There is fruit on sale at a local grocer. I went to stock up on apples, mangoes and other fresh goodies. The first thing I saw when I went into the store was that there was a very attractive display of apples and oranges in peck bags. That was much more than I needed so I opted to buy what I wanted. I did look at the pick apples in the bags which were the only display and noticed that many of the apples beneath the first couple were unattractive – soft, bruised and bordering on overripe.

I found some nice apples and mangoes, but this made me think that people who were in a hurry might just pick up a bag where the fruit looked decent on the top and keep going. Then later they would find that their fruit wasn’t in the best condition when they got home which is a money waster.

Fruit doesn’t have to be perfect or even underripe in order for you to eat it. Eating an apple with a blemish on it won’t kill you but buying the best fruit in the quantities that you need does help you keep tabs on the grocery dollars.

Fruit isn’t the only item that can get you with attractive packaging. There are multipacks of items that are sold in stores to make you think that you really need an extra item or two in a particular fragrance you don’t like. Case in point – gift baskets. Generally unless you put a gift basket together with items that you know a person will like or that you like yourself, make a quick calculation of how much the items cost and then make the purchase. If the items that are prepacked really do not offer a “deal” then pass it up.

Beware the attractive packaging!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Technology is not an investment. IF you want to buy something for personal use and you want to be an early adopter then you must realize that sometimes others will not be able to communicate with you or if you adopt the technology too early you will have to pay more for it.

When I bought my digital camera I was waiting until it was widely available. I was able to get it about $65 cheaper than at an electronics store by purchasing it online. I bought the camera within two weeks of its release. The price I paid is more than some online stores now offer it for but less than the big box electronic stores. That was only about 3 months ago. Even two months ago when my mother wanted the same camera it was easy to find the camera for less than what I paid.

I understand that you may be upset that you paid more for something because you wanted it right now. If you read the fine print on sales papers and coupons you also see that exchanges and returns to get a lower price is not allowed if an item goes on sale within a certain period.

When I saw this lawsuit it made me laugh because yes the price decreased by more than a third in a short time but if you bought the iPhone early you had bragging rights that you were among the first to have it. Just like my camera I got it early, used it and have not looked back. Technology is a fluid commodity that changes in valuation. If you really wanted the item and bought it without regard to price then you got what you wanted. For those who waited or wanted to wait to get one until the price went down because most reasonable people knew that the price would go down then the rebate that Apple offered was a generous compensation for the impatient.