An ode to buyer's remorse

You know how it goes. You're in the supermarket buying your toilet paper and other practical goods, and you happen to pass the candy aisle. Slowly you backtrack and think to yourself, 'I'll just see what they have available.' Soon you have a rogue candy bar or bag of sweets next to the bag of frozen peas. Or maybe your temptation isn't candy. Maybe it's ice cream, magazines, makeup, or dried fruit. Or any other sort of unnecessary product to which you feel drawn and is inevitably exchanged for your hard-earned money.

If you're like me, you're happy with your purchasing decision while you're still in the store, but by the time you get home and get around to opening the coveted item, buyer's remorse sets in. It takes a while for the full realization of the frivolity of some purchases to make an impact. Usually after you've searched fruitlessly in your wallet for a bit of change or gasped at a number on the scale. What's worse than buying something that is a waste of money and not good for you? Why, discovering that the product isn't what you were wishing for after all!

And that's What I Should Have Bought in a nutshell: a review blog for food (and other inessential wares) that are purchased in the rapture of consumerism. As I still struggle with not spending a few bucks here, a few there on these extraneous items, I figure I may as well get some value out of the experience by writing reviews of the many products that have fallen short of my expectations. Here's how this will work: I will review a food item, inevitably wishing that I hadn't spent the money on something I didn't enjoy, and then I will name something I wish I had spent the money on instead. I imagine my answer will usually be figs.