NYC has many greenmarkets with all vendors selling produce, flowers, dairy products, and baked goods from farmers in NJ, upstate NY, etc. Usually not cheap but not crazy expensive either. The one a couple of blocks from my building is on Saturday morning and early afternoon taking up half the parking lot of a Walgreen’s store.
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You’ve just described our NJ farmers market, food costs more than the grocery store and has obviously been sitting around a bit. Fortunately our garden produces a lot of zucchini, squash, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes (some big ones) and peppers, lots of herbs, scallions. We’ve had good luck with string beans, one year too much luck so I needed a break this year.
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Interesting to see the difference in milk prices. It is $2.76 for Great Value Whole milk at Walmart…most of the other grocery stores have similar prices but convenience stores, etc would be quite a bit higher.
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Engineering is solving design problems within constraints, which includes cost. Perhaps your engineer kids are optimizing their own lives including the constraint of cost.
The authors of The Millionaire Next Door observed that engineering was a profession where people tended to have a greater tendency to frugality than in most other professions.
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Ssssshhhh, don’t let the kids know that you and your generation used food delivery when criticizing their use of food delivery…
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My s’s are engineers (and as an aside, the daughter of the late author of the Millionaire Nextdoor lives in my neighborhood) and one is frugal and one has been less so. He is more of a “convenience” guy. But now that he has recently also become a homeowner, he may need to revisit that. The jury is out….
If you need to put in a zip code to check this out, use a CT zipcode. If I were a young parent with young children, I would absolutely do this!
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My family wonders if we had one. DS doesn’t look like anyone on either side. 
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We still have a milkman that delivers to our area, glass bottles and all. The chocolate milk is AMAZING! We stopped using the service years ago because of the cost.
As long as people can “really” afford things, then great - fine to pay for convenience. If you’re making a lot of money, or working long hours, have kids, are sick, and “need” the convenience, all is fine.
BUT, I don’t get it when people who are living paycheck to paycheck or asking others to help fund them make convenience choices when they really don’t need them.
I asked someone close to me how much they spend on Uber a month (and this is several years ago). Answer was @250 a month, and they have a perfectly good car to drive. They say it’s cheaper than a DUI. I say there is such a thing as designated driver, or only having one drink/not drinking. This person has an average of 3 alcoholic beverages each time they go out multiple times per week. Uber eats or door dash are normal.
My son chose to live without a car for a couple of years. He reasoned he could spend at least $400 on transportation (metro, plus Uber, and a very occasional rental car) a month and be better off than having a car, plus insurance, gas, etc., and he rarely if ever went over that amount. That seemed reasonable to me.
I’m a big proponent of living within your means, and making sure you save a fair amount/as much as you can. If convenience fits on top of that, then fine.
My kids were aware of the cost of things and were fairly frugal (one was VERY frugal) during college. I notice some families just don’t really worry about how much stuff costs, and don’t talk to their kids about financial stuff/when they’ve “gone overboard.” In my opinion that’s doing a disservice to the “kids,” unless parents are planning to fund them indefinitely.
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When I was a kid, my mom shopped at that market!
Anyone else get deliveries from Gristedes? We did, growing up.
We did food delivery from Schwans for a couple of years when our kids were little. We really liked the quality of the food…and they had the best ice cream.
They just announced they are shuttering for good. End of an era for sure.
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I’m sad to hear that, but not surprised. With all the other delivery options…something only for food probably isn’t a big thing anymore. But schwans really was great when we used them.
Oh well.
But it shows that some of us used convenience things even a while ago!
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Are we talking basic milk or organic, or something else? We get Fairlife or something similar for lactose free. It’s $4.99 for 52oz but that’s enough for the week.
The farmers market I go to is Eastern market in Detroit. There are some high priced artisanal type vendors there and they allow some wholesalers of non local produce but there is also a wealth of true Michigan farmers who sell amazing local produce at really low prices and it’s like what you remember it used to be, I’ve gotten to know my favorite farmers and they give me tips on how to use the produce they sell and have introduced me to new things.
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There’s a milk delivery service around here, but their milk is also available at the PYOs we frequent during the summer, so if we’re hankering for it, we’ll get a quart there (but not often; the bottle deposit is $3!).
I love the convenience of PYO farms. It’s not cheap (at least around here), but it’s fresh and I can/jam/freeze lots of it to use through the year.
I remember the silver milk box outside my grandma’s front door in Missouri. The milkman brought OJ, too.
Lyft is a game-changer when we travel. A Lyft from home to the airport and back is cheaper than long-term parking. So much less stress, too!
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I do think the issue of convenience, which often really amounts to comfort, is more of a priority for some than others. For me personally it’s important to avoid things I dislike. I enjoy grocery shopping and have no desire to avoid it. I prefer most of my own cooked meals to those I could order in. But I will happily pay for lawn service. I have zero enjoyment from maintaining my grass. I hate waiting in line for a cab or Uber at the airport and pay for private limo service. To me it’s all about priorities. Of course paying for things you can’t afford is never a good choice. But I’d always prefer to do things less often than do them in discomfort.
I have a lawn service. I’ve never used Doordash or UberEats. I’ve used Lyft when travelling but I’ve also hired a car service. I enjoy cooking and selecting my own groceries, so I’ve never used grocery delivery or pickup. If we order carryout, we pick it up.
My parents were extremely frugal, I think in part because they both grew up extremely poor. Dad enjoyed yardwork as a form of relaxation; he had a garden where he meticulously plotted out what he would grow that year. Mom often shopped at thrift stores and when someone would admire an outfit, she would proudly let them know it was “$3.50”! That said, she also gave very generously to the university where Dad worked, our church, and our arts community.
Spending money you don’t have is always a bad idea, whether you’re young or old. D can easily afford the services she’s using, and I don’t think she wants to reconsider her career choice simply because she uses Doordash once or twice a week.
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