My Temu Haul

I ordered a few things from Temu, the Chinese bargain online retailer of household items, personal care tools, and odds and ends that might be fun to share. A Temu haul is gratifying when you buy useful things you can’t easily find elsewhere without overspending. Where have all the Odd-Job-Odd-Lot Trading retailers gone? Although a legitimate business, it’s best to stick to inexpensive items, as returns are a hassle. 

My senior mom is staying with me, and I ordered articles for her comfort and benefit:

1) Air Conditioner Air Deflector - 👆Top image. - Before she came, I didn’t need one, but she sleeps close to my Through-the-Wall AC, where it gets cold. In the daytime, the AC is 18 inches away, behind my click-clack couch, and the deflector will push the air up to the ceiling, where it will be more comfortable and disperse better throughout the room. I have a makeshift deflector that keeps falling to the floor. A $10 purchase should stop this annoyance!

2) Nail brushes - Although I started life in my mother’s womb, I’m against sharing certain personal care items with her, such as a toothbrush, hairbrush, nail clippers, nail brushes, and nail files. Sorry, Mom, but for sanitary reasons, I think each family member should have their very own grooming tools, mothers and daughters included! The brushes are to clean her fingernails since I won’t share my nail brush with her! Yuck!💅

3) The cable protectors are dirt cheap and useful. Computer charging cables often wear out and expose wires, so they won’t go to waste.

4) Toothpaste Manual Dispenser - I ordered this so we stop doing battle with our toothpaste tube. After we roll down the tube, we can’t get it to hold. It unwinds itself after we leave the bathroom! I hope this makes it easier to dispense the toothpaste after it is half or 3/4 empty. With 8 pieces under $2, we’ll have one for every bathroom and then some, won’t we?!

5) Persimmon Soap - This soap is to prevent seniors from smelling like old people. In fairness, my mother doesn’t have an odor -- bad, murky, musky, or otherwise -- still, I want to try the soap on her skin since she is old, out of curiosity! Perhaps she’ll smell even better. If we like it, we’ll keep buying it.

6) Leather Ultra Thin Card Holder - The genuine leather is thin, but it holds 6 cards and has a center pocket, convenient for her insurance and ID cards when I take her to the doctor. Costing under $3 bucks, she’ll get the value for what we paid for it.

7) Multi-Layer Movable Slim Gap Storage Cabinet Drawer Organizer - I’m a sucker for space-saving narrow organizers, and I’m taking a risk by ordering the 3-drawer version. Perfect for all my mom’s personal care items, including the ones I just ordered for her. Frankly, I prefer the 5-drawer option, but must settle for the lower height of 3 drawers to ensure it fits under the bathroom sink or beside it. By ordering the cabinet, I broke 2 of my cardinal rules: (a) ordering an item from Temu that is more than a few dollars (the cabinet was $21.99), and (b) paying for shipping ($2.99)! 😳😳😳 Why did I do it? The organizer is narrow, has wheels, and is made of durable plastic that withstands the dampness of a bathroom. Easy to clean, too. However, it’s a $25 loss if it doesn't fit in the intended space, so my fingers are crossed!𝑋𝑋𝑋

Caution: Orders of a few dollars each add up, so even at Temu's bargain prices, Savvy Shoppers should shop mindfully, constantly asking whether or not we really need it, regardless of how cheap and appealing it is. We never want to clutter up our homes with cheap, useless junk! If it serves no purpose, it morphs into junk!!

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Hexagona Paris Bags At Fair Prices

Hexagona Paris is a French leather goods company celebrated for blending traditional Parisian style with everyday functionality. The brand creates affordable luxury, aiming to “democratize" high-quality leather goods without compromising on aesthetics or craftsmanship, making the label’s bags a great find!

  

The brand began as a family-run leather goods enterprise in the 1980s, then in 1986 launched the House of Hexagona in the heart of Paris’ fashion district. Its mission is to deliver beautifully designed and crafted bags that are utilitarian at fair market prices. With a classic and minimalist aesthetic, the bags are made of full-grain and vegetable-tanned cowhide leather, incorporating high-quality zips and shiny gunmetal or gold embellishments. Several water-resistant synthetic and nylon bags are also offered for the retailer's vegan-only customers.

The merchant caters to both men and women with a full array of top-handles, shoulder bags, crossbody styles, backpacks, and small leather goods. Each leather bag comes in up to 8 colors. Impressive!

Its nylon bags can be hand-washed with soap and water. Canvas and faux leather should be spot-cleaned.

I’ve posted a few of my favorites, and it was hard to stop at 11! The website has many more appealing styles. 

The days of overpriced and overhyped designer bags may be numbered. Moreover, isn’t it time to stop supporting retailers who fail to love you back? At Heagona Paris, customers don’t pay a premium for premium French leather goods.

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Understanding Fine Jewelry Prices

Standard retail fine jewelry stores apply 200% - 300% markups on real gold, platinum, or sterling silver jewelry to cover their overhead costs, like space leases, sales commissions, and marketing. 

Kuvera Jewelers 

In contrast, weight-based jewelers price their jewelry on the literal gram or pennyweight (dwt) of the precious metal plus a transparent labor fee, rather than a fixed retail sticker price. This practice is deeply rooted in Indian, Middle Eastern, and Asian bullion jewelry cultures, where gold is both (1) a wearable asset and (2) a direct measure of value.

Unlike Western luxury or fashion brands that charge a"brand tax,” of 300% plus, traditional weight-based pricing follows a transparent formula that is spelled out for consumers: 

Net Weight in Grams of Metal x Real-time Market Price + Labor.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC or D2C) is a business model in which a brand sells its products directly to the buyer, bypassing third-party wholesalers, distributors, or traditional retailers. Magnolia on the right →

A growing tier of direct-to consumer (DTC) brands and traditional weight-based jewelers bypass the middleman to keep markups to a minimum, ensuring a customer's money goes toward the price of the metal and real craftsmanship rather than for a luxury name.

6 Notable Weight-Based Jewelry Retailers include:

Bijouterie Minted

1) Menè - The retailer is famous for its “radically transparent pricing.” It sells 24k gold and platinum by carat weight. "Every product page has a live calculator showing the exact breakdown of the daily precious metal value + the cost of design or labor."

2) Bijouterie Minted: Based in Montréal, Bijouterie Minted scales solid 14k–22k gold jewelry purely by weight tied to its live market rates. The shop ships a complimentary digital scale with a customer's order so we can verify the weight at home.

3) Magnolia Jewelers: Focuses entirely on pure metals and avoids gemstones. Pieces are "priced by weight with a clear and transparent manufacturing premium.”

4) Kuvera Jewelry: Offers solid 24K gold rings, bands, and chains with pricing directly tied to the metal mass.

Quince

5) Quince Fine Jewelry: Known for offering high-quality, ethically sourced and recycled 14k gold and lab-grown diamond jewelry at transparent factory-direct prices (in addition to its gold-plated stock, so pay close attention to which one you’re ordering).

Mejui

6) Mejui is another DTC fine jewelry brand that focuses on sustainable, accessible luxury using recycled 14k gold and sterling silver with ethically sourced natural and lab-grown gemstones at fair markups. Again, avoid ordering from its gold-plated silver line a/k/a gold vermeil, if seeking 14k gold fine jewelry.

The following section comes from various sources, gathered not from my personal experience, but by a Google search. I haven't bought jewelry on the Asian market but I know owning real gold jewelry is important to wealthy Asian families. By tradition, an Indian bride’s jewelry is part of her dowry. Investors and serious expert jewelry buyers might buy jewelry from Asian jewelers including these:

Consider the details below in quotation ...

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Indian Jewelers & Bullion

Indian jewelers focus heavily on 22-karat yellow gold, intricate temple designs, bridal sets, and gold as an investment.

Joyalukkas: A premier international brand with a strong presence in the US, offering a wide range of traditional 22K gold and diamond collections.
Aabhushan Jewelers: Known for carrying extensive Indian 22K gold jewelry, certified diamonds, and silver items.
Local Hubs: In the New York and Manhattan area, shoppers frequently look to Jackson Heights in Queens or specialized districts for authentic regional craftsmanship.

Middle Eastern Jewelers & Bullion

Middle Eastern jewelry traditions emphasize rich 21K and 24K gold, heavy solid gold cuffs, custom nameplates, and bullion coins.

Yasini Jewelers: Specializes in high-karat gold including 18K, 21K, 22K, and 24K jewelry, bullion, and custom Arabic nameplates.
Taj Gold & Diamond Jewelers: Focuses on authentic 21K and 22K gold jewelry imported from Dubai, featuring traditional and modern Middle Eastern and South Asian styles.
Baladna Jewelers: Offers 18K to 24K gold pieces alongside domestic and international gold bullion and custom 3D designs.

Asian & East Asian Jewelers

East Asian and broader Asian markets emphasize high-purity 24K (999.9) gold pieces, jade, and intricate cultural motifs.

Chinatown Districts: Local storefronts in Manhattan and Queens feature specialized Chinese and East Asian jewelers dealing in 24K solid gold pieces, bangles, and jade artifacts.

Queen of Hearts Jewelry

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Readers, I hope you have a better understanding of how fine jewelry is priced by jewelers, and this enlightenment helps you get good value for the money.

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6 Better Hot Dogs

Frankly, my family doesn’t usually eat hot dogs for dinner. My practice is to buy a pack of hot dogs to toss into the freezer and add 2-3 sliced, pan-grilled links to beans or my quick vegetable meal. But a friend nudged me to eat a hot dog this past July 4th. She thought it was patriotic, so now I’m hooked on better hot dogs!

To my surprise, the price of hot dogs has risen a lot at the supermarket. No more messing around buying turkey or chicken hot dogs for the lower fat content, calories (about 80 per dog), or price for me! They too have gotten more expensive! From this day forward, I’m going for the better-tasting all-beef (accepting 130 calories; 160 is pushing it) per hot dog.

Since the cost of a package of 8 hot dogs at the supermarket is often well over $5, I headed straight to Fairway Market and bought the very best ~ Black Bear Natural Casing Beef Franks ~ a 40 oz package for $16.72; that’s 16 slightly bigger hot dogs in a package. I tossed 15 hot dogs in my freezer for later meals, eating one hot dog right away (of course with mustard and sauerkraut).

The natural casings have a snap I had all but forgotten about that the turkey and chicken hot dogs lack!

Still, I’m no foodie, so when I must buy hot dogs at the supermarket for convenience, the following brands are 100% beef with a well-balanced smoky and spicy profile: Nathan’s Famous Coney Island or Nathan’s Angus Beef, Boar’s Head Beef Frankfurters, and Sabrett’s Skinless Beef Frankfurters.

Reportedly, Costco’s Kirkland Signature Beef Hot Dogs are quite good too, although personally I’ve never eaten one. I do trust what customers say enough to include it here, and one day I have to try one as a tagalong with a Costco shopper.

Nowadays, hot dogs cost almost as much as other meats, so you might as well go for the best! No point in skimping on calories, fat content, or cost! When you decide to eat one, THE SAVVY SHOPPER recommends going all in.🙂

🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭🌭

Dietitians rate Applegate Organics’ Uncured Beef Hot Dogs as the healthiest option on the market - another brand I’ve never tried. It’s relatively low in sodium, fat, and calories per link, but its still a hot dog ~ processed meat!

Feel free to tell us about your favorite hot dogs.

Making German Sauerkraut

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Making German Sauerkraut

These containers are great for stacking in a refrigerator.

Sauerkraut and mustard are delicious on a beef hot dog. I overruled a bossy friend who insisted I put Sabrett’s sweet-ketchup-onion topping on my hot dog. To each his own, but no, no, no, no, no, not on mine!

At home, I prefer canned sauerkraut to supermarket bagged refrigerated sauerkraut. The canned is blanched, so less raw in texture and less sour. I like the sour toned down a notch so it complements and doesn’t dominate the other paired food, like potato salad or pork chops.

Our favorite sauerkraut comes in jars from Germany, which is more costly (about $8 - $12 a jar) since it's imported.

Recently, using a medium head of cabbage (at 99¢/lb), I made my own batch of sauerkraut to see if I could match the German Sauerkraut in a jar. You only need 2 ingredients to make it: shredded cabbage and salt. You have to wonder why all forms of sauerkraut, including canned, have doubled in price. 

My recipe follows:

German Sauerkraut

Ingredients:

cabbage, a medium-large head, shredded

1 1/2 tablespoons of non-iodized salt (I used pink Himalayan.) 

Although you should keep sauerkraut simple, you can add optional flavors or textures to your batch if you wish --

Optional: I sprinkled in bay leaf powder (or 3 bay leaves work). I diced a carrot just to add color to the kraut. Some people like to toss in garlic or caraway seeds, which I didn’t do.

Directions:

4 days of fermenting

1) Mix the shredded cabbage and salt thoroughly. I used a fork and didn’t massage it. What am I, a masseuse? You can taste it to know if the salt is incorporated throughout.

2) Pack the sauerkraut into glass jars or food-grade plastic containers. 

3) Let it sit at room temperature for 7 days to 4 weeks. No need to add water, as the salt draws the water out, turning it into a pickled juice.

My sauerkraut, weighing 2 pounds, is fermenting and starting to look like sauerkraut. How exciting that it's coming along without effort! I don’t aim to go into the sauerkraut business, but it’s great to know where your food comes from and what goes into making it! We’ll use this batch as condiments whenever we need a bit of sour and crunch, like on Fairway’s beef hot dogs. Fermented sauerkraut keeps in the refrigerator.

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Eye Candy Friday: Cartier, LeVian and Van Cleef & Arpels

LeVian: Rarest Blue-Green Paraiba Tourmaline Gemstone

High jewelry is always fun to see, whether it's due to the spectacular design of top jewelers or the clean, heirloom-quality gemstones. What’s not to like? Well, the price, which has so many zeros that regular wage-earners can’t afford to buy it. At least we are spared the temptation, right? And we can be inspired to find budget-friendlier pieces that give us the characteristics we find attractive. 

Cartier’s Pathère Collection of white and yellow diamonds, or diamonds and emeralds

Nonetheless, never buy the so called more affordable lines from Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, or Bulgari, etc., etc, etc., because these same luxury brands that craft the high jewelry we admire charge inflated prices for their lesser lines, and you’ll pay thousands of dollars mainly for the names alone, not for the amount of gold or the quality of gemstones you’ll get. LeVian is the exception, as it sells its lower-end consumer-grade jewelry at major department stores such as Macy’s, which also runs its own sales.

The center vivid yellow diamond weighs 10 carats.

One place where you don't pay the inflated markup charged by the luxury brands named will surprise you. Costco! The discount retailer applies a low markup of roughly 14% to 15% on its fine jewelry. Unlike at Harry Winston, Cartier, or Van Cleef & Arpels, at Costco you’re paying for the gold, gemstones, and a small markup to keep the lights on, not a 500% markup for a fancy box, tissue paper, and a name.

Costco sells real gold and sterling silver. In the USA, real gold is regulated by stamps that state its purity, either by karat designation or fineness number (representing parts per 1000 of pure gold, and you will see these marks on fine jewelry at Costco):

- 24K (999): 99.9% pure gold (24 out of 24 parts)
- 18K (750): 75% pure gold
- 14K (585): 58.5% pure gold
- 10K (417): 41.7% gold, which is the minimum karat allowed to be sold as "solid gold" in the United States. 

Likewise, real sterling silver is marked 925 (92.5% pure silver and 7.5% other metal to harden it) in the USA.

So now let’s ogle the very expensive high jewelry pieces and cute leopard.

LaVian Neon Blue Paraiba Tourmaline™

All images are from the respective jewelers’ ads or websites. Google the name of the collection for more information on the pieces. A look is all I need today since buying them is as out of the question for a Savvy Shopper as petting that pretty predatory leopard: "Goodness, what big teeth you have!"🐆

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