Value is an interesting word to define. It’s based partly on market standards, but grounded in individual perspective. An old phrase comes to mind: “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. While that is kind of taking the whole value thing to the extreme, I think it perfectly illustrates the significance that an individual’s taste affects the perceived value of an item. Truly, an item’s worth is simply dictated by what others are willing to pay. Today, I had to ask myself – Can FREE food ever be bad?

Over the past few months, I have been learning about the art of couponing. I’m not talking about clipping a coupon here and there and saving a couple of bucks. I’ve been playing the grocery / pharmacy games, where somehow I buy hundreds of dollars of products for just a few bucks out of pocket. As much as anything else, it has been an interesting learning process, and really, just a fun game that I play to see what I can really get for FREE (or even make money on the deal). You may remember my first couple of forays into this new world… I shared my deals here and here.

Well, I made a trip to Kroger last week, and wanted specifically to take advantage of a special sale. Their Mega Event promised a $5 credit, applied directly to the bill when 10 items from a specified list were purchased. If you pair that with some nice coupons, you can actually get most of the items very cheaply.

If you haven’t yet guessed, this is where the attached image of the Spaghetti-O’s comes into play. The deal I put together for that shopping trip was:

• 5 packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 4 cans of Spaghetti-O’s
• 1 half gallon of Breyer’s Ice Cream

What do you do with 5 packages of cream cheese? Why, make a cheesecake of course. Really though, I just bought them because buying 5 prompts the printing of a $5 off catalina coupon. And the Spaghetti-O’s, well, I had 2 $.50/2 coupons, which meant that after the Mega Event deal, they would be free… how bad could they be, right? All in all, I spent $6.88, and got back a $5 catalina coupon, meaning that really, I only paid for the ice cream (which was $1.88).

I am probably one of the least picky eaters you will find. I love to eat just about anything, and will always at least give new foods a try. And to even take it a step farther, I can almost always find a use for FREE food. Well, I tried the Spaghetti-O’s, and am convinced that I paid too much for the 4 FREE cans! They were awful. Seriously, I eat all kinds of crazy mixtures of foods, but could barely choke them down. Being an expecting father, I am becoming increasingly aware of the foods parents feed their children, and I can now positively say that I do not intend to EVER feed my son that garbage. How can kids eat that stuff??!!!??

I didn’t think I would see the day when my taste buds beat out my frugality, and forced me to turn down FREE food, but I just can’t eat bring myself to eat any more. To make it even worse, now I have to decide what to do with the extra cans… do I give them to a food bank? Take them to my church for kids to eat at potluck dinners? I hate to throw food away (if you can call it that), but I also am not so sure how I feel about encouraging others to eat something so awful.

Question of the Day: Are there any foods that you would turn down, even if they are FREE?