Just yesterday, a few friends and I were stuck at school until 8:30 at night (ceremonial reasons). Here on campus, a 20oz/591mL bottle of soda costs $1.25 and even a small bag of chips is $0.75, so we decided to go across the street to the nearby Shaw's supermarket to see if we could get a better deal. Some interesting numbers I saw while I was there:
- 20oz/591mL bottle of soda: $1.50.
- 2-liter bottle of soda: $1.79
- Small bag of Peanut M&M's: $0.79
- Small pack of breath mints: $1.99
$1.25 seems to be the new standard for the 20oz/591mL soft drinks: the price is the same at the vending machines located at school, the hospital, and a few other places I've been. The convenience of getting it at Shaw's along with with everything else just isn't worth 25 cents to me, especially given the numbers: 394mL per dollar for a 591mL soda, or 1.117L per dollar for the entire 2L bottle that also offsets the costs of those with me buying sodas (if we share).
Maybe $0.79 is reasonable for a small bag of peanut M&Ms; four cents isn't that bad compared to the school price. But two dollars for breath mints? Now that they're marketed with relationship-saving super powers, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Of course, only one of us actually bought proper meal food, and got 12 sushi for $7.49. If there's anything interesting about this recession, it's that two types of food haven't gone up in price: 99-cent fast fat from Burger King and McDonald's, and good Eastern Asian food, both from supermarkets and from restaurants. Someone's doing something right, at least.