Low cost grocery shopping using unit pricing

[ac]

Something I've done for years when grocery shopping is to allow unit prices to be my guide.

http://www.extension.org/pages/19896/using-unit-pricing#.VRAxl-Fey3Y

Most grocery store price stickers include the price/oz of raisin bran or whatever, and often I save 20% or so just picking the option with the lower unit price while not doing the math myself.  Easy!

[misschedda]

I'm always shocked how many people don't know the meaning of that little number on the tag!

[Zikoris]

I have to say, I'm very glad my boyfriend deals with this, or I wouldn't bother and we'd end up spending more. I just tell him "We need oats" or whatever and he deals with the rest. Brand loyalty is for suckers :)

[Bob W]

I'm always amazed when bigger packages have higher unit rates.

That said --- I often go to the cost per calorie and then cost per nutritious calorie formula.  For instance flour and oil are the cheapest things on a per calorie basis.   (sugar too)  Oiive oil is cheapest on the healthiest cost per calorie basis.    Frozen veggies are cheaper than  fresh on the cost per healthy basis as more nutrients are preserved than in so called fresh veggies.    If you compared just the cost per calorie of red peppers to that of chicken the difference is huge! 

While beans may appear cheaper on a cost per protein calorie basis,  that math fails as only a fraction of the protein in most plant based products is bioavailable.

I have actually spent too much time analyzing this to the point that I could eat 2,200 calories of somewhat healthy (well healthier than 85% of people on the SAD) for 1 dollar per person per day.

I was thinking about this last night as I ate my sautéed chicken gizzards and livers.   The cost $1 per pound.   The are super nutrient dense and contain super healthy fats with lots and lots of protein.

If you look at chicken breasts you will see that out of 400 calories only about 120 calories is protein (about 30 grams).     I need a minimum of 80 grams of animal based protein to live healthy per day. 

Yeah,   I have spent way too much time thinking about this!

*(super hint --- eggs are generally the cheapest cost per healthy calorie and I can often buy them as loss leaders for $1 per dozen (about 1100 calories per dozen))

 

[dcheesi]

I use these, but I also try to do my own sanity-checking when a number doens't seem right.

Sometimes you run into inconsistencies in the units used; e.g., $/unit vs. $/oz. I've seen this across brands in the same aisle, and sometimes even between sizes of the same brand/item!

And there have been several times when I've caught unit price labels that were flat out wrong...

[Le Poisson]

My biggest issue with unit pricing (I use it too) is when the price per unit has little merit compared to serving size.

Using your cereal example above, the price per 100g on Froot Loops may be the same as the price per 100g on granola (I like Harvest Crunch).

An overflowing bowl of Froot Loops weighs less than a true serving of Harvest Crunch (2/3 cup) , so basically, even though both are cereals, the unit price has little merit in figuring out which is a more expensive meal. For Reference:

[Retire-Canada]

The cost per unit can fail you if the two items are not exactly comparable.

I had two packages of bacon in my hands at the store and the cheaper one by $/weight had much higher water content than the more expensive one.

I bought the more expensive package.

-- Vik

[johnny847]

The cost per unit stickers at grocery stores often fails if you clip coupons, which I do sometimes. Then I just pull out my phone and calculate it myself.