wrote:

spoons wrote:

Wow..I think I should switch my kids to Chassidishe schools! 3-4,000 a year? I'm in!

Multiply that number by 8 or 10!!

Yeshivah for bochurim was not on the questionnaire. $4,500 - $7,000 when the bachur is local.

Are we still getting a bargain?

certainly still a bargain- I'm paying approx. 6000 each for 2 so far and that's only with a break, and they're still young!. Otherwise it would be 7-8,000. and it only goes up from where they are now. and I've still got others not yet in school.

Seraph

Wed, Feb 15 2012, 5:16 am

gryp wrote:

I'm not touching government assistance with a long stick on my column.

Quote:

Also, almost anything can be bought online at Amazon, Walmart, Target, ebay, etc. It's just not true anymore that in-towners always have to buy expensively priced items.

Another point- there are so many gemachs in Brooklyn, for people who need to find almost anything for free. Out of town communities don't have that as much. Also tzedaka organizations.

One more thing- the groceries here have special sales before each YT and really bring prices down substantially for local shoppers. We were surprised to find out that the chicken/meat we were buying for Pesach the past few years at a wholesale price was more expensive than the local store had it for. Purim, Chanukah, Shavuos, etc, most of what we need to buy is brought down to a great price. Before Chanukah I stock up on olive oil to last me a nice long time. Stuff like that.

Prices vary so much from store to store, so the question is- do you compare the price of the corner store (where most people in brooklyn, it seems, do their shopping) to the prices of the standard place OOT, or do you compare the cheaper brooklyn stores that most people don't shop at to the standard OOT place, or do you compare the corner stores in brooklyn to the one or two heimish kosher stores OOT?
Which is why I originally left numbers out of my article, because they don't give an accurate picture, but Rechy wants it, so I'm giving it...
I mentioned gmachim and such...

And yes, Ami.

gryp

Wed, Feb 15 2012, 8:23 am

I don't know about other parts of Brooklyn but our big supermarket here is packed Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sun, and Monday. The small stores also get a lot of business, especially through phone/fax orders/deliveries.

So I don't know where most people shop but I would say that a majority of people shop at the large cheaper store. At least here. Crown Heights is much smaller than F/W/BP so it isn't a big deal to go to the big store.

Based on what I see here, I'd compare the supermarket to the OOT kosher stores, because that's what we have here and that's what they have there.

zigi

Wed, Feb 15 2012, 8:52 am

gryp wrote:

I do shop at a smaller store, there is a mamish corner store that I go to. it has good meat. but the prices are on the higher side. the other store that I go to has ok prices and the sales are cash and carry.
I do think a good way to save in brooklyn is to have a car and a way to get around to the cheaper stores. I live a 35 minute walk to the larger store. you can also get to costco that has really good produce for a lot cheaper than the fruit stores. I like doing my own shopping. I never faxed or emailed an order. but I did order online. allfreshkosher.com.

my father lives oot he orders from allinkosher. he lives oot. he can use coupons and they have really good sales in the regular supermarkets. also in the fruit and veggie stores. he says he can get amnons pizza for 7$

sacn interesting about the supermarkets,I saw some where comparing the prices of inner city supermarkets to the outer boroughs. that they were a lot higher I guess shoprite etc is cheaper, where I live nsa ,ctown are way more expensive than a corner store. tropicana is 4.69 kahns 3.69 everyday. but the supermarkets do have 2-5 cereal but otherwise they are a lot higher. I check them out to see what the sales are and buy then. or if I ran out of something, its on my block in stead of walking 15 minutes to my closest kosher store

zigi

Wed, Feb 15 2012, 11:13 am

gryp wrote:

I think a car is a money-drainer. How would that help your budget if you added the expenses of a car to your grocery bill?

zigi, would you say that the people who live in your area shop in the same places you do? Where do they shop?

a car is a money drainer, insurance, tickets. alternate side parking etc...the people who have a car any way do benefit from using it, we don't really need it. its cheaper for me to take taxis. or rent a car for a day or a few hours. most ppl who live oot have a car. they are able to get to the different stores for sales etc.

the pple in my area have cars only a few families don't have one. they walk to empire.

middy

Wed, Feb 15 2012, 11:29 am

Seraph wrote:

gryp wrote:

I'm not touching government assistance with a long stick on my column.

Quote:

I don't know. Many people do shop in the kollel store which will give you the cheaper prices. My local grocery can be double on almost everything.

BTW, at this point, your article is the ONLY one I read in the AMI every week!

bigsis144

Wed, Feb 15 2012, 11:50 am

Seraph wrote:

How much do these cost locally?

Rent for a 2-3 bedroom apartment in the frum area. I have an extremely run-down 2 bedroom apt that we pay under $1200 for (utilities not included), but from what I hear, it's at the very low end of the spectrum. When we were apartment hunting, most 2 bedroom places were at least $1300
Average size house to purchase in the frum area. n/a
Tuition for right wing yeshivish elementary school (no internet or TV type if there is, otherwise the most yeshivish school available) and high school. n/a
Tuition for MO elementary school and high school. n/a
Tuition for a chassidish elementary school and high school.
Half gallon of cholov yisroel milk. at Moisha's Discount (usually cheapest in my area) for Devash brand it's $2.09/half gallon. Fresh and Healthy (or Fresh and Tasty or whatever the label says this week... they change it so often!) is more like $2.19-$2.29, and Golden Flow is more like $2.49-$2.79. At other stores, like Avi Glatt and Pomegranate, the prices are occasionally the same, but usually at least 20-50 cents more
Cholov yisroel cheese/yogurt. I buy the giant blocks of mozzarella when the price drops to or below $4.29 a pound or so; I don't really buy the pre-shredded stuff. J&J 8-oz yogurts are $0.99-$1.09, while Mehadrin (same size, same flavors) can be $1.49-$1.79 or more apiece. The little Givat yogurts are 2/$1.
Heimish hashgacha meat and chicken. I don't know what qualifies as heimish. I just buy whatever's the cheapest at Moisha's Discount -- family packs of boneless chicken breasts or chopped meat are usually about $3.99 a pound (occasionally $3.69/lb), chicken quarters are between $1.79-$2.39/lb, and I don't really look at the expensive cuts of meat, but many weeks they have one of the cheaper cuts like cholent meat, kalichel or chuck roast on sale for $4.99-$5.99/lb.

amother

Wed, Feb 15 2012, 2:17 pm

I live oot. At the moment it is about $8 for 1 lb $12.50 for 2 lb bag of shredded cheese in the local kosher store. Yogurts are 1.49-1.79 each for j&j and mehadrin givat are .89 and givat kids are .69. Meat and chicken are also more expensive. So the prices seem considerably cheaper in ny! On the other hand we paid 150,000 for our 3 bedroom house our mortgage is just shy of $1000 a month! So their are swings and roundabouts to everything.