Household staples: toilet paper,paper towels,soap and others. Best Prices?

[Kaplin261]

What price should I be aiming for to stock up on these non perishables?

Toilet Paper:
Paper Towels:
Shampoo:
Body Wash:
Deodorant:
Dishwasher Detergent:
Clothes Detergent:

[tj]

For the paper goods, we buy these at Costco. It's cheap enough.

On shampoo, detergent, deodorant,  etc. it will take me a year if not more to go through one bottle/aerosool/ box etc, so we don't really shop prices on those.

[Jakejake]

This is when I buy:

Toilet Paper: 1¢ per square foot (2 ply because 1 ply is satan's paper)
Paper Towels: under 50 ¢ per roll
Shampoo: free with coupons (I have too much)
Body Wash: free with coupons
Deodorant: free with coupons (I have too much)
Dishwasher Detergent: free with coupons (still working through what I bought a few years ago in a deal)
Clothes Detergent: 2¢ per load  - my cost if I make it is 1¢ per load, so if I can hit 2¢ with store bought I often go for it, except I won't buy Tide or Kirkland because I have a septic system (expensive lesson learned for me.)

Edit to fix my laundry soap estimate - I found an old post on another forum where I worked out the cost to 42 cents/gallon, which covers 32 loads.

[Sylly]

This really depends on the quality of the products you're willing to live with. There's some variation based on quality and/or brand in all those categories, though some are larger than others.

[Student loan stomper]

I have noticed that my grocery store has coupons that are on a cycle through out the year and if I can buy with the coupons I can save and still get the nicer product.  For example once every two months I can get viva paper towels in an 8 pack for $1-2 off.  It takes us 2-4 months to go through this many so if I buy with the coupon I can almost always make it to the next coupon.  This is also a good example of paying for quality, we use less than half of the amount of viva paper towels that we do store brand so even though price per sq ft.  Is greater, actual cost is less. 

At our store TP has similar coupons but I do not have enough space to store enough to last between coupons so I alternate paying full price and coupon price.  often laundry soap is paired with a coupon for TP so I try and line those up.  And I am sure with baby on the way we will be using a lot more laundry soap.  anyway, my suggestion is to pay attention to your store's deals and try and get on that cycle.  Also if you have the space bulk is usually the way to go.

[Another Reader]

Costco usually has good prices on the brand names.  The monthly coupons often feature Bounty towels or one of either Northern or Charmin TP.  Kirkland paper towels and TP are not worth the money in my experience.

However, Target has some very good sales, which when combined with their coupons and the red card, often beat Costco.  For example, I just ordered five bottles of Tide for $8.00 a bottle because of a $15 off $50 in household supplies purchase coupon, a sale in progress, the red card 5 percent, and free shipping.  They often have large packs of paper goods on sale, plus buy two and get a $5.00 gift card.

I have given up trying to figure out which deal is the very cheapest, because of the games manufacturers play with quantity (have you noticed how much toilet paper rolls have shrunk in width?).  I just look at the price and my best guess at quantity and say good enough.

[icemodeled]

Well, this all depends on brand and availability in someones location. There isnt a costco anywhere near me. I wish, as I hear a lot of good about them. Anyways, this is what we normally pay and consider good.

Toilet Paper: 24 rolls $5-6
Paper Towels: 12 rolls $5 but if not on sale $6
Shampoo: $4 its shampoo/conditioning
Body Wash: $3
Deodorant: .99
Dishwasher Detergent: $1 for a huge bottle
Clothes Detergent: $8-10

everything is full size. Mostly normal price. Sometimes cheaper with sales or coupons. We rarely buy this stuff.

[kathrynd]

I have given up trying to figure out which deal is the very cheapest, because of the games manufacturers play with quantity (have you noticed how much toilet paper rolls have shrunk in width?).  I just look at the price and my best guess at quantity and say good enough.

A month or so ago I bought a package of TP...trying to figure out which one to buy. You need to go by how many sheets per roll...because even in the same brand a 'doubleroll' had different amounts of sheets !!!

As for shower gels, shampoo, conditioner....haven't bought it for a long, long time...we get so much for free
Deodorants, tooth paste/ brushes/ kleenex  we buy when on special and stock up.

If your not sure what is a good price, keep track of what the price is now....buy only what you need, and wait for a lower price

[Another Reader]

Square footage is an absolute measure, but the sheets are all different sizes.  I look at both measures, and then I think about how many sheets are used on average for the brand I am considering.  Consumer Reports (at least the Consumer Reports of 20 years ago) could have a field day writing up a toilet paper article.