Saving Money Mommy's Tuesday Tip- Comparing Prices

My Tuesday Tip for today is how to compare prices at the grocery store.  All items have labels with the price marked.  Do you just look at the price of the item or do you look at the other information on it like the cost per unit?  I have included a picture of a typical price label at Publix.  The price of these cookies is clearly marked at $3.99.  These packages are 12 oz. and the price per oz. is marked on the label as $.3325 per ounce.  You might find some similar cookies next to it for $4.99.  Some might automatically pick up the $3.99 cookies and think they are getting the best buy.  Wrong!  You need to check the price per ounce of the cookies not the total price.  Let's say that the $4.99 cookies come in a 16 oz. package.  The price per oz. is $.3119 per ounce.  The best deal in this case would be the $4.99 cookies as long as the extra cookies don't go to waste. 

I used to buy the majority of my groceries at Sam's Club.  To make sure I was getting the best price, I created a spreadsheet that calculated the unit price of each item.  (See the example to the right.)
If frozen broccoli was on sale at Publix for the week, I would check my spreadsheet to see if it was a better deal than at Sam's Club.  Let's say that Publix was selling 16 oz. (1 lb.) broccoli for $1.25.  Let's also say that I have a $.50/2 coupon for this broccoli.  My unit cost before the coupon would be $1.25/lb.  My unit cost after the coupon would be $1.00/lb.  This deal with the coupon beats the warehouse club cost and is the better deal. 

After doing this research and also taking into account the yearly membership fee, I have just canceled my membership with Sam's Club.  I am getting better deals at grocery stores using sales and coupons.  I am also saving a lot of money at Aldi.

Please email me if you have questions or would like to know how to put a similar spreadsheet together. 

Go out today and get a great deal!