Grocery Savings at Pathmark

Like I said in previous posts, I went through a "sticker shock" phase when I first moved to New York.  While I found that some items, like produce, were still reasonably priced, everything else was a lot more expensive than I was accustomed to.  The NYC sale prices were comparable to the everyday prices in South Carolina - ha!  So, needless to say that I was excited when I discovered the deals I could get by stacking manufacturer's coupons on top of the deals at Pathmark.

This is the deal I got yesterday at Pathmark: I got everything pictured above for $25.77 and according to my receipt, I saved $25.42.  Not bad!  Some of the best deals were:

• America's Choice canned veggies for $.28 (limit 12)
  
• Campbell's Tomato or Chicken Noodle Soup for $.48 (limit 4)  and I had a coupon for $.40/4
  
• Progresso Soup for $.98, used a $1/4 coupon
  
• Great Lakes Shredded Cheese for $1.79
  

Check out Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday for more great deals!

FREE Stuff at the Freecycle FreeMeet

If you like free stuff and you live in Brooklyn, you need to run over to the Freecycle FreeMeet happening today in Park Slope.  From 11 to 4 today, September 13, Freecycle of New York City is hosting its Back-to-School FreeMeet.  It's like one big garage sale, but everything is absolutely free.

Here's how it works: you bring whatever items you no longer want but are still usable and in return you get to scavenge through other people's items and take whatever you want.  Actually, you don't even have to bring anything of your own.  Since we recently moved to New York and didn't bring much, I didn't have much to give away.  I only brought one hat.  However, I found 3 great books to bring back home!

I went early in the day, so I am sure that people will bring more stuff as the day goes on.  However, there was already a good amount of books, clothes, movies, picture frames, toys, and other household items.  You should definitely go check it out!  Whatever is not taken at the end of the day will be donated or recycled.

FreeCycle has groups all across the nation and a group near you might be holding a FreeMeet sometime soon.  For information on a FreeCycle group near you click here.

Browse through Money Saving Mom's Super Savings Saturday to see how other people were able to save money this week.

Sticker Shock and How I'm Trying to Overcome It

Everyone knows that the cost of living in New York City is among the highest in the country.  In fact, Forbes.com lists New York as the most expensive city in the United States, citing high rent as the biggest reason for the top spot.  However, for those who are relocating to the city, it doesn't take long to realize that it's not just the rent that is extraordinarily pricey in this city.

I remember my first trip to the grocery store after moving to the city.  I couldn't believe how much they wanted me to pay for a can of soup.  That was supposed to be my cheap meal!  And upon receiving our first power bill, we thought that surely something must be wrong.  But when we compared bills from our old apartments we realized that nothing was wrong, the price of electricity was simply four times higher than in South Carolina.  That's right, compare 5 cents per KWH to 22 cents per KWH and you will immediately feel our pain.

I did a bit of research on just how different the costs of living were from South Carolina to NYC and I stumbled upon this fun little Cost of Living Calculator on CNN's website.  It allows you to select two cities and view comparable salaries as well as grocery, housing, utilities, transportation, and healthcare costs.  Unfortunately, they do not provide info for Brooklyn so I had to use Queens (I figured it would be a closer comparable than Manhattan.)  The results were pretty astonishing...

Groceries: 45% more

Housing: 175% more

Utilities: 46% more

Transportation: 21% more

Healthcare: 11% more

Anyway, the point of me saying all of this is not to depress you.  It's to introduce some things I will be posting about in this blog.  New York is crazy expensive, yes, but there are things that you can do to save money here too.  I promise to post many opportunities to save money in the city including free events, special discounts, and the art of couponing.

Every Southerner in NYC Should Know About..

...Brother Jimmy's!  A friend of ours told us about this legendary barbeque restaurant before we even moved up to New York.  Once you step inside you truly forget that you are north of the Mason-Dixon line.  They offer southern-style BBQ with down-home trimmings like macaroni and cheese and sweet potato casserole and of course, sweet tea!  One thing that made me truly respect Brother Jimmy's is that they distinguish between North Carolina BBQ and South Carolina BBQ...I was very impressed!

Not only is it a great place to eat barbeque and drink sweet tea, but it is a great place to watch college football games.  There are numerous TVs throughout the restaurant and Brother Jimmy's claims to be the place to watch ACC sports.  The walls are also covered with ACC school banners and posters.

Brother Jimmy's definitely provides an exciting atmosphere to watch your ACC team play.  However, I will say that when we went to watch the Clemson game last weekend, it was disappointing to not have sound.  There were so many games on that they just had music playing instead of turning up any of the TVs.  So, if you're a dedicated fan you might want to go to a bar that is only playing your team's game...and I will post about those places to go very soon!

However, in the meantime, I highly recommend that you check out Brother Jimmy's and, as they say "put some south in yo' mouth!"  There are several locations in Manhattan and they can all be found on their website along with the menu!  

New to NYC

My husband and I recently made the big move from a small town in South Carolina to New York City.  While we are thrilled about all of the wonderful experiences that await us, we sometimes find ourselves completely overwhelmed.  My intention for this blog is to create a home for resources that Southerner's would find useful when moving to NYC and additional info to help them feel more at home in the big city.  While I am new to NYC, I am also new to blogging...so bear with me!  One of the first things I would like to tackle is locating all of the sweet tea in town!

As I am also a young newlywed, I will be sharing some ways in which young people can enjoy NYC without spending too much money.  There are so many opportunities in NYC - even some free ones - and I am so looking forward to discovering what the city has to offer!