Big Deals

Interesting how expensive bargains are. For instance, about ten years ago I saw this charming wooden snow man with 25 little wooden doors to be used for an advent calendar. It was irresistibly cheap. When Ryanne got old enough, I filled it with cheap trinkets. Then Jerry saw how much fun we were having so he started to buy things. Except he didn't buy cheap trinkets, and they didn't fit inside the little wooden doors. I try to put a price limit on him, which he generally ignores. So instead of candy canes or plastic beads, the bargain snow man is now filled with treasure maps that lead to walkie talkies or robots. That cheap wooden snowman costs bigger bucks every year.
And the more obvious bargains at Costco can't be ignored. We bought a Costco membership because they had cheap, unsalted peanuts that Jerry likes to feed the Stellar jays with. I enjoy feeding the birds, so that isn't the problem, but attracting squirrels is. We have a pack of big, gray squirrels that roam the neighborhood like a bunch of hoodlums, digging in yards, destroying planters, and chewing on decks.
But squirrels are just one problem created by the cheap peanuts at Costco. Worse is that the store only sells huge quantities. Yes, it costs a lot less to buy thirty pounds of chocolate chips at a time, and even if I don't use them all, it's still cheaper, but would I really even try to bake seventeen batches of cookies if I bought the chips one pound at a time?
The garage and closets are filled with bargains that I couldn't resist, but I'm always left wondering: If the stuff is just sitting on shelves, how exactly did I save anything by buying it cheap?
Nancy Sherer