What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime

What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.

As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.

That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.

Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.

Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.

Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.

Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.

That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.

Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.

Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.

My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.

Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.

And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.

All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:

• Farm eggs

• Fresh vegetables

• Cow’s milk

• Freshly baked bread

• Coal for our open fires

Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.

Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.

Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.

Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.

My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.

The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.

Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.

Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.

People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.

In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.

Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.

• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.

• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.

• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.

On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.

Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.

We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.

Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.

My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.

Fashion Jewelry: Get High On Fashion!

Fashion jewelry has become an essential part of the wardrobe of the fashionistas, enabling them to drop their sense of fashion. It comes with stupendous variety, offering plenty of choice to the shoppers. Consistent demand has encouraged the craftsmen to explore new designs and concepts while producing the jewelry.

Like apparel, jewelry as well is a dimension of one’s lifestyle. Whether be it a punk who prefers wearing colorful spiked choker that matches colorful vest and cargo bottoms, or a chic, who loves sporting baby pink heart pendants over uber cute babydoll dress, jewelry they wear gives an inkling of their sense of fashion. Off late, men too seem to have fallen for fashion jewelry. Metrosexual men in particular, who have developed high sense of fashion, are major buyers of these funky adornments along with women.

Gone are the days when jewelry was confined to genuinely rich. Today, fashion jewelry has surpassed conventional jewelry in popularity. The reason being that it is affordable. People can purchase it without burning their pockets. The other reason is, you can make a switch to another piece of jewelry quicker. These days, fashion changes every night and you won’t like to stay with a piece, that is past its day of glory.

As for new designs and variety, This is as par real jewelry. Neighborhood shops notwithstanding, even the big players have entered the fray. Consistent demand has encouraged the craftsmen to explore new designs and concepts while producing the jewelry. They can also customize their jewelry items according to the preferences of their clients. Fashionjewelry has, in fact, become a separate industry in itself.

With the advent of this kind of jewelry, even image conscious cine stars and socialites have started flaunting fashion accessories. They use fashion jewelry items to compliment the most exquisite of the dresses, vaunting it with their best tux on the red carpet, further adding to their popularity. Fashion jewelry has not become something which is high on the people’s desire list. The affluent tend to buy the branded pieces which are a bit expensive while an average joe buys the look-alikes of the original designs which are pretty much affordable.

Fashion jewelry has become an essential part of the wardrobe of the fashionistas, enabling them to drop their sense of fashion. It is available right at the places they like to visit such as beaches to high end malls and luxury boutiques. Spotting its popularity, even well reputed brands which hitherto dealt in only gold, platinum or diamond jewelry, have begun and marketing these on huge scale.

Such extensive is the range of fashion jewelry, that it can be objectified into various types – rings, earnings, necklaces, bracelets, bracelet charms, lockets etc. – made of non-precious metals and other elements such as rhinestones, beads and polyester resin. These elements combine to create a unique blend of aesthetics and style. Fashion jewelry comes with stupendous variety, offering plenty of choice to the shoppers.

As a result of the high demand for fashion jewelry, its market has expanded to a great extent. Catering to the market, fashion jewelry suppliers offer their clients an expansive range of trendy products which are designed to ensure that quality is delivered at affordable prices. They offer showcase both contemporary and conventional designs in our collection to meet the diverse needs and tastes of buyers.

How To Compare & Buy Online Insurance

At the point when it’s the ideal opportunity for recharging of your car insurance numerous things are going in your mind like whether to remain with and get it reestablished from a similar Insurer or compare car insurance designs of different companies and check whether you could show signs of improvement bargain. Indeed, it won’t do you any damage on the off chance that you look around a bit and welcome statements from different companies. Contrasting might be to support you as you can foresee Premium from your current safety net provider by demonstrating the statements got from the market, in the event that you choose to remain with that company. Then again it might enable you to change to a superior arrangement of an alternate company.

Basically; don’t reestablish your Policy before contrasting. Investigate your options; it isn’t required to proceed with a similar back up plan except if you have some add-ons in your policy which express that the benefit can be profited just on the off chance that you remain with your present safety net provider. Presently, how about we comprehend on what premise you should compare car insurance designs

1. Compare for premium

A standout amongst the most evident reasons to compare insurance designs is to get a decent arrangement with the least expensive premium accessible in the market. Compare online on insurance aggregator sites to get free of cost unprejudiced correlation at a solitary web area. Along these lines, in an exceptionally improved manner you can get different car insurance statements to compare on a solitary site.

2. Most noteworthy IDV

Particularly if there should arise an occurrence of top of the line cars the proprietors need to get the most elevated IDV (protected announced esteem). IDV is the most noteworthy esteem recoverable from the insurance company in the event of aggregate misfortune. At the point when your car is costly one must go for the company offering the most noteworthy IDV.

3. Least IDV

Much the same as most noteworthy IDV companies have a top of least IDV too. At the point when your car is old and to spare upon premium is your essential goal, in such case search for back up plans consenting to guarantee your car at the base IDV. As premium increment with the bring up in IDV you have to compare anticipates the premise of the least IDV a company will guarantee your car at when looking insurance for an old or modest car.

4. Maximum cashless facility/carport

Much the same as Health Insurance portion, cashless Claim facility is picking up energy in the car insurance space. Guarantors brag of the quality of their tie-ups with various engine carports wherein you can send your car for repairs and not pay forthright. When looking at based on arrange quality guarantee that the carports close to your region frame some portion of their system. It is of no utilization to you if their system carports are situated at far off spots.

5. Free Add-ons

A few companies connect some free add-ons to improve the quality of their car insurance policies. Careful statistical surveying would tell you about the companies offering such plans. For reference, experience the accompanying table to comprehend the accessible add-ons in the India car insurance showcase.

6. Maximum add-ons

Not all car insurance companies give all the add-ons appearing in the rundown above. Go for companies that are putting forth you your required add-ons and at sensible rates. Compare premiums in the wake of joining the add-ons to perceive how much additional you wind up paying and assessed the added cost against the benefits anticipated that would be gotten from such add-ons.