—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 24, 1973 28 y 0\ X » $ By Doris Thomas, Extension Home Economist Food Still A Bargain in United States Most people-think food prices are high and it appears they will continue to steadily increase. But food is a bargain compared with many other countries. Americans spend only an average of 15.7 percent of their paychecks for food and this figure is declining. One reason your grocery bill now seems high is that it includes more than food Actually about 23 percent of the total bill is spent for non-food items. Food costs represent only about 77 percent of the total. The price of food eaten at home has increased 29 percent from 1961 to 1971 According to an article in a food retailers magazine, other costs have in creased much more during the same ten year period. For example, clothing costs are up 33 percent; auto repairs 45 percent; restaurant meals and dentists’ fees 54 percent, home maintenance 56 percent; daily newspaper 68 percent; postal costs 73 percent; auto insurance 81 percent; movie admission 101 percent, and hospital room charges 165 percent Food costs have risen much less than most other goods and services we use. The facts in dicate that food is still a bargain. Tips on Buying Seconds and Irregulars Sometimes you can save up to 50 percent by buying factory irregulars or seconds. Ladies, Have You Heard? Seconds and irregulars are slightly damaged products that have flaws in them because of production or shipping problems. But some of them are prefectly usable. Some manufacturers repair or destroy their seconds, but most continue to sell them at greatly reduced prices. Among such frequent seconds available are towels, sheets, tires, clothes, shoes, china, carpets and crystal. The trickiest part of buying seconds is finding them. Manufacturers don’t want their seconds to steal business from their firsts. So they’ll usually sell them to out-of-the-way places such as back street shops, factory outlets, or the basement and discount sections of department stores. Stores that handle seconds usually are not allowed to ad vertise the manufacturers’ names and often are forbidden to display the seconds in their windows. Seconds normally aren’t sold if they are seriously damaged or won’t retain the characteristics of the original product. Tires, for example, often will be sold as seconds because the white walls are dirty, yet there is nothing structurally wrong with the tires. Clothing seconds are a good bargain, too. They might have a dirt spot, a button missing or crooked stitching. Most people learn of stores where seconds are sold by word of-mouth from their friends. But if you’re new at seconds shop ping, the following guidelines may help you in your bargain hunting. UNCO BEDDING WOOD SHAVINGS BDHSmH FARM EQUIPMENT Before You Buy Your • WINDROWER • STACKHAND • FORAGE HARVESTER ASK US ABOUT OUR CASH BONUS PROGRAM Your Authorized Dealer MILLER'S REPAIR 1 Mile North of Bird-in-Hand RDI Bird-in-Hand, Pa. Ph. 656-7013 Gribbons Road or 656-7926 Dons Thomas FOR POULTRY & LIVESTOCK CALI 299-3541 If there is a factory near you that sells a product you want, find out if it has a factory-outlet store. If it does, that is probably where the seconds are sold. Check newspaper ad vertisements closely for such phrases as “huge savings,” “if perfect,” “nationally advertised brands,” and “discount prices.” Also tour shopping streets of warehouse districts or small neighborhood shops in large cities. But most important, before you buy seconds, examine the product thoroughly and find the flaw that made it a second. Determine if the flaw is ob jectionable to you and how it might affect the performance of the product. A large flaw, for example, in the weaving of the fabric could reduce the wear-life of a garment. Reputable stores that carry seconds or irregulars label the product as such. Failure to label merchandise properly has been considered unfair practice by the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureaus, and state agencies concerned with truth-in-advertising. |SwßldtheJ IIYTOUR GANDY APPLICATOR EARLY (For Root Worm Control) MODELS IN STOCK For Most 2-Row And Some 4-Row Planters Bird-in-Hand Farm Supply 200 Maple Ave. Bird in Hand, Pa. 17505 Recipe Correction A line in Mrs. Miles Nolt’s recipe for Fresh Coconut Pie was inadvertantly omitted last week. The correct recipe should read: Coconut milk and milk to make one quart. (Reserve 1 cup). Heat 3 cups milk in double boiler. Add the following beaten together: 2 cups sugar pinch of salt 3 egg yolks Stir often till starting to thicken. Mix: % cup flour 1 tablespoon corn starch 1 cup milk which was reserved Add to hot mixture and cook till thick. Beat the egg whites stiff. Add hot thick liquid and pour into three baked pie shells. Top with ground fresh coconut. This takes one coconut. m£k HALES 0 HUNTER CO. Franklin & High St Palmyra, Pa. 17078 Ph. 717-838-1338 FEED LETTER 6000 POUNDS OF MILK VS. 12,000 LBS. OF MILK Being too young myself, I'll trust the reports of my elders that a while back, Holstein cows had to run like mad to make 6000 pounds of milk. Today some folks claim, most Holsteins can give 15,000 pounds without half trying. This is pretty interesting in light of the fact that the capicity of the cow didn't increase two and two-thirds times what it was then. Ever wonder how a cow can produce more milk if she can’t eat more feed? “ Wonder if the feeds that are available today are more efficient tjian those of yesteryears? Wonder if anybody is making feeds better than those of yesterday? Hummm! Maybe some companies are trying right now to make better feeds? Might not be a bad idea to check around a little? Maybe there is something better? KINDA MAKES A BODY WONDER, DON'T IT? ® ELMER M. SHREINER Trading at Good’s Peed Mill Specializing in DAIRY & HOG FEEDS siNrPISTb New Providence, Pa. oINCE_IB7O Phone 786-2500 Fresh Coconut Pie Romantic William Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, was an Ameri can frontiersman and Army scout who greatly romanti cized the Wild west. Hun dreds of dime novels, most ly written by Prentiss In graham and Cody, plus Cody’s 30-year Wild West show, dramatized the cow boy West throughout the world. ERTH-RITE SEA-BORN ALGIT ZOOK & RANCK, INC. R.D. 1 Gap, Pa. 17527 Phone 717-442-4171