Just because it's on sale, doesn't mean you should buy it...

A good price doesn't mean it's a good value

About once every 2 months our local grocery store has a larger-than-usual sale and it seems like everyone in town drops in to take advantage of "Dollar Days". Whereas it can be a good time to stock up on regular items, some of the things that go on sale should be left on the shelf, and I don't mean your shelf.

Any of you who are married know that training your spouse is an ongoing endeavour. But I finally feel like I've made some headway with Ivan in this area of buying foods that are on sale simply because they were a good price.

The last time this happened, he came home with something akin to Pizza Pops. Of course the kids were interested so when he was heating one up for himself, extras went into the toaster oven for the boys. My innocence is far reaching - how bad could these things be with bread and cheese and some pepperoni in the middle? I was horrified when they were ready and he took a bite and I saw the innards first-hand. I got the package out of recycling and had a look at the ingredients. Full of Trans fats (Canada is slow at banning Trans fats from everything) and saturated fats. Enough sodium to meet your monthly requirement. 

When I showed it to my husband, I got the standard "but they were on sale, 2 for $1". I told him it didn't matter if they were free, stuff like this should never be eaten and there was no way the kids would be having it. No one's arteries deserves this kind of onslaught. Harm is harm, even when it's cheap.

For me, I'm not tempted into buying things I don't normally buy just because they are on sale. PopTarts aren't good for you regardless. And from a health perspective, they are a lot more expensive then you think.