Do Warehouse Stores
Really Save You Money?
By NEAL TEMPLIN
Consider this brain buster: You go to a discount warehouse and buy two dozen frozen bagels for, say, $9.60. Or you go to your local bagel shop and buy them for 75 cents apiece. Which one saves you more money?
Well, if you eat a bagel every morning, you clearly save money by buying the warehouse-store bagels, which come to 40 cents a pop. But what if you now eat two bagels every morning because you have a whole refrigerator full of them? What if you start making your lunchtime sandwich every day with bagels instead of cheaper sliced bread? Or if you decide to bring in bagels one morning for fellow office workers -- something you never would have dreamed of doing when you bought just three or four of them at a time?
Associated Press Might you end up spending more money in the end? And what about your waistline?

I don't know about you, but when I have more cash in my wallet, I spend more of it. And

when there are more bagels in my refrigerator, I consume more of them. I think that's

human nature. Call it the Costco Effect.

People are often price-sensitive about an initial purchase. But after the money has been spent, there's a tendency to view the stash -- be it a pile of bagels or imported stout -- as maSubject: Warning from Police ---- No Joke!!! DON'T DELETE!!!!!!

Warning..!!!! Warning..!!!! Warning..!!!!
Just last weekend on Friday night we parked in a public
parking area. As we drove away I noticed a sticker on the
rear window of the car. When I took it off after I got home,

it was a receipt for gas. Luckily my friend told me not to

stop as it could be someone waiting for me to get out of the
car Then we received this email yesterday:

'WARNING FROM POLICE

THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE-- NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)' Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating... You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine and shift into Reverse.

When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into Park, unlock your
doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car. And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.

So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!
BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED. If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just drive away. Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you read this e-mail.. I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women.

A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands. Please keep this going
and tell all your friends

nna from heaven. And that's why I've often wondered if shopping at discount clubs saves people as much as they think.

As far as I'm aware, no one has researched this question. But Priya Raghubir, a marketing professor at New York University, says there's a good deal of research that shows larger portion size is linked to higher consumption. "My personal opinion is that people actually spend more" in the end by going to Costco, she says.

Ms. Raghubir bases that partially on her own experience. Two years ago, she canceled her Costco membership because she was "disgusted" by how much she and her husband were spending there.

Michael Norton, a Harvard University marketing professor, co-authored a yet-to-be-published paper that found people buy more than they intend at Costco because they perceive that prices are better. He believes people end up throwing out food as a result.

Mr. Norton should know. He once bought an enormous amount of pasta from a discount warehouse and ended up pitching some of it. You get tired of it "looking you in the face," he said.

Researchers say the Costco Effect is probably most pronounced with items like fruit or bread that tend to spoil if they're not soon eaten. But it can be true with any item, especially if large quantities of it are kept in open view at home. "If you see 20 cans of tuna lying there, you're much more likely to be thinking tuna when it comes time for dinner," says Ms. Raghubir.

What does Costco have to say on the subject? Richard Galanti, chief financial officer of Costco Wholesale, told me: "There's an old saying: 'If you buy a three-pound bag of potato chips, you're going to eat more potato chips.'"

But Mr. Galanti went on to say that he believes customers save a lot by shopping at Costco, as long as they're disciplined. "The average markup at Costco is 10% or 11%, and the average markup at traditional supermarkets is over 20%," he says. "You've got to save substantial amounts of money. But not if you're throwing stuff away."

I have frequented both Costco and its Wal-Mart Stores-owned cousin, Sam's Club, over the years. I buy things like paper products, some produce like bagged spinach or bags of avocados, meat and dog food. Some of the savings can be big. At the Sam's Club in Dallas, I would regularly buy center-cut pork chops for around $2.50 a pound that would cost about $4 a pound in a supermarket.

Despite that limited shopping list, it was rare for me to get out of the place without spending $100 to $150. And I usually would still have to make a trip to a regular supermarket to pick up items I couldn't find at Sam's. (Basic membership is $40 per year at Sam's, $50 per year at Costco.)

Now that we've moved to New Jersey from Texas, and we have all three of our children (two of them adults) living with us for the first time in years, I have to decide whether to rejoin a discount club. If I do, I'm going to try to be careful about how much I buy -- and what I buy. Costco, in particular, specializes in stocking unexpected gourmet food and luxury items that spur impulse buys. It isn't hard to drop $300 or $400. Even if you're getting a deal, that's a lot of money.

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Three women in North Florida turned up at hospitals over a 5-day period, all with the same symptoms. Fever, chills, and vomiting, followed by muscular collapse, paralysis and finally, death. There were no outward signs of trauma.

Autopsy results showed toxicity in the blood. These women did not know each other and seemed to have nothing in common. It was discovered, however, that they had all visited the same Restaurant (Olive Garden) within days of their deaths. The Health Department descended on the restaurant, shutting it down. The food, water, and air conditioning were all inspected and tested, to no avail.

The big break came when a waitress at the restaurant was rushed to the hospital with similar symptoms. She told doctors that she had been on vacation, and had only went to the restaurant to pick up her cheque.

She did not eat or drink while she was there, but had used the restroom.

That is when one toxicologist, remembering an article he had read, drove out to the restaurant, went into the restroom and lifted the toilet seat .

Under the seat, out of normal view, was a small spider. The spider was captured and brought back to the lab, where it was determined to be the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata), so named because of its reddened flesh color. This spider's venom is extremely toxic, but can take several days to take effect. They live in cold, dark, damp climates, and toilet rims provide just the right atmosphere.

Several days later a lawyer from Jacksonville showed up at a hospital emergency room. Before his death, he told the doctor, that he had been away on business, had taken a flight from Indonesia , changing planes in Singapore , before returning home. He did NOT visit (Olive Garden) while there. He did (as did all of the other victims) have what was determined to be a puncture wound, on his right buttock. Investigators discovered that the flight he was on had originated in India.

The Civilian Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered an immediate inspection of the toilets of all flights from India and discovered the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata) spider's nests on 4 different planes!

It is now believed that these spiders can be anywhere in the country.

So please, before you use a public toilet, lift the seat to check for spiders. It can save your life!


And please pass this on to everyone you care about.

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Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 3:49 PM

Subject: Re: FW: Good Ones - Senior citizens

That's a good one. Here is another one I heard before. An old man went to his doctor and complained that his wife was loosing hearing. The doctor gave him an instruction how to find out if she was really loosing hearing, and sent him home. Next day, the old man hid behind the front door when he saw his wife coming home from grocery shopping. As she entered and walked toward the kitchen he sneaked behind her and asked in a normal voice; "What's the dinner tonight?" She didn't answer. So, he took few steps closer to her and repeated the same question. No answer. He then came behind her and talked into her ear the same question. She turned around and said; "I told you three times. It is a chicken dinner!"