Confessions of a Bargain Junkie

Post written by Bridget Strub.

I have a confession to make. This week, Pete and I ate at a chain restaurant on date night. I know, I know…I’m weak. I’ve already wavered in my commitment to finding new-to-me, non-chain restaurants. Don’t reject me just yet. Hear me out. I’ll do better next week. I swear.

First of all, do you know how many restaurants there are in Rochester? I don’t know the exact number either, but I will tell you that there are a lot. I had a slight panic attack this past week when I did a general search online to find a restaurant for this weekend’s date night. What started out to be a jolly stroll on the World Wide Web ended in a desperate search for somewhere, anywhere to spend a nice, inexpensive evening with my husband. What I found in my quest was this:

•Restaurants are called bistros when they want to serve you small portions but charge two to three times more than the average restaurant.

•I was surprised by the amount of restaurants I’ve been to in Rochester. I’ve just forgotten about them because they didn’t impress me, grossed me out, or charged me too much.

•Restaurants that do not have websites cannot, under any circumstance, be trusted to be credible, quality food providers. Pete and I have had a hard and fast rule since early on in our marriage (after being burned a few times) that we do not go to a restaurant without a website or a friend recommendation.

As I continued my endless quest, I began realizing some things about myself and about why Pete and I have done date nights the way we have for the last few years. First of all, we’ve established a pretty solid routine that’s worked for us since the conception of date night. We alternate who picks the restaurant each week. If we didn’t do that, Pete would have us overdosing on raw meat, mashed potatoes and fresh bread, and I’d have us nibbling away at Greek salads, spanakopita, and pitas.
It makes life fairly harmonious, and both of us happy for the most part. So, when it was my turn to pick the restaurant for a second week in a row I froze. That’s when we decided to go to the Marketplace Wegmans (in Henrietta) to go grocery shopping. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a huge procrastinator. I’m at my very best when I’m trying to avoid something I don’t want to do. It gets bad, and Wegmans is usually my ultimate go-to. I’ve been known wander the aisles at 3am just to avoid homework. This specific instance, however, provided me with some insight about my dilemma.

Pete and I have frequented the Marketplace Wegmans more this month than we have in the past three years. This is not by coincidence. They are currently running a campaign for college students. If you show them your ID (which both Pete and I currently have), they give you a book of coupons for free stuff each week. Pete and I have collected 6 books of coupons, so we’ve been able to stock our shelves (and consequently our tummies) with 4 frozen pizzas, ramen noodle bowls, and 3 packages of double stuffed Oreos all for free, and the month isn’t even over yet! As we searched the aisles for the things on our grocery list (and our free coupon items) we saw Wegmans employees handing out free samples. Wegmans apparently loves to give things away for free. It was amidst the bites of my sample-sized three-course meal of smoked gouda on apple cider raisin bread (appetizer), salad with tarragon dressing (entrée), and the ultimate vanilla cake (dessert) that I was awarded the date night clarity I was longing for.

Here’s the deal. I really like a good deal, but I really, REALLY like getting free stuff. I am elated to the very depths of my soul at the thought of receiving something for free or at a discounted price. It’s become a near obsession for me as of late, but I can’t seem to stop it. I blame my mother. That woman taught me how to sniff out a bargain from aisles away. Pete could share countless stories with you about how scary my hobby of bargain hunting has become. He used to roll his eyes at me because I’d give my e-mail to any store that would ask, but when coupons for free appetizers, entrees, and underwear (yes, I said underwear) started landing in my inbox he acknowledged my infinite wisdom in this matter.

This being said, there is nothing Pete or I hate more than paying more than we have to for food. It puts a serious damper on the date night mood, and the mood for date night is super crucial, to spend all our money on overpriced food adorned with fancy green stuff. That realization released my restaurant hunt anxiety. The reason we hadn’t tried many of the restaurants in Rochester is simply because they are way too expensive. They offer similar menus to those of chain restaurants, but at more than double the cost. This is the reason Pete and I got in to our restaurant rut in the first place. The places we frequented most were the places we knew we could eat well and cheaply. Not to be proven wrong on this occasion, we chose to eat at TGIFridays, and our total bill (tip and tax included) came to $19.07. Now you tell me how I can justify spending that much for just one of our entrees when I know those other bargains are out there. I dare you.

Hopefully now you can at least understand my reasons for straying from my commitment to you. I have a problem. I can’t pay for food I know I could get cheaper elsewhere. It’s almost like a siren’s song calling me back to the chain restaurants each week. This addiction goes deeper than I thought it did. I’ll get help. I promise! I’m not quite sure what this means for next week’s article. Maybe we’ll eat at another chain restaurant, maybe a unique non-bistro, I could try my hand at cooking for once, but who wants to do that when there’s free food around!

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