Costco.au

I had heard from numerous people that everything costs more in Australia, so we prepared by stocking up on certain things and buying some of the furniture we knew we would need for a house. I'v been looking around trying to gage how much things cost here, and so decided to venture to the Costco here on Saturday. It's been here about a year, and apparently my membership in the US works here. The basics were the same as what I'm used to - giant carts, giant quantities, and the same general kinds of items. I did find the giant jars of vegimite and a few other things unique to here, plus I found some things that have been hard to find around town. They have orange cheddar cheese! I'll have to get a giant block someday to make mac and cheese. In general, the prices were about what I would expect, though some things did surprise, like the kitchen aid stand mixer for $699. They are super expensive here, but fortunately they have other brands that cost a lot less. Along with the usual pizza slices and chicken cesar salads to eat, they also had meat pies for $2.99 - or $3 because they don't make a one cent coin anymore so they just round up. They also include any tax in the price, so that $699 mixer is only $699.

After Costco we ventured over to IKEA. After seeing some reasonably priced furniture at Costco, I was shocked to see the prices at IKEA. In SD, it's the cheap place where everyone goes to get starter furniture. Here, it's super expensive. I couldn't believe how much some things there cost. IKEA was going to be my backup plan if I couldn't find reasonably priced furniture, but after that I had to find a plan B. Today I went to a whole bunch of furniture stores and finally the last one I found had furniture that is affordable and not hideous. Now I'm looking forward to dragging Phil there as soon as he lands next Saturday. Lets hope they deliver.