Nothing, it seems, can defeat that sinking feeling you get while watching the receipt slowly scroll out of the till at the supermarket. Yes, prices can be high, but let's be realistic. They're not Scandinavia high, and sometimes it takes an outsider's viewpoint to be able to see the positives. As a writer who lives in America but comes to Britain several times a year, I can tell you that you're passing some good deals on the stores' aisles every single day.

I'm not talking about stuff you can't get easily in America, like double cream and laundry detergent capsules and Coke made with real sugar. Those are cultural differences. I'm talking about everyday items where, all things being equal, they cost less here. For me, walking through the average Sainsbury's can be an exercise in envy. I wish I had daily access to these solid everyday values:

High-quality bedsheets. The stuff you get at John Lewis is miles better than the carelessly machined junk they sell at the big mall anchor stores Stateside. Spend £30 or £40 and you'll have beaten the high-end sheets at America's Macy's by half. The British selection of colours is better, too, with more vibrant solids available. We're catching up, but I find it ironic, given America's ecological stance until recently, that we're so obsessed with earth tones.

Holiday cards. At home, I'll pay $15 for 10. Here, I can get a pack of tasteful designs at Paperchase for £3 or £4, and what's more, that money will go to charity.

Breakfast cereal. You seriously have no concept of how cheap your stuff is. Here, I can find it for upward of a £1. In my local supermarket in the US, boxes with no more than week's worth of breakfasts go for $6 to $7. Then again, given the high quality of British dairy (also very well priced), I tend to eschew cereal for cheese and yoghurt when I'm here.

Classic recordings. Bet you didn't think of this one. In the US, copyrights generally last longer than in Britain, where most Parliamentary Copyright songs can become public domain 50 years after publication. I've gone into CD shops and found great 1950s albums on CD for £5, whereas at home, they're still full price. That makes it cheaper to listen to your grandparents' favorite artists in Britain than it is in the US.

Prepared meals. Not just sandwiches at Pret or Eat, which I call triangle sandwiches -- those are about a third less than what's charged back home and much easier to find here. But also all those amazing warm-and-eat meals that line the shelves at every supermarket. The quality is better, the selection is wider, and you can have a huge dinner for £3 or £4. If you paid a comparable price in the US, chances are your meal will look like it was squeezed out of a vat and the recipe will be bread-heavy or pre-cooked by frying.

Beer. In America, you can pay $5 to $7 for a pint.

Eyeglasses. Here: £99 to £160 for a designer pair. America: $500 to $800. SpecSavers and Boots often have two-for-one sales, bumping the value higher still. (Tell your American friends to bring written prescriptions if they want to avail themselves of the deals.)

Headache tablets. Boots charges £3 for 24 200 mg tablets of ibuprofen while American biggie Walgreens charges $4.79 for the same. That's pretty close, but you can double the dosage at Boots and pay just £1 more, while in the US, you can't get 400mg without a doctor's prescription.

Even if these fail to instill a little relief, perhaps you'll score you some points with your friends and family in the States if you point the way to these super British bargains. Also tell them they can get medication with codeine easily here. They'll love you forever.