Savvy Saving Bytes

If you’re thinking of saving some bucks and picking up some canned food grown in China, consider this startling piece of news. In a report, earlier labeled a “state secret”, the Chinese government recently announced that 20% of the country’s farmland is heavily polluted. As in loaded with cadmium, nickel and arsenic.

Additionally, thanks to years of super-fast industrialization and agricultural practices utilizing poisonous pesticides with zero concern for the consequences or environment, at least 10% of woodland in China and 10.4% of its’ grassland soil are also polluted. After eight years of taking soil samples from 630 square kilometers, the report declared, “The overall condition of the Chinese soil allows no optimism.”

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Up until recently consumers didn’t know precisely the amount of artificial dyes used in specific foods. No More. Thanks to a study conducted by Purdue University, published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, everyone can now see the exact dye amounts in packaged foods consumed by children including breakfast cereals, candies, baked goods and beverages.

The high numbers are disturbing. Behavioral tests have already shown that kids daily consuming as little as 30 mg of artificial dye in their food can suffer adverse reactions. That’s way below the amounts that were actually measured in many kid-centric foods. As an example, a child eating 2 cups of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, a small bag of Skittles, and 8 ounces of Crush Orange consumes a whopping 102 milligrams of artificial dye.

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After too many years of fighting budworms that destroyed my terrace flowers every summer, I finally said: “No more! Enough.”  I was through with spending money to feed legions of voracious caterpillars whose only aim in life was to transform my beautiful flowers into skeletal sticks sticking out of my flower pots.

For the first summer ever I decided not to plant any flowers on my deck. When the budworms came – as I knew they would – they would have zilch to eat.

No longer would I have to go through the rigamarole of washing old flowers pots of last years soil, of buying fresh soil to pot new flowers, of constantly checking to see if any recent successful attacks on this national scourge had been waged and saddest of all, watching my plants whither and die.

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Why do people willingly pay more for national brands when they could save a bundle buying cheaper generics products instead?

Simple.  A long-term study reported by Bloomberg shows that the more you know — the better informed you are — the more likely you’ll select less expensive generic products over more expensive big brands. Take aspirin, for instance. Researchers found that pharmacists, knowledgeable about the  ingredients in pharmacy products  —  are more likely to buy cheaper store brand aspirin than more expensive big brand names like Bayer. All health care specialists do the same with other pharmacy items such as cold remedies, bandages, vitamins and contact-lens solution, choosing less costly store name products over more famous national brands.

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That’s right. According to CNN Money, an Urban Institute study estimated 77 million Americans with credit histories — or one in every three — has debt collectors on their tail.

Taking into account non-mortgage debt, including credit card and utility bills, car loans, medical expenses and child support payments, the average amount of debt in collections  was $5,200, ranging from a tiny $25 to am astronomical $125,000.

Nevada residents topped the list with 47% of its residents having an average of $7,198 debt in collections. At the bottom were North Dakota citizens with only 19% in debt collection.

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On a sultry, August day I tried not to melt during my long moist walk from the subway to the Soho art gallery, where I had a job interview. My first interview for a gallery position at an uptown photography gallery had not been a lot of laughs. The working conditions had turned out to be downright Dickensian. But still wanting to work in a gallery, I had chalked up the work-for-free night hours and chicken coop work space to the owner’s eccentricities.

Inside the Soho gallery off Spring Street, the paintings, by newer, unknown artists, hung in spacious, light washed rooms. Though it was an old building, like many in that area of long gone, small manufacturing companies, the space looked new – as though it had been stripped down and rebuilt with pristine white walls, recessed lighting and polished, hard wood floors.

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As the president of the small advertising agency closed the door to his office, I saw an ancient looking, lint-speckled sweater hanging on the back of his door. I was there to see about a freelance assignment, but once he showed me some of his agency’s uninspired work, my interest quickly faded. What did fascinate me, however, was his desk. It was encrusted with an amazingly thick layer of dust. Clearly he employed no cleaning staff. Nor was he apparently concerned enough to take some sort of action himself. Did he like working – or swirling around — in dust? Or did he just not see it? Either way, during the entire interview, I had to suppress an overwhelming urge to swipe my fingers across the desk top to see just how deep that dust layer was.

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A contented apartment renter in New York City, I have never bought, nor considered buying, a co-op apartment, a country house, a beach house, a car or any ritzy extravagance like a fur coat or jeweled bauble. Consequently, I have never taken out a loan or borrowed money. Years ago I was advised by a broker friend to take out a loan and pay it back just to establish a good credit rating and prove I was credit worthy for any big ticket items I might consider purchasing further down the line. But taking out a loan would have chained me to monetary shackles and my inner frugal master* kept protesting, “No way! Ain’t no way I’m owing a bundle of dough to some pile of financial bricks!”

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On a bus heading uptown, a woman in the seat behind me exclaimed, “I always say you get what you pay for!”

Her male companion immediately agreed. “You know it,” “he echoed.

“Buy cheap, you get cheap!” declared the woman.

“You got that right,” agreed her friend.

As it happens, I have often found that to be baloney. There are times I’ve paid top of the line prices only to receive bottom of the line quality. I’ve also paid rock bottom prices for things that turned out to be of excellent quality.

I learned a lesson on this subject when I first moved to New York. Prior to that, my haircuts had been done by a small-town barber. But now that I had a job at a top fashion magazine, I decided to go all out and have my hair cut and styled by a celebrated, pricey salon. Since they were the experts, I put myself completely in their hands, having every confidence I would come out looking like the million dollars I was paying them.

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No, the dog didn’t eat today’s post about monetary matters. Spring did. Here are three quotes that say it all…

“I stuck my head out the window this morning and spring kissed me bang in the face.” — Langston Hughes

“Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day.” — W. Earl Hall

“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’” — Robin Williams

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