The Cost of a Good Meal

We just returned from a weekend of pheasant hunting. We have enough birds for one meal. So, let's add this trip up.

• $110 non resident SD Small Game license
• $75 in fuel
• $50 Motel (Jake was so happy that we finally got to stay in a "M"otel instead of a "H"otel!)
• $80 for shells and what I will classify as hunting food from Fleet Farm
• $100 for dinner (treated the guy who let me hunt on his land) - at least he bought my 15 captain morgan's after dinner....like I needed THAT!
• $35 breakfast today

That adds up to $450.00! 3 birds makes it $150 a bird. I could have gone to a game farm 10 miles away and bought 56 pheasants all cleaned with no lead in them and frozen for that much money!

Obviously, this is worth so much more. Seeing Dozer (old man Black Lab) possibly on his last hunt. His hips are shot. If not for drugging him with doggie asprin and other hip stuff, he'd not be able to walk. BUT - he did hunt 1/2 of both days. Good for him. He was so happy out there.

Plus, this was Indy's first hunt. By the end of Saturday, he was completely off of the check cord and we never used the shock collar. He totally responded to the whistle which was new for me to try vs. the shock collar. He was completely in his element and instincts took over. For a 6 month old dog, he did wonderfully.

Add in that Jake got to ride in a combine with a 35' head that was picking beans and see how it all works. He was even in there when they did a moving dump into the hopper being pulled next to the combine. Then, later he was able to ride in the other big tractor that pulled the hopper and he got to DRIVE that. He said it was the most awesome thing EVER!

Now as I lick my own wounds from walking through the long grasses, falling over clumps of dirt and running in boots after partially dead pheasants, it is fun to look back on the fun we had as a family this weekend. Very cool. Even if it was $450!

Pushing The Lines of Honesty?

Jess and I made a decision to be better shoppers for consumables and groceries. This means planning meals and shopping trips, etc. Through various coupon sites, the Sunday ads and the store specials, it has been amazing watching the savings multiply. Our last 4 grocery trips have yielded savings of $95.00, $48.79, $49.52 and one just over $50 (did not have this one written down).

Add in gas coupons (Cub gives coupons for Holiday gas that are based on your total pre-coupon sales amount so $210 in groceries would give you a 12 gallon coupon for 21 cents off per gallon). The last 4 gas coupons saved us a roughly $11.00 at the pump.

Lastly, the yucky part - mail in rebates (General Mills, etc) have yielded $12.50.

All summed up, it equates to over $266.00 in just about 2 months! That is amazing. It means stocking up on things that are good deals. Combining a store "loss leader" with coupons, etc. For example, we rarely eat Hamburger Helper but bought 6 boxes tonight since combining the $1 per box store loss leader with the coupons brought them to .63 per box**. When we need a quick dinner - now we have it on hand rather than just going out somewhere.

OK, good for us right? The title has to do with honesty. What's that all about?

Well, I have to admit - I squeeze in extra coupons. Not a ton but usually in situations where I am buying a higher quantity of something. See the ** by the Hamburger Helper line? Well, I had 3 coupons for that product. $1.10 off of 3 boxes x 2 and .75 off of 3 boxes. I used three coupons for $2.95 which would have required purchasing 9 boxes but I only bought 6. So - technically, my price per box was .51 at the checkout. I "screwed" them out of .75.

My justification goes like this:

• I will use extra coupons when I buy a ton of something like the HH example above.
• I will sometimes do it when it requires 3 but I only buy 2 or buy 1 instead of 2.
• I will not throw in coupons for things that I do not actually buy.
• If a coupon requires the "21 oz size" I might buy the 15 oz size and still use the coupon.
• If the store has a set of coupons that are activated by "one additional $25 purchase" and "limit one per household", we will get 2 carts and double up on them if those deals are plentiful and exceptional. For example, today- they had about 8 items that were $1 if you spent $25. They all were savings of 50-65% so we did those items 2x and checked out separately.
• Always seek out the youngest checker, preferably a guy. They'll never question you.

The way I see it, for every guy like me that cheats a little, 10 other customers don't use a single coupon. If you combine my order with the next guy, we comply with the coupon's requirement PLUS the store gets reimbursed for the coupons anyway. I guess that logic works for everything except the loss leaders.

Am I wrong? Is this just shades of gray? I don't think so but maybe someone else does.