Living In USA

Americans do not usually bargain over prices, as people do in much of the world. What they do instead is shop around to find the store that offers the item and quality they want at the lowest price. Almost everything sold in the United States varies in price according to the store and often the time of year (just before Christmas is often highest; lowest is just after Christmas or during August, when many stores have sales). Sales accompany most national holidays, such as President's Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day. The day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas are also significant sales days. Sale prices are often indicated by a sign over the merchandise rather than a change on the price tag of each item. Make sure that you are actually charged the sale price; inaccurate computers are not uncommon. The sale price may be a percentage off the regular price or listed as a dollar amount.

Sometimes the price varies according to state or local taxes. Many people cross state lines to buy liquor, cigarettes, or electronics, for example, because there are wide fluctuations in taxes on such items from state to state.

If it is important to you to save money, look for the discount stores in your city. They exist all across the country and are growing in popularity. Much of what they sell is comparable to goods sold elsewhere, but they can offer lower prices for any one or all of these reasons: there may be fewer salespeople (less service); often there is no delivery service except for heavy items like refrigerators; floor space is often so fully used that the store is congested; the decor is simple to save the cost of fancy carpeting or expensive interiors; or goods may be sold only in bulk, that is, in large containers or large quantities and stacked to the ceiling as in a warehouse. These discount stores may be electronics stores (e.g., Circuit City); clothing stores (e.g., Marshall's and Ross Dress for Less); huge hardware and home decorating and repair stores (e.g., Home Depot, Home Base, Lowes,); office supply stores (e.g., Office Max, Staples, Office Depot); and department stores that sell almost everything (e.g., Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target).

In some of these stores you pay a membership fee (e.g., Price Club, Costco, and Sam's Club). Because they are so colorful and have such a variety of goods, these discount stores are often of interest to newcomers who find that wandering through them helps in learning American names for unfamiliar items. There are also liquidation stores such as Building 19, Big Lots, Odd Lots, and Dollar Stores that sell high quality but discontinued household items for extremely low prices.

In most discount houses you will find clothing hanging on long racks. Shoes, socks, or underwear may be piled up in bins. It is advisable to look for those items that carry familiar brand names as much as possible, or ask a neighbor or friend to go with you. Although some of these goods are the very same that you would buy in other stores at higher prices, often they are made with inferior materials and poorly assembled.

Supermarkets in the United States keep getting bigger, and they are always confusing. How can you decide what to buy amid an amazing choice of items? Understanding some general patterns of packaging and pricing can help you evaluate the options available to you.

Price
You can save a good deal of money if you watch for sales instead of buying the same "brand-name" (a well-known company name) items at regular prices. Many supermarkets have their own label, and these items are almost always less expensive than brand-name items. You'll have to experiment, because some brand-name items are indeed tastier or better quality than less well-known brands.

Look to see if both brands contain the same number of ounces, and look at the list of ingredients to see what percentage is water. By law, actual ingredients must always be listed in order of the amount contained. Using "unit pricing" can also help. If, for example, you are shopping for laundry powder, the unit price will reflect how much you pay per pound. The "per pound" or "per fluid ounce" or the "per quart" prices are more important than the actual cost of an item. Large is not always less expensive.

Food Labels
The U.S. grading system for meat has nothing to do with nutrition, only with federal standards of quality for tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. The most common grades of meat are prime and choice.

Foods are marked using three categories: nutrition information per serving — calories, protein, carbohydrates, cholesterol, fat, and sodium; percentage of U.S. recommended daily allowances of these items plus vitamins and minerals; and the ingredients. It is important to know the size of a serving if you are interested in watching your weight or must eat carefully because of medical conditions such as diabetes or heart problems. Many products also have directions for preparation and suggestions for use.

Warnings
Although an increasing effort is being made to protect the buyer, there are still, unfortunately, a number of "shortcuts" or hidden factors that one needs to watch out for — sizes and weights, for example. A bottle that looks like a quart (or liter) does not necessarily contain that amount. In small print on the label, it may say "contains 24 fluid ounces" (a quart is 32 ounces). Packages meant to look like one pound may actually contain only 14 or 11 or 9 ounces worth of food. By law, weight must be printed on all food packages, under "net contents," so one can always check this, but too many of us do not take the time and trouble. Often the print is very small — on purpose!

Don't be overly concerned about these matters. You will gradually learn by experience and by trial and error, but you can shorten your learning time if you read labels and compare as you shop. You will soon find the foods your family likes and which brands are best for you. Such care and study can save you a considerable amount of money on your food bills. The U.S. Department of Agriculture claims that those who watch carefully and who follow the weekly specials offered in all supermarkets can save about 6 percent per week.

If you have clipped a discount coupon from the newspaper and you find the same item on sale in the store, you save even more. And some supermarkets offer "double coupon" savings, meaning you save twice the amount noted on the coupon.

Any large bookstore will have a selection of books that are helpful as guides to shopping.