Every year I buy one of those Entertainment® books with all the local coupons in it. By the end of the year I always swear I'll never buy another, but I always end up buying one anyway.
Why do I swear not to buy it anymore? Because I find myself making so many dining decisions based on what I have coupons for. It's like, "Well, I'd really like to go to Restaurant A, but it's not in the book. But I do have a BOGOF coupon for Restaurant B, so let's go there instead, even though the food's not as good." Maybe it's to mentally justify my purchasing of the book, but I feel obligated to use as many of the coupons I can before they expire in November.
Now I find myself doing it with pizza places. There are certain places I like, certain ones I want to try, but most of them aren't in the book. There are, however, other pizzerias that have 50% off coupons in the book. Fifty percent!
Now in fairness, there are some very good pizzerias in the book. But a lot of them aren't all that great, and yet I find it hard to pass up a pizza for half off the price, no strings attached. I won't get a truly bad pizza just becaue of a coupon (and by the way, whoever said pizza's like sex, even when it's bad, it's pretty good, was wrong. It can really be bad sometimes. Pizza, that is), but I do find myself getting what I know will be mediocre pizza just because it's such a "bargain" at 50% off.
It's only January and I'm already regretting buying the damn book. But I know next year will come, and the price on the books will come down (never buy them as soon as they're available in the fall - always wait till December or January), and I'll think, geez, what a great deal - the thing will pay for itself in no time, and next thing I know, here I am eating a spongy pizza, or greasy Chinese food, or spending $3 in gas to save $2.75 at the dry cleaner on the other side of town, all because of the book. It's going to be a long year.
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