Frugal tip - the larger package is sometimes more expensive, per unit of weight \ stacker news ~DIY

Times are hard, and and will soon get harder, that seems pretty certain.

So I have a tip to share with you. Here it is - the larger, "economy packages", are frequently not the cheapest option, per price unit (ounces, or 100 grams). Sometimes the smaller packages are cheaper per unit.

For instance, I used to buy peanut butter in bulk (before I became carnivore). I would always check the per-ounce price on the jars of peanut butter, and sometimes the smaller packages had a lower price per ounce than the larger ones.

I think part of the reason for this was that the small, more commonly purchased sizes have more "price stickiness" - people buy them a lot, and remember the price, and get a little pissed off when it goes up. So retailers are reluctant to raise prices. Also retailers understand that people always assume that larger packages are cheaper per unit, and they take advantage of that assumption.

Tracking prices of the things that you buy most commonly is a really good strategy. You may find some surprises. I just discovered that the huge discount megamart that I buy most of our food at does NOT have the cheapest prices, at least on ground beef. The standard grocery store nearby is 20% cheaper. Also, the standard grocery store sells 5 pound packages for 16% cheaper (per pound) than the 10 pound package that it also sells.

That's what inspires this post. What tips do you all have for more frugal living?

If you're looking for more tips, there's an old book on thrifty living that was pretty popular decades ago, and is still worth reading. In it (The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn) is an article on how to best track prices. Here it is:

47 sats \ 1 reply \ @freetx 9 Jun

Its not just about price/lb though....lots of the generic brands can achieve that cheap price because its peanuts emulsified with palm/canola oil....(ie. there are less peanuts in the product).

All of life is a series of tradeoffs. You can be frugal with your peanut butter but may pay for it with your long-term health.

I'm not particularly wound-up about peanut butter, and for occasional eating the health impacts of palm oil emulsion may not be significant. However, I'm simply pointing out the underlying concept: Its not just qty vs qty, but its quality-quantity vs quality-quantity.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Signal312 OP 9 Jun

True, quality is an issue as well but that's a well-understood factor.

The times I notice this is when it's the exact same brand, same type, just a different size. And the large economy size is often quite a bit more expensive, per unit cost, though everyone assumes it's cheaper.

34 sats \ 0 replies \ @DiedOnTitan 9 Jun

retailers understand that people always assume that larger packages are cheaper per unit, and they take advantage of that assumption.

This is when "wholesale" really means "holesale"