ONLY A POUND

Have British shops gone mad with the pound?  Everywhere you look there are signs in all manner of shops and supermarkets advertising goods for sale for ONLY £1.  Do credit us consumers with some intelligence, we are not daft, we can work out that actually you are doing us no favours and that the said item is either marked up or down for your sales pitch.  We will only buy what we need and as the recession hasn't been pronounced ended, we will continue to make rational decisions about whether we pay £1 in your store or go elsewhere.

For example, cherry tomatoes at Only £1 in one supermarket are actually only 49p in another for the same amount.  No sign saying 'Only', they just are very much cheaper.

The store Poundland may have started it all off as they have grown and grown in popularity, followed closely by Home Bargains, Poundstretcher and other similiar stores.  Why do we think we are getting a bargain if it costs a pound or less?  They are making a profit on that theory but actually quality and quantity should always be taken into account.  We may have become accustomed to buying all manner of food and household items under one roof, so it is arguable that 'shopping around' for better value is a waste of time and effort and that the little margin of financial difference is not worth it either.

But people are, it seems, voting with their feet.  They are shopping around more.  Large supermarket chains are suffering as a result.  What goes around, comes around is a saying that fits here.  I remember as a child shopping with mother, going to the grocers, the butchers, the newsagents, the school uniform shop, the bank etc etc etc.  They were seperate buildings, we walked from one to the other.  We had milk and soft drinks delivered to the door, a fishmonger came weekly in a van, and a greengrocer sold vegetable in our street from his vehicle.  Ice cream too could be purchased in the road if you had a big enough container.  We were fitter and leaner, thriftier and just as happy.  Now, however, one does not even have to leave the living room as on-line shopping is available and delivered ready for your cupboards, fridge and freezer making us lazier or filling our time with other persuits, some of us are not so lean or careful with our money, and many are not so happy.

Turn a blind eye to those ONLY signs, turn a deaf ears to those Must Have advertisements on the television and in magazines, be content with what you have, what you can afford and how you live.  You ONLY have one life, be happy.