Is it worth it?

I've been doing a lot of pondering on how else we can lower our expenses, especially in the light of recent expenses:

1. Money in excess of $800 spent dealing with my recent medical issues. All that money to find out I have some form of tendinitis of the Achilles with significant swelling in which the only thing I can do is rest and take anti-inflammatory meds.

2. I got James involved in participating in fishing tournaments with a friend of mine. Right now it is $20 per tournament, and then James "had to have" some updated fishing equipment. This is money I don't mind spending because James is enjoying himself and he hardly ever asks for anything for himself, but it is an extra expense to budget for.

One of the things I was thinking about was my shopping at Walgreen's for all the deals. Is it really worth it? I try to buy only things we'll use, but I now have a huge stockpile of things. Should I keep buying things just because they are on sale or stop spending money to save money?

Several points about this kind of deal shopping that I've noticed:

1. If it is a food related item on sale it is almost always a processed food. We don't really enjoy eating processed products much, but I find myself buying them and eating them because they are a really good deal. I have donated some of the items I "purchased" but a lot of it has been consumed by us.

2. I can't help but think of all the extra packaging I am contributing to waste. A lot of the deals I get are individually packaged items . . . read that to mean a lot of packaging. Despite recycling everything I can, are we dealing the environment an extra blow by purchasing these items?

3. There are never ending deals on free or close to free shampoo, toothpaste, and deodorant. How much of this do I really need before it becomes a "just buying to buy" thing? We don't have a local facility to donate these items (although I have mailed some of the items to troops stationed overseas) so I'm just stockpiling them.

4. It is very easy to get addicted to the "getting things free" feeling. Those of you that do this a lot know what I'm talking about. Have I transferred my addiction to running to this shopping thing because I can't run anymore?

I guess I don't really have an answer to these questions. I will keep pondering the questions, and if I come up with answers I'll post them. For now, I am going to try to purchase items that we need, have wanted to try out, or that I can specifically donate. As proof, I have not gone shopping at Walgreen's this week, although I would like to take advantage of the Reach deal. I don't really need the items, so I'm not going to buy them.

Does anyone else run into these questions?