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11.0 WHAT DO YOU KNOW? - CONSUMER CULTURE ARTICLES, FROM SAVVY-DISCOUNTS.com NEWSLETTER

An old friend of mine came to visit. I showed him a copy of SAVVY-DISCOUNTS.com . He glanced at it quickly and handed it back to me. "It looks good," he said, "but I know most of that."

Now, I had just been to this friend's house and had seen a pantry stuffed with store brands and a new car that he leased in the driveway. I also knew that he was having trouble paying his bills. I began to wonder just now much he "knew."

What I think my friend meant was that he was "familiar" with many of the ideas in SAVVY-DISCOUNTS.com . But putting this knowledge to use and saving a lot of money is quite different.

As a former teacher, I heard many of my photography students say, "Oh sure, I know how to do that." But when it came time to shoot the pictures, they had a lot of trouble. Now I am sure that they were "familiar" with the ideas but they did not have the depth of understanding to "do" what I asked.

The different levels of knowledge go like this. At the lowest level a person has "heard about" something. The next level is to look at it in detail. And the next level is doing and making mistakes and learning by experience.

For example, if you gave me directions to a store in a new city, I could say that I know the way to the store - but I really only know the way if I follow your directions closely and go the same way each time. After I while I would not need to read the directions and might start taking my own short cuts. And beyond that I might learn how to reach the store from any direction. Now I really know how to get to the store.

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I talk to many people who would love to save money, but are trapped by their own understanding. They believe that they know all there is to know. However, they are only familiar with the notions and have not put them to the test in their own lives.

For example, I know that buying store brands could save the average household a thousand dollars each year. I have gone through supermarkets and made detailed price studies. I have read books on the subject and come up with realistic dollar savings. I have demonstrated in two TV interviews that the difference is dramatic. Yet very smart friends who are deep in debt continue to stock their homes with national brands and believe that there is very little difference in price. I know for certain that this is not true. It all adds up.

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