Hooper Bay has an AC store, so we get fairly regular shipments of produce and have a decent stock of refrigerated stuff. Things are just much more expensive here than in the Lower 48! For example, Jiffy corn muffin mix is something like $0.49 back home. If I bought one here, I'd pay $2.45. Think I'm kidding?
I'm getting really good at going through and getting the 1/2 price items that are getting ready to go out of date. I'm not being dramatic when I say that bread is BOGO right now so we have 1.5 packs in the fridge and 2 (soon to be 4) more in the freezer! I don't have soda (pop) available because I refuse to pay $15 for a 12 pack. Right now 20 packs are on sale for $18, and I may splurge for special occasions :)
For the sake of saving money and getting things they don't sell here, I'm getting quite good at online grocery shopping. Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart (seldom), Best Buy, and a few others are becoming my best friends.
Target
I like getting things from Target because I get 5% off with my card. I get things like microwaveable soups for lunch, bath stuff, canned goods, some boxed goods, Halloween candy, etc. The shipping ranges anywhere from 2 weeks to almost a month when planes are weathered in. So far, there have been two major issues. One time they shipped me 13 bottles of beet juice instead of all the actual stuff I ordered. After a long phone call, they replaced everything but the pasta that was now out of stock. Just the other day, a $200 order of food supplies, bath rugs, and my air fryer were listed as damaged then "issue." I called Target who said the boxes were lost in transit so they refunded my order. I'm thinking I either need to do multiple small orders so the boxes are manageable or only use Target for lighter items.
Amazon
If you plan on living out here, Amazon Prime is a must! I've ordered light bulbs, tea, classroom display items, postcards (that people have requested), shelf stable coffee creamer, rain boots, winter boots, hangers, laundry baskets, etc. I was finally able to get pillows sent out thanks to them. Amazon saved my life when it came to shopping for my cat Cocoa. They shipped out a litter box, big pails of cat litter, huge bags of food, etc. Prime doesn't mean free 2-day shipping here! It's between 1-2 weeks. The good news is that they are the first boxes to get loaded on planes after priority shipping boxes from USPS!!
Wal-Mart
I did a bush order while I was in Anchorage and sent a few things out. It takes a few weeks for the stuff to arrive and they charge you a percentage for packing/shipping. Ordering online is often not the best option because they charge you an "Alaska shipping" fee. Sometimes you actually can get free shipping, but it's not common at the moment. The only thing I've ordered from them is the specialty light for our pantry. Even with the $6 shipping, I got two lights cheaper than I could get one from Amazon.
Best Buy
I ordered our Blu Ray player and HDMI cables from Best Buy with no issue. I also ordered color toner for my laser printer in my classroom since Amazon wouldn't ship to my address here on that item. The price was the same, and I still got free shipping. I find they ship quickly, too. I think both times was right at a week.
Mr. Prime Beef
This order was quite the experience! The teachers get together and make one order for the whole year around Labor Day. It's basically a butcher that you can order all kinds of meat from. Because we order the way we do (over 1,000 pounds of meat together) it goes Bypass Mail which is cheaper. We got chicken, a variety of beef, pork, bacon, catfish, halibut, shrimp, and some frozen veggies. Trying to estimate what you will use in a year is overwhelming. I'm looking forward to its arrival so we can add a bit of variety to our current dinner offerings.
Others
I haven't tried Dollar General yet, but I've been told they are a decent option. Nuts.com has a lot of bulk nuts, dried fruit options, and spices. I plan on ordering from them soon. A teacher here is from Wisconsin so in the next couple of weeks we will put together a bulk cheese order!
Family and Friends
Some things I just haven't been able to locate (yet) online. Things like shelf-stable cheese tortellini and gnocchi have evaded me so far. My family loves me enough to send these in a care package. When we first got here and were eating ramen and cheese quesadillas fairly regularly until we got situated, my sister went shopping and packed up a tote full of food items for us. My Baba has sent a couple of boxes with snack chocolate and cake mixes as well as guacamole and hummus! My mom's friend Melanie, who used to live in Alaska, has adopted me and sends candy for the kids and I as well as some other goodies.
If you want to send care packages or letters, I'd love it! Mail is super exciting here :)
Brittany Taraba
PO Box 249
Hooper Bay AK 99604
If you have to have a physical address for whatever reason, even though they don't exist here:
Brittany Taraba
c/o Hooper Bay School
249 School Road
Hooper Bay AK 99604
No comments:
Post a Comment