RE: grind my own?
I guess how much you spend should depend on how much excess money and time you have. I save everything I need to grind and do it once a year at the end of hunting season. I have a smaller grinder and it might take me an extra hour to grind a couple hundred pounds of meat, but like I said, it's only once a year. I have the Rival that looks like Cabelas cheap grinder with plastic gears that I just saw on special for $60. I have ran tons of meat through this thing. I ground a whole moose a couple years ago andI can't even remember how many years I have had this thing. Money well spent.