SmartShopper

Bigger does not always equal cheaper!

Here's a perfect example of why you need to look at price per unit every time you buy! Take a look at the prices I found for sour cream at Food Lion this morning.

Posted Updated
Sour Cream 8 oz
By
Faye Prosser

Here's a perfect example of why you need to look at price per unit every time you buy! Take a look at the prices I found for sour cream at Food Lion this morning. These are all for the My Essentials Food Lion brand sour cream.

8 oz container: $0.53 ($1.06 per pound)

16 oz. container: $1.57 ($1.57 per pound)

24 oz. container: $2.47 ($1.65 per pound)

As you can see from these numbers and the photos above, the smaller 8 oz. package is a much better deal than either of the two larger containers. It's 36% less expensive than the 24 oz. container!

Most shelf tags have price per unit listed on them. If you have a coupon, you will need to take that into consideration to figure out the price per unit after coupon. Here's the simple equation:

Price of item divided by the number of units = price per unit.

Let's use the 24 oz. container as an example:

$2.47 divided by 24 oz = .102 per oz.

Multiply .102 by 16 oz. to get price per lb, which equals $1.65.

If I had a coupon for .50 off the price of the 24 oz. container, here's how the equation would look:

$2.47 - .50 coupon = $1.97 (price after coupon)

$1.97 (the price after coupon) divided by 24 oz. = .082 oz. (price per oz.)

.082 multiplied by 16 oz. = $1.31 per pound

For a list of good prices to pay for items we all commonly buy, click the link above for my Price Book.

And remember, just because something is sold in bulk it is NOT necessarily a better deal than a smaller package. 

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