I confess, sometimes I’m a cheapskate to a fault. A perfect example of this character flaw? Mandarin oranges. Here’s how it went down; I needed an 11-ounce can of mandarin oranges back in April for a sorbet I was creating for this very blog. At the same time, I was shopping for a cooking class, which meant that I’d be going to my usual three stores to get everything needed for the class. The three stores are Safeway Grocery, Trader Joe’s, and Costco. I loaded the cooler in the car and headed out. At stop number one, Safeway, I noticed the price for a can of mandarin oranges was $1.99.  That seemed a bit high to me, so I passed them by, thinking maybe I’d find them at Trader Joe’s for a better price.  Stop number two, Trader Joe’s – no mandarin oranges. Oh well, I’d double back by Safeway after the final stop at Costco and pick up a can. Good plan… until… I spotted a case (12 cans) of mandarin oranges at Costco for….. wait for it….. $5.99! In miser terms, that is 50 cents a can! Now I had a serious dilemma on my hands. Should I pay 4-times the price for a single can of mandarin oranges at Safeway or be stuck with 11 extra cans if purchased at Costco? Let me tell you how long I pondered that question… less than 2 seconds. I loaded up the case into the cart with all the other mega-size items and figured that after I used just 3 of the cans from the case, the rest would be FREE (at least they would be free if they would have been purchased at the Safeway $1.99 price!) And FREE is my second favorite 4-letter word, next to LOVE. How sweet is that?

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