It very much applied to the food served! Sometimes you get lucky with airplane food, and other times you get the meal I got. 😉

Mine might be:

1) Is it on sale (particularly fruit, if fresh)? Just a new way I've been trying to save money and rotate what we're eating. My family is not too picky with fruit:)
2) What price is comparable to what I used to spend? So for example, while I like buying organic ground beef it's too expensive right now. So store brand it is.
3) Looking to avoid ingredients such as: corn syrup, added sugars, modified ingredients, "natural flavors", MSG
4) Always looking for Annie's Mac sales and then stocking up (kid favorite)
5) If marked down, what condition is it in? This works well for bagged salads, discount produce. Sometimes they are in great condition! Other times it'd be like throwing money away.
6) Not ever buying (anymore) the middle of the aisle items that are seasonal displays, and just sticking to my list or a good sale find (less impulse purchases)

Hehe, I love that you used the word tragic. It's so Anne of Green Gables. 🙂