Well, this whole bush shopping, shipping, and shelling it out has been an experience.
When I logged onto the internet this morning I was taken to the hotel webpage. For fun, I clicked specials & packages. Apparently Alaska residents that book through the hotel website or via phone receive rate that is $70 cheaper per night. Yep, I booked through another site and overpaid by $140. It couldn't be fixed.
Something else happened later in the morning and I cried in the car, a lot. Since today is our only full day here, we had to continue with our errands, even with red eyes, even if the next stop was an address update for our licenses complete with photo.
Then came Sam's Club. We filled one cart with things that we can't get on the island or items that cost a ton there. When all was said and done we spent $540. The weight of the price had been settling in when I had noticed the bush shopping packet. It was there that I noticed the other fees...
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| Additional fees accrued when shipping to Alaska from Sam's Club. |
Others attempted to get in line behind us as the cashier handed Nate something to fill out. Bush shopping order here please go to another checkout, the clerk said. Dad, it's a bush order we have to go to the next line, a young boy said.
The total came to just over $900. Shipping was over $300. We still had another stop at Wally World for the rest of our stuff... There we filled a cart and dropped it off, cash on delivery. We'll deal with it later when it arrives at the post office.
This bush living business takes some getting used to. I can't wait until we get the system figured out.
If you have the time and a vehicle, you should ship things through the post office yourself. It saves you loads of money, but it takes time. The post office by the airport is awesome with big boxes! I always do anything I can to avoid the expediter costs.
ReplyDeleteThanks Meghan. We'll do that next time. I didn't think the PO would have boxes bigger than the flat rate boxes. From the looks of the other carts in the "bush area" drop-off, a few others didn't get that information or were short on time as well.
ReplyDeleteThe learning curve sure stinks the first time around.
Our next order will come from Span Alaska. We have barge service from Seattle and will try that next. Most of the information we get from others here is limited and often is too late.
I usually buy totes at Walmart or wherever and duck tape and ship my groceries that way. The post office won't have boxes. It still ends up being cheaper!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes...advice always come AFTER you spend money out the nose..I've found that too :-)
Amazon seems to be a nice grocery option too. We buy most things from Amazon or drugstore but have not tried food yet. Span can wait... I see that it is possible to bulk shop and get free shipping. Yay for Amazon!
ReplyDeleteYes! I order a majority of food on Amazon with FREE shipping! It is awesome...Subscribe and Save is a pretty awesome bonus too.
ReplyDelete