22 April 2008

Supermarket Sweep

A college friend that is living in China decided to do a little cost of living comparison when she realized that prices were rising there. She had a friend from Little Rock, Arkansas and me send her prices of some things that may show up on a regular trip to the store (though looking at the prices I can say I'm glad to be past the Pampers stage of life!). I found it pretty interesting...since things like milk are essentials and you buy them no matter how much they cost. I really didn't realize it was over $5 for a gallon!

*** This chart compares prices from just a regular kind of town -- Yichang, China; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Durham, England. Obviously prices in larger cities or more remote places would be different.


ChinaUSAEngland
Bread (loaf)$0.68$2.69$1.17
Milk (gallon)$3.68$3.62$5.17
Butter (stick)$1.57$0.86$1.00
Eggs (dozen)$0.62$2.26$2.30
Cheese (24 slices)$3.39$3.53$5.73
Pampers (40pk)$7.25$11.29$12.56
Chicken Breast (lb)$1.40$3.49$7.99
Beef (lb)$2.15$5.29$2.00
Gas (gallon)$2.71$3.19$10.00



Total grocery bill (excluding gas):

$37.92…England
$33.03…USA
$20.74…China

4 comments:

Laurie said...

Interesting, but what kind of beef is only $2 a pound. Ground? and the "value" kind right?

Hailey said...

great post!

Anonymous said...

Your chart looks fabulous! Gotta go get some eggs and gas in the mail to you!

Anonymous said...

When I first saw the title of this post it reminded me of that old game show where you get to go through and shop for a certain amount of time based on the questions you answered correctly.

Anyways...I enjoyed the comparisons. Gas is one of those things you hate to spend your money on but you don't really have a choice.